(815 ILCS 420/1) (from Ch. 121 1/2, par. 1851) Sec. 1. Short title. This Act shall be known and may be cited as the Travel Promotion Consumer Protection Act. (Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)
(815 ILCS 420/2) (from Ch. 121 1/2, par. 1852) Sec. 2. Definitions. (a) "Travel promoter" means a person, including a tour operator, who sells, provides, furnishes, contracts for, arranges or advertises that he or she will arrange wholesale or retail transportation by air, land, sea or navigable stream, either separately or in conjunction with other services. "Travel promoter" does not include (1) an air carrier; (2) a sea carrier; (3) an officially appointed agent of an air carrier who is a member in good standing of the Airline Reporting Corporation; (4) a travel promoter who has in force $1,000,000 or more of liability insurance coverage for professional errors and omissions and a surety bond or equivalent surety in the amount of $100,000 or more for the benefit of consumers in the event of a bankruptcy on the part of the travel promoter; or (5) a riverboat subject to regulation under the Illinois Gambling Act. (b) "Advertise" means to make any representation in the solicitation of passengers and includes communication with other members of the same partnership, corporation, joint venture, association, organization, group or other entity. (c) "Passenger" means a person on whose behalf money or other consideration has been given or is to be given to another, including another member of the same partnership, corporation, joint venture, association, organization, group or other entity, for travel. (d) "Ticket or voucher" means a writing or combination of writings which is itself good and sufficient to obtain transportation and other services for which the passenger has contracted. (Source: P.A. 101-31, eff. 6-28-19.)
(815 ILCS 420/3) (from Ch. 121 1/2, par. 1853) Sec. 3. A travel promoter shall not advertise that air or sea transportation is or may be available unless he has, prior to such advertisement, contracted for the transportation advertised with an air or sea carrier. (Source: P.A. 85-995.)
(815 ILCS 420/4) (from Ch. 121 1/2, par. 1854) Sec. 4. A travel promoter shall not receive money or other valuable consideration in payment for air or sea transportation or any other services offered by the travel promoter in conjunction with such transportation unless, at the time of such receipt, the travel promoter furnishes to the person making such payment a written statement clearly and conspicuously setting forth the following information: (a) the name, business address and telephone number of the travel promoter; (b) the amount paid, the date of payment, the purpose of the payment and an itemized statement of the balance due, if any; (c) the location and number of the trust account required by Section 6 of this Act; (d) the name of the carrier with which the travel promoter has contracted to provide the transportation, the type of equipment to be used, and the date, time and place of each departure; (e) a detailed description of any other services provided in conjunction with the transportation; (f) the conditions, if any, upon which the contract between the travel promoter and the passenger may be canceled, and the rights and obligations of all parties in the event of such cancellation; (g) the conditions, if any, upon which the contract between the travel promoter and the carrier or other service provider may be canceled, and the right and obligations of all parties in the event of such cancellation; (h) a statement, in eight point boldface type, that upon cancellation of the transportation through no fault of the passenger, all sums paid to the travel promoter for services not performed in accordance with the contract between the travel promoter and the passenger will be, unless the passenger otherwise advises the travel promoter in writing, promptly refunded by the travel promoter to the passenger or the party who contracted on behalf of the passenger. (Source: P.A. 85-995.)
(815 ILCS 420/5) (from Ch. 121 1/2, par. 1855) Sec. 5. (a) In the event the transportation contracted for is canceled through no fault of the passenger, and unless the passenger otherwise advises the travel promoter in writing, the travel promoter shall promptly return to the passenger all money paid for services not performed and goods not delivered in accordance with the contract. (b) Any misrepresentation with regard to the date, time and place of any departure or arrival, the type of aircraft, ship or other mode of transportation, or other material element of the contract shall be deemed to be a cancellation necessitating the refund required by this Section. (Source: P.A. 85-995.)
(815 ILCS 420/6) (from Ch. 121 1/2, par. 1856) Sec. 6. (a) A travel promoter shall deposit 90 percent of all sums received, including but not limited to those made by cash, credit card or any other method of payment, for air or sea transportation or any other services or goods offered by the travel promoter in conjunction with that transportation, directly into a trust account in a federally insured bank or savings and loan association. (b) The trust required by this Section shall be created and maintained for the benefit of the persons paying money to the travel promoter. The travel promoter shall not in any manner encumber the corpus of such account and shall not withdraw money therefrom except: (1) in partial or full payment for the goods or services contracted for by the passengers to the carrier or person providing the other goods or services offered by the travel promoter, or (2) to make the refunds as required by this Act or provided for by written contract between the travel promoter and passengers. This Section shall not prevent the withdrawal from the trust account of any interest earned and credited to the trust account for the sole benefit of the travel promoter, after all goods and services have been provided as contracted for, or the withdrawal at that time of any other sums on deposit in that account. (Source: P.A. 85-995.)
(815 ILCS 420/7) (from Ch. 121 1/2, par. 1857) Sec. 7. Violation of any of the provisions of this Act is an unlawful practice pursuant to Section 2Z of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. All remedies, penalties and authority granted to the Attorney General by that Act shall be available to the Attorney General for the enforcement of this Act. In any action brought by the Attorney General to enforce this Act, the court may order that persons who incurred actual damages be awarded the amount at which actual damages are assessed. (Source: P.A. 92-16, eff. 6-28-01.)