Please print this page and keep it for reference.

Proofread your tickets carefully as soon as you receive them

Verify the passenger's name, "from" and "to" cities, airline, flight number, and date on each flight coupon. (If a flight coupon has a validation sticker on it, the more recent information is what is shown on the sticker, not what is printed on the ticket underneath the sticker.) Flight times may change, but if anything else on the tickets differs from your itinerary or if tickets for any of your flights are missing please let us know immediately.

We will not be responsible for discrepancies between tickets and reservations unless they are brought to our attention within 72 hours of your receipt of tickets. We do not normally issue electronic tickets if paper tickets are available. If we have issued e-tickets for some of your flights, you should have received an e-ticket confirmation for those flights along with the rest of your tickets.

Information about Australia

If your trip includes a stop in Australia you should receive a printout of your Australian electronic visa with your tickets. It is your responsibility to obtain all other necessary visas and travel documents. Check directly with the consulates or embassies of the countries you plan to visit for their entry requirements.

Treat your tickets and e-ticket conformations like cash

Lost or stolen tickets are not necessarily replaceable. Some major airlines never replace lost tickets; if your ticket on such an airline is lost or stolen, and you still want to travel, your only option is to buy a new ticket. At best, replacement of lost or stolen tickets is likely to involve time, hassle, and payment of fees to the airlines to reissue each of your missing tickets.

Keep your tickets in a safe place, such as a money belt or otherwise hidden inside your clothes. Don't leave airline tickets in the sun, on a radiator, or close to a heat source: some are printed on thermal paper, and will turn black if they get too hot.

Make copies

Make at least one copy of the "passenger receipt" (usually the last coupon of the booklet, showing all the flights in that booklet) for each of the tickets for your AirTrek (as well as your passport and any other documents in your money belt). Keep a set of copies separate from your tickets. If you are traveling with a companion, exchange copies of your tickets and other important documents with your companion. Leave a set of copies with someone you trust who will accept a collect international call from you at any hour of the day or night in an emergency, and who can fax copies of your tickets and other documents to you to facilitate replacement.

Lost and stolen tickets

If your tickets are lost or stolen, take a copy of your ticket to the airline which is the "validating carrier" for each portion of your tickets. Follow their procedures to request replacement tickets. You might have to pay in full for new tickets, but most airlines will issue replacement tickets in return for your signing an indemnity form (you will be held responsible if someone uses the missing tickets) and paying a reissue fee of US$75-100 per ticket per airline.

AirTreks cannot reissue missing tickets without full payment for new tickets; only the validating airline can replace missing tickets. Contact us if you need assistance in identifying the validating airlines for your tickets (shown in the "issued by" box on each ticket) or locating their offices. If you don't have copies of your missing tickets, we can send you copies for a research fee of $20 per ticket. Getting copies of tickets from us may also entail delay due to time differences, days and hours of business, etc.

Reconfirmation of reservations and flights

Reconfirm each flight with the airline AT LEAST 72 hours before the scheduled flight time. Check with any office of the airline, in the USA or elsewhere, for their local telephone numbers and office addresses for reconfirming flights in the countries where you will be. Most airlines also print lists of their reconfirmation numbers in different countries on their ticket jackets and in their timetables. (Unfortunately, airlines don't provide us with comprehensive lists of their reconfirmation numbers.)

Reconfirm early and often. If it's possible without too much inconvenience, we recommend that you reconfirm your reservations as soon as you receive your tickets, and again a week before each flight. Make a final check on the scheduled flight time the day before the flight. 72 hours before the flight, the airline is entitled to cancel your reservations, without recourse or compensation, if you have not reconfirmed your intention to be on the flight.

Verify the date, time, and flight number of each flight each time you reconfirm your reservations

All flight schedules are subject to change at any time by the airlines, without notice to us or you, for any or no reason. Your reservations may be changed to a different date, time, and/or flight number, without warning. Airlines do not necessarily notify us of flight and schedule changes. It is your responsibility to verify flight numbers, dates, and times.

You can check your itinerary on the Internet at ViewTrip.com with your last name and "record locator" or reservation number , but this will show only those changes of which we have been notified. Some changes may not be reflected on your itinerary at ViewTrip.com (Note that anyone else who knows your last name and record locator can also see your itinerary. Your record locator is printed on most tickets and itineraries, and some baggage tags. If you want to keep your itinerary private, don't let other people see any of your tickets or other documents with your record locator, in check-in lines or elsewhere.)

Special service requests

If you have special service requests (special meals, pre-reserved seats, etc.), make these requests directly with the airlines once you have received your tickets, and verify them when you reconfirm each flight. Some airlines assign seats only at check-in on the day of the flight. Seat assignments and special meals are never guaranteed, even when specific meal types or seats have been reserved. Airlines can and do change the model or type of aircraft used on a flight, or the available special meals, and/or reassign seats, at any time and for any reason.

Frequent flyer programs

If you want to get credit for a flight in a frequent flyer program, advise the airline of your frequent flyer number, and the program in which you want credit, when you reconfirm your flight. Show your frequent flyer program membership card, exactly matching the name you gave us when you made your reservations, when you check in. Save your boarding pass and the "passenger receipt" coupon of your tickets until you see the mileage credited on your frequent flyer program statement. If you don't receive credit, make a claim with the frequent flyer program.

Airlines can and do change frequent flyer mileage credit rules frequently, without notice to travel agents, even after tickets are issued. Your eligibility, or not, will depend on the rules in effect at the time of travel, which are impossible for AirTreks to foresee. We will tell you to the best of our knowledge whether tickets are eligible for frequent flyer mileage credit under the rules in effect at the time of sale, but that is only informational. If you have any doubt, or want to be sure, consult the frequent flyer program directly before you buy your tickets. AirTreks cannot and does not guarantee that travel on any particular tickets will earn credit in any particular frequent flyer program.

Flight cancellations

If a flight is canceled by the airline, ask the airline to rebook you or "accommodate" you on their next flight to the same destination on which space is available, or to "endorse" your ticket to another airline. The airline is required to accommodate you, endorse your ticket, or refund the price of that portion of your tickets. Arrangements for alternate transportation on your original tickets can only be made by the airline on which you are ticketed, not by AirTreks or another airline.

If you have to wait overnight or longer for an available flight, ask the airline to provide accommodations, food, phone calls to make alternate arrangements, and any other incidental expenses necessitated by the delay. Depending on local rules and the reasons for the flight cancellation, the airline may be required to provide for you until they can arrange alternate transportation for you to your ticketed destination. Try to get services or vouchers, not a promise of reimbursement; don't count on getting reimbursed for your out-of-pocket expenses without a written promise on airline letterhead, with a legible signature. This is one of the reasons to have Travel Insurance in case the unexpected happens.

Discontinued service

If the airline discontinues service on a route, ask the airline to "endorse" your ticket to another airline that serves your destination. They are required either to "endorse" your ticket to another airline willing to transport you, or to refund the price of that portion of your ticket. Since a refund of the price of a discounted ticket is rarely sufficient to cover the cost of a new ticket on another airline, it is almost always better to get the airline to arrange alternate transportation -- even on a less convenient route -- than to get a refund.

Changing flight dates and times

If you want to make changes to dates or times of flights, you can generally do so directly with the airline on which you are scheduled to fly, by phone or in person. Some dates and flights cannot be changed, can be changed only for a fee, or can be changed only through AirTreks.com, not through the airline. Check with us before trying to make changes if you have any questions about the rules for changing specific flights.

Making contact

If the airline has no local office where you are, or you have difficulty making changes or dealing with the airline, contact us directly for assistance. Never rely on what one airline says about changes, refunds, penalties, etc. for tickets on another airline, or on what one travel agency says about tickets issued by us or any other travel agency.

Changing destinations, airlines, or routing

If you want to change your destinations, route, or airlines, contact us for advice and assistance BEFORE buying any new tickets or paying for changes. Most changes of destinations, routes, or airlines will involve having tickets reissued and/or buying additional tickets.

Airline refunds

If you are promised a refund, get it in writing on airline letterhead, with a legible signature of an airline "station manager". Airline staff members often are unfamiliar with the rules of discounted tickets, and often mistakenly advise travelers that tickets will be refundable, when they are not. Never assume that tickets are refundable. Most tickets we sell are NOT refundable. If your tickets are refundable, you must cancel your reservations before your scheduled flight to qualify for any refund. If you fail to cancel your reservations and "no-show" for a flight, you usually forfeit any possibility of even a partial refund. AirTreks will refund to you any amount we receive back from the airlines or our suppliers, less our refund processing fee of 30% of the amount received or US$50 per ticket, whichever is greater.

Unused tickets

If you won't be able to use some of your tickets, contact us for information on whether they might qualify for a refund, and procedures for submitting unused tickets for refund.

Don't worry!

We provide this information so you will know, "What do I do if...". Most travelers never have to worry about these issues. Have fun and have a wonderful trip!