These days, the hustle is often via robocall.
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If you’ve ever dropped your business card in a “win a free trip” drawing at a restaurant or signed up to win at a fair, you may have gotten a phone call, letter, or email claiming you’ve won a free vacation. Related: 9 Nasty Truths About Car Rental Insurance “You Won a Free Trip!” (The deductible can be thousands of dollars before insurance kicks in.) When you rent a car, the company often pressures you to buy a CDW supplement, which will prevent you from having to pay a high insurance deductible if the car is damaged. Rick Steves calls the car-rental collision damage waivers (CDW) a “collision damage waiver racket” for a reason. The only way to avoid this travel scam is to not buy a travel-agent card if you’re not a travel agent-there’s really no legal way to get around it. Scammers charge hundreds of dollars for these cards, but victims who shell out will quickly find that no place will accept the fakes, and they never see any discounts. Don’t believe the hype from outfits that promise to issue you a travel-agent ID that provides access to discounts. Cheap hotels and airfares are thrown at their feet once they pull out their travel-agent ID cards, right? Wrong. “Travel-Agent” Card MillsĪh, the life of travel agents. Before prepaying for a vacation package, be sure to research fees and blackout dates, as well as the company’s reputation. The idea here is to get the up-front money, then keep stalling: ‘Sorry, these dates are sold out try again soon.’ They delay until people just quit trying.” Or the company charges huge additional fees to redeem the certificates, and the trip is considerably less luxurious than promised. Also check the Better Business Bureau for complaints about the specific service before you buy.Įd Perkins also warns against prepaid vacation certificates: “Travel scams promise really great prices but deliver nothing.
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Simply doing an internet search for the name of the travel company plus “travel scam” will usually reveal a host of problems experienced by other members. My advice is to run, don’t walk.”Įlliott advises that anyone considering joining a travel club do research with a very critical eye beforehand. Consumer advocate Christopher Elliott, whose book Scammed lays out a helpful roadmap for being a responsible and effective shopper in a world of corporate swindles, has told SmarterTravel: “I’ve never come across a legitimate travel club.
However, once you pay the joining fees, you find that the deals offered aren’t any better than what you can find for yourself online-for free. Wholesale travel clubs claim that you’ll have access to incredibly cheap vacations if you join. The schemes below may be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to travel cons, but preparing yourself for these common swindles is a good place to start. Stay ahead of these surprisingly effective travel scams to keep your vacation plans from falling apart. You know that old saying “there’s a sucker born every minute”? Don’t be one of them.
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