Mark Pestronk
Q: There are so many really odd things that travel agents need to advise or warn about, such as that a U.S. citizen traveling to Canada may not be admitted if he has a criminal record, including a drunk-driving conviction, or that an airline may refuse to board a woman who looks far along in her pregnancy and doesn't have a doctor's note. Could we be held legally liable for a client's loss if we fail to warn about these risks? I know that a disclaimer would probably protect us, but getting a disclaimer is not always appropriate in cases such as these, where we just sell a ticket.
A: Travel agents and their employers are liable for their own negligence, which means a breach of a recognized legal duty that results in an economic or personal injury to a client. Court precedents have established that travel agencies have a legal duty to advise clients with care.
However, there are very few court precedents dealing with exactly what travel agents must advise about. So we have to make educated guesses by analogizing to published court rulings.
On the one hand, some matters are obvious. For example, the agent would be liable for failure to warn about a destination danger or a potential supplier insolvency if the agent knew about these problems but the client would not ordinarily have known about them.
On the other hand, we have to draw a line somewhere. Some matters are clearly beyond what an agent can be expected to know and remember, and there has to be a limit on the sheer quantity of information that must be conveyed.
For example, it is totally unrealistic to expect a U.S. travel agent to advise a citizen of another country about entry requirements to a third country. It is also unreasonable to expect agents to provide explanations of legal documents such as the Warsaw Convention.
So where do we draw the line? No one can say for certain, so I normally advise that you don't have to worry about drawing a line if you have the client agree to the terms of your disclaimer. However, in your case, a disclaimer is impractical or impossible to obtain.
Assuming that you provide a confirmation by email, you can put the disclaimer into an email signature. You can find a sample disclaimer for invoices and itineraries at www.pestronk.com/free.html.
If you find that inserting the entire 600-word disclaimer is cumbersome, you can shorten it to the bare essentials, as follows: "By accepting this confirmation, you agree that ABC Travel has no responsibility for any acts or omissions of the travel suppliers in your itinerary or any other party not under ABC's control. ABC has no special knowledge regarding the financial condition of the suppliers, unsafe conditions, health hazards or weather hazards at locations to which you may travel.
For information about destination risks and foreign country entry requirements, consult the travel warnings section of the U.S. State Department at www.travel.state.gov. For health information, consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov/travel. You are responsible for checking passport, visa, vaccination or other entry requirements of your destination."