Things to Know as a Travel Agent

by  STEPHANIE LEE

One of the most common travel agent lessons is that having clients sign a travel waiver form is essential to protect yourself, your clients, and your agency.  And sadly, that’s a lesson often learned the hard way.  No matter how great a travel agent you are, misunderstandings happen.  Accidents happen.  Things happen.

Pre-Booking Disclaimers – Quoted Prices May Change!

We’ll start from the beginning – it’s a best practice to state on your quote that essentially, you can’t guarantee your pricing (unless of course you have locked in rates).  While I can’t think of why (or how) someone would sue you for sending a quote and things changing,

I think it’s important to mention to avoid upset clients.

If you’re giving prices over the phone, best practice is to send a follow-up email with the pricing and disclaimer.  Set the relationship up for success by making sure you’re all on the same page.

Mention that prices are subject to change in the email body or add something similar to below in your email signature:

**** Please Note: All prices are subject to change and are based on availability. ****

The email signature is especially nice because you won’t ever forget to mention it; it’s already written for you every time!

Travel Waiver Must-Haves
You’ve got them booked, congrats!  Now is where you need to be extra careful to make sure you’ve given the client all necessary information and leave a paper trial showing you did so.  This is where the rubber hits the road folks.  Get your racing gear on!

Make sure your travel waiver covers:

• Correct names/dates/times/flights/car/hotels

Whoops.  Stephanie with a ‘y’ when it was an ‘ie’.  Or you booked them on the wrong dates.  Again, set expectations so that the relationship is a success.  A second set of eyes on anything important is always a good idea.  In your travel waiver, let clients know they are responsible for looking it over and making sure everything is correct.

• Documentation     

Visas, passports.  Taking kids out of the country without both parents.  Documents for getting married outside the US.   It’s a hard line to draw in the sand, what your responsibility as the travel agent is.  You might find this article by travel attorney Mark Pestronk discussing what your duties are to clients helpful.  

• Sample documentation waiver:

DOCUMENTATION: U.S. citizens travelling to any destination outside of the United States will be required to present a valid U.S. passport. Passports must be valid for 6 months past the return date. Some countries require a visa for transit or entry. Passengers are responsible to ensure that they have all the proper documents for entry. All names on documents must match the legal name on your photo I.D., and travel document information must match tickets. Please check the State Department website at http://travel.state.gov for further information. Immunizations may also be required. Failure to comply with these regulations may result in denied boarding, denied entry, and/or government imposed fines. If you are a citizen of another country, there may be additional requirements. Check with the nearest consulate or embassy of the destination you are travelling to and find out the entry requirements for non-U.S. citizens.

• Travel insurance was offered

You veteran agents know this but newbies, make sure you offer travel insurance to every single client!

I’ve worked with agencies that hadn’t offered travel insurance (or didn’t have documentation proving they had) and the unhappy clients were suing the agent to get their money back.  Best case scenario, E&O insurance covers the claim but trust me, an E&O insurance claim sucks the time and life out of you – avoid the situation altogether!

You are the expert, that’s your value.  Part of being the expert is letting clients know travel insurance exists and the risks involved if they decline insurance.

Sample travel insurance waiver from real travel agency:

I assume and understand that there is a risk involved with my travel and my travel activities and/or excursions.  I acknowledge that I was informed about my options but I declined the insurance.

Even better yet, email a quote through the insurance company’s website so you have an electronic paper trail insurance was offered.  Since they usually have an option to send reminder emails, it increases not only your paper trail, but also the likelihood they’ll purchase insurance.

• Fees

This all comes back to again, making sure the client understands how things work and you have documentation to support your case if you need it.  And, it’s just plain good business to make sure the client has a good experience with you!

Cancellation and change fees vary so listing specific amounts isn’t going to happen.  But, you should alert the traveler to the possibility of fees for changes or cancellations to the booking.

If it’s a group, you may already have the specific fees in the contract.  Even then, it’s important to have a waiver for each booking since the person who signed the contract may not have shared that information with the group.

• Legal Jargon

This one is the blanket statement.  Better safe than sorry, right?

• Sample travel agency waiver:

YOUR AGENCY offers retail travel services to customers, which are provided by separate and independent vendors of travel services. YOUR AGENCY does not operate, control, or otherwise provide the services of the independent travel vendors.  Hence, customer agrees that YOUR AGENCY acts only as agent for the client in acquiring transportation, hotel accommodations, sightseeing and other privileges, or services for the clients’ benefit, and on the express condition that YOUR AGENCY shall not be responsible for any loss, accident, injury, delay, defect, omission or irregularity which may occur or be occasioned, whether by reason of any act, negligence or default of any company or person engaged in or responsible for carrying out any of the arrangements, or otherwise in connection therewith

Seal the Deal!

Now that you have all the nuts and bolts, don’t forget to tighten them.  You’ll need to make sure the travel waivers are sent to every client, signed, and returned.

At the ASTA’s 2013 THE TRADESHOW, travel attorney Jonathan Howe stated that simply sending the waivers are helpful if you ever need to defend yourself but a signature of acknowledgement is really your best defense.  He also recommended sending an acknowledgement with a copy of the waiver.  It doesn’t need to be complex, just a “Thank you we received your waiver, a copy of which is attached”.

Looking for more?

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We also have a side Facebook thread going on.  It’s discussing how to get the darn travel waivers back from clients.  A challenge in itself!  Feel free to add your two cents or soak up some knowledge from other agents.

Lastly, our resources page is great for finding our most popular articles and other resources for travel agents – check it out!

Update 3/29/13:  Just found a great resource of free sample waivers & more on travel attorney Pestronk’s site.

Update 12/15/13:  Fantastic guide by Managed Insurance Services on limiting your agency’s liability.  This baby is written in plain English.  *high five* (Thanks to Joe Matteis for sharing)

In Closing

Speaking of covering yourself, we need an obligatory disclaimer!  I am not an attorney.  I aggregated this info from first-hand experience and other industry sources to create a resource that would help agents gain a base knowledge.  It does not guarantee protection against lawsuits from clients.   All info is accurate to my knowledge but information given should be fact-checked and never be considered legal advice.  

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