5 travel scams you might come across this summer

Summer is the high season not only for traveling and holidays but also for travel scams. Here are five scam examples and how to avoid them.

The sun is up and it’s the perfect time to go on an adventure – this is probably the thought you wake up to every summer morning.

You’ve been planning your summer holiday all year long. You already know what clothes you will wear, what gear to take with you and what places to visit. You have everything established and you’re already ready to go.

Regardless of the destinations they choose, nearly everyone is planning a summer trip. However, along with this wave of people wandering the world, there comes a second wave of people trying to trick the ones in the first wave. Various so-called companies and agencies resort to different tricks to scam people. Here are five scam examples you should avoid as much as possible.

1.     The “unbelievable discount” travel scams

You’ve probably seen a few “too good to be true” traveling offers. Well, it’s best to avoid them as much as possible, as in most cases, there are some scammers behind them. they tempt you with some travel offers that are at incredibly discounted prices just to take your credit or debit card data, to use it and leave you with no money.

If your gut tells you that something about that “discount” offer is shady, it’s best to do some research before hitting the “buy” button. A simple Google search can tell you the truth about that offer.

2.     “Free vacations” for all customers… not!

“Our company celebrates the 10th anniversary and decided to give 100 free vacations to the first 100 people who respond to this email” – does this sound familiar? You’re probably going to find this type of email in your Spam folder and, as you might have guessed, there’s a reason why it’s called the “Spam” folder.

Think about it. If you were the CEO of such a company, would it be profitable for you to give 100 free vacations to 100 random people? Most probably the answer is “no”.

3.     The “substitute accommodation” scam

Unfortunately, this has happened to many people in the past decades and one very good example has a Hawaii hotel chain in the foreground. They owned one beachfront property and more inland properties. What they did was to over-promise their customers that they would be accommodated at the beachfront property, but the moment those tourists got there, they were shifted to those inland holdings.

Book your accommodations through trusted and reliable sources in order to avoid such scams from ruining your summer holiday.

4.     The fake rentals scam

One very big problem when it comes to vacations is related to transactions operated between you and other individuals. The number of people who fell victims to rental fraud is worryingly high.

The best solution is to resort to specialized companies and agencies that withhold payments until the day after you check in at the specific property and one very good example here is Airbnb.

5.     The “take it now or lose it” scam

These types of scams imply an “incredibly advantageous” deal that you can benefit of only if you buy it right away. It’s true that there are certain booking sites that abound you with flash deals that also have expiration dates, but you should know that legitimate travel suppliers will give you time at least to think about that offer. They won’t pressurize you into booking your travel right away.