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 Travel & Outdoors | June 2005 
Travel Agencies Suggest How Not to Get Taken For a Ride on Vacation
 Daniel Perry - The Monitor
The flier said it in black and white: "5 days and 4 nights in Orlando and 3 days and 2 nights in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. All this for only $199 per person. Includes 2 theme park tickets."
An employee at a Harlingen medical supply business received the one-page travel advertisement and faxed it to the Better Business Bureau of South Texas Inc. in Weslaco last week to check its validity.
Dolores Salinas, the bureau’s president and chief executive officer, said such travel notices are popping up on fax machines throughout the Rio Grande Valley with people or businesses trying to grab important summer tourism dollars. She has seen other travel advertisements touting trips to Cancun for $301.
"If you book it with these people, you are booking it sight unseen," Salinas said. "It is very possible that you might take off to your vacation and find you don’t have accommodations."
Summer traditionally has meant packing the swimsuit and suntan lotion, grabbing the children and pets and heading to the mountains, beach or anywhere else to get a few days of relaxation. Some popular travel destinations that area tourism agents have recently booked for customers include Las Vegas, Alaska and Cancun. Europe is popular when using all-inclusive travel packages.
But before the mind wanders with thoughts of margaritas and warm sunsets, people should consider how not to get scammed out of enjoying their dream vacation.
Salinas said people should use local travel agents with good reputations to book package deals.
"Then, you have someone tangible you can deal with if you have a problem down the line," she said.
Travel agencies must be licensed through the Airline Reporting Corp., an Arlington, Va.-based entity providing ticket distribution, products and other services to airlines and travel businesses worldwide.
"They are pretty strict about everything with ticket securities and your personal financial status," said Noe Tamez, owner of Travel Experts on North 10th Street in McAllen. "It’s not an easy thing to do."
He said travel agents can often find prices that are the same or lower than what can be found on the Internet for customers.
Tamez said the flight routes should be as simple as possible because of costs involved.
"Many times, at the time you put your credit card in, you don’t know what your schedule will look like," he said.
Travel agents can also be of good use in planning cruises.
Chuck Olson, owner of Chuck Olson Tours & Cruises Inc. on North 10th Street in McAllen, said tourism professionals can help people determine which cruise lines are better for singles or families.
"We, and all our cruise consultants, have been on these ships," he said. "We know what works and can steer people away from one particular thing, even though they come with another idea."
Tamez said people who want to use the Internet should make sure the travel sites are reputable. Some of the more well-known Web sites include Travelocity and Orbitz.
Noe Peña, 27, of McAllen, typically uses the Internet to make work and pleasure travel plans. He sat late Monday afternoon at McAllen-Miller International Airport awaiting his flight to Phoenix.
The electrician said people should reserve tickets at least two weeks in advance to get better prices. He usually books flights through Priceline or airline Web sites and said he has never had a problem during his trips.
The Better Business Bureau also recommends that travelers watch for salesmen who seek credit card information before explaining offers and to ask about hidden costs tied to trips.
People planning trips should be aware of the U.S. Department of State’s travel warnings. Some of the nations Americans were warned about visiting as of Monday were Afghanistan, Colombia, Indonesia and Kenya.
The state department’s public advisory about traveling on the U.S.-Mexico border expires July 29. Recent violence in Mexican border cities, primarily Nuevo Laredo, prompted this warning.
Olson said people should not worry as much when traveling to Mexico’s interior.
"Your vacation areas, you think of Cancun or over on the Mexican Riviera, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta," he said. "No problems there. A lot of that kind of stuff gets blown out of proportion on the border. Granted, it’s there."
Londa Mancha, 58, of McAllen, has traveled in the past to cities in central and southern Mexico. She usually uses an automobile club travel guide to plan her trips, which helps her find reliable hotels and travel sites.
Mancha said people can typically trust taxi drivers for advice while traveling in several areas of Mexico, except in Mexico City and along the border. She said consumers, whether with a tour group of alone, should always observe prices as they travel. |
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