Levin v. Kasmir World Travel, Inc.

• Decision Date: 30 March 1989
• Citation: 143 Misc.2d 245,540 N.Y.S.2d 639
• Parties: Marsha B. LEVIN, Claimant, v. KASMIR WORLD TRAVEL, INC. Defendants, and Third-Party Plaintiff, v. AIR FRANCE, Third-Party Defendant.
• Court: New York City Court

Page 639

540 N.Y.S.2d 639

143 Misc.2d 245

Marsha B. LEVIN, Claimant, v. KASMIR WORLD TRAVEL, INC. Defendants, and Third-Party Plaintiff, v. AIR FRANCE, Third-Party Defendant.

Civil Court of the City of New York,

New York County, Small Claims Part.

March 30, 1989.

Marsha B. Levin, pro se.

Kasmir World Travel, Inc., pro se.

Stacey E. Athans, Laxalt, Washington, Perito & Dubac, New York City, for third-party defendant.

DAVID B. SAXE, Judge.

This case explores the obligations of a travel agent to a consumer.

The essential facts are as follows: during July of 1987, the claimant, Marsha Levin, purchased a round-trip ticket from New York City to Paris for her teen-age daughter who was scheduled to participate in a two-week student work-study program in France. The ticket, booked both ways on Air France flights, was purchased from Kasmir World Travel, Inc., in New York City and cost $680.00. Upon arriving in Paris, Mrs. Levin's daughter was denied entry and was placed on the next Air France flight destined for the United States. She was denied entry because of her failure to present a visa upon her arrival in France. The claimant asserts that she was not informed of these visa requirements and that it was the obligation of the travel agent to inform her of these visa requirements which were adopted by the French government in an apparent attempt to deal with terrorist activities directed at Americans abroad. In fact, Mrs. Levin testified that only a few years before her daughter's trip, she herself had traveled to France without being required to present a visa. She has now sued Kasmir which in turn has claimed over against Air France.

For its part, Kasmir has denied liability, claiming the extent of its responsibility ended with its furnishing the claimant with a round-trip ticket. In other words, Kasmir asserts that its responsibility is that of a mere "ticket agent" and, if the claimant wanted additional services, those services would have had to be specifically requested and paid for. Kasmir has accordingly served a third party complaint against Air France; both the travel agent and the airline now move to dismiss the complaint against themselves.

A determination of negligence requires three essential elements: (1) the existence of a duty owed by the defendant to the plaintiff; (2) a failure by the defendant to discharge that duty; (3) injury to the plaintiff as a result of that failure. (See Peresluha v. City of N.Y., 60 A.D.2d 226, 230, 400 N.Y.S.2d 818; 41 NY Jur., Negligence, § 7, p. 13). Here, Kasmir is disputing the existence of any duty on its part to inform a customer of applicable travel restrictions.

The duty of a travel agent has been held to include such responsibilities as verifying or confirming reservations. Thus, in Bucholtz v. Sirotkin Travel Ltd., 74 Misc.2d 180, 182, 343 N.Y.S.2d 438 aff'd, 80 Misc.2d 333, 363 N.Y.S.2d 415 where a travel agent was engaged to make airline and hotel reservations for the customer, but failed to confirm the hotel reservations it was held that the travel agent's failure constituted a breach of its duty as the agent of the customer. Similarly, Barton v. Wonderful World of Travel, 28 Ohio Misc.2d 6, 502 N.E.2d 715 explained that a travel agent has a duty to the customer to use reasonable care in making travel reservations and then to correctly confirm those arrangements. In general terms, a travel agent is "required to have the degree of skill and knowledge requisite to the...