Here’s a wonderful way to throw away your vacation money. True story.
The 800 number was on a handsome certificate congratulating a friend for having been “selected” for a “World Class FLORIDA/CARIBBEAN VACATION.”
Included in this deal: round-trip airfare to “Magical Orlando,” a “cruise” out of Ft. Lauderdale to Grand Bahama Island for a three-night stay, free rental car for seven days and, if the recipient confirmed within 72 hours, a bonus round-trip flight to Jamaica’s Montego Bay. All accommodations included.
Not mentioned anywhere: a price. But this wasn’t a gift. The only time the word “free” appeared was after the word “duty.”
And there was nothing to be congratulated for, except for being on a mailing list, which entitled the bearer to be high-pressured into supplying a total stranger with her credit-card number.
The friend, no fool, took a pass. That was a year ago.
Here’s what a call to that same 800 number will get you today:
“Ooooh, hello! My girlfriends and I were just waiting for you to call. Want to talk? I’m so glad-because you’ve just dialed into the hottest sex line available . . .”
The “travel” company, which claimed an office near Ft. Lauderdale, no longer has a phone number.
Lurking among the thousands of legitimate providers of travel services are assorted scam artists, incompetents and undercapitalized entrepreneurs that can leave travelers-particularly bargain-hunting travelers-at risk of being fleeced, stranded or terribly disappointed.
No vacation plan is entirely risk-free-kids get sick, hurricanes happen-but there are ways of minimizing the risk by using your head to protect your travel dollars.
Some recommendations:
– Choose a travel agent carefully. Some are little more than a bottleneck. Ask friends for references, then stop by or phone and check them out. If you still have doubts, screen candidates through the Better Business Bureau (in the Chicago area, 312-444-1188) or the American Society of Travel Agents (703-739-2782)-but word of mouth usually works. A good travel agent can save you bucks off the top and keep you from wasting two weeks on the wrong island. .
– Ask questions. “Make sure you have your travel agent explain the fine print,” said ASTA spokesman David Love. “A lot of times,” said Steve Bernas, director of operations for Chicago’s Better Business Bureau, “consumers don’t understand what they’re getting themselves into.” It’s usually their own fault.
– Junk those “certificates of notification, authorization, good news, etc.” that tease you with dream trips to Florida or the Caribbean. Same goes for unsolicited postcards bearing similar messages, which start hitting mailboxes with the first flurry of snow.
What they really want is your credit card number.
“All of a sudden,” said Bernas, “you realize your credit card has been charged for $400. Those are companies that open up and close on a monthly basis and just move to another area.
“It’s amazing how many people still fall for it,” Bernas said. As amazing, he said, is what happens after victims lose even hundreds of dollars.
“Nine out of 10 people don’t complain,” said Bernas. “They write it off to experience.”
If you do fall for it, report it. No one will laugh.
– Read ads carefully. Check the tiny print. Before you buy, bounce a published sales-pitch off a trusted travel agent. No magazines or newspapers deliberately print misleading ads, but most lack the staff to check them out.
“Any time there’s an offer that sounds really, really good, or almost too good to be true, take time to think about it,” said Love. Then call. “If they start saying, `You have to sign now,’ it probably wasn’t a deal to begin with.”
– Beware the Internet. If you know how to use them, on-line services allow you to buy plane tickets, reserve rooms and rent cars. Cautions against your launching your credit-card number into cyberspace when dealing with legitimate services may be overwrought–but there are scam artists cruising the chat lines hustling up customers.
Explained Love: “You can have someone say, `I just came back from the Bahamas, and I worked with this company, and they were so wonderful, blahblahblah’–and it could be a scam operator saying that. (Consumers) communicate with the company and get scammed that way. That’s the one we’re seeing most frequently.
– Don’t give out the number on chat lines, but use credit cards, rather than checks or cash, when you can. If a travel agency, tour operator, cruise line or airline–such as MarkAir last month–goes belly-up or doesn’t provide the services you paid for, you may have an out.
“With a credit card,” said Mary Levine, manager of Travel Core of America, a Lincolnshire, Ill., travel agency, “you can dispute the charge. If a company goes out of business and you paid cash, even if you do get your money back it could take a year–and it may not be the full amount.”
Disputing a charge is no guarantee you’ll win your appeal (though you are protected from something as clear-cut as a business failure). And some providers tack on a 3 percent surcharge if you use the credit card, which could wipe out the advantage of a discount fare or of using a cheap consolidator ticket.
– Watch for stalling tactics. Credit-card companies limit the time from date of purchase you can dispute a charge: Visa and MasterCard give you three billing periods (about three months); American Express a year. If a company scrams beyond the limit–and some have been known to reschedule their sometimes-bogus tours just for that reason–you could be out of luck.
It may not mean anything, but ask questions when tour operators insist you pay early for a tour that’s scheduled beyond the credit-card-appeal limit.
– Protection may be easier than you think. Some travel agencies include a kind of insurance (such as the United States Tour Operators Association’s “$1 million Consumer Protection Plan”) against operator default–a plus–at no additional cost. If an airline, cruise line or tour operator fails, you get your money back. Though this duplicates similar protection offered by using credit cards, the cards’ time limits don’t apply. And you don’t need to use the credit card to get it.
Don’t confuse agencies with these protection plans with those that are “bonded”; bonding merely protects your airline tickets from agency failure and has nothing to do with your land or cruise costs.
– Consider trip cancellation/interruption insurance. Some elements of “travel insurance” may duplicate coverage you already own through your existing policies, but not this one. Seniors, whose health situations can change unexpectedly, should take a look at this hedge, especially if they’re booking tours or cruises months in advance. Those putting together complicated do-it-yourself tours that include use of charters or consolidator tickets, where canceled flights could leave you hanging, might also investigate. Typical add-on cost: 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent.
– Understand the risks of using consolidator tickets. These are surplus tickets (usually airline ones, but cruises too) sold at discount through some travel agencies. Purchased through a reputable agency, they can be a good deal–providing consumers know they may be giving up flexibility and other reassurances provided by air and cruise lines when passage is bought through traditional channels.
“If you’re going through a consolidator and it’s check only, you should take trip insurance,” Levine said. “If you have a (complicated) trip that’s only consolidator tickets, you should take travel insurance, because that’s a pretty big investment and if you want to protect it, that’s the only way.
“But most people, when they’re calling consolidators, they want to spend the least amount of money. So when we talk to them about insurance, all they know is it’s going to cost them an extra $50, $100.”
Peace of mind may be worth the price. Peace of mind is probably why you’re going in the first place.
