Barter is so common in the travel industry that many suppliers accumulate far more travel credit than they can use. What these companies do is try to convert the excess travel credits into something more useful to them, either by selling it for cash or trading it again for something else they need. Generally speaking, use of bartered credit is a legal form of trade and does not violate any airline rules.

Individuals can buy bartered credit through travel clubs, barter exchanges or a coupon broker. An excellent website to visit for more information is the Continental Trade Exchange located at http://www.ctebarter.com/trav.html. Other barter web sites include: BigVine.com, Ubarter.com and BarterTrust.com. You can also look them up in your local newspaper or yellow pages under "Barter" or "Trade Exchanges." Most bartered travel credit is in the form of a credit balance for the total dollar value of goods or services involved in a trade. As the credit is used, the value is deducted from the balance. Another form of barter credit is scrip, which can be used for payment in lieu of currency. Scrip is more convenient than keeping track of a credit balance, but its major drawback is that you can't get "change" in scrip, i.e., if your charge is less than the lowest available scrip denomination, you get back neither cash or scrip.

Some bartered credit is unrestricted and can be used just like cash. In the case of most airline credit, the amount can be applied to any published fare, limited only by those restrictions applying to the fare selected. However, there are other limitations to bartered travel credits. Tickets/vouchers can be issued only through the travel club or barter exchange, not through a travel agency. Also, bartered airline tickets are good only on the issuing airline. They are not exchangeable for use on another carrier if your flight is delayed or cancelled.

Another way for individuals to obtain bartered travel credit is to buy it at a discounted price. Discounts can range up to 50 percent. There are several travel clubs that specialize in obtaining bartered travel credit and merchandising it to travellers.

There are also barter organizations around the country that can give information and handle credit for airline tickets cruise space, tours, hotel accommodations and restaurant meals. These organizations will match your offer and what you want to exchange them for those of others, taking a percent of the transaction as a fee.