Travel Scams FAQ

Travel scams rely on human nature to overcome common sense. They appeal to your need to feel special (you've been selected!), to be a part of something glamorous (you can have a condo near the beach for a fraction of the price!), and to every person's weakness for a "good deal". The problem is, if it sounds too good to be true, it almost always is. Here are some frequently asked questions about travel scams and their answers.

How can I spot a travel scam?

The basic rule for detecting all scams is the same: ask yourself "is this too good to be true?" and "why me?". If the offer is simply too good to be true, it almost always is. Here are some other guidelines to consider when evaluating an offer:

• They want you to pay in some way before you'll receive your prize: that includes shipping and "handling" fees. If someone was really just going to give you a million dollars, do you really think they'd short change you on the shipping?
• They want you to pay via couriers or wire transfers: always try to pay by credit card, because credit cards have built in fraud protection and you can dispute charges. Scammers will often want you to pay via courier or wire transfer because once the money is gone, it's really gone.
• The offer is extremely time sensitive: while many legitimate offers have a "limited time only" catch, there's a difference between "only valid this month" and only valid for the next 24 hours.
• The price is just way too low: something that is 10% cheaper than through well-known reputable companies may be reasonable, but an offer to sell you travel services for substantially below the price other companies offer is fairly implausible.
• You need to disclose personal financial information: obviously if you are planning to eventually purchase something, information such as your credit card number may be required, but anyone asking for other information, such as Social Security information, bank accounts, etc, is almost assuredly a scammer.
• They inform you that you were "specially selected": many scammers try to appeal to your vanity, and want to make you feel special. No one sits around looking for certain special people to sell to; real businesses want anyone who will pay, so beware of people who try to butter you up.
• The travel description is big on hype and small on details: be very careful of offers that promise nondescript things such as a "major hotel" or "international airline" without being specific. After all, a tiny airport that has one flight to Canada can legitimately be called an "international airport", even if it only has 2 flights a day.
• Beware the hard sell: almost all scams rely on hard-sale pressure tactics. They require that decisions be made on the spot or your once in a lifetime opportunity will be lost. Hard sells also tend to appeal to your need to do what other people are doing, your desire to feel special, and try to lure you in with a simple sounding plan that in fact has many strings attached.

I received an offer for a free vacation, how can I tell if it's legitimate?

First, keep in mind that the chances of being offered, out of the blue, a truly free vacation are next to zero. Being offered a reasonable discount by a major travel agency or online travel service is one thing; being offered a free or nearly free vacation is something else altogether. Here are some of the ways that these "vacation certificates" or "coupons" try to trick you:

• They bombard you with beautiful images and flashy descriptions, but don't offer you the names of the actual hotels, airlines, etc that you would use.
• They give no specific date, or prices for the travel services.
• They use official sounding words like "certificate", "seal of authenticity", and "guarantee" and use imagery meant to mimic the federal government such as coloring the offer in red white and blue, using images like the eagle and giving things official sounding names like the "American Institute of Foreign Travel".
• They hide all the real terms in tiny print, confident that you'll never read it.

If there is no such thing as a "free lunch" in the world, there certainly aren't "free vacations", there's always strings attached. Businesses aren't in the habit of just handing out money and vacations.

This airline price seems too good to be true, how can I tell if it's legitimate

Always check the fine print. Although major airlines won't commit outright fraud, they are still likely to hide information from you in the fine print, such as:

• Quoting you one-way prices, even if there are few, if any one way tickets available.
• Offering you a two for one deal, but pricing the one ticket so high that it's really no better and may be worse than two cheaper tickets.
• Quoting prices for routes that have extremely limited seating and conditions, such that you will almost never actually get that price.
• Limiting the way you can use your frequent flyer miles to such an extent that they become virtually useless to you (such as making flights only available during the week while you are working, and requiring that you stay in a partner hotel for a steep price).