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Time to Plan Your Summer Travel but Avoid Travel Fraud

That means the scammers will also be out in full force. Every year, I write several posts about how to recognize, avoid or inquire about refunds when you think you may have been scammed.

To that end, a Chicago TV station posted  a great alert on how to avoid travel fraud and the five short but to the point pointers sounded good enough that I forward them to you. You can also click on my 'scams' category to re-visit old posts I have written if the thought of being defrauded is a real and present danger in your mind.

Airport Security - Perhaps an Oxymoron?

Pauline Frommer of Frommers fame posted an article on Bing about having her laptop stolen from the security line at JFK. In reading the post, I realized that though I consider myself somewhat of a travel expert, I too could easily fall into the trap of thinking that items in the security area (with all the attendant TSA personnel and airport police) would be safe. Far from it.

Read her post here. It is stunning that so many thieves are caught and as she pointed out, just as stunning to think how many HAVEN'T been caught! Though I usually travel where lines are so short you actually have to WAIT for your things, I can easily see how a duo bent on mayhem could slow up a line AFTER noticing a laptop going through and their accomplice(s) picking it up and wandering off. After all, there are no baggage tags assigned. So the security people have NO IDEA what belongs to whom. If you simply ACT like you own it, they assume you do and away goes your laptop. Just like what happened to Pauline.

Make sure you read the comments also for other tips. It isn't just laptops that are vulnerable - expensive cameras, iPods and now iPhones are highly sought after by thieves as well. Heck, even your CHANGE is probably vulnerable!

An Internet Travel Site You DON'T Want to Patronize

Chris Elliott posted a story about an alleged Internet Travel Website that was fined by the Dept. of Transportation for not disclosing all pertinent charges and making it appear that flights and hotel rates were less than they really were. However, that turned out to be the tip of the ice berg and when I followed some of the complaints by consumers, I uncovered a horde of apparent rip-off schemes by not just the original site (UltimateFares.com) but other affiliated sites as well. Apparently, a past employee in the Billing Dept. was spilling the beans about the companies, which apparently were fleecing unsuspecting consumers in numerous ways. It alarmed me enough to do this post to try to warn anyone thinking about doing business with any of these companies.

I have no experience with any of them and no gripe of my own. I am simply passing along what I found on the net but it is disturbing enough to warrant my attention. People report they were overcharged or charged more than once for tickets and another complaint read in part; "Ultimate fares has a very bad reputation in the travel industry. They not only scam their customers, but also their vendors, partners and even their own employees". Not a company I want to do business with.

The Billing employee went so far as to suggest you simply google "reviews on UltimateFares.com" and see for yourself what others are reporting. This employee also mentioned 3 other companies apparently affiliated with Ultimate: Cheapflightsales.com, Arcade Travel, and Travel Services. You can find his/her review here. 

And as always, a partial solution is to get your credit card company involved, which will take months to resolve. In the end, you may just want to book directly with airlines and hotels - something I have been a proponent of in my books since the get-go.

More Travel Scams

A couple times a year I post an article warning people about travel scams that surface unexpectedly. Usually it is the same type scam - go to a 90 minute presentation to get a free vacation but there is no freebie afterwards. Just a solicitation to join a "Travel Club" offering discount vacations.

I happened to be surfing Consumer Complaints on a well know blog site called Wallet Pop and in the course of reading about a 'rebate check scam', it occurred to me that because the scam involved 'entertainment' discounts, many travelers may fall for it. Hence, this warning for any or all who see the name "Great Fun" entertainment.

The scam goes something like this. You innocently order a product (online or off a TV advertisement) and the company you did business with sells your name AND credit card information to another party. In the case I was reading, it was a company called Great Fun which sends a 'rebate' check (usually for $8.25) from the purchase of products as varied as animal accessories to blankets. In the fine print on the back of the check will be wording that says you are signing up for some costly product or service - often a monthly rotating charge too. 

What is so insidious about this scam is that the check looks like it was sent by the company you did business with. So assuming you were/are happy with their products or services, you wouldn't think twice about receiving the 'rebate' and cashing it. But the rebate applies to the charge you are about to incur, not because of what you already purchased. And the charge will come from a company you never heard of either.

While all the companies involved insist it is not meant to mislead, I mean come on! How stupid do they think people are? If you can't simply send a solicitation with a rebate check offered (I get them occasionally too) under the company name that WANTS to charge you, then they are assuming you will cash the check becuase of your prior arrangements/business.

In our lobbyist filled world (remember when enacting the Do Not Call list was going to forever end the telemarketer business and it hasn't?) this is all perfectly legal.

So watch what you buy and from whom, and if you see a company called Great Fun offering (supposedly) hotel discounts or airfare discounts, I say think twice. It could be a costly mistake.

A Warning about Hotel Pranks

In the old days (and I mean REALLY old days), a good prank was to call people and ask them if their refrigerator was running. When they said yes, you then tell them they better go catch it! (If they ask, 'what is a refrigerator?', you probably wanted to hang up right then)

In light of all of today's reality shows (like Punkd), the pranks played on people have escalated 100 fold. Now news is spreading of pranks being played on hotel guests from Florida to Arkansas. A caller will call a hotel room and identify themselves as a manager or hotel worker and ask them to do outrageous things. Break mirrors and windows, throw mattresses out the window, pull the fire alarms. One guest was so panicked she told her deputy husband to do some of these and he readily complied!

This rash of pranks apparently is a byproduct from PrankNET.com, where a bunch of morons sit around and think of nothing better to do with their lack of life skills than dream up how to damage property and alarm people with threats about 'gas leaks' and fires in a nearby room. They apparently post videos on YouTube also and like those in the underground world of stolen credit cards and identities, get 'boosts' from fellow pranksters for every outrageous stunt they pull.

My point is that some day you might be punked like this and end up being billed for damages instead of being given a free pass as a victim. In the article I read out of Florida, the couple was NOT charged with anything nor billed for the damages they did but one has to wonder why common sense didn't arise and inform the guest that in an emergency, you GET OUT of a room, not start throwing chairs out the window. If you really smelled smoke, opening ANY windows only fuels a fire, allows a smoldering fire access to oxygen and tends to EXPLODE a fire (ever see BackDraft?) and if there truly were a gas leak, OPENING the window calmly would serve as well as smashing it with a toilet lid. I am not trying to blame the victims but I wonder if they would blindly follow these instructions if it was their HOUSE and not a hotel room.

Just like letting in anyone off the street into your house who claims to be an employee of the gas or water company and is not wearing a work uniform or shirt nor having proper ID is not a good idea, perhaps hanging up and calling the desk first before chucking a mattress out the window would be a good idea. Otherwise, some day you may be on the business end of a $10,000 invoice for damages to a hotel room.

A Family Friendly Option to Hawaii - Or Is It?

I am not a fan of 'special packages' where a figure that looks very, very good is dangled in front of you in an advertisement but by the time you get through the fine print, the REAL cost is nowhere near the suggested cost. A good example of that is this notice that recently came out from NorthWest Airlines. Travel to Hawaii from March 29th through Sept. 30th, stay in a participating Aston Hotel and kids stay AND fly free! Supposed fares were listed this way:

Sample Sale Prices

air + 7 nights Aston Hawaii hotel from*
Seattle	Big Island	Aston Kona by the Sea Includes: 1 free night; Aloha free deals; kids 12 and younger stay/play/eat free	$654
San Francisco	Maui	Aston at the Maui Banyan Kids 12 and younger stay/play/eat free	$690
Los Angeles	Maui	Aston at Papakea Resort Includes: 1 free night; Aloha free deals; kids 12 and younger stay/play/eat free	$836
Atlanta	Kauai	Aston Kauai Beach at Makaiwa Includes: 1 free night; $50 food and beverage credit; Aloha free deals; kids 12 and younger stay/play/eat free	$853
Portland	Maui	Aston Mahana at Kaanapali Includes: 1 free night; Aloha free deals; kids 12 and younger stay/play/eat free	$901
Minneapolis/St. Paul	Oahu	Aston Waikiki Sunset Includes: 1 free night; Aloha free deals; airport transfers; kids 12 and younger stay/play/eat free	$912
Salt Lake City	Oahu	Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel Includes: 1 free night; Aloha free deals, daily breakfast on beach; airport transfers; kids 12 and younger stay/play/eat free	$1,010

The biggest problems are these: taxes and fees are not included and that only one child per adult is allowed free. Just ONE. So if two adults are traveling and you'd think 2 kids could then travel free, you'd be wrong. I suppose you could book separate tickets but I am guessing in the fine, fine print, there will be a clause that restricts you from doing this. The maximum benefit of that free ticket is $900 and anything over that, you pay. Since some of the above fares are over $900 WITHOUT taxes and fees, it may still cost you hundreds to have one child fly FREE. Lastly, the fares shown are not necessarily available when you want to go. And of course tickets are limited too so if you think about booking this for more than a couple of days, I'm guessing that your dates will be sold out or only available at a higher price. Now for regular airfares.

End of Year Travel Scam Warning

A travel tip for you. Thanks to our ever vigilant travel rabble rouser Chris Elliott at MSNBC, he posted recently in his personal blog about a new travel scam for you to be aware of. It involves paper tickets issued by Travel Agents for a fee and if you are the type that likes paper tickets (rather than e-tickets), you should read this! It may be the best travel advice you read this year.

Travel Scam Redux

In an earlier post, I wrote about a company traveling around the country duping mostly retired people into extravagant vacation packages offered at discount prices if immediate deposits or pre-payment of reservation fees are made. I warned that the company was headed into other states not listed.

Well, either they recently surfaced in Tennessee as predicted or another scam operator has reared up. Instead of Elite Adventures, Florida based Royal Palm Vacation used the same con - a hotel room where pitch men solicited deposits for one of a kind vacation opportunities. Alert officials looked into Royal Palm and found they also operated under other names, as you can read here.

Travel Scams

Like any industry, scams are present in the travel arena too. Here's late-breaking news out of Kansas of yet another scam intended to separate people from their money. It could be heading your way too...