Students Can Repack Those Bags; the Trip’s On Again

About 60 Orange County high school students, who were left without the money they had saved for a European vacation when a travel agency went bankrupt, learned Sunday that they had been rescued by another travel company.

“Dreams do come true,” said Bret Halebsky, 18, a San Clemente High School graduate and valedictorian, after Walt Disney Travel Co. Inc. announced that it will help pay for the 27-day trip scheduled to begin Wednesday.

Last week, the students’ hopes had all but vanished after their agency, Travel International of Campbell, Calif., filed for bankruptcy. No bond or escrow account had been set up, and the chances of any of the $215,000 being refunded were slim, said Kathy Barnum, mother of one of the students.

A Few Obstacles

But a Disney travel company official told the students and their parents Sunday that the firm definitely will take on the financial responsibility for the trip. Although a few obstacles remain, Disney officials and trip coordinators assured students and their concerned parents that those problems can be ironed out and that they should be able to depart this week as planned.

The Disney organization stepped in Thursday after one of its travel company executives read news accounts of the students’ dilemma and company officials contacted trip coordinator Tom Youngerman.

“Then things started to happen,” Youngerman said.

“We got involved because we wanted these students to continue having faith in the travel system,” explained Karl Andrews, an executive with the Disney travel company.

What occurred was a “slap in the face” to the travel industry in general, Andrews said.

Disney executives were uncertain how much money the company would have to pay for the trip. But Andrews said his firm plans to seek reimbursement from Travel International for expenses, possibly as a creditor through bankruptcy proceedings.

“However, right now, our main concern is getting these kids on their trip. That would be incentive enough,” he said.

But Andrews warned students on Sunday, “You’re not there yet.”

Left unresolved were last-minute arrangements for European ground transportation. But the most serious detail concerned airline tickets that had been issued by Trans World Airlines but are in the hands of another travel agency in Northern California.

A third agency, Celebrity Travel in Northern California, which initially had made arrangements through Travel International, has refused to release the tickets because it would lose a commission, Barnum said.

“We hope to get the ticket problem solved by Monday,” said Norm Seldman, an attorney helping the group and whose daughter is planning to go on the trip.

Many of the students, including Halebsky, had worked long hours at after-school jobs to earn the $3,500 needed by each student for the journey.

“In the beginning, I was working 30 hours a week after school and weekends,” Halebsky said.

First, he was employed at a pizza restaurant and then worked as a busboy in another restaurant. What he didn’t earn, his parents chipped in as his high school graduation gift, he said.

Lynae Inbach, 18, who also just graduated from San Clemente High, worked nine months as a checker in a nearby department store to earn her way to Europe.

“The only place I’ve ever been is Tijuana,” she joked, as her parents, Paul and Dorine Inbach, stood nearby on Sunday.

“We’re very proud of her because she has been working so hard for this,” said Lynae’s father.

“It’s one of those things that she can look back on as a lifetime experience--a tremendous growth experience and opportunity for her. I hope she returns 10 feet tall.”