We spend a lot of time and money trying to get some relaxation and fun on our holidays. We can easily spend a month’s wages escaping for a week. So it’s understandable if we find a deal that is just too good to be true and we take it. Unfortunately, that way leads to ruin.

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Imagine that you are online and you notice this advertisement for a chance to win a free vacation to the Bahamas or the South of France. You may ask yourself, “Why not? It’s just a promotion.” You click the link and it all looks reputable. They ask for just a moment of your time and some information. You fill out your name, address, e-mail, age, industry, household income, etc. You submit your form and wait a few days. A few weeks pass and you hear nothing. You understand that the odds were not that great in the first place, so you forget about it. If you win, great. If you don’t win, that is okay too.

The perfect holiday - only an e-mail and postal address away

However, you notice that you’ve been getting a sprinkling of soliciting email and postal mail. Soon you’re flooded by these unwanted and quite dubious letters and emails. Thinking back on it, it now seems so clear. The “promotion” wasn’t about promoting a cruise-line or a travel agency. It was about finding information on consumers that could be sold to marketers – some legitimate businesses, others not.

This is one type of holiday scam. Con artists tend to be very convincing. In fact, the “con” in the term “con artist” is short for “confidence” because the perpetrator is so good at building up our confidence in him or her. Some of the most skilful con artists can whisk us away for the day and take us around the world, or so they would like us to believe. And we usually do believe them for at least a tiny moment. Part of us wants to believe them. Who hasn’t wanted to believe in some version of a pyramid scheme before? Who doesn’t want to believe that there is a quick fix or an easier way?

There are many different types of scams, though, and not each one is as benign as a junk-mail campaign. Some tricks are more subtle, some more deceptive. Let’s look at another eight scams that befall us vacationers and how to avoid these tricks.

The Timeshare
A timeshare is a property located in a vacationing spot that is rented out for several slots during a year. If you buy a share, you would need to allot for the same time once, twice or sometimes three times each year, or you would lose your rental time (sometimes, though, you may be able to loan out the timeshare to others, but you may be contractually obligated to not rent it out). The deal may not be such a good idea for you and may not be a deal at all. Managers and agents know this, so they try high-pressured campaigns to convince and guilt you into buying shares. You may find yourself in a recreational area when the agents start calling, asking for “just a moment of your time” in exchange for discounted or free tickets to an attraction. Most timeshare representatives are actually legitimate, but the presentation (and sometimes, presentations) may be too much to handle and you may end up buying something that you just don’t need, or even want.

Sometimes, Timeshares can leave you all waiting for
those perfect 2 weeks in August

The completely-free bargain
This is different than the sweepstakes promotional in that you have supposedly already won the contest – because someone apparently entered your name. All you need to do is call a certain number and give information. Often the information that they ask of you is very intrusive. They may ask for your credit card or mother’s maiden name, or other more personal identification questions. And you may find yourself with withdrawn funds or a victim of identity theft. Avoid this scam at all costs. If someone calls, writes or alerts you that you won something that you never entered, ignore the temptation. Hang up or delete right away.

The too-good-to-be-true bargain
Someone offers you a trip to Barbados or Nice with hotel accommodations for a couple hundred pounds. You give them the money and never hear from them again. Try to get a history of any company you do business with and make sure that the people you are dealing with are with them. A very helpful suggestion to always keep in mind is to follow the “If It’s Too Good to Be True, It Probably Is” (IITGTBTIPI) rule-of-thumb.

Free airfare to stay at our hotel and eat our food
But then you do the math and find that the food and hotel are more expensive than better airfare, food, and lodging bought separately.

Luxury living in a hotel that includes free airfare!

Discount travel clubs
For a fee, you can become a member and get coupon books good for hotels, restaurants, airfare, etc. But then you find that the deals are only for a limited time or at very restrictive days or hours. See what kind of deals they offer before you join. If they can’t be specific, walk.

Shell games
Con artists can appear to be tourists or locals and try to engage you in games of chance that are really shifted towards their favour. They usually work in teams and as one engages you, the other picks your pockets. Unless you don’t mind losing large amounts of cash, keep as little on you as possible. If they steal your cards, you can close them and get a replacement quickly. Talk to your bank or credit card company about replacements while on vacation.

Shell games can be used as a distraction to steal stuff

The hidden costs
Sometimes even the legitimate businesses can take you for a ride, pun intended. As airlines deal with fewer passengers, they continually look for ways to tack on extra charges – by ways of fees and surcharges – that you originally weren’t warned about. Ask for all charges and fees to be added and explained to you before you pay.

Licensing to become a travel agent
Be in control of your own destiny, they say. Why don’t you become a travel agent yourself? You can skip the middleman and wind up with the best deals! Just put this money down and we’ll send you everything you need to know to be your own travel agent, along with instant certification! This also falls under the “IITGTBTIPI” category. Don’t buy it.

Become your own travel agent - get the best deals

In fact, that rule of thumb applies to most of these scams. If you keep your mind alert, though, and do some investigating, you will not be scammed.

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