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Travel Scam Alert
| Article
# : |
11054 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
11 / 1993 |
3,241 Words |
| Author
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Brooke Dorman
Brooke Dorman is a free-lance writer who writes frequently on
travel. She is formerly Washington correspondent for Travel
Agent magazine. |
As Americans get caught up in the excitement of making holiday plans, millions are liable to fall victim to bogus travel schemes. More people travel at this time of year than at any other, particularly from cold climates to warm. Five days in Hawaii for $199 can be an irresistible temptation when the temperature is 20 degrees and you haven't seen the sun for three weeks. But buyer beware. Such offers may turn out to be scams.
"With the downturn in the economy, scam operators are bilking the public with a vengeance," says Ray Greenly, vice president of consumer affairs at the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA).
Travel scams usually are operated by fraudulent telemarketers who, using 800- or 900-number lines, are victimizing Americans to the tune of about $40 billion per year, up from $1 billion in 1987. According to a Louis Harris survey conducted last year for the National Consumers League, about 5.5 million Americans have been bilked and more than 90 percent of all adults have received mail solicitations from telemarketers claiming they have won a free prize, often travel. Those figures are deceptive, however, because many incidents go unreported by embarrassed victims.
A scam may start with a newspaper or magazine advertisement, radio or television commercial, or a direct mail solicitation such as a postcard. "Congratulations," it might say. "You are eligible to receive an exciting, fun-filled, three-day cruise to the Bahamas for $99. For information on booking, call 1-800 . . . ."
"You very well may get your trip, but not at the price you thought it would be," says Greenly. In fact, a three-day Bahamas cruise touted for $99 "is going to be full of hidden charges--such as hotel rates--because the cruise will be only a few hours aboard a ferry between Florida and the Bahamas with no overnight accommodations."
Those who fall for such scams will end up paying about $250 in advance reservations fees, airline tickets, port and hotel taxes. Only about 5 percent will ever take their trip, because they have to satisfy a list of nearly impossible conditions, such as extremely limited dates of travel. Consumers often are "booked" for their first choice of travel dates, but a week or so before departure, the scam operator says there is "no availability" for that date or alternative dates. Even worse is when consumers pay for a whole trip and the company subsequently vanishes.
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