Fraud Tip of the Day - May 6

Travel Scam Tips

• Be wary of offers "free" trip offers. If you are see an offer for a free trip or vacation and decide to respond, be ready for a sales pitch. The free trip offers are usually marketing ploys designed to lure you to them so that you can be hard sold on products or services you don't want or need. That trip isn't free when you're asked to buy something first.
  
  
• Unsolicited travel offer emails. Most of these are total scams. If you didn't ask for it, don't respond. If you're interested and have never heard of the company making the exciting offer, don't respond. Our advice is that you never respond to unsolicited emails. Ever.
  
  
• Read the fine print. That awesome vacation package may have hidden fees lurking in the fine print. Read it. That's what it's there for. For example, the trip to Disneyland could be free, but you have to buy your own airline tickets and pay for your own hotel rooms once you arrive. Other times, you're required to site through a long, time-consumer timeshare presentation or listen to a travel club's sales pitch when you're on your "free" trip.
  
  
• Deal or no deal? Don't be surprised if your vacation deal ends up saving you less money than you expected. Once all arrangements are made you may realize that some of the package's restrictions and requirements end up costing you more than if you'd booked the trip through your travel agent or done it yourself online. Some travel offers only apply if you bring someone else along with you and they pay regular prices. It will be there in the fine print, so make sure you read it!
  
  
• Are there restrictions? What good is that vacation deal if you can't use it when you need to? It should come as no surprise that the best deals are to be had at off-peak travel times. This rules out family trips during school breaks, major holidays, or any other time people are known to travel. You may agree to purchase a trip only to find out later that the dates you want to travel on either cost a lot more than you were told or are booked solid.
  
  
• Confirm all arrangements and reservations. Are hotel and transportation to and from the airport included? If so, make sure you have either confirmation numbers or a way to confirm these travel arrangements yourself.
  
  
• Do some research before making a purchase. It's never been easier to gather travel information on your own. You can contact your travel agent directly, grab a newspaper, check out a book from the library or search for it on the web. With only a little effort you can probably find a trip at a more competitive price than most offers you receive over the phone or in the mail. A little work can pay off big time if you're willing to take the time.
  
  
• Pay for travel with your credit card. If you pay for a dream vacation and it turns out to be a scam or the company goes belly up, you'll hate yourself if you paid for it with anything other than a credit card. Paying by credit card has many advantages over other payment methods. If you're ripped off or find yourself needing to dispute charges you stand a good chance of getting your money back. Federal law says you are only liable for $50 if you report unauthorized charges soon enough.

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