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The title of this book alone is a revelation. Who knew travelers even had rights? More than that,the concept of fair treatment and full value for people in transit seems foreign.

Still, attorney Alexander Anolik and co-author John K. Hawks of the Consumer Travel Rights Center have put together a fact-filled single volume encyclopedia of your rights in most travel situations.

While it's difficult for those of us who are civilians to imagine a passion for tort law, such a passion is present here. Attorney Anolik is genuinely outraged when someone is cheated or pressured or has their bait switched.

Traveler's tend to think of their trip as a vacation, business, or adventure, but almost every aspect of travel has contractual implications. You've paid your hard-earned cash for a trip to Hawaii, if the plane lands in Colton it's more than a disappointment or an esthetic jarring, it's a violation of a contract, and there is something that can be done about it.

The book is divided into sections dealing with various aspects of travel. There are chapters on air travel, rental cars, hotels, cruises, tours and travel agents as well as on travel scams and discrimination by vendors.

Each chapter contains every legal issue the imaginative Mr. Anolik can come up with in the specific area and ends with a check list for dealing with that specific type of seller.

One appendix to the chapter on air travel, for instance, lists various airlines and their policies in regards baggage and check-in which, of course vary greatly from airline to airline.

The authors seem to realize that leafing through what amounts to a book on tort law is not all that interesting. The text is enlivened by the occasional appearance of boxed "Travel Tips". In the section on cruise lines it's advised that the consumer always pay for cruises with a credit card. By using the card, the traveler can get his money back if the cuise line goes out of business. If you've sent them a check, you are likely out of luck.

Anolik and Hawks have a very useful section on travel scams. It's easy to sit in your living room and feel you'd never be caught up in a con game, but the truth is these operations wouldn't exist if no one ever fell for them.

The detailed description of various scams as well as 'red flags' to be aware of could well save any reader the cost of a ruined vacation. There is, for instance, the coupon scam which has a couple of variants.

The consumer (read: "victim") receives an embossed and flowery piece in the mail describing a wonderful vacation at a deep discount. To redeem this scroll, they have to call an '800' number where they reach telemarketers highly skilled in separating them from their money. This essentially performs the telemarketers job for them: instead of making hundreds of cold calls looking for suckers, people self-select for gullibility.

One variant on this is to tell the customer that they've been chosen to receive a trip at some stunningly low price without mentioning the hidden costs and fees that drive the price up to or beyond what it would have cost through the neighborhood travel agent.

Although theft is not a trade that requires a great deal of intellect, these folks are clever and they do know the law. More and more consumers do attempt to protect themselves by using a credit card. The thieves now hold the order for sixty days so that the consumer has passed the federally mandated period for submitting a disputed charge to the card company.

Also noted is the difference between debit and credit cards. Debit cards do not have the same charge back protections as credit cards in addition to which you've just handed over all your banking information to criminals.

There is a ten item check list that will help the consumer separate the legitimate from the illegitimate solicitors. Among the things to look for are whether the caller identifies themselves, gives the reason for the call, tells the consumer the total price for the package offered, gives the odds if it's a contest and a toll-free number to call for all contest rules. If this information is not forthcoming, hang up.

So, while not a light evening's read, or something you might want to take to the beach, this is the sort of handy reference guide that is worth having to check up on the traveler's rights before any encounter with any sort of travel entity from hotels to cruise lines to travel agents.

Mr. Anolik's resources do not end with this book. He maintains a website: www.travellaw.com to further aid the traveler and the travel industry. On the site are numerous freebies for travelers, agents, and journalists.

For travelers there are travel tips about dealing with airlines, the TSA and rental car agencies. For travel agents there are free forms to use in order to clearly define responsibilities and liabilites.

For journalists there are many television, radio and print archives highlighting issues in travel law. The site is open, friendly and easy to navigate. Mr. Anolik invites email and FAXed inquiries. As was noted above Mr. Anolik has a passion for righting wrongs, he seems to be that rarest of all breeds: the honest, caring attorney.

Finally, this writer was fortunate enough to hear Mr. Anolik speak at the LA Times Travel Show several weeks ago. When his time ran out before questions from the audience did he invited all interested parties to a side room where he answered questions until there were no more. In an age where attorneys charge by the quarter hour Mr. Anolik's generosity with both his time and his expertise is very refreshing.

Web: http://www.travellaw.com

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