Fine Print Friday

This week’s Fine Print Friday will not consist of me going through a contract provision by provision. Rather, it will serve as more of a reminder of what sort of trouble a person can get into when not reading a contract before signing it (and what kind of value can be had by reading it carefully instead).

Travelocity is one of the largest online travel reservation sites, with around 13 million site visits per month in 2009. Purchases through third party sites like Travelocity, however, can be confusing for consumers, particularly when it comes to changes in travel schedules by airlines. Since the purchases are made through Travelocity, customers are subject to the terms of both Travelocity and the airline from which they purchased their tickets.

As one of the United States’ largest banking institutions, Bank of America (BoA) has made itself a household name in most areas of the country. It has its share of detractors as well, and in light of recent changes to the credit industry and BoA’s decision to eliminate overdrafts on debit card transactions (foregoing millions in revenue), one of their most popular credit cards seemed like a good candidate for Fine Print Friday.