Is it too good to be true?
Recently, there has been a trend of “it’s too good to be true” scams. You have probably received the emails from someone telling you their “uncle”, “father”, whomever, has left them a large sum or money and they need your help to access the funds. Or perhaps you’ve been called by someone saying you have “won” a “free” government grant and they’ll deposit the money in your account if you give them your routing and account numbers. The list of scams like this goes on… Sadly, there are several scams out there related to travel as well.
Just this week there was an article about several local college students that were victims of a travel scam. They contacted a “travel agency” they found online through a website much like Craig’s List regarding airline tickets back to India over the holiday break. This agency gave them a price that was several hundred dollars less than any other ticket prices they had seen online or by calling other agencies. These young students thought they really had found a great deal… until they found out the airline tickets were not real. The agency had purchased tickets with their money, and then cancelled the tickets.
There are also other types of travel related concerns. I hesitate to call them scams, because in many of these cases, you do actually get “something”, but it certainly isn’t what you think you’re getting. Many time share programs are now called “Vacation Clubs” and they entice you to their presentations under the premise of a free “trip” or “cruise”. Make no mistake, it isn’t free, the costs are not fully disclosed, and it is high pressure sales once you are there. Too many people find themselves owning a time share that they will never get their money’s worth out of. Then there are travel deals found on Craig’s List or Groupon. While Groupon and Craig’s List can be great for many things, travel isn’t usually one of them. Nearly every investigative news program out there has done an expose on “Groupon gone bad” vacations. I personally have had to try and help people that contacted me from another country when their Groupon “deal” turned out to be a very expensive vacation. Is every Groupon travel deal bad? Probably not, but how will you know?
There are definitely some red flags that you should be aware of when planning or booking your travel with online agencies, or someone who calls you with the deal of the day.
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A request for a wire transfer or “money gram” directly to the travel agent or agency – Reputable travel agencies will rarely (almost never!) do business this way. If a wire or electronic transfer of funds is required, it is usually by the actual travel supplier (cruise line, airline, etc.), not the agency.
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Cash Payments Required – This is an easy way to lose your money. Most reputable travel suppliers now work with credit cards or electronic transfers. While paying cash is admirable and keeps your finances in checks, it is very hard to recover in the event of theft or misappropriation of funds.
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Invoices that only reflect the travel agency information and make no mention of the actual travel supplier being used for your travel
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Pricing that is significantly out of line compared to other prices for the same airline ticket or vacation package. Many travel suppliers have “no-discounting” policies. This makes it a level playing field for all agencies. That is not to say everyone will have the exact same price on a package (because there can be variables with air, transfers, insurance, etc.), but if the difference is more than 25%, you should question it. For example, Disney and Sandals do not allow any discounting. Agencies that do this are in violation of the operating terms and conditions. While there can be differences in other components, the pricing for the actual resorts are the same. Do you really want to work with an agency that is willing to “break the rules”? If they are willing to break the rules with their travel supplier, what other boundaries are they willing to cross?
If you are going to spend your hard earned money on a vacation experience, please, work with a travel professional so you know what you are getting and get what you are paying for!
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
Kelley