Avoiding Travel Scams

There are lots of ways that travel agencies or phony travel package peddlers will try to scam you out of a whole lot of money. With the tips below, there are ways to seek out those scams and avoid them-for good.

One scam directed at those trying to find cheap travel is the offer to make the customer a travel agent. The offer will tell you that if you become a travel agent with their company, you will be able to travel to various places for free or extremely cheap. However, beware that this is usually a scam to get you to buy a kit or program that will “teach” you to become a travel agent. The fees will be high and the so-called training will not help you to become a reputable travel agent. To find out ways to become a legit travel agent check the American Society of Travel Agents.

Another way to avoid a scam is not to make any discount travel plans over the phone completely. If this is the only option to aquire a deal, ask why they only operate over the phone and make sure you get everything in the agreement in writing prior to payment. Most scams will only operate over the phone and will evade your request for a written agreement to avoid complying with the deal in the end.

Also avoid any travel deals that promote “limited time only” arrangements. Often, scams will make the customer pay further than 60 days in advance to the actual travel date. However, many credit card companies won’t allow disputes after 60 days, thus leaving you high and dry when the deal falls through at the last moment.

Finally, avoid making any travel arrangements that leave out important information such as airline, hotel or car rental names. There is no reason to leave this out and should especially be put in writing so that you know what you are paying for. However, if you are using a travel site such as Travelocity, the site won’t tell you the exact names of hotels, airlines and car rentals until they have found the best price, which is acceptable.

To read more about travel scam signs check out Budget Travel.