Surcharge for rising fuel cost

In August of 2004 we booked the trip “Athens, the Greek Islands and Beyond” for June 4-26, ’05, with Grand Circle Travel. The total cost for two was $7,596.80. We were told that if we paid early in advance we could save $398 and that paying in advance would “lock in the cost of the trip,” so we paid the full cost in advance. However, we received a letter dated Jan. 19, ’05, from Grand Circle stating that we owed $110 as a “fuel surcharge.”

We went to the Grand Circle Travel Handbook and found the following under the subheading Ways to Save: “Lock in the cost of your trip. Pay in full early, and you’ll be protected from any increase in the land, cruise, or international air portion of your cost.”

We then called Grand Circle and spoke to “Sherry,” who said a fuel surcharge is not an increase in cost, according to their policy. We asked to speak to a supervisor and were connected to “Mrs. Webster,” who informed us that if we looked at the fine print on the back of our invoice we would see the following: “Grand Circle reserves the right to correct promotional or pricing errors at any time, or increase the program price in the event of cost increases due to changes in airfare, cruise fares, currency fluctuations or fuel surcharges.”

NORMAN & MARIAN
MARASCO, Ft. Myers, FL

ITN sent a copy of the above letter to Grand Circle Travel and received the following repy.

Thank you for forwarding the Marascos’ January 26 e-mail to us. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to their concerns about fuel surcharges.

I can understand the Marascos’ disappointment when they received an invoice for the additional fuel surcharge, especially after taking advantage of Grand Circle’s “Good Buy Plan.” However, as you probably are aware, Grand Circle contracts rates with airlines over a year in advance of promotions and passenger departures. The airlines, however, reserve the right to pass on to Grand Circle any increased fuel costs in the form of a fuel surcharge above the contracted rate. As a result, Grand Circle also states in its “General Terms and Conditions” that we reserve the right to pass on to our customers fuel surcharges imposed on us by the airlines.

The Marascos’ “Athens, the Greek Islands & Beyond” trip includes five flights: Newark to London, London to Istanbul, Istanbul to Athens, Athens to London, and London to Newark. The $110 fuel surcharge is a compilation of the fuel surcharges passed on to us for all legs of the flight itinerary. As I’m sure you know, the price of aviation fuel has increased substantially this past year.

The Marascos’ have saved $398 off the cost of their trip by taking advantage of the “Good Buy Plan.” And, even with the added fuel surcharge, I believe they will find that their “Athens, the Greek Islands & Beyond” represents an incomparable value. In 2004, 150,000 people traveled with us, and, when surveyed, 96% have told us they will travel with us again.

We appreciate the Marascos’ choosing to travel with us, and we trust that once they discover “Athens, the Greek Islands & Beyond” they will feel they received their money’s worth.

STEPHANIE NICHOLS, Manager, Public Relations, Grand Circle Corporation, 347 Congress St., Boston, MA 02210