§ 525. Prohibited practices. 1. It shall be unlawful for a provider of travel services to communicate with a credit card issuer for the purpose of reserving or setting aside any specified amount of credit in a consumer's credit card account to ensure payment for services to be rendered unless prior to such communication the provider of travel services informs the consumer of the amount of credit which will be requested to be reserved or set aside and obtains the consumer's consent to the reservation or set aside of such amount.

2. It shall be unlawful for a provider of travel services to communicate with a credit card issuer for the purpose of reserving or setting aside an amount of credit in a consumer's credit card account in excess of the actual, agreed upon cost of the services contracted for by the consumer and provider of travel services unless, prior to such communication, the provider of travel services informs the consumer in writing of the amount of credit which will be requested to be reserved or set aside and obtains the consumer's written consent to the reservation or set aside of such amount.

3. It shall be unlawful for any provider of travel services, after it has determined the final charges for the travel services furnished to a consumer, to fail to promptly communicate with a credit card issuer to request the release of any amount of credit previously reserved or set aside by it in the consumer's credit card account which is in excess by more than twenty-five dollars of the charges actually billed.

4. It shall be unlawful for any provider of travel services to impose, as a result of the use of a credit card, a surcharge on a travel agent acting as an agent of such provider of travel services where, on behalf of a holder of a credit card, as defined in section five hundred eleven of this chapter, such travel agent facilitates the holder's use of a credit card in lieu of payment by cash, check or similar means.