Fake Travel Services & Scams

After strict restrictions on travel were enforced in 2020, people are more eager to travel than ever. The world’s tourism industry is expecting a ‘travel boom’ as lockdown rules are slowly eased globally.

Depending on the country, 90% of all holidays are booked online. People can now travel to more destinations at lower prices than ever in history. More and more people are travelling on their own because of the availability of the knowledge gained on the internet. It has become very easy to find cheap hotels, flights, car rentals, tours and packages online.

However, booking your holiday online can also lead to devastating financial loss. According to a 2019 survey conducted for the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), nearly a quarter of consumers report being misled by travel resellers on the phone or online, affecting $5.7 billion in transactions in 2018 alone. Here are some tips on how to avoid travel service scams.

How to Recognize Fake Travel Agencies

When you book your trip online, there are several things to look out for:

• Extra fees: Some companies offer plane tickets or full travel services that cost $40 to $250, but there are often hidden charges that are not immediately disclosed. At checkout, you may end up having to pay triple, quadruple or even more.
  
  
• Contract: Legit travel agencies will always have prepared an offer in writing that states you paid for these exact services and they are accountable for it. Scammers, on the other hand, have vague offers or do not provide an offer in writing.
  
  
• Information: Make sure the information about the hotel, airline company and other vendors are disclosed. Do not buy a travel package that does not give you full information about your upcoming travel.
  
  
• Offer for a limited time: Limited time offers exist in the travel industry to fill the planes and hotels, but if the offer is 60 or more days away, be cautious because charges on your card can probably not be disputed after 60 days.
  
  
• Travel agent: Some companies offer cheap or free travels for travel agents, but in reality, you have to pay for documents and in the end you may not get the free travel.
  
  
• Payment method: Credit cards are a relatively safe way to pay as it is easier to dispute a charge and get it reversed. If the only option is to pay by bank transfer, be very cautious. Do not pay via money transfer or debit card unless you are 100% sure the website is legit.
  
  
• Big price differences: Flights, hotels and car rental services are global businesses. The prices across websites usually hardly differ if at all. If you try to book the same hotel/flight at the same time the prices across the different websites should be the same or nearly the same. Price differences of more than a few per cent are suspicious.
  
  
• Money back/coupons/discount codes: Legit travel websites do not offer money-back, coupons or discount codes. The prices across different websites are nearly all the same. Scammers try to lure you to their website with discounts. As profit margins on flights are 1% to 5% and on hotels up to 20%, travel agents simply cannot afford to give you a huge discount.
  
  
• Terminology: If a website frequently uses words like “free” and “complementary”, it is likely just trying to lure you in. No matter how big or small a travel agency appears to be, they cannot afford to give away free discounts or trips. Make sure to read the fine print.

Tip For Choosing a Travel Service Company

The main tip we recommend is to check the company thoroughly. Spend some time looking for people who already have experience with the company in addition to reviews on TripAdvisor, TrustPilot and of course on ScamAdviser.com.

IATA demands to all agents selling tickets on behalf of an airline to be accredited and show their unique code. You can validate IATA Agency Codes and Travel Agent ID Cards on the IATA CheckACode Evaluation Page.

For general tips about recognizing scams, read our article on How to Recognize Scams.

Sources:

• AARP
• TripSavvy