With the price of airfare skyrocketing to new highs it’s no wonder travel clubs are attracting more interest than ever before.
Commercials and print ads for travel clubs offering, “super deals and deep discounts” are virtually everywhere. The advertisements promise huge savings on everything from airfare and cruises to rental cars and hotel accommodations.
If you are a cash strapped traveler who has always dreamed of taking a Caribbean cruise or a fantasy flight to Paris, then one of these flashy ads or mailings (typically in the form of a postcard) may have caught your attention—-especially the ones that promise free travel in exchange for a few hours of your time.
In most cases travel clubs promise free trips to travelers who are willing to attend a sales presentation prior to departing on their “free vacation.”
If you have been tempted by one of these offers you should know that, according to the Better Business Bureau, a travel club is “a group whereby a consumer can pay a fee to join and they are told that by joining they’ll get to take advantage of special travel offers.” But in most cases the trip would-be travelers are signing up for are merely traps to rob them of their hard earned cash.
The Better Business Bureau says it has logged more than 350 consumer complaints this year alone regarding travel clubs. What’s more, the Federal Trade Commission says it too has been inundated by complaints from individuals who were taken on a ride (and not the kind they were promised) by shady travel clubs.
According to managers at the Federal Trade Commission, they have taken action against 17 different travel clubs over the past several years.
“Primarily, we’ve alleged that they have deceptively advertised what it is that they promise,” says a Federal Trade Commission spokesperson.
In one case a respondent claimed he was promised up to 60% off airfare and accommodations to a Florida hotspot, so he signed up… for $5,000. The money he put down was supposedly going to pay for monthly use of a condo and airfare to and from Florida. Unfortunately, the man quickly discovered it was nearly impossible to book travel through the club that he had already forked over the money to.
In another case a travel club member dropped nearly $3,000 to join only to find out that the travel club price on a particular condo he wanted to rent was $500 more than if he booked it on his own. The man also says that when he tried to book a flight through his club he saved less than $10.
Despite these travel horror stories the Better Business Bureau acknowledges that there are a few reputable travel clubs operating in the United States. However, as a whole the Better Business Bureau considers travel clubs to be “a suspect industry” and offers this warning: “Because there are so many travel clubs out there that we’ve heard complaints from consumers about, it’s something that a consumer has to be very, very careful about before joining.”
If the temptation to join a travel club is too much to resist the Federal Trade Commission suggests that you read the club’s contract very carefully, and know the cancellation policy. Also, the group warns potential travel club members to be wary of high-pressure sales tactics. Finally, you can check with the Better Business Bureau to view prior complaints lodged against a particular travel club.
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