Virginia Code 59.1-449: Prohibited practices by travel club
It shall be unlawful for any travel club to engage in any or all of the following practices:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 59.1-449
- Accommodations: means any real property improvement provided by the travel club to its members for lodging purposes, including, without limitation, condominiums, hotels, motels or motor courts. See Virginia Code 59.1-445
- Carrier: means any person engaged in the business of transporting persons for hire. See Virginia Code 59.1-445
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- offering: means any act to sell, solicit, induce, advertise, or execute a travel services agreement. See Virginia Code 59.1-445
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Travel club: means a for-profit organization that provides, in return for either an advance fee for membership or an annual charge for membership of more than $100, the privilege for its members or participants to arrange or obtain future travel services through or from the organization. See Virginia Code 59.1-445
- Travel services: means transportation by carrier; accommodations; rental of motor vehicles; or any other service related to travel. See Virginia Code 59.1-445
1. Offer any other type of promotional inducement where the cost of the package equals or exceeds the cost which would have been incurred without the travel club membership;
2. Misrepresent the type or size of aircraft, vehicle, ship or train; time of departure or arrival; points served; route to be traveled; stops to be made; total trip-time from point of departure to destination; type or size of lodging or other accommodation; availability of lodging or other accommodation; or other services available, reserved or contracted for in connection with any trip, tour or other travel services, unless such misrepresentation resulted from a reasonable belief as to the services available based upon representations made by the person offering such services;
3. Misrepresent the fares and charges for transportation or services in connection therewith, unless the misrepresentation resulted from a reasonable belief as to the fares and charges applicable based upon representations made by the person offering such services;
4. Misrepresent that special priorities for reservations are available when such special considerations are in fact granted to members of the public generally;
5. Sell transportation to any person on a reservation or charter basis for specified space, flight or time or represent that such definite reservation or charter is or will be available or has been arranged, without a binding commitment with a carrier for the furnishing of such definite reservation or charter as represented or sold;
6. Sell or issue tickets or other documents to be exchanged or used for transportation if the tickets or other documents will not be or cannot be legally honored by carriers for transportation;
7. Misrepresent the requirements that must be met by a person in order to qualify for charter or group fare rates, unless such misrepresentation resulted from a reasonable belief as to the requirements applicable based upon representations made by the person offering the charter or group fare;
8. Offer accommodations in lodgings when the travel club has no written evidence of its legal right to possession of such lodgings; or
9. Use in any offering, advertisement, or promotion of any type or description the following terms: “time-share,” “vacation ownership,” “interval ownership,” “time-share benefit” or “incidental benefit.”
1993, c. 760; 1994, c. 482.