Cut-Rate Camelots

"It's going to create a new kind of vacationer," says a Midwestern tour operator. Agrees a Boston holiday wholesaler: "This is the future of travel for the masses." The development that has injected such enthusiasm into the recession-hit tourist business is known in industry jabberwocky as O.T.C., meaning one-stop inclusive tour charter. For the tourist, the initials could well stand for OffToCamelot.

O.T.C. represents a long-sought liberalization of the Civil Aeronautics Board's charter rules--as a CAB spokesman puts it, "the most significant step the agency has ever taken in regard to charter transportation." The change, approved in September, allows the vacationer to choose between dozens of destinations at a price that includes air fare, hotel room, ground transport, taxes and tips. And no longer does the traveler have to belong to a so-called affinity group, such as a club or union, to qualify for the reduced rates. The new package is often less than the price of a scheduled-airline ticket. For example, a one-week O.T.C. Hawaii vacation with "economy" accommodations, organized by Crimson Travel of Cambridge, Mass., costs as little as $379; by contrast, a round-trip economy ticket on a scheduled flight costs $528. A traveler from New York can spend eight days and seven nights in London for a cut-rate $362; the lowest unrestricted air fare alone is currently $584. San Francisco's Creative World Travel wraps up 14 days and nights in Hong Kong for $699 ($799 from the East Coast), at least $575 off the regular ticket. Many packages also include some meals, a cocktail party or two, theater tickets and sightseeing.

The wholesaler who organizes the tour gets a discount on the air fare because the plane will presumably be around 80% full; airlines have to charge more on regular flights because they are on average half-filled and must take off on schedule. The disadvantage of O.T.C.s is that the traveler must book well in advance; 15 days for North America, Mexico and the Caribbean; 30 days for all other destinations. Moreover, he forfeits his payment if he cancels after a certain period (though low-cost insurance is available to cover the loss if he drops out). Worse, if the packager cannot sign up enough customers he may cancel the flight 15 or 30 days in advance; if so, the passenger's payment must be refunded.

In their enthusiasm for the new deals, tour operators have filed applications with the CAB for some 4,500 separate flights. "It remains to be seen how many of these get off the ground," warns one travel executive, recalling some of the fly-by-night charter operators of the late 1940s. Thus prospective vacationers are well advised to check into the wholesaler responsible for the tour and even to make sure that they are booked into reputable hotels (most tours offer a choice).

Direct Flights. Charter flights are notorious for late takeoffs and other delays. New Yorkers Levi and Jeane Pace, who are veteran travelers, recently visited the Bahamas on an O.T.C. and found it "very well-organized." Their only gripe--checkout time at their hotel was noon and their plane did not leave until 6:30 p.m. Increasingly, tourists will be able to fly on major airlines rather than lesser-known charter outfits.

Among the major beneficiaries of O.T.C.s will be people who live in heartland areas that have hitherto had few or no direct flights overseas. A scheduled flight from Omaha to Trinidad, for example, can take 16 hours, with stopovers in Chicago, Miami, San Juan, Kingston and often Barbados. An O.T.C. trip cuts it to four hours--in addition to the savings in cash. Milwaukee's Odyssey Travel is chartering Pan Am flights nonstop to the Caribbean from Des Moines, Indianapolis, St. Louis and other Midwestern cities. Marvin Smith, vice president of Boston's American International Travel Service Inc., estimates that more than 30% of O.T.C. tourists have rarely strayed more than 500 miles from home and have never taken a vacation by air before. As Jens Jurgen, a Long Island travel writer, observes, "This is the year of the Bicentennial--and it will be a revolutionary year in American travel as well."

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