Top 5 Travel Scams to Know Before You Book

You picked your vacation destination, you did all your research, and you clicked that purchase button –only to realize you’ve become the victim of an all-too-common travel scam.

You’re not alone. According to the Better Business Bureau, travels scams cost U.S. consumers over $10 billion each year. Out of the 3,900 industries the BBB monitors, the travel industry consistently ranks near or in the top 25 number in complaints.

With personal information readily available online, it’s easy for scammers to find and contact you to lure you into what you think sounds like a great deal on a vacation.

And if you think that going through a travel agency is failsafe, think again. Since 2009, the BBB reports that there have been over 15,000 complaints against travel agencies.

So before you book your next trip, check out some of the top ways you can get scammed when planning your next U.S. holiday:

1. Discount Travel Clubs: If you are someone looking for a good deal on a travel package, you may be this scammers number one target. Since 2009, there have been more than 4,200 complaints to the BBB about travel clubs. These Internet ads ask you to pay an up front fee to have access to discounted travel deals. “These seem to be popping up a lot offering discounted rates on all sorts of travel related activities, wherein you pay a fee up-front and get nothing in return,” travel expert Lee Abbamonte told Foxnews.com. “These can be set up by anybody in particular with access to the Internet, or resourceful enough to take out an ad in the paper as people are quite gullible if they think they are getting a deal.”

2. Deceptive Pricing: When searching to book a travel or vacation package, you may find a great deal. But, make sure you read the fine print, say experts. “When you get offered a great deal, it’s typically not what you expect,” vice president of Public Policy for the National Consumers League John Breyault told Foxnews.com. It’s the old bait and switch, where they’ll advertise part of a fare to lure in consumers. And it’s just limited to agents. Airlines, hotels, cruise lines, and many other companies are guilty of this scam. How does it reveal itself? “Perhaps the client will have an extra charge on their credit card and the liquidator may have disappeared before the client even realizes they got duped. This can cost the consumer and the credit card companies a lot of money,” said Abbamonte. For example, according to the BBB, a San Diego based firm selling discounted vacation packages on eBay scammed consumers out of thousands of dollars in 2006. After paying for the vacation, consumers realized that their reservations were made on invalid credit cards, or never booked at all. “Travelers should call the hotel and verify on themselves that the agency has made the reservation for them,” said Breyault.

3. Timeshare Scams: The BBB reports that from 2009 to the present, there have been over 16,000 complaints against timeshares. When pressured over the phone to purchase a timeshare at a “one-time-only” deal, these timeshares are often over sold and consumer will never actually use the timeshare they purchased. According to the Federal Trade Commission, telemarketing scams involving timeshare are consistently filed by consumers. “Cold calling works, and there are a lot of suckers out there when it’s just a numbers game,” said Abbamonte. “People want timeshares. They want a vacation home, so to speak, to brag about and will jump at time for what seems like a good deal even from a phone scam.” These timeshare can be illegally or illegitimately sold by just about anyone. “Don’t be pressured into buying when they tell you the offer is only good for next week. If it’s a good deal today, it will be a good deal tomorrow,” said Breyault.

4. Going Out of Business Deals: Cruise lines, small airlines, and other agencies can go out of business before you take your scheduled trip. They go bankrupt and you loose out on your vacation, without a refund. “They come and they go with all kinds of promises and then they disappear like thieves in the night,” said Abbamonte. The National Fraud Center encourages doing research into a company before booking a seemingly inexpensive vacation. “Watch out for things that are priced way below market value,” said Breyault.

5. Spring Break Packages: College students are the most easily targeted for vacation scams because they do virtually no research. They are often approached by their college peers offering an “all-inclusive” trip for a flat rate. “They are just excited at the prospect of Spring Break and are generally drawn to the cheapest deal,” said Abbamonte. “These are fly-by-night operations that easily go away and pop up in a different guise. Parents should be aware of them,” said Breyault.

The easiest ways to avoid these scams are to pay with credit card; do not wire money or send them a check. And, say travel experts, if you purchase anything over the phone or online, be sure to get everything they promised in writing.

Via foxnews.com

Southern Lakes among Lonely Planet’s top regions for 2012

Queenstown and Southern Lakes has been named one of Lonely Planet’s top 10 regions to visit next year.

The publisher’s seventh-annual Best In Travel book is a collection of top 10-lists covering everything from the best cities to the best-value destinations to visit in the upcoming year.

Queenstown and Southern Lakes is eighth on the list of ‘best regions’, in the company of gems such as the island of Hvar in Croatia, Canada’s Maritime Provinces and coastal Wales.

New Zealand-based Lonely Planet author Sarah Bennett said the inclusion of the South Island region on the list was two-fold.

Queenstown was known internationally as an adventure playground where people could go skiing in the morning and waterskiing in the afternoon, she said, but the area’s beauty could also not be discounted.

“I think anyone that’s been there knows that the scenery is actually surreal – it’s so beautiful it’s surreal and we hear that all the time.”

Aside from Queenstown, Wanaka and Te Anau were singled out for special mention in the Southern Lakes entry.

Bennett said although Wanaka often felt “a little bit like a poor cousin”, it offered a lot of the same charm as Queenstown on a smaller, quieter scale.

It is also the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park, a place Bennett described as “paradise”.

“Once you’ve been to that area, to the Southern Lakes, it could ruin you for travel for the rest of your life.”

Tony Everitt, CEO of Destination Queenstown, said featuring in Best in Travel 2012 would bring significant benefits for the region’s profile.

“To receive this kind of endorsement by Lonely Planet is priceless for Queenstown and the Southern Lakes as well as New Zealand,” he said.

“Lonely Planet is a giant of the travel industry so making it onto their top 10 must-visit regions for 2012 will give our region global recognition and provide inspiration for their readers to visit.”

The guide’s top country to visit next year is Uganda, a place Bennett said was an “emerging tourist destination”.

“People think of Uganda [and] they think of civil war and they think of Idi Amin and those are two reasons not to travel to a country, for sure, but that era is over…

“The actual trouble in Uganda is in very small pockets and very defined areas and for the most part, they’re welcoming tourists. They’ve got the infrastructure but it’s still at an early stage.”

Bennett said Uganda would particularly appeal to travellers seeking an intrepid safari adventure.

London was named the top city to visit next year and the northeast of the United States was deemed the best-value destination.

LONELY PLANET’S TOP TRAVEL PICKS FOR 2012

Best regions

1. Coastal Wales
2. La Ruta Maya, Central America
3. Northern Kenya
4. Arunachal Pradesh, India
5. Hvar, Croatia
6. Sicily, Italy
7. Canada’s Maritime Provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island)
8. Queenstown and Southern Lakes, New Zealand
9. Borneo, Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia
10. Poitou-Charentes, France

Best cities

1. London, England
2. Muscat, Oman
3. Bengaluru (Bangalore), India
4. Cádiz, Spain
5. Stockholm, Sweden
6. Guimarães, Portugal
7. Santiago, Chile
8. Hong Kong, China
9. Orlando, Florida, USA
10. Darwin, Australia

Best countries

1. Uganda
2. Myanmar
3. Ukraine
4. Jordan
5. Denmark
6. Bhutan
7. Cuba
8. New Caledonia
9. Taiwan
10. Switzerland

Via nzherald.co.nz

Knocked up abroad: planning travel with a baby

by Meg Nesterov

Let’s get this out of the way: you can travel with a baby. Many new parents feel that once they have a child, their travel days are over, but many parents will tell you that the first six months are the easiest time to travel with a baby. Is it easy? Not exactly, but with enough planning and the right attitude, it’s not as hard as you might think. Is it selfish? Probably, but so is most travel.

Again, planning, attitude and a good amount of luck factor in to ensuring that you and baby aren’t a nuisance to other passengers and that you and your child have a safe and healthy trip. My baby is too young to remember her early adventures, but she’s learning to be adaptable and sociable, and does well with travel, new people, and noise. Is it fun? Your carefree days of travel may be over, but you can still enjoy exploring new places, indulging in great food and wine (it might just be at a sidewalk cafe at 4pm instead of a trendy restaurant at 9pm), and engaging with locals more deeply than you ever did before baby. Given the patience, resourcefulness, and ingenuity that I’ve developed while traveling with a baby, I’d say it has made me a better traveler, maybe even a better person.

Living in a foreign country like Turkey puts me at an advantage: I deal with a language and cultural barrier every day and everything is much more complicated and difficult than it would be at home in New York. Because this is not our permanent home and imported items are expensive, we made it through the first few months with little more than a stroller, a baby wrap to carry her, and a portable changing pad, so we already travel light. I say it gives me an advantage because I’m already used to the challenges and unfamiliarity inherent in travel. What makes foreign travel daunting (even without a baby) is the foreignness of it all, which has become my normal (after nearly two years abroad, I can tell you that knowing what’s going on all the time is overrated). The skills I’ve honed as a traveler and an expat — problem-solving, thinking ten steps ahead, and planning an exit strategy — are the same I use as a parent; you can apply the same lessons with a child or on the road.

Now with a few trips under my belt with baby both solo and with my husband (and more travel planned in the coming weeks and months), I’ve developed some guidelines to help with traveling with a baby. I’ll be posting some additional articles on how to cope with a baby on a plane and on the ground, travel gear recommendations, as well as some destination-specific info, but first: some tips on planning a trip with a baby.

-Choose a baby-friendly destination. You may find that people everywhere are much more understanding and helpful to people traveling with babies than you imagine, but some places are more baby-friendly than others. In my experience, Mediterranean Europe is full of baby-lovers, even if the cobblestones, stairs, and ancient infrastructure presents a lot of challenges. Istanbul can be a nightmare to navigate with a stroller, but there are always friendly Turks willing to help. I’ve also heard babies in Latin America and Southeast Asia are treated like rock stars. Generally, countries with a high birth rate tend to be friendlier than others, though I’ve found the United States to be the most difficult in terms of other people’s attitudes.

-Prepare to pare down: There are a lot of great things about having a baby in the 21st century, but people managed quite well for generations without wipe warmers (really, this is a thing?!) and baby gyms. There are a few items I use at home every day such as a bouncy seat, a nursing pillow, and a folding bathtub, but I’ve done fine without them for weeks at a time while traveling. I know at some point down the line, I’ll need to pack a myriad of toys, snacks, and diversions for my child, but infants need very little. It may help to wean yourself off of baby gear in advance of your trip to see how well you can get along with less. Let the baby get used to a travel cot if you plan to use one, try getting around for a day with just a baby carrier, and introduce toys that can be easily attached to a stroller and then stashed in a pocket. Think about your destination: will a stroller be more of a hinderance than a help or can you get along with another mode of transport? Do you need a car seat or can you rent one? What can serve multiple purposes? I carry a thin Turkish towel that looks like a pashmina and I can use it as a burp cloth, nursing cover, baby blanket, and a scarf. The less you can pack, the better. Really all you can handle is baby in a stroller, one wheeled suitcase, and a purse and/or diaper bag. Anything more and you’ll regret it. Also, keep in mind that babies are born everywhere, and there are few places in the world where you can’t buy diapers, formula, clothes, or other gear. Pack enough in your carry-on to get through the first day and night in case you arrive at your destination after shops close.

-Schedule travel around baby: Babies are adaptable, but when it comes to travel, especially flying, make it as easy on yourself as possible. My baby generally wakes up early to eat, then goes back to sleep for a few hours, and sleeps through most of the night. Therefore, I’ve tried to book flights for early in the morning or overnight so she’s awake as little as possible. In the six flights we took to and from the US and domestically, the only one we had any trouble with was a 45-minute Boston to New York flight in the early evening, when she tends to be cranky. It’s hard to comfort a baby when you’re standing in line or getting ready to board a flight, so if your baby is already asleep at the airport, that’s half the battle. There used to be nothing I hated more than getting to the airport at the crack of dawn, but traveling with a sleeping, and more importantly, quiet baby is worth getting up early.

-Consider an apartment rental: With the popularity of websites such as AirBnB (even after the home trashing scandal), renting an apartment for even a short stay is an increasingly viable option when planning a trip. It not only gives you more space and a more home-like environment, it can also help you to get to know a place more through the neighborhood and markets when you buy food to cook on your trip. For a parent, an apartment has several key advantages over a hotel room. Having access to laundry while traveling can be a huge help and reduce your packing load significantly. Likewise, whether you are breastfeeding or using formula, having a kitchen with a fridge can be a necessity with a baby. If you’re set on a hotel stay (daily room-cleaning could be a big help too!), make sure your room has a minibar fridge to stash bottles inside and a bathtub if your baby is too big for the sink, and get info on the closest laundromat.

-Do your research: The last thing you want when traveling is to be standing on a subway platform with a crying baby, after hauling a heavy stroller up a flight of stairs, only to discover the train is bypassing your station. Before I travel next week to Slovenia and Italy, I’m looking up everything from how to cross the border by taxi, to what train stations have elevators, to public bathrooms in Venice with baby-changing stations (though I’ve managed many times on the top of a toilet seat lid and a changing pad). All the stuff about a destination you could wait to figure out until you arrived before you had a baby will help you a lot to plan in advance.

Via gadling.com

Enjoy France by Train with a Eurail Pass

Paris, Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice. All these cities are connected to the French Railway Network.

Tasting wine in famous vineyards, hiking in the French Alps, enjoying local cuisine, all of it is possible if you travel on a Eurail Pass in France.

Rail Network

A Eurail Pass valid in France is valid on trains operated by SNCF, the national railway company of France. It is also valid for travel on trains operated by SNCF from France to Basel, Geneva (Switzerland), Port Bou (Spain) and Ventimiglia (Italy).

For detailed information on the French trains, visit the website of the French railway company SNCF.

The French rail company, SNCF, provides direct service from most European countries using regular trains. The Eurostar service uses high-speed to connect Lille and Paris with London, the later via the Calais-Dover channel tunnel. The Thalys service uses high-speed TGV trains to connect Paris to Brussels and onward to cities in the Netherlands and Germany.

Railway Service

Exceptional comfort and the wide and various range of services available to customers have made TGV trains into a commercial success. In the enjoyment of a relaxed atmosphere passengers can read a book at leisure, write their postcards to their family and friends, make a phone call or just have a meal, relax and take pleasure in a smooth train ride.

Reservations

For some domestic trains in France Eurail Pass holders need to make a seat reservation.

• Compulsory reservations for TGV and TEOZ high-speed trains cost 3 euro
• Recommended reservations for Corail (IC)  trains cost 1,50.

Some international trains to and from France also require a reservation fee. Examples are the Eurostar to London, the ICE to Germany or the Thalys to The Netherlands.

Reservations can be made in advance through a travel agent, or at larger train stations in Europe. More about train seat reservations

Itineraries

Paris – Lyon – Marseille

Take your France Rail Pass and start at the bustling French capital Paris. Dyon is the gateway to the wine region of Burgundy. Lyon has some nice surprises in store (like a Renaissance quarter). Continue your journey through the Provence region, with cities like Orange and Avignon you shouldn’t miss. The tour ends at Marseille, a busy port town with an interesting blend of French and North African culture.

Tour stages and average journey times:

• Paris – Dijon (1 hr 40 mins)
• Dijon – Beaune (20 mins)
• Beane – Lyon (2 hrs)
• Lyon – Orange (2 hrs)
• Orange – Avignon (1 hr 15 mins)
• Avignon – Marseille (1 hr 20 mins)

As Marseille is a major railway junction, you have plenty of options to continue your French rail adventure from here.

Extra Info

Airport – station links

From Paris Airport Charles de Gaulle, there are connections to Paris Nord (RER Line B, Eurail Pass is valid in this direction only) and many other destinations. More details on the airport website.

From Lyon St. Exupéry there is a tram link to Lyon Part Dieu (Rhônexpress, every 15 minutes – Eurail Passes not valid).

Eurail Aid Offices in France

For questions about Eurail during your trip, visit the international ticket offices at Gare de Paris-Lyon, Gare de Paris–Nord, Gare de Paris-St. Lazare, Gare de Marseille St. Charles, Gare de Nice-Ville or Aéroport Charles de Gaulle (Paris CDG Airport).

Via eurail.com