Wise consumers avoid vacation scams

It’s been decades since we’ve received one of those “hard-to-believe travel” offers on the telephone. The typical call was from a company telling us, “You won a vacation for two after we had entered a drawing.”

Then the caller added—you only have to pay for the taxes and small service fee to process your travel winnings. Right away, our suspicions went up because we never entered a drawing or contest for such a prize, and the caller was requesting money.

When I told the caller we never entered any drawing, his reply was, “Are you sure you didn’t enter a contest at your local mall or a family member did?” I replied no and politely told the caller we are not interested and hung up without further conversation. These types of phony offers are still being made to unsuspecting consumers by email, text or robocalls offering promotional vacation packages.

Often, the literature or email will name legitimate travel agencies we may see advertised on television, but in reality they are not connected to those companies. If you have not made the initial call to a travel agent or known company, be cautious if an unsolicited call or email comes in saying you have won a free luxury vacation or “special promotion.”

Remember the old saying, “if it sounds too good to be true” — it probably is.

However, here is a side note about accepting an offer that was totally legitimate. Good friends of ours, Joachim and Gudrun, who live in Germany, recently took advantage of an advertisement for a cruise around the world from the port of Hamburg and back. Writing their annual holiday newsletter, Joachim typically describes in detail family news about their daughters and grandchildren, as well as their continual travel excursions. This year’s newsletter described the wonderful cruise they took via a promotional offer.

A prominent German travel agency and cruise operator, Phoenix Reisen, offered a special deal seeking “flexible customers” as passengers for just the first leg of their world cruise. Apparently, the cruise line was filming several new episodes of their television series, Das Traumschiff (The Dream Boat), that would start in Aruba and continue through the Panama Canal and across the Pacific Ocean to the South Seas.

The name of this series reminded me of the popular American television series, The Love Boat, that ran from 1977-87, where passengers searched for romance aboard their travel on a beautiful ship heading to tropical locales. For our friends’ booking, this cruise line needed “actors/extras” to fill the many cabins, so they were offering a discounted price for passengers to join the cruise.

As this was a real and popular travel agency, our two friends, who are known for their exotic and world-traveling excursions, added this cruise to their agenda of fascinating experiences.

Tips to avoid scams

Even if you go into a travel agency office or stop at a booth at a mall, find out if the seller of travel is registered with the department that licenses in your state. Each state has different requirements to obtain a permit as a travel agency and is registered with them.

Contact your Department of Consumer Affairs to learn about the company you are thinking of booking your travel with. Find out if any complaints have been filed against the travel bureau you are considering. If it is a phone solicitation, never give out your checking account or credit card number unless you initiated the call and know the company’s credentials are real.

Before signing any travel or cruise contract, be sure to read the entire contract thoroughly and ask about any parts that seem confusing or unclear to you: Are cancellations allowed within a certain amount of time before departure without a penalty, or a minimal one?

Most seasoned travelers know to purchase travel insurance in case of an unexpected illness or the need to cancel because of a family emergency or sudden work commitment.

If the travel agency provides travel insurance, check prices compared to your own sources for this type of insurance to make sure you are not overpaying simply for the convenience of booking through the same agency as your travel agenda.

Happy travels!