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Vantage Travel Name to Be Retired, Former Customers Unhappy with New Owners

Photo: Shutterstock.com / Stock Studio 4477

Earlier this month, Pacific Travel Partners, a subsidiary of Australia-based Aurora Expeditions, emerged as the winning bidder to purchase assets from Vantage Travel. At the time it was unclear, whether the company planned to continue operating under the Vantage Travel name or offer the same products.

In a media statement Pacific Travel Partners has now disclosed that it plans to "trade under a new business name."

While details of the new company are still being worked out, previous Vantage clients who paid for but did not receive services (or a refund), can use their "credits" (100% of what they lost) for future travel. However, they may only use credits to pay for up to 50% of each Aurora voyage booked, based on current published brochure pricing. (Full terms and conditions associated with passenger credits are being communicated to affected clients "as soon as possible.")

A team of customer service agents will be put in place to deal with enquiries from affected clients.

Past customers express disappointment, Aurora responds In the meantime, a group of affected customers have expressed their concern and disappointment with the sale.

"In a recent survey, more than 300 customers indicated that the 'sweetened' sales offer from Aurora Expeditions to purchase the bankrupt Vantage Travel Services is not a sweet deal at all," the group wrote in an open letter to "Media and Travel Trade."

According to the poll, 61% of respondents were displeased and only 2% were pleased. Another 22% indicated that Aurora cruise options were either well out of their price range or were expeditions that exceeded their physical capabilities.

"So much of Vantage business was in river cruises and land expeditions, a segment of business that is extremely limited in Aurora's portfolio," said Robert Hert, who represents nearly 1,000 ex-customers in a Facebook group. "Aurora's pricey offerings don't fit much of Vantage's aging customer profile."

The group asked Pacific Travel Partners and Aurora Expeditions to "generate better options including the opportunity to sell the credits or expand their offerings to better match Vantage's former itineraries."

In response to their request, a spokesperson for Aurora told Travel Market Report, "We are allowing Vantage customers up to five years to use their existing travel credits, at which time they will have the opportunity to apply those to the new company and the new brand under Aurora. We are planning to develop itineraries in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Middle East, and the British Isles. More developments on what these new itineraries will include will be announced when finalized."

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Why would anyone want to buy Vantage Travel? There are some good reasons.

After months of punishing publicity over canceled trips and long-delayed refunds, Vantage Travel, the Boston-based cruise line company, confirmed last week that it was up for sale.

It was a stunning revelation for a company that has been a travel mainstay in Boston for 40 years, prompted by the leak of a purported internal memo saying scheduled trips were suspended “in light of our impending transaction.”

Vantage apparently decided it was time to get what it could in a sale and let new owners step in.

But who would buy such a battered company?

One hint may be found in the short statement the company released under pressure about its ongoing negotiations for a sale.

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“Our primary goal,” it said of the sale, “is to obtain the best outcome for our customers.”

That may seem odd and off-putting from a company that dragged its feet on refunding potentially millions of dollars for trips canceled during the pandemic and since.

But the most valuable thing Vantage may have is the goodwill of loyal customers — or at least what’s left of it, according to marketing experts.

“Yes, it’s a badly tarnished brand at the moment,” said Tobe Berkovitz, a veteran media consultant and professor emeritus at Boston University. “But it has a great customer base that could be extremely valuable to the right buyer.”

Berkovitz said the “number one thing for the buyer to do is to make good on refunds to begin regaining trust. If you don’t do that, there’s no hope.”

A company pledging to pay off the refunds “could sweep in and buy Vantage” at a steep discount, he said.

Vantage declined comment, citing “confidentiality provisions governing our negotiations.”

Besides a loyal customer base, Vantage has other valuable assets, including long-term leases on ships and operational expertise, but its brand, built up over decades, may be the most valuable, according to Andrew Smith, a marketing professor at Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Business.

“While the company’s reputation may have lost some of its gleam, it can be rehabilitated by a new owner who can attribute past failings to the old ownership group,” Smith said.

But to keep existing customers and add new ones would require “consistently high-quality service,” he said.

“If a new owner communicates and demonstrates that the recent issues are in the past, they can earn back customer trust over time,” said.

Typically, in this type of crisis, “customers want apologies, solutions, and explanations,” Smith said. A buyer trying to turn things around “needs the financial and operational capacity” to make the necessary changes, he said.

Andrew Wilson, also a marketing professor at Sawyer Business School, said the Vantage meltdown probably led the current owner to put the company up for sale because continuing damage to its brand could at some point “become beyond repair.”

From a buyer’s point of view, this “is an opportunity to acquire new customers at a discount, and the very fact of the firm changing hands is the beginning of a solution,” he said.

Wilson said competition for customers in the high-end travel market is intense. “Existing relationships with (prospective travelers) is extremely valuable,” he said.

Vantage, founded in 1983 by Hank Lewis, is small in comparison to such industry behemoths as Carnival and Royal Caribbean, which operate enormous ships capable of carrying many thousands of travelers. Vantage’s most popular ships are outfitted for fewer than 180 passengers, and its ocean and river cruises and land expeditions emphasize cultural exploration for “discerning travelers,” according to its website. It also caters to women traveling solo.

Some Vantage customers have repeatedly traveled with the company for decades, including the Cape Cod woman who contacted the Globe in April to complain that Vantage canceled her European river cruise two days before it was to begin. She said she had frequently traveled with Vantage and always had “a lovely time.”

In late 2021, Vantage marked a hopeful milestone when it celebrated with a champagne christening the launch of the $70 million Ocean Explorer in Boston Harbor. (One year later, it launched Ocean Explorer’s sister ship, Ocean Odyssey. Vantage has long-term leases on the ships.)

But the glitzy launch exposed another side of the Vantage story. It caught the attention of two local couples who had been fighting for about 18 months for $46,000 owed to them by Vantage for a canceled safari to Africa. (After the Globe asked questions , on their behalf, Vantage refunded the couples’ money.)

At about that time, Vantage also caught the attention of Christopher Elliott, whose nationally-syndicated “travel troubleshooting” column appears regularly in the Globe. He called Vantage “one of the most complained-about companies, according to our records.” Last summer, Vantage came under criticism for delayed refunds in the New York Times.

Meanwhile, more than 800 complaints have piled up at the office of Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell. That office has mediated on behalf of about 80 Massachusetts residents, recovering more than $1.2 million in refunds. (The office accepts complaints from out-of-state consumers but urges them to contact their own state’s attorney general for assistance.)

Most demands for refunds are for $10,000 or more, meaning Vantage likely owes millions of dollars based on the number of complaints filed with the attorney general’s office.

More than a dozen people have complained to the Globe in recent months about last-minute cancellations of trips long-planned and fully paid for.

When first asked about cancellations by the Globe in late April, Vantage disclosed it had experienced a “data security incident” and had hired a “leading national forensic firm” to investigate, though it did not explicitly link the cancellations to the security incident. (It later said no cancellations were linked to the incident.)

That data security incident knocked out the company’s website and call center, leaving many booked travelers unable to confirm their trips. Both were restored about a week later.

But more cancellations continued in May and into June.

The purported internal memo surfaced on June 2 on Consumer Rescue , a consumer advocacy website. Apparently sent to Vantage employees on June 1, it said the company had to postpone departures through the summer and had docked Ocean Explorer and Ocean Odyssey in Caen, France, “until we have a better idea of the timeline for restarting operations.”

Got a problem? Send your consumer issue to [email protected] . Follow him @spmurphyboston .

Vantage Offering 48 Unique Cruise Itineraries for 2023-24

• April 1, 2023

With a second expedition ship now in service, Vantage Deluxe World Travel is expanding its deployment footprint with 48 unique itineraries across both ships in 2023 and 2024.

In addition to more sailings in Antarctica and the Arctic, Vantage is adding new cruises in South America, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.

After debuting in late 2022, the Ocean Odyssey is spending the year sailing in Asia, the British Islands, the Mediterranean and Scandinavia. Unlike its sister ship, the Ocean Explorer, the new expedition vessel won’t explore any polar regions in 2023. As part of its inaugural season in Europe, the Ocean Odyssey is offering two 10-night cruises to the Adriatic on October 3 and October 13.

Sailing to Greece, Slovenia, Montenegro and Croatia, the itineraries include visits to Piraeus, Itea, Katakolon, Corfu, Kotor, Dubrovnik, Hvar, Sibenik, Pula, Rovinj and Koper.

The cruises are also highlighted by transits of the Corinth Canal in Greece. During the 2023-24 winter season, the Odyssey is also offering itineraries in Southeast Asia. On January 15, an 11-night voyage explores the Indonesian archipelago, with visits to the Belitung Islands,

Semarang, Madura, Benoa, Jimbaran Bay and more. In 2024, the 140-guest vessel is adding new destinations to its schedule, such as Morocco and the Canary Islands, and is also offering its first expedition cruises in Iceland. 

The Ocean Explorer, meanwhile, is offering more expedition sailings in 2023 and 2024, with new itineraries in Antarctica and the Arctic. In Antarctica, the ship sails shorter cruises from Ushuaia, known as the Antarctic Express Expedition.

Sailing roundtrip from Argentina, the seven-night voyage spends two full days in Antarctica and has fewer days at sea. New expeditions sailings in Central and South America have also been recently announced, with journeys visiting Argentina, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica, Chile and more.

One of the highlights of the tropical expedition program is the Amazon River. Four sailings are set to explore the river and the rainforest in 2023 and 2024. Sailing onboard the Ocean Explorer, the eight-night expeditions in the region offer opportunities for encounters with wildlife species, black-water rivers, floating villages and Indigenous communities.

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Welcome to Vantage Explorations’ Echoes of the Empires.For Italy aficionados, no trip to their favourite country is complete without a visit to its southern shores and time spent on the...

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Why would anyone want to buy Vantage Travel? There are some good reasons.

A fter months of punishing publicity over canceled trips and long-delayed refunds, Vantage Travel, the Boston-based cruise line company, confirmed last week that it was up for sale.

It was a stunning revelation for a company that has been a travel mainstay in Boston for 40 years, prompted by the leak of a purported internal memo saying scheduled trips were suspended “in light of our impending transaction.”

Vantage apparently decided it was time to get what it could in a sale and let new owners step in.

But who would buy such a battered company?

One hint may be found in the short statement the company released under pressure about its ongoing negotiations for a sale.

“Our primary goal,” it said of the sale, “is to obtain the best outcome for our customers.”

That may seem odd and off-putting from a company that dragged its feet on refunding potentially millions of dollars for trips canceled during the pandemic and since.

But the most valuable thing Vantage may have is the goodwill of loyal customers — or at least what’s left of it, according to marketing experts.

“Yes, it’s a badly tarnished brand at the moment,” said Tobe Berkovitz, a veteran media consultant and professor emeritus at Boston University. “But it has a great customer base that could be extremely valuable to the right buyer.”

Berkovitz said the “number one thing for the buyer to do is to make good on refunds to begin regaining trust. If you don’t do that, there’s no hope.”

A company pledging to pay off the refunds “could sweep in and buy Vantage” at a steep discount, he said.

Vantage declined comment, citing “confidentiality provisions governing our negotiations.”

Besides a loyal customer base, Vantage has other valuable assets, including long-term leases on ships and operational expertise, but its brand, built up over decades, may be the most valuable, according to Andrew Smith, a marketing professor at Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Business.

“While the company’s reputation may have lost some of its gleam, it can be rehabilitated by a new owner who can attribute past failings to the old ownership group,” Smith said.

But to keep existing customers and add new ones would require “consistently high-quality service,” he said.

“If a new owner communicates and demonstrates that the recent issues are in the past, they can earn back customer trust over time,” said.

Typically, in this type of crisis, “customers want apologies, solutions, and explanations,” Smith said. A buyer trying to turn things around “needs the financial and operational capacity” to make the necessary changes, he said.

Andrew Wilson, also a marketing professor at Sawyer Business School, said the Vantage meltdown probably led the current owner to put the company up for sale because continuing damage to its brand could at some point “become beyond repair.”

From a buyer’s point of view, this “is an opportunity to acquire new customers at a discount, and the very fact of the firm changing hands is the beginning of a solution,” he said.

Wilson said competition for customers in the high-end travel market is intense. “Existing relationships with (prospective travelers) is extremely valuable,” he said.

Vantage, founded in 1983 by Hank Lewis, is small in comparison to such industry behemoths as Carnival and Royal Caribbean, which operate enormous ships capable of carrying many thousands of travelers. Vantage’s most popular ships are outfitted for fewer than 180 passengers, and its ocean and river cruises and land expeditions emphasize cultural exploration for “discerning travelers,” according to its website. It also caters to women traveling solo.

Some Vantage customers have repeatedly traveled with the company for decades, including the Cape Cod woman who contacted the Globe in April to complain that Vantage canceled her European river cruise two days before it was to begin. She said she had frequently traveled with Vantage and always had “a lovely time.”

In late 2021, Vantage marked a hopeful milestone when it celebrated with a champagne christening the launch of the $70 million Ocean Explorer in Boston Harbor. (One year later, it launched Ocean Explorer’s sister ship, Ocean Odyssey. Vantage has long-term leases on the ships.)

But the glitzy launch exposed another side of the Vantage story. It caught the attention of two local couples who had been fighting for about 18 months for $46,000 owed to them by Vantage for a canceled safari to Africa. (After the Globe asked questions , on their behalf, Vantage refunded the couples’ money.)

At about that time, Vantage also caught the attention of Christopher Elliott, whose nationally-syndicated “travel troubleshooting” column appears regularly in the Globe. He called Vantage “one of the most complained-about companies, according to our records.” Last summer, Vantage came under criticism for delayed refunds in the New York Times.

Meanwhile, more than 800 complaints have piled up at the office of Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell. That office has mediated on behalf of about 80 Massachusetts residents, recovering more than $1.2 million in refunds. (The office accepts complaints from out-of-state consumers but urges them to contact their own state’s attorney general for assistance.)

Most demands for refunds are for $10,000 or more, meaning Vantage likely owes millions of dollars based on the number of complaints filed with the attorney general’s office.

More than a dozen people have complained to the Globe in recent months about last-minute cancellations of trips long-planned and fully paid for.

When first asked about cancellations by the Globe in late April, Vantage disclosed it had experienced a “data security incident” and had hired a “leading national forensic firm” to investigate, though it did not explicitly link the cancellations to the security incident. (It later said no cancellations were linked to the incident.)

That data security incident knocked out the company’s website and call center, leaving many booked travelers unable to confirm their trips. Both were restored about a week later.

But more cancellations continued in May and into June.

The purported internal memo surfaced on June 2 on Consumer Rescue , a consumer advocacy website. Apparently sent to Vantage employees on June 1, it said the company had to postpone departures through the summer and had docked Ocean Explorer and Ocean Odyssey in Caen, France, “until we have a better idea of the timeline for restarting operations.”

Welcome to Consumer Rescue

Fiascos and Fixes

What Vantage Travel customers need to know before rejecting their credits

Michelle Couch-Friedman

Consumer reporter and ombudsman

January 21, 2024

Confusion remains high for the former customers of the bankrupt tour operator Vantage Deluxe World Travel. The legalese in each notification from the bankruptcy court invariably brings a new wave of bewilderment for those unsecured creditors. 

That confusion has now reached a fever pitch. In the past month, hundreds of Vantage Travel customers have formally “opted out” of the only sure thing they’ll receive from the bankruptcy: future travel credits provided by Aurora Expeditions.

This sudden influx of requests to reject those travel credits is rooted in a general misunderstanding of what opting out actually means in this situation.

Throughout the past year, my team at Consumer Rescue has been on a mission to provide factual information and support to the victims of Vantage Travel’s bankruptcy. 

We’ve fielded thousands of questions, attended nearly every bankruptcy hearing, reviewed hundreds of documents, investigated odd challenges to valid credit card disputes , and directly facilitated the return of hundreds of thousands of dollars to former customers of Vantage Deluxe World Travel. 

As a result, I can say it’s absolutely ill-advised for former customers to give up their travel credits right now. There is no benefit to anyone to reject what was awarded to them via the bankruptcy proceedings thus far.

Let me explain.

What did Vantage Travel customers get out of the bankruptcy?

To understand what’s going on today, you have to understand what’s already happened. For those unfamiliar with the Vantage Travel bankruptcy, here is a quick recap.

When Vantage Travel went bankrupt , it owed nearly 10,000 customers refunds and/or travel protection payments . The grand total owed? A stunning $108 million. That’s money that, in all likelihood, is gone and will never be recovered. 

However, there was a small light at the end of the bankruptcy tunnel for Vantage Travel customers.

In August, Pacific Travel Partners won the bid in bankruptcy court to purchase the remnants of Vantage Travel. 

Of particular value to Aurora Expeditions, the parent company of the newly formed Pacific Travel, was Vantage’s customer list. As per the sale agreement, Vantage Travel customers will receive future travel credits equal to the value of the refund owed to them at the time of the bankruptcy.

Those future travel credits can be used, with limitations as outlined in the sale agreement approved by the bankruptcy court. 

Pacific Travel Partners bought the remnants of Vantage Deluxe World Travel in bankruptcy court

You can read the specific details of Pacific Travel’s purchase of the remnants of Vantage Travel in my report . But here’s the abbreviated summary:

• The travel credits, issued by Aurora Expeditions, are equal to 100 percent of what Vantage Travel owed to each customer.
• The expiration date on the travel credits is Nov. 30, 2028.
• The credits can be used to pay for up to 50 percent of the cost of a non-discounted ocean cruise with Aurora Expeditions or with Pacific Travel (which is operating as Vantage Explorations ).
• Although there are no river cruises available today, these are planned for the future. Credits can be used to pay for up to 20 percent of the cost of these trips. 
• At this time, Vantage Explorations has added some new “trekking” adventures to the line up. Vantage Travel customers can use their credits to pay for up to 20 percent of the cost of these tours.
• Customers can continue to redeem their credits as per the agreement until the credits are exhausted or expired.
• These credits are transferable. That is to say, they can be given away to friends and family, but they can’t be sold. 
• Under no circumstances will these credits be converted to a cash refund. 

Vantage Travel customers hoped for a refund

As far as bankruptcy outcomes go for consumers, this one is considered better than most. In fact, the original bidder for the customer list of Vantage Travel intended only to provide former customers a one time opportunity to pay for up to 20 percent of a future journey with credits. As I discussed with Jason Law at Boston 25 last August , the final sale agreement is a decidedly better deal than was first expected for Vantage customers.

But, of course, every Vantage customer was hoping to receive a full cash refund or a replacement trip at no additional cost. 

Logically, that would be fair. Unfortunately, that isn’t how bankruptcy works.

Vantage Deluxe World Travel no longer exists and there isn’t any money to provide refunds to customers.

It has been very hard for Vantage Travel customers to come to terms with the harsh reality of the situation. The bankrupt tour operator owes secured and unsecured creditors (customers) nearly $170 million. There is no money to pay that tab. If there was, Vantage wouldn’t have gone out of business in the first place. 

Further, Aurora Expeditions is not affiliated with Vantage Travel and did not agree to take on its $170 million debt. 

But despite this fact, on nearly a daily basis, I receive requests from Vantage Travel customers asking how they can choose a refund instead of credits. 

The blunt answer is: You can’t. 

It seemed we were making progress getting that message across to the former customers… until last month. 

That’s when a new wrinkle was added to this consumer catastrophe and reignited the flame of confusion.

Will a Consumer Deposit Claim lead to a refund for Vantage Travel customers?

At the end of December, Vantage Travel claimants received a notice from the Bankruptcy Court. It informed them of the Court’s approval of the company’s liquidation plan.  That notice also provided customers with an address where they could inform the Creditor Trustee that they had decided to waive the travel credit and take a distribution under the plan.

To Former Customers of the Debtor: The debtor has previously notified you of your eligibility to utilize the Travel Credit provided by Pacific Travel Partners, Inc (“Pacific”). The Plan provides that customers who accept the Travel Credit will waive any distribution under the Plan and the Creditor Trust (as defined in the Plan), and the amount of your claim will be reduced by the amount of the Travel Credit that has been used or remains subject to your use. Information on the distributions under the Plan and the Creditor Trust was set forth in the Disclosure Statement previously sent to you. A copy of the Disclosure Statement is also on the Stretto website maintained for the Debtor’s Chapter 11 case. U.S. Bankruptcy Court to former customers of Vantage Deluxe World Travel

This wording led many recipients to erroneously assume they were now in line for a cash “distribution.” That is as long as they waived their rights to their travel credits.  

So that’s exactly what hundreds of former Vantage Travel customers immediately did in their confusion.

What does this notice really mean?

As a consumer advocate and reporter, I’ve followed the unraveling of Vantage Travel for years –and reported on the situation to many media outlets . I’m not unfamiliar with legal jargon and I thought I had a firm grasp of all the details of the bankruptcy proceedings. But this blurb confused even me. When I started receiving excited emails from Vantage customers who hoped I could interpret it, I couldn’t.

So I went to the Debtor’s attorney, Michael Goldberg and the Trustee of the bankruptcy estate, Stephen Gray, for clarification. 

What follows is a summary (in layman’s terms) of my interview via Zoom with Mr. Goldberg and Mr. Gray. We discussed the details of the priority claims and what opting out really means to Vantage Travel customers.

Note: For the sake of clarity: The legal counsel of both the Debtor and the Trustee have reviewed and fact-checked the next sections.

Who qualifies for a priority claim in this bankruptcy?

At the end of last year, Judge Bostwick approved an order that would possibly provide some limited refunds to Vantage Travel customers who had filed “Priority Claims.” But there are multiple stipulations and limitations to this “Consumer Deposit Claim” order. Here are the bullet point takeaways:

• To be eligible, a Vantage customer must have already filed a 410 Notice of Claim with the bankruptcy court, expressly claiming priority treatment. 
• Legally, the cap on a priority claim is $3,350. But in the vast majority of cases the deposit amount required by Vantage was only $500 or $1,000 per customer. The only dollar figure the Court will consider as a priority claim in this bankruptcy case, is the initial deposit.
• Customers who paid for their travel arrangements in full do not qualify for a priority claim.
• The only situation in which Vantage customers are entitled to a priority claim is where they made only an initial deposit, but did not prepay for the trip in full. For example, if a customer’s trip cost $40,000 and they made an initial deposit of $500 and then subsequently paid the remaining balance of $39,500, they would have no priority claim for any amount. 
•  All Vantage Travel customers who timely filed a priority claim have until June 30, 2025 to determine whether they should opt out or keep their credits. 
•  It is highly unlikely that there will be  any cash distribution on claims before the third quarter of 2025.

Where will the money come from to pay priority claims?

Oh, one last critical part of the above equation: There is currently no money to distribute. The only way any priority claims will be processed is if Mr. Gray, the trustee, can recover money to do so.

Some of those funds will come from Vantage’s remaining assets – for example, funds currently being held in reserve by the company’s credit card processors and bank, or insurance claims.  Some recoveries may depend on Mr. Gray bringing litigation, which has an uncertain outcome. But the bottom line is that the recovery process will need more time before payments to customers can be determined. 

How a Vantage Travel customer can check if they qualify for a Priority Claim

If you’re unsure if you filed a priority claim or if you qualify, here’s how to quickly find out:

• Did you pay off your trip in full? If you did, then you don’t qualify and you don’t need to go to the next step.
• Go to the Vantage Travel claims page in Stretto .
• In the search field, type in your last name and find your 410 Form.
• Click on the plus sign and see if there is a dollar amount in the priority claim field. If there isn’t then you don’t qualify for priority claim status. 

The vast majority of the hundreds of Vantage customers who opted out of thousands and thousands of dollars in travel credits in the past several weeks do not qualify for a priority claim. Which leads me to believe that most of those people opted-out because they didn’t understand the notice.

The reality is that the number of Vantage customers who qualify as a priority claimant is miniscule. In fact, I recently randomly checked over 100 claims in Stretto and not even one person qualified.

What is the real value of the travel credits?

There is another segment of Vantage Travel customers who are opting out because they misunderstand the value of their credits. Too many times to count, I’ve found posts in our private Facebook group , received emails or phone calls from customers with sizable credits who tell me they’re “worthless.”

This almost always stems from the customer’s misunderstanding as to how they can spend their credits. This confusion leads to a poorly constructed math equation.

To determine whether you want to keep or reject your travel credits, it is crucial to “do the math,” correctly .  

A frequent misunderstanding among Vantage customers is that they can only spend 50 percent of their credits on each trip. If that were true, it would make it quite difficult to get any real value out of these credits. 

But that isn’t the case.

Pay for up to half your cruise with travel credits

Vantage Travel customers can use credits to pay for up to 50 percent of the cost of an ocean cruise with Aurora Expeditions or Vantage Explorations. That means if they’ve got $10,000 in credits, they can spend it all on one trip as long as the base cost is more than $20,000.

Of course, if you’ve got a very low value travel credit, you may not find any real benefit to spending it with the new company. 

The other frequent complaint I receive is that Aurora Expeditions only takes passengers to cold weather climates.

While that is historically true, the cruise line is currently expanding their geographical coverage. The company is adding destinations to their schedules via Vantage Explorations with more itineraries on the way. You can review all the newest cruises which expand into warm weather climates in Europe and Latin America on the Vantage Explorations website.

Vantage Explorations is a brand new company, just launching. And the good news is that those credits are good for 5 years. That will give Vantage Explorations plenty of time to develop into a tour operator more closely aligned with the former company in terms of trips. 

And don’t forget, you can give those travel credits away as gifts as well.

The bottom line for Vantage Travel bankruptcy victims

No Vantage Travel customer should feel compelled to make a decision about opting out at this time. 

There is no rush and there is zero benefit to rejecting those credits (or using them) in 2024. No one is getting an express ticket to the head of some mythical Vantage Travel refund line by opting out. And, by waiting until the June 30, 2025 deadline for opting out, Vantage customers can see how the Aurora Expeditions /Vantage Explorations trip schedules develop in the coming months.

Every Vantage Travel customer has until June 30, 2025 to take a breath, let things settle, thoroughly read through all the documents and articles, ask questions and then make a decision about those credits. Formally opting out is legally binding and is a decision that shouldn’t be made hastily, because it can’t be changed later. 

If you’re a Vantage Travel customer who believes you made a mistake opting out in the past several weeks, you can contact me or Mr. Gray, the trustee, for a limited time to reset your decision. 

Mr. Gray intends to reach out to all of the Vantage customers who opted out directly, to assist anyone who does want to change their opt-out decision.  He has emphasized to me his desire to make sure that the Vantage customers get the most from their claims under the current circumstances of the bankruptcy case.( Michelle Couch-Friedman , Consumer Rescue)

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