Section 525. Prohibited practices

1. It shall be unlawful for a provider of
  travel services to communicate with a credit card issuer for the purpose
  of  reserving  or  setting  aside  any  specified  amount of credit in a
  consumer's credit card account to ensure  payment  for  services  to  be
  rendered  unless  prior  to  such  communication  the provider of travel
  services informs the consumer of the amount  of  credit  which  will  be
  requested to be reserved or set aside and obtains the consumer's consent
  to the reservation or set aside of such amount.
    2.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  a  provider  of  travel  services to
  communicate with a credit card issuer for the purpose  of  reserving  or
  setting aside an amount of credit in a consumer's credit card account in
  excess of the actual, agreed upon cost of the services contracted for by
  the  consumer  and  provider  of  travel  services unless, prior to such
  communication, the provider of travel services informs the  consumer  in
  writing  of  the amount of credit which will be requested to be reserved
  or  set  aside  and  obtains  the  consumer's  written  consent  to  the
  reservation or set aside of such amount.
    3.  It shall be unlawful for any provider of travel services, after it
  has determined the final charges for the travel services furnished to  a
  consumer,  to  fail to promptly communicate with a credit card issuer to
  request the release of any amount of credit previously reserved  or  set
  aside  by it in the consumer's credit card account which is in excess by
  more than twenty-five dollars of the charges actually billed.
    4. It shall be unlawful for any provider of travel services to impose,
  as a result of the use of a credit card, a surcharge on a  travel  agent
  acting  as an agent of such provider of travel services where, on behalf
  of a holder of a credit card, as defined in section five hundred  eleven
  of  this  chapter,  such  travel agent facilitates the holder's use of a
  credit card in lieu of payment by cash, check or similar means.