COMPANY FOLDS, RUINING VACATIONS

Tonya Hughes of Cape Girardeau was dreaming of palm trees and sandy beaches last week because she booked a trip two months ago with friends to Cancun, Mexico.

Hughes was scheduled to fly from St. Louis to Cancun April 30 for a four-night stay at a beach-side resort.

But her dreams quickly turned to nightmares when her travel agent called Saturday to say the travel company her vacation was arranged through had folded.

"This was going to be the first time I ever left the country," Hughes said. "Now I just don't know what's going to happen."

Hughes didn't know Tuesday whether she would ever recover the money she sent the company.

"I paid a deposit in cash," she said, "but the rest I put on a credit card."

She was making arrangements with the credit card company this week to have her account credited for the charge.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Hughes was one of 11,000 people affected by the closure of Club America, an Atlanta-based travel company that coordinated vacation packages to the Caribbean and Mexico.

The Department of Transportation said about 9,000 people had made payments on future vacations and another 2,000 people were stranded in places like Jamaica, Puerto Vallarta and Cancun when Club America abruptly ceased operations Friday.

As many as a dozen or more people in Southeast Missouri were awaiting departure dates for a Club America vacation, according to several Cape Girardeau travel agencies. And no one from the area was believed stranded in the Caribbean or Mexico.

"Thank God no one we booked was stranded," said Peggy McLain, owner of Designing Travel in Cape Girardeau. "We had a few people booked for future dates, and I think another agency in town had more than us."

McLain said her agency was helping travelers make claims against Club America's bond. She said immediate communication with Club America's insurance company and travelers' credit card companies was important.

"The faster you communicate, the better off you are," she said.

Hughes wouldn't say how much she had paid Club America, but vacation packages with the company ranged between a few hundred and several thousand dollars.

A spokesman for the Department of Transportation said travelers were being advised to make written claims for payments sent to Club America. The spokesman said the department requires public charter operators to protect consumer payments through a bonding and escrow financial arrangement. Club America has a $5 million bond, according to the department.

Travelers who had vacation packages purchased through Club America, and were either on their trips or awaiting departure, should contact their credit card companies and Club America's bank and insurance company:

First Union National Bank of Georgia, 3235 Peachtree Road., Atlanta, Ga., 30305.

Firemen's Insurance Co. of Newark, N.J., 3700 Crestwood Parkway, Duluth, Ga., 30136.

Hughes said she booked another vacation to the Caribbean.

"I hope I'm not going to be out that other money," she said.