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Vantage Travel is bankrupt. Here’s what customers need to know

Michelle Couch-Friedman

Consumer reporter and ombudsman

July 16, 2023

Vantage Deluxe World Travel finally pulled the plug on itself and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 29. This move was no surprise to anyone following the troubling situation at the once well-respected tour operator. 

What did come as a surprise was the true debt the company amassed before increasing negative publicity about its operations forced it to shut down. The legal team of Vantage Travel revealed that shocking figure in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proposal.

All told, Vantage Travel owes customers, vendors, contractors, and other creditors over 170 million dollars.

The value of the assets of the company is a mere fraction of that number. 

Vantage Travel’s legal team says the company’s primary asset is its customer database, which it’s hoping to sell. But that list contains disgruntled and distraught would-be travelers, to whom Vantage collectively owes nearly 110 million dollars. 

With figures like those in the bankruptcy proposal, it’s hard to imagine the customer list of Vantage Travel holds any value. But apparently it does.  

In the follow-up bankruptcy hearing on July 5, which I attended via Zoom, not one but two companies stepped forward in the courtroom to express a desire to buy the remnants of Vantage Deluxe World Travel for one million dollars.

Today, thousands of Vantage Travel customers want to know what all this means. They’ve been waiting for months and, in many cases, years for promised refunds. Those refunds, if the bankruptcy court approves the current proposal, will likely never materialize.

If you’re one of those thousands of Vantage Travel customers , here’s what you need to know. 

What should Vantage Travel customers do right now ?

According to court records, the database Vantage intends to sell to United Travel Pte. Ltd includes customers’ credit card information and passport numbers, among other personal details.

Update: During the sale auction held on Aug. 7 and 8, 2023, Pacific Travel Partners , a subsidiary of Aurora Expeditions, won the bidding. On Aug. 14, 2023, Judge Janet Bostwick in U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the sale.

This proposal doesn’t sit well with thousands of Vantage Travel customers who already consider themselves victims of the company. They view the sale of their private data to the highest bidder as yet another betrayal by the tour operator to whom they gave their loyal business.

• Update : On July 20, 2023, the Consumer Privacy Ombudsman (John Loughnane) appointed by the the U.S. Trustee published his first report on the Vantage Travel bankruptcy case. In this document, he explained that in response to the ongoing complaints about the company’s intention to include personal credit card and passport details in the customer list, Vantage has adjusted those plans. The legal team of Vantage now says that those details will not be transferred to the buyer and the encrypted data will be destroyed before the sale is concluded.

There are a number of things Vantage Travel customers can do now to make sure the bankruptcy court hears their opinions.

1. File Form 410 (Notice of Claim)

Vantage Travel customers owed a refund or have a future trip scheduled should file an official proof of claim. Here’s how to do that:

• Fill out Form 410 Proof of Claim .
• Print out the the form.
• Mail it to the following address: Vantage Travel Service, Inc. Claims Processing c/o Stretto 410 Exchange, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92602

Update : The deadline to file a form 410 Notice of Claim is Dec. 1, 2023 . A number of customers have asked me if they need to file the 410 in the bankruptcy court if they’ve already received their notification of future credits with Pacific Travel. The answer is “Yes.” No one knows what the future will bring and should any funds be made available to the unsecured creditors down the road, you’ll want to be on the official list for a cash distribution. So if Vantage Deluxe World Travel owes you a refund, make sure you put yourself on that list.

2. Contact the U.S. Trustee’s office

The U.S. Trustee Program at the Department of Justice is the bankruptcy proceeding’s watchdog.

These are the key team members (and their contact information) working on the Vantage Travel bankruptcy case:

• Eric Bradford (Lead attorney, U.S. Department of Justice)
• John Loughnane (Consumer Privacy Ombudsman)
• Jason Longton (Paralegal Specialist)

The U.S. Trustee’s team is inviting Vantage customers to submit their questions and concerns to Jason Longton.

Consumers who wish to become part of the unsecured creditors’ committee should send a message to Longton indicating that intention. Those customers will receive a request for more detailed information from the Department of Justice.

Note: The Section 341 meeting of unsecured creditors is scheduled for Aug. 1 at 1:30 p.m. Customers can attend that meeting remotely.

3. Subscribe to receive Vantage bankruptcy updates

Things are happening unusually fast in this bankruptcy case. In the hearing on July 5, the lawyers for Vantage and the potential buyer mentioned the “Need for speed” here. They argued Vantage Travel’s value plummets further each time a new unfavorable article appears in the media.

To keep up with the rapidly evolving case, customers can subscribe to the Vantage bankruptcy updates on Stretto . Stretto publishes all the official documents and transcripts.

4. Attend the hearings in person

The Vantage bankruptcy proceedings are public. That means anyone can attend the hearings at the United States Bankruptcy Court in Boston. Keep your eye on updates in Stretto to find out when the next hearing will be.

5. Attend the hearings via Zoom

As most of the unsecured creditors (customers) are not located in Massachusetts, the court has agreed to a remote broadcast. To participate, you’ll need to create a free Zoom account . Interested consumers can email the court deputy prior to each hearing and request a link to join.

* Note : Make sure to turn off your video camera and microphone if you intend to participate via Zoom. Otherwise, the court and everyone else can see and hear you — even if you aren’t aware of it!

Only turn on your camera and microphone if Judge Bostwick asks for comments and you wish to speak. During the first hearing, she did ask Zoom participants if they had questions.

6. Join our Vantage Travel Customer Support Facebook group (not affiliated with Vantage Travel)

So far, no court has required Vantage to alert its entire customer list of the bankruptcy filing. As a result, many customers who aren’t on the internet have remained in the dark about the situation. I continue to receive emails and phone calls from surprised Vantage customers who come across one of my articles and only just now are hearing the bad news about the company.

To combat this lack of transparency, we established a private Facebook group . We dedicated this space to providing reliable information, guidance, and friendly emotional support to everyone troubled by the Vantage bankruptcy. Our group has become known as a trusted source of factual information that Vantage doesn’t necessarily want to be publicized.

This private group includes thousands of Vantage customers, employees, vendors, and suppliers. Additionally, you’ll find notable journalists, TV newspeople, public relations executives, and of course, consumer advocates.

Will Vantage Travel customers receive refunds?

When cruise lines or tour operators go bankrupt , it often hits the consumers the hardest.

The harsh reality is that it is unlikely that Vantage Travel customers will get their money back. Certainly, it will not happen as a result of the bankruptcy proceedings. 

Vantage Travel is over 170 million dollars in debt with no real assets. Secured creditors and the lawyers involved in bankruptcy proceedings stand at the front of the payout line if there are any proceeds at the conclusion of the case. Unsecured creditors (customers) always get the short end of the stick when a company goes belly-up holding their funds (See: How to get a refund if your cruise line goes bankrupt ). 

But there is one exception to this rule in the Vantage case.

What about trips booked just before Vantage Travel declared bankruptcy?*

Customers who purchased new tours on May 12, 2023, or later will likely receive all their money back. Here’s why: (Please see update below)

Even after it was clear that Vantage was heading to bankruptcy court and had no chance of operating future trips, it continued to market and sell phantom tours to customers who hadn’t yet heard about the company’s dire situation. 

The sales team at Vantage Travel was one of the last departments to be let go. Right up until June 20 (the day they were all fired), these employees, who received commissions based on their sales, continued to cheerfully hype future tours to unaware, mostly elderly customers who were willing to pay with a bank transfer. 

The good news for these customers is that Vantage put all of that group’s cash in a separate account. According to the bankruptcy proposal, there are 2.1 million dollars in a separate account that represents all sales from May 12, 2023. 

If the court approves the sale of Vantage Travel, that money will transfer to the new company. If the new owner is unable to operate the tours as scheduled for those customers, they will be eligible for a cash refund.

*Update* : Because of multiple objections to this part of the sale agreement, it was removed from the final document that was approved on Aug. 14, 2023. The 2.1 million dollars will now remain as part of the bankruptcy estate of Vantage Travel, and customers who purchased new trips after May 11, 2023, will not receive special treatment. They will file a Form 410 as the rest of the Vantage customers .

What about the 1.2 million dollars the Attorney General retrieved?

Last month, in response to growing inquiries from media outlets in Boston, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office released a memo announcing it had retrieved 1.2 million dollars from Vantage for customers. 

Unfortunately, that statement set off a new wave of confusion among Vantage customers, who assumed that now there was a pile of money to share for those in line for a refund.

The truth is that the Massachusetts Attorney General has received nearly 1,200 complaints from Vantage customers since 2020. The 1.2 million dollars cited in the press release is the total amount the office has negotiated in refunds for Vantage customers during the entire three years. Vantage did not send money to the Attorney General, and no cash is waiting for disbursement.

If you consider that Vantage Travel sold luxury tours that on average cost around $15,000, it’s not hard to figure out that the vast majority of customers who contacted the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (or any other advocate) have not received a refund.

Will the new owner honor our Vantage Travel trip or refund?

If you are a Vantage customer and  have a future trip scheduled , you can assume it’s canceled. Your contract is with Vantage Deluxe World Travel, and at the end of the bankruptcy proceedings, that company will no longer exist.

In the bankruptcy filing, there are no provisions for cash refunds for customers.

If the bankruptcy proposal proceeds as is, customers who are owed refunds will only receive a small future trip credit from the new company. The value of the credit will be equal to 20 percent of the refund that Vantage Travel owed to the customer.

* August Update : Pacific Travel Partners, a subsidiary of Aurora Expeditions, became the winning bidder for the remnants of Vantage Travel. Under the sale agreement, Vantage customers who are owed refunds will receive future travel credits equal to 100% of the value of what was owed to them at the time of the bankruptcy (with limitations). This is a much better outcome compared to what the customers would receive had the competing company United Travel won the bankruptcy auction.

Can I file a credit card dispute against Vantage?

The Fair Credit Billing Act protects credit card-using consumers from merchants who do not provide the purchased goods or services as described. It also protects consumers against fraud. 

Customers who paid for their Vantage Travel tour with a credit card should contact their credit card company to ask about filing a chargeback based on services not received as promised. 

If your credit card company accepts your dispute, you will receive a temporary credit, and Vantage will have 30 days to respond to the chargeback. At the end of those 30 days, if Vantage has not responded, the temporary credit will become permanent. 

Note: If you made your payment many months or even years ago, you may need to remind your credit card company that the deadline for filing a dispute is based on the expected date of service, not the date you first made a payment. If the front-line customer service agent doesn’t accept your request, ask to speak to a supervisor who will likely be more familiar with the Fair Credit Billing Act.

Strange update: There’s been a strange turn of events for customers who have filed valid credit card disputes against Vantage Deluxe World Travel . Who is contesting those credit card chargebacks?

Could my bank reverse the payment I made to Vantage?

Unfortunately, most Vantage customers did not use a credit card to pay for their trip. Instead, they were enticed by the small discount Vantage offered when a customer would pay with an instant bank transfer.

In general, bank transfers are not reversible – especially ones that were authorized by the consumer. However, that should not prevent you from asking your bank about this possibility.

In some cases, if the bank transfer has been initiated in the last 30-60 days, your bank may decide to pursue the reversal with the receiving bank. 

Will the Travel Protection sold by Vantage help?

The Vantage Travel Protection is of no use to its customers now that the company has ceased to operate and is bankrupt. 

The product was highly problematic because Vantage was self-insuring Part A of that policy (pre-departure cancellations) – with no underwriter.

And Vantage ran out of money… a long time ago. 

Today, Vantage owes around 5 million dollars to customers who have approved claims via its “travel protection” that, in the end, provided no protection at all to those travelers.

What about that Allianz policy?

Travel insurance can be confusing to consumers. There is no doubt about it. For that reason, the industry offers a 10-14 day (depending on the company) look-over period during which travel insurance purchasers can carefully review the entire policy. After that time, the policy becomes nonrefundable and legally binding.

The travel insurance industry is highly regulated and so consumers can be confident that an insurance company will provide all the protection described in their policy. The opposite is also true. By thoroughly reading the document during the look-over period, travelers can be certain of what is and isn’t covered by the travel insurance policy.

Unfortunately, many travelers do not read those travel insurance policies.

As a consumer advocate, that fact has never been more clear to me than in the past three months. During that time, my email box and message center have been flooded with questions and misunderstandings about the responsibility Allianz and TripMate have to Vantage customers.

The Vantage Deluxe World Travel Protection Plan came with a 10-day look-over period. But the mass confusion about this policy proves that most customers didn’t read the document — until now.

In the Vantage case, Allianz and TripMate were only providing post-departure travel insurance. That means that all customers who bought that policy from Vantage had full post-departure medical coverage, trip interruption and delay protection, evacuation benefits, lost luggage coverage and more. It was a valuable, comprehensive travel insurance product that many Vantage customers who completed their trips utilized.

Of course, that part of the policy had no value if Vantage didn’t actually operate the tour. 

Will travel insurance ever pay when a tour company cancels?

Desperate Vantage customers are looking for any alternative way to recoup the money that Vantage owes to them. I’ve received a plethora of requests from customers asking me to ask TripMate and Allianz to provide the refunds that Vantage owes them.

These requests indicate a basic misunderstanding of the Vantage Travel Protection Plan at its core: it only pertains to customer-initiated cancellations. Neither part of that plan provides any coverage for a cancellation initiated by Vantage.

Fact: When a tour operator cancels a customer’s trip, it owes the refund — not the travel insurance company. The only exception to this rule, is if the tour operator goes bankrupt AND the customer purchased a comprehensive travel insurance policy that includes an insolvency clause.

For a more detailed explanation of the difference between a travel protection product and a true travel insurance policy, you can read Consumer Rescue’s guide on the topic.

Will the new company give Vantage customers a free trip as a gesture of goodwill?

No. This is a suggestion that lands in my email box over and over again. The new company is a for-profit company. They wish to buy the customer data so that they can market to the list and sell new trips. None of the companies vying to buy that list are offering to absorb the enormous debt that Vantage has accrued.

The bottom line: A 110 million dollar goodwill gesture isn’t going to happen.

I’m sorry I don’t have better news to report for Vantage customers. I will continue to update our readers via Facebook , in the Consumer Rescue newsletter and in our Facebook group. Stay tuned…

*Update 8/20/23: Vantage Travel is sold. Here’s what that means to customers

Update 11/27/23: The deadline to submit a notice of claim (410) to the bankruptcy court is Dec. 1, 2023. Make sure to file electronically via Stretto before that date if you were owed a refund at the time Vantage Travel filed for bankruptcy.

Update: 12/1/23: The deadline to file a notice of claim has passed but if you are a Vantage Travel customer who is owed a refund from the bankrupt company, you should contact the new company Vantage Explorations. You may be able to receive future travel credits with VE. Here’s how to contact their team: [email protected] (Note: Only one E in the middle of that email address.)

Related: Good news: Here’s how Consumer Rescue helped return nearly $100,000 to Vantage Travel bankruptcy victims as we ended 2023.

Update: 1/21/24: Why are so many former customers of Vantage Travel opting out of their credits with the new company? Is there any way to reverse what looks like bankruptcy claimant confusion? ( Michelle Couch-Friedman , reporting for Consumer Rescue)

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New management of bankrupt Vantage Travel to reimburse customers who had trips canceled 100% in travel credits

Jilted customers will receive full credit on future trips.

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Jilted customers of Vantage Travel , the luxury cruise line that went bankrupt in June and canceled trips worth thousands of dollars, will receive 100% reimbursement to put toward future travel thanks to new buyer Pacific Travel.

According to details of an agreement outlined in federal bankruptcy court Wednesday, customers will have until Nov. 30, 2028, to book travel with the new company, and caps will be imposed for how much value can be applied to individual services.

A cruise ship is seen off Port Douglas in Cairns, Australia, in 2012. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images, File / Getty Images)

Oceangoing travel credits will be capped at 50% of the trip's cost, while credits toward river cruises and land travel, like safaris, will be capped at 20%. Credits can be applied toward either a deposit or later payment but cannot be used toward airfare, according to the agreement.

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Credits are also transferrable to friends or family and be spread across multiple trips .

The embattled Boston-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June. (Vantage Cruise Lines / Fox News)

The news comes after Boston, Massachusetts-based Vantage Travel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy June 29, had agreed to be acquired by United Travel Pte. Ltd., an affiliate of Nordic Hamburg and Heritage Expeditions. Last week, however, Pacific Travel of Aurora Expeditions in Australia, placed a $2 million bid to assume Vantage's assets, WFXT Boston 25 reported .

In the bankruptcy filing, Vantage admitted that customers lost $108 million for trips they had paid for, but never got to take.

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"Vantage has sought customary relief from the court to preserve the status quo pending completion of the sale," the company wrote in a statement. "Vantage has sought approval to complete the sale promptly, subject to any higher and better offers that may be submitted through the court-supervised sale process."

Vantage Travel has been under fire for months after hundreds of consumers complained about a lack of refunds for canceled or postponed trips. (iStock / iStock)

Boston 25 reported that the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office said it received more than 1,120 consumer complaints against Vantage since Jan. 1, 2020. 

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The customers complained that they did not receive any refund after their luxury cruise was unexpectedly canceled.

Vantage Travel did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

A final ruling on the purchase will take place Monday.

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Boston-based cruise company Vantage files for bankruptcy, agrees to sell to United Travel Pte. Ltd.

Luxury cruise company Vantage Deluxe World Travel is filing for bankruptcy and selling its operation, amid ongoing investigations, lawsuits, and hundreds of consumer complaints.

The company announced Thursday it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts and agreed to be acquired by United Travel Pte. Ltd., an affiliate of Nordic Hamburg and Heritage Expeditions.

“Vantage has sought customary relief from the court to preserve the status quo pending completion of the sale. Vantage has sought approval to complete the sale promptly, subject to any higher and better offers that may be submitted through the court-supervised sale process,” the company wrote in a statement.

Vantage laid off its employees June 20 , weeks after Consumer Rescue first reported the company quietly postponed all its cruises through Aug. 28. Consumer Rescue provided Boston 25 an email that shows Vantage was still contacting its customers about future trips as recently as June 26.

The Mass. Attorney General’s Office says it received 1,120 consumer complaints about Vantage since Jan. 1, 2020, including 478 complaints filed in 2023. 108 complaints came from Bay State residents. The AG’s Consumer Advocacy and Response Division said it had recovered more than $1.2 million for Vantage customers .

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit against Vantage earlier this month, accusing the company of “deceptive and unfair business practices” and taking advantage of older residents “by continuing to hold their refunds hostage.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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What does bankruptcy mean for Vantage cruise customers?

BOSTON — Controversial luxury cruise company Vantage Deluxe World Travel announced Thursday it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and is falling under new ownership.

United Travel Pte. Ltd., an affiliate of Nordic Hamburg and Heritage Expeditions, has agreed to acquire Vantage’s assets and “provide customers with future opportunities” for travel, the company said in a news release.

But what does that mean for Vantage’s debt and the hundreds—possibly thousands—of customers who say Vantage owes them for cancelled trips?

“There’s a chance they’re going to see their money,” said Woburn bankruptcy attorney Dax Grantham. “There’s not a high chance they’re going to get everything back.”

Grantham said Chapter 11 is a reorganization of debt and is better for consumers than Chapter 7, in which a company admits it can’t make regular payments towards its debt and ceases to exist.

“They’re working with their creditors to try to come up with a plan to help the business survive,” Grantham said. “The [new buyer] acquiring the assets wants to continue using the name and the intellectual property of the company they’re acquiring. If that’s the case, they may not want the bad publicity of all these [Vantage] customers saying, [’You owe me money’].”

Vantage has been under fire for months after hundreds of consumers complained about a lack of refunds for cancelled or postponed trips. The Mass. Attorney General’s Office said it has received at least 1,120 consumer complaints against Vantage since January 1, 2020.

“Right now, our office remains focused on resolving consumer complaints and securing refunds for affected customers,” an AG spokesperson said in an email.

Earlier this month, the company quietly told its employees all trips through Aug. 28 are postponed, according to an internal memo obtained by Consumer Rescue . Vantage laid off its workers last week.

However, Boston 25 obtained a Vantage email that shows the company was still contacting its consumers about future trips as recently as June 26.

“When the complaints from those poor customers were coming in, [Vantage] is still sending out emails to get people to pay for future trips that are never going to run. Where did all that money go?” said Steven Grasso, owner of North American Traveler in North Reading.

Grasso said Vantage owes him $30,000 for services provided by his company. Grasso blasted the Mass. AG’s Office for not doing more to protect consumers.

“I’m more angry at the Mass. [Attorney General] than anybody,” Grasso said. “Vantage has made no statement and the Mass. Attorney General’s Office did not step in and do anything to inform the public.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Another small cruise line is bankrupt in wake of pandemic struggles

Make that 12 cruise brands that have shut down since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Boston-based Vantage Deluxe World Travel, a small cruise company that mostly catered to seniors, filed for bankruptcy Thursday after laying off nearly all of its 70 shoreside employees and stopping all its sailings.

As of Thursday, the company retained just five employees, according to the bankruptcy filing.

For more cruise news, guides and tips, sign up for TPG's cruise newsletter .

In a motion submitted as part of the bankruptcy filing, which was reviewed by TPG, the 40-year-old company blamed a sharp drop in revenue after COVID-19 began for its downfall.

As part of its bankruptcy filing, the company said revenue plunged from $132 million in 2019 to just over $10 million in 2020 — a decline of more than 92% — even as it continued to pay for employee costs and other expenses. The differential between revenue and costs resulted in a $29 million loss in 2020 alone.

"While revenue rebounded somewhat in subsequent years, it remained well below ... pre-pandemic levels, resulting in continuing losses despite [our] attempts to down-size operations and reduce costs," the company said in the filing.

All major cruise lines around the world paused sailings for many months at the start of the pandemic and only slowly returned to normal operations , resulting in enormous quarterly losses that only recently have begun to moderate. The brands that have stayed in business have been forced to take on massive amounts of debt to survive .

Vantage is just the latest in a string of 12 mostly small cruise operators around the world to shut down operations since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Other cruise brands that have shut down over the past four years, almost all citing the financial effects of the pandemic, include luxury line Crystal Cruises and its two Asia-based sister brands, Dream Cruises and Star Cruises; Japan-based Venus Cruises; India-based Jalesh Cruises; Swedish-based Birka Cruises; U.S.-based small-ship specialist Blount Small Ship Adventures; and U.K.-based Cruise & Maritime Voyages.

Related: Luxury line Crystal faces liquidation as cash runs out

Cruise & Maritime Voyages was the second-largest cruise brand in the U.K. before collapsing in July 2020 .

German-based FTI Cruises and Spain-based Pullmantur Cruises also ceased operations during the pandemic. Pullmantur, which was partly owned by Royal Caribbean Group, the parent company of Royal Caribbean , was the first cruise company to collapse during the pandemic , just three months after cruise ships stopped sailing in 2020.

Also shutting down in 2021 was Caribbean-focused Sail Windjammer , which operated a historic sailing vessel once owned by the American financier E. F. Hutton and his wife, Marjorie Merriweather Post.

That said, at least one of the brands — luxury line Crystal — is in the midst of making a comeback under new owners .

The high-end travel company A&K Travel Group bought Crystal's brand name and two biggest oceangoing ships, Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony, out of bankruptcy last year and plans to relaunch the brand next month.

A possible new owner

A similar fate is possible for Vantage. In its bankruptcy filing, the company asked for court permission to sell substantially all its assets, including its brand name and its passenger lists, to an affiliate of Heritage Expeditions and Nordic Hamburg for $1 million.

Heritage Expeditions is a small, New Zealand-based expedition cruise company. Nordic Hamburg is a ship management company.

Vantage told the court it hoped to complete the sale by Aug. 11 and suggested the transaction could allow Vantage sailings to restart under the new owners.

"Faced with a rapidly deteriorating financial situation, [Vantage] has determined to sell its assets in order to facilitate continued operations by a better-capitalized buyer able to manage its business without interruption," the company said in the filing.

Should the asset sale go through and cruises under the Vantage name restart, it wouldn't necessarily mean that current Vantage customers who have paid for future trips would get to experience them.

In the filing, the company suggested the new owners would extend at least partial credits to current customers who had paid for future cruises, but only if the customers booked a new voyage with the new owners.

The credits would be limited to 20% of the cost of the new trips.

Related: What happens if my cruise line goes bankrupt or shuts down?

In the filing, Vantage said that as of Thursday its customers had paid it approximately $80.3 million for future trips that had not taken place. In addition, it was facing $32 million in claims for refunds from customers and another $5.4 million in insurance claims from customers — the latter through a self-funded trip insurance program that it offered.

In other words, the company's customers are currently out about $118 million.

TPG in recent months has been deluged with frantic emails from many of these customers. Many said they had paid $10,000 or more for trips that hadn't taken place and feared they would never get their money back. The emails came both from customers who had trips canceled during the pandemic and never received a refund and customers with future bookings who heard the company was in trouble.

Vantage also owes money to a long list of business partners and vendors. They include SunStone Maritime Group, which owns two of the ships that Vantage used in its operations, the 134-passenger Ocean Odyssey and 134-passenger Ocean Explorer. The filing suggested that Vantage owed two entities of SunStone $3.6 million and $3.2 million, respectively, for the chartering of the two ships.

Vantage also owed a river cruise management company $2.2 million and a cruise fuel company $1.3 million.

Customers become unsecured creditors

In the filing, the company checked a box that read it had between 10,001 and 25,000 creditors. It also checked a box that read it would have no funds available for unsecured creditors after administrative expenses were paid.

Customers trying to get back money they have paid for trips that have not taken place are considered unsecured creditors.

Vantage said in the filing that it would classify customer deposits up to a maximum of $3,350 per person as well as some other obligations it owed to unsecured creditors (such as backpay to employees) as "priority claims" to be paid back during the bankruptcy process. But it acknowledged that there was little value left in the company to pay such claims.

"It is extremely unlikely that there will be assets available to pay even a fraction of these priority claims," the company said.

Vantage said that, as of Thursday, it had estimated assets of just $1 million to $10 million that were offset by liabilities of $100 million to $500 million.

The Chapter 11-type bankruptcy was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Vantage was founded in 1983. At its height, it offered 65 different itineraries with 500 departures annually, according to the bankruptcy filing. It offered river and ocean cruises on ships it chartered from other companies such as SunStone as well as some land-based tours booked through separate companies.

The company was one of the smallest players in the North American cruise market. Its river cruise business, for instance, accounted for just 1% of the river cruises taken by North Americans, according to a competitor analysis done by river cruise giant Viking that was shared with TPG. Viking, which controls about half of the market for river cruises taken by North Americans, estimates that about 700,000 Americans take a river cruise each year.

That would put Vantage's river cruise customer base at around 7,000 people a year.

In its bankruptcy filing, Vantage said it had provided vacations to 500,000 people in total over its 40-year history — an average of about 12,500 a year.

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Vantage Travel is negotiating a sale of the company amid cancellations

Vantage Travel, the Boston company that has canceled numerous cruises since April and come under fierce criticism from customers for long-delayed refunds, is negotiating for the sale of the company, the company said in an e-mail to The Boston Globe on Tuesday.

“At this time, Vantage Deluxe World Travel is engaged in sensitive negotiations for a sale of the company,” Rossella Mercuri, Vantage general counsel, said in the e-mail.

“Our primary goal is to obtain the best outcome for our customers. Confidentiality agreements governing our negotiations prevent us from disclosing additional information at this time,” she wrote.

Vantage, a Boston travel mainstay that has run luxury ocean and river cruises around the world for 40 years, made the statement in response to repeated inquiries from the Globe after a new raft of cruise cancellations.

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On late Monday afternoon, the Globe sent Vantage a copy of a purported internal memo saying the company was suspending trips for three months. The Globe asked three top company executives to confirm the memo’s authenticity and explain what was going on at Vantage.

Vantage did not comment directly on the purported internal memo, but acknowledged on Tuesday that it was responding after the Globe had “reached out regarding our company.”

The purported internal memo surfaced on June 2 on Consumer Rescue , a consumer advocacy website. Michelle Couch-Friedman, who operates the website, sent a copy of the five-sentence memo to the Globe on Monday.

The purported internal memo, apparently sent to Vantage employees on June 1, said the company had to postpone departures over the next 90 days “in light of our impending transaction.”

“The departures through 8/28 will be postponed,” it said.

The purported memo also said Vantage had decided to dock two of its ships — “the Ocean Vessels” — in Caen, France, “until we have a better idea of the timeline for restarting operations.”

The purported memo was signed by Deirdre Dirkman, Vantage executive vice president for operations and marketing.

Two of Vantage’s ships, Ocean Explorer and the Ocean Odyssey, are now docked in Caen, France, according to the online cruise tracking website cruisemapper.com .

Jim Terry, of Concord, said he was scheduled to board the Ocean Explorer on June 12 in Ireland for a now-canceled cruise circumnavigating Ireland. He sent the Globe a copy of the June 3 cancellation notice he received from Vantage.

“Unfortunately, Vantage has to cancel your upcoming journey due to operational reasons,” the notice says. “We understand this is not what you had planned and we deeply regret having to cancel it. "

The notice goes on to provide several options for jilted would-be travelers like Terry to choose from, including rebooking trips with a “$500 per person future trip credit” or accepting a refund.

Another would-be traveler, Pat Allaire, of New York, said she was scheduled to board the Ocean Odyssey on June 18 in England for a now-canceled cruise to France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Scandinavia.

The cancellation notice she received from Vantage on June 3 was virtually identical to the one Terry received.

During the pandemic, Vantage came under heavy criticism from travelers for long delays in receiving refunds for canceled trips, according to a 2021 Globe story .

As of this month, the office of Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell had received more than 800 complaints about Vantage, dating back to 2020, mostly for refunds after cancellations. That office has secured refunds for more than 80 consumers for a total of more than $1.2 million, according to the attorney general’s office.

In late 2021, Vantage launched the $70 million Ocean Explorer in Boston Harbor. That prompted the 2021 Globe story about two local couples who said it irritated them that the company made a fancy display of christening the ship with a bottle of champagne when the couples 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, Vantage refunded the couples’ money.

Since late April, more than a dozen people have complained to the Globe about last-minute cancellations of trips long planned and fully paid for.

“We were very much looking forward to the trip,” Allaire said on Monday.

Vantage’s cancellations became public in late April, when a would-be traveler contacted the Globe to complain that her planned trip in Europe had been abruptly canceled by Vantage less than two days before it was set to begin.

Vantage responded to Globe questions at the time by saying the company had experienced a “data security incident” and had hired a “leading national forensic firm” to investigate.

That data security incident knocked out the company’s website and call center, leaving many booked travelers unable to confirm their trips.

On its Facebook page, Vantage said: “We’re currently experiencing a network disruption that has limited our abilities to access our network and impacted our ability to perform certain operational tasks. We are working around the clock to restore normal business operations.”

A follow-up Globe story quoted other would-be passengers saying their trips were abruptly cancelled too, but not due to the data security incident. (Vantage later said no cancellations were related to the data security incident.) One jilted traveler said Vantage cited the boat not being ready as reason for cancellation, while another said Vantage cited security concerns on the ground in the Middle East.

Vantage restored its website and call center about a week later.

But more cancellations continued in May and into June.

How the negotiations over a sale may affect refunds is uncertain. Some people who are owed money said they hoped a sale may prompt a quicker refund from whoever operates the travel company.

Most travel insurance policies cover trips that are canceled due to the cruise operator ceasing operation, Couch-Friedman said.

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

AG James sues travel company for failing to refund over 100 New York customers

New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing a travel company after they failed to refund cancelled tours for over 100 New York residents.

In a news release on Wednesday, James said she "received dozens of complaints" from New Yorkers against Vantage Deluxe World Travel Inc., a Boston-based travel agency that specializes in cruise vacations.

She said Vantage Travel and its owner, Henry R. Lewis, refused to refund "thousands of dollars" to New Yorkers from Westchester, Albany, New York City and Long Island for cancelled travel tours, including cancellations because of COVID-19.

The lawsuit accuses Lewis and his company of "engaging in deceptive business practices by failing to honor the company's policy to promptly refund customers who had their trips canceled or had to cancel for health reasons."

“When a trip is canceled and a refund is denied, it adds insult to injury,” James said. “My office will not let Vantage Travel get away with flouting the law and denying dozens of New Yorkers the refunds they deserve due to canceled trips. Companies that make promises to consumers must fulfill their end of the bargain or bear the consequences."

In June 2023, two lawsuits were filed against the company. According to WCVB 5, Boston's ABC News affiliate , Vantage Travel posted in April about a ransomware attack that it said "took down their call center, website, email and other internal systems." WCVB 5 said that an internal company email was sent to Vantage Travel employees informing them that all trips through Aug. 28 would be cancelled, but many customers were not informed or refunded.

After the attack, a California woman who paid $15,000 for a trip to Ireland on May 26 said she found that her airline tickets were cancelled "due to non-payment by Vantage," according to WCVB 5. They were re-issued but the trip was later postponed the day before departure. The woman sued the company in early June, saying she did not receive any refund money.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell filed a similar lawsuit to James and was able to recover more than $1.23 million dollars for affected customers, according to WCVB 5. WCVB 5 reported that Campbell received over 800 complaints since Jan. 1, 2020. Massachusetts officials received 181 complaints just this year. Only 21 of them were from Massachusetts residents.

Vantage Travel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Massachusetts on June 29, according to Aurora Expeditions, a luxury cruise company in Sydney, Australia, who bought out the company. In an automated message on its hotline, the company said all Vantage Travel offices are currently closed.

"The company is not operating trips while the bankruptcy case is pending and has suspended all future departures," Aurora Expeditions said in the message.

Bankruptcy filings show Vantage owns creditors tens of millions of dollars.

Attorney General James said she received one complaint from a couple who had to cancel a fully paid trip after the husband was diagnosed with a heart condition, which prevented him from traveling. James said Vantage Travel offered a "risk-free cancellation policy," but refused to refund the couple thousands of dollars for their cancellation.

In order to avoid the terms of their policies, James said Vantage Travel would often consider full cancellations "postponements" and reschedule trips up to a year later or more.

"If a consumer did not want the rescheduled trip, Vantage Travel only offered a credit for a future trip instead of a refund for what in fact was a cancellation," James said in the news release.

Many of Vantage Travel's customers were seniors, according to the news release, and they often "paid $10,000 or more for the tour packages" but could not reach anyone at the company to ask for a refund.

James' lawsuit alleges that Lewis was aware that customers were not getting full refunds for trip cancellations but failed to address the issues. He told consumers that from July 2020 to February 2021, all trips would be "postponed due to pandemic" but did not follow up about rescheduling or options for refunds, according to court filings.

James said she will "seek full restitution for all impacted New Yorkers, civil penalties, and disgorgement."

The Office of the Attorney General encourages anyone else who was affected by Vantage Travel to file an online consumer complaint or call (800) 771-7755.

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Vantage Travel, a Boston-based luxury cruise company that was the subject of hundreds of consumer complaints and at least one lawsuit , is filing for bankruptcy and selling its operation.

The company announced Thursday that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts and agreed to be acquired by United Travel Pte. Ltd., an affiliate of Nordic Hamburg and Heritage Expeditions.

"Vantage has sought customary relief from the court to preserve the status quo pending completion of the sale," the company wrote in a statement. "Vantage has sought approval to complete the sale promptly, subject to any higher and better offers that may be submitted through the court-supervised sale process."

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell's office recently said that it had received at least 818 complaints against Vantage since Jan. 1, 2020, including approximately 75 filed by customers who are Massachusetts residents. Of those complaints, officials said that approximately 181 of them were filed during 2023, including 21 from Massachusetts residents.

The AG's Consumer Advocacy and Response Division said it had recovered more than $1,230,000 for Vantage customers.

Vantage said on social media in April that it was hit by a ransomware attack but had posted no subsequent updates. At the same time, Vantage confirmed the cancellation of four trips to the Netherlands "due to the vessel's readiness," and two trips to Egypt.

Earlier this month , Boston-based attorneys and a client from California filed a class-action lawsuit against Vantage in federal court. They claimed that customers who suffered short-notice cancellations have sought refunds for canceled trips, but "all of them have been stonewalled and misled."

Prices of trips detailed in the lawsuit ranged from $18,099 to $34,634.

Vantage, which was founded in 1983 by Henry Lewis, is incorporated in Massachusetts. As of the 2021 annual report, the latest available, Lewis served as the company's president, treasurer, secretary, CEO, CFO and director. He was also the registered agent until this month, when paperwork was filed reassigning that role to general counsel Rossella Mercuri.

NewsCenter 5 has attempted to contact Mercuri several times with specific questions. She only responded once, however, with a statement that confirmed the company was working toward a sale.

Vantage made headlines in 2021 when it christened a new cruise ship, the Ocean Explorer , at Boston's Black Falcon Terminal. At the time, the luxury ship had planned trips to the British Isles, several South American ports and Antarctica. (Video below)

Russia's Nuclear Deterrent Command Center Imperiled by Winter Freeze—Report

A Russian nuclear deterrent command center in Moscow has been imperiled by power outages that have impacted more than one-quarter of the region's cities amid freezing temperatures, a Russian Telegram channel has reported.

The VChK-OGPU outlet, which purports to have inside information from Russian security forces, reported that the 820th Main Center for Missile Attack Warnings—part of the Russian Space Forces, a branch of the country's Aerospace Forces—near Solnechnogorsk in Moscow is without power.

It serves as the space forces early warning network against potential ballistic missile attacks.

The development comes as Russians are reported to be suffering from power outages in their homes in the Moscow region caused by technical issues at plants amid subzero temperatures.

On January 4, a heating main burst at the Klimovsk Specialized Ammunition Plant in the town of Podolsk, which is about 30 miles south of central Moscow. Since then, tens of thousands of Russians are reported to have no heating in their homes.

Affected areas include the cities of Khimki, Balashikha, Lobnya, Lyubertsy, Podolsk, Chekhov and Naro-Fominsk, a map published by a Russian Telegram channel and shared on other social media sites shows.

Other Russian media outlets reported that in Moscow, residents of Balashikha, Elektrostal, Solnechnogorsk, Dmitrov, Domodedovo, Troitsk, Taldom, Orekhovo-Zuyevo, Krasnogorsk, Pushkino, Ramenskoye, Voskresensk, Losino-Petrovsky and Selyatino are also without power.

The Telegram channel said that at the 820th Main Center for Missile Attack Warnings, "the crew...is on duty around the clock."

"It is here that the decision on a retaliatory nuclear strike is executed," the channel said.

Newsweek could not independently verify the report and has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry by email for comment.

Power outages have also been reported in Russia's second-largest city, St. Petersburg, in the country's western Voronezh region, in the southwest city of Volgograd, and in Rostov, which borders Ukraine, a country that Russia has been at war with since February 24, 2022.

On Sunday, two shopping malls in St. Petersburg were forced to close because of problems with light and heating, reported local news outlet 78.ru. Hundreds of other homes in the city have had no electricity, water or heating for days amid temperatures of -25 C (-13 F).

Russian authorities have also been forced to compensate passengers of a train that ran from Samara to St. Petersburg (a 20-hour journey) without heating during -30 C (-22 F) temperatures. Videos circulating on social media showed carriage windows frozen over. A passenger also said the toilet didn't work during the trip because of frozen pipes.

Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via [email protected].

Related Articles

• Russia Maps Show 25% of Moscow Without Power Amid Winter Freeze 'Emergency'
• Serbian Mercenary Turns on Russian Leaders: 'They Treat Us Like Cattle'
• Winter Freeze Threats Come Back To Bite Russia As Power Outages Spread

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Second drone in as many days shot down near Moscow as Russia and Ukraine exchange attacks on capitals

Ukrainian officials earlier warned russia would step up aerial offensive during winter, article bookmarked.

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Russia and Ukraine sent drones targeting each other’s capital cities over the weekend in signs of renewed intensity for their aerial warfare .

Drones were shot down on both Saturday and Sunday in areas around Kyiv and Moscow . Air defence systems for both sides intercepted attacks and no casualties were reported.

Multiple drones that were heading for Moscow and Russia’s border areas on Sunday were downed by Russian air defence systems over the weekend, officials said.

Kyiv has promised to wage a major drone campaign against Russia this winter , as bad weather conditions make it difficult to conduct operations on the ground.

Russian air defence units in Moscow intercepted a drone targeting the Russian capital, mayor Sergei Sobhyanin said on Telegram.

He said defence units in the Elektrostal district in the capital’s east intercepted the drone. Falling debris resulting from the operation had caused no damage or casualties, the mayor said, citing preliminary information.

Russia’s defence ministry confirmed the drone strike on Sunday night, as is typical describing the Ukrainian military operation as a “terrorist attack”.

“On 19 November at 23.20 Moscow time, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack using an aircraft-type UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] on targets in Moscow and the Moscow region was stopped,” it said on its official Telegram channel.

“Duty air defence systems intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of the Moscow region.”

A second drone targeting Moscow was also intercepted by Russia’s air defence systems at around 1am.

The UAV was destroyed over the territory of the Bogorodsky district in Moscow, it said.

This comes after Russian authorities on Saturday said they shot down a Ukrainian drone heading for the border region of Bryansk.

The defence ministry said on-duty air defence systems destroyed the drone over Bryansk. It did not mention any casualties or damage from the attack.

Russia has also begun targeting Kyiv again after a 52-day break in air raid sirens for the Ukrainian capital.

On Saturday, Ukrainian officials said all drones heading towards Kyiv were destroyed but some hit infrastructure facilities elsewhere in Ukraine.

A day later, a wave of Iranian-made Shahed drones from Russia targeted Kyiv overnight.

The drones targeted the Ukrainian capital and the Cherkasy and Poltava regions, according to a military statement. Ukrainian anti-aircraft systems shot down 15 of 20 drones targeting the areas.

Serhii Popko, the city’s military administration spokesperson, said the drones attacked Kyiv from different directions in waves that were “constantly changing vectors”.

Ukrainian officials had warned Russia would step up aerial assaults during the winter months.

Meanwhile, the British defence ministry said there were “few immediate prospects” for major change along the Ukrainian frontline as the war enters its second winter.

In a statement, it said intense fighting was concentrated near Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, Avdiivka in Dontesk and on the left bank of the Dnipro river, where Ukrainian forces have established a bridgehead.

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