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The 15 Biggest Travel Scams, and How to Avoid Them

The Editors

We are the editors of SmarterTravel! Together we have appeared in countless travel publications including ABC News, Huffington Post, Travel + Leisure, USA Today, and more. We dedicate our days to creating and producing expert travel content, including packing tips, general travel advice, destination inspiration, and helpful videos. Follow us across social media on YouTube , Pinterest , Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter or drop us a line to say hi at [email protected]!

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You know that old saying “there’s a sucker born every minute”? Don’t be one of them. Stay ahead of these surprisingly effective travel scams to keep your vacation plans from falling apart. The schemes below may be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to travel cons, but preparing yourself for these common swindles is a good place to start.

Vacation Clubs

Wholesale travel clubs claim that you’ll have access to incredibly cheap vacations if you join. However, once you pay the joining fees, you find that the deals offered aren’t any better than what you can find for yourself online—for free. Consumer advocate Christopher Elliott , whose book Scammed lays out a helpful roadmap for being a responsible and effective shopper in a world of corporate swindles, has told SmarterTravel: “I’ve never come across a legitimate travel club. My advice is to run, don’t walk.”

Elliott advises that anyone considering joining a travel club do research with a very critical eye beforehand. Simply doing an internet search for the name of the travel company plus “travel scam” will usually reveal a host of problems experienced by other members. Also check the Better Business Bureau for complaints about the specific service before you buy.

Timeshare Sales

Ed Perkins, a longtime contributing editor at SmarterTravel, calls the up-front fees for selling your timeshare the biggest travel scam out there.

“Scammers promise to get you out from under, saying they have buyers, but all they really do is take a fee, upward of $400, and do nothing,” says Perkins.

Never pay up front to have someone help you sell your timeshare. If you want out, go to a licensed company and check them out with the Better Business Bureau before listing with them. If you’re having trouble getting out of your timeshare , work with a rental company and rent it out to recoup some of the money until you can sell.

Vacation Certificates

Ed Perkins also warns against prepaid vacation certificates: “Travel scams promise really great prices but deliver nothing. The idea here is to get the up-front money, then keep stalling: ‘Sorry, these dates are sold out; try again soon.’ They delay until people just quit trying.” Or the company charges huge additional fees to redeem the certificates, and the trip is considerably less luxurious than promised. Before prepaying for a vacation package, be sure to research fees and blackout dates, as well as the company’s reputation.

“Travel-Agent” Card Mills

Ah, the life of travel agents. Cheap hotels and airfares are thrown at their feet once they pull out their travel-agent ID cards, right? Wrong. Don’t believe the hype from outfits that promise to issue you a travel-agent ID that provides access to discounts. Scammers charge hundreds of dollars for these cards, but victims who shell out will quickly find that no place will accept the fakes, and they never see any discounts. The only way to avoid this travel scam is to not buy a travel-agent card if you’re not a travel agent—there’s really no legal way to get around it.

Car-Rental Collision Damage Waivers

Rick Steves calls the car-rental collision damage waivers (CDW) a “collision damage waiver racket” for a reason. When you rent a car, the company often pressures you to buy a CDW supplement, which will prevent you from having to pay a high insurance deductible if the car is damaged. (The deductible can be thousands of dollars before insurance kicks in.)

But most major credit cards already include deductible collision coverage for free , so check your credit-card terms and pay for the rental car with your credit card. Then you’ll be covered without having to shell out extra cash for phony insurance. Most credit-card collision coverage is secondary, meaning you have to claim from your regular insurance first. If you don’t want a claim on your insurance, you can buy third-party primary collision coverage from the booking agency for about $10-$11 a day. Or, if it’s pricey, you can instead buy coverage from an independent outlet; sites like Bonzah.com offer rental coverage from $7.99 per day. That’s about one-third of what the rental companies charge.

“You Won a Free Trip!”

If you’ve ever dropped your business card in a “win a free trip” drawing at a restaurant or signed up to win at a fair, you may have gotten a phone call, letter, or email claiming you’ve won a free vacation. These days, the hustle is often via robocall. Be wary—many of these “prizes” are actually booby traps in which you’ll have to pay hefty fees to claim the vacation or give your credit card number to “verify your eligibility,” resulting in identity theft. After a recent lull in monitoring these robocalls, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is again cracking down on them. If you’re scammed, get the names of resorts and airlines included in the prize and call them independently to verify the trip. Never give credit card information to someone who cold-calls you, and be sure to get details of the prize in writing before accepting.

Fake International Driving Permits

The FTC also warns against fake International Driving Permits (IDPs) . Some countries require tourists to have an IDP in addition to a U.S. driver’s license. However, there are only two American associations that are legally authorized to issue IDPs—the American Automobile Association (AAA) and the American Automobile Touring Alliance (AATA). Fraudulent companies sell fake IDPs over the Internet, but you’ll pay hundreds of dollars for a permit only to face legal problems for using the imposter IDs in another country.

The Bait and Switch

The hotel you’re thinking of booking is suspiciously cheap, but the property’s website makes it look beautiful and centrally located. When you arrive, the hotel is run-down, missing amenities, and in a deserted part of town—and it won’t refund your money. Avoid this travel scam by using websites like Oyster (one of SmarterTravel’s sister sites) and TripAdvisor (SmarterTravel’s parent site) to read real customer reviews and see honest photos of the property.

“Grandparent” Travel Scams

Even if you’re not currently traveling, you can still be the victim of a travel scam: The State Department warns that scammers will call an older relative or friend of someone who’s away on vacation and pretend to be the traveler in desperate need of help. The scammer usually poses as the traveler or a foreign government official and directs the victim to wire a large sum of money, citing an array of things: They have been robbed and need money to return to the United States, or they have run into legal trouble and need bail money. Sometimes the scammer will even pretend to be someone from the U.S. embassy calling on behalf of the relative for money. Never wire money in response to a suspicious phone call; instead contact the State Department to ask if the situation is legitimate, or call your relative directly. If you encounter this scam, the FBI advises you report it to local authorities or a state consumer protection agency. You can also file a complaint with the FCC .

The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) offers the following advice to prevent “grandparent” travel scams:

Never give out personal information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, mothers’ maiden names, passwords, or other identifying information in response to suspicious calls or to callers demanding immediate action. Scammers can spoof the caller ID of their number to make it appear to be from a trusted source. If a caller claiming to represent a company or a government agency asks for personal information, hang up and verify the authenticity of the request by contacting the company or agency yourself, using information found on its official website or through other means such as the phone book. If a caller claims to represent a company with which you have an account—such as a utility or a bank—hang up and check the contact information on a recent bill or statement, then call the company back yourself.

Rental Property Scam

Rule of thumb: Never go to Craigslist (or anything similar) for a rental home. Scammers will place an ad and ask the victim to wire money to secure the vacation rental—and then disappear. Or they’ll have you send money to them rather than to the actual property owner. Avoid the rental scam risk by going through a reputable vacation rental site with protections and insurance guarantees such as Airbnb , HomeAway , or SmarterTravel’s sister site FlipKey , all of which will protect your money from fraudsters.

Bogus Travel Agents

Don’t trust a tour operator or packager you don’t know of or can’t find reviews of easily online—especially with a big payment. An even more worrisome version of these travel scams in the U.S. is fake versions of websites: You search for a hotel or tour and get through to what looks like a legitimate website from a known company. But it isn’t: It’s a copy-cat version run by a scamster who paid a lot of money for a good search engine position. At best, after you make a payment, the hotel will honor your reservation—but probably at a higher price than you should have paid. At worst, you get nothing.

Take a close look at the website’s URL. Unsure if it’s right? Do a new search to find the company’s homepage and compare it to the first half of the link—any rogue characters, numbers, or symbols might mean it’s a fake. You should also never pay for a service via wire transfer, or any other irreversible money-transfer system.

Currency Short-Changing

A longstanding travel scam relies on tourists’ unfamiliarity with a foreign currency. This can take various forms: counterfeit bills, miscounting change, mixing smaller bills into what should be a pile of larger notes, etc. Get to know the bills of any country you visit, and limit the amount of foreign currency you exchange and have with you at any time. Get your foreign currency from an ATM, and put all your big-ticket purchases on a credit card.

Counterfeit Event Tickets

These days, high-tech forging can make almost any piece of paper or cardboard look authentic. Don’t buy a high-priced ticket (or even a low-priced one) to a sold-out event from someone on the street or via an unfamiliar website. You might be turned away at the gate. Buy from an authorized source—the box office or an online dealer that’s a verified reseller.

Fake Tour Guides

Have you ever been walking in a tourist-frequented area and had someone approach you offering to be your guide? Of course, you would have no idea in this situation whether this person has any useful knowledge of the city, but you may be coaxed into a nearby store that they claim offers the “best” prices on local specialties.

Pre-arrange a guide through an official tourism office or a local travel agency so you can compare prices and know what you’re getting. I once arranged the best local guide I ever had through an American Express agency. A university history professor showed us the fantastic National Museum of Damascus in Syria.

Credit Card Fraud

One of many potential credit card fraud risks is the familiar “verification call” gambit. In this travel scam, within a few hours of checking into a hotel, you get a call from someone claiming to be at the front desk to “verify” the details of the card you used. Of course, that caller is a scammer with no connection to the hotel who just wants to get your card data. In this and any other situations, be highly suspicious of anyone who calls you asking for credit or debit card information, no matter how plausible the excuse may seem. Tell the caller you’ll be right down to settle the problem, and instead call a known number, like the hotel’s direct line, to settle whatever account is involved.

More from SmarterTravel:

• How to Avoid Counterfeit Money While Traveling
• 6 Cruise Scams You Should Never Fall For
• Europe Travel Scams to Watch Out For

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2012. It has been updated to reflect the most current information. Caroline Morse Teel and Ed Perkins contributed to this story.

We hand-pick everything we recommend and select items through testing and reviews. Some products are sent to us free of charge with no incentive to offer a favorable review. We offer our unbiased opinions and do not accept compensation to review products. All items are in stock and prices are accurate at the time of publication. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.

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• Press Release

CMiC: 50 Years of Pioneering Construction ERP Solutions

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Celebrating an impressive milestone of 50 years, CMiC has established itself as a leader in the Next Generation Construction ERP space. With a legacy dating back to 1973, this Toronto-based company has adapted to the changing tides of the industry and has been instrumental in shaping them.

Gord Rawlins, the President & CEO - CMiC, articulates this journey as one driven by a forward-thinking, future ready vision.  In his words, "CMiC is a future-focused organization led by a team committed to strengthening partnerships, perfecting our product and service offering, maintaining a strong foothold within the construction software space and spearheading global expansion." 

Unique in its approach, CMiC transcends the typical boundaries of a technology firm. It integrates strong service, support, and a customer success component, thereby offering a comprehensive and cohesive experience to its users. At the heart of CMiC's success story are: 

Its employees comprising of a CEO dedicated to modern technology solutions.

A leadership team ensuring a leading market position.

Product leaders fixated on innovation.

Customer-facing teams focused on helping customers exceed their business goals.

An ecosystem of customers and partners that is committed to exchanging actionable insights and success stories with the aim of achieving progressive results together.

CMiC's customer-first mantra continues to be the backbone of their accomplishments. As Jeff Weiss, Chief Revenue Officer - CMiC, puts it, "CMiC is a customer-focused firm driven by the continuous quest to enhance customer satisfaction and engagement. This focus is the cornerstone of CMiC's success and will continue to lay the foundation for our long-term strategy." 

A Legacy of Market Leadership and Product Innovation

CMiC's journey over the past five decades is proof of its market leadership and relentless commitment to product innovation. The company has solidified its stature as an industry leader, with a significant 30% of ENR's Top 400 General Contractors choosing CMiC as their preferred construction ERP solution. This impressive market penetration reflects not just the company's understanding of the industry's needs but also its ability to deliver solutions that resonate with the evolving demands of construction firms.

Product innovation at CMiC has been nothing short of game changing. The launch of mobile functionality in 2015 brought a new dimension of connectivity to the workforce in construction. This move significantly enhanced on-site and off-site communications, on top of project management capabilities.

In 2017, CMiC took a significant leap by introducing Business Intelligence functionality, laying a robust foundation for its Analytics offerings. This step demonstrated CMiC's commitment to gather data and to turn it into actionable insights for its customers. The launch of the open API offering in 2020 further underlined the firm's dedication to providing versatile and integrated solutions across various functional categories.

Perhaps the most notable recent innovation is the 2022 launch of the CONSTRUCT suite, a next generation suite of applications that are designed to drive integrated project delivery, optimize workflows, and improve office-to-field communications and collaboration. According to Steve Cangiano, VP - Product, "As a product leader in the construction software space, my team and I are committed to driving product innovation. The CONSTRUCT suite is a testament to our focus and effort on next generation solutions to provide our customers the best user experience and help them elevate performance in both the short and long term."

Global Expansion and Recognition

The scope of CMiC's influence extends far beyond the North American market. In recent years, the company has made significant inroads into the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions. This expansion began with the inclusion of UAE-based firms ALEC Engineering and Contracting L.L.C., and AMANA Group Limited in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Further, the addition of GVK Group in 2021 marked CMiC's foray into the Australian market, underscoring its global appeal and adaptability.

Recognition of CMiC's achievements and contributions has come from various quarters. Notably, the company was honored with the Deloitte Best Managed Award for the sixth consecutive year in 2023, achieving the Gold Standard category for the second consecutive year. Other accolades include TrustRadius' Tech Cares, Construction Executive's Top Tech and Hot Products, and Merit Technology Software and Apps Platform. These awards highlight CMiC's business excellence, technological prowess, and innovation.

Commitment to Community and Philanthropy

CMiC's success story is not confined to its business achievements. The company has a deep-rooted commitment to philanthropy and community engagement, embodying the values instilled by its founder. Through the Allen-Berg initiatives, CMiC has pledged a significant $10 million to various charities, illustrating its dedication to social responsibility.

Additionally, since 2018, CMiC has contributed $2.5 million and offered financial support to 134 students through the ACE Mentor Program, which provides opportunities to high school students pursuing careers in Architecture, Construction, or Engineering. The company's Social Purpose Committee, Ready Set Build, has raised over $125,000, with a remarkable 44% of CMiC employees participating in volunteer efforts in 2023.

Forging Ahead: CMiC's Vision for the Future

As CMiC looks ahead, the focus remains on navigating the changing landscape of customer expectations, technological advancements, and economic shifts. The company's strong intellectual and technological foundation positions it well to deliver high-impact results for the next 50 years and beyond. Weiss captures this sentiment with these words: "With our strong intellectual and technological foundation, we are poised to deliver high-impact results for the next 50 years and beyond."

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The software travel agents have been waiting for.

Simpler Smarter Everywhere

Whether you are a travel agent, a travel agency, or an agent host, Tess provides the tools and services that will help you build your business.

Tess by Travel eSolutions, LLC

Tess, by Travel eSolutions, LLC, is an online application completely dedicated to helping travel agents and agencies become more efficient and accurate. Whether you are a large host agency or a single agent Tess will save you time and money.

It all starts with your clients, managed in a custom CRM. You record the trips and bookings that you sell and Tess will help you track the payments you receive from the wholesaler or venue. Tess will calculate the commission through any number of agents and sub-agents to ensure that money is always reconciled and that you know if you have unpaid bookings.

Tess for the Travel Agent

Tess provides a travel agent with all of the tools they need to manage their business. The responsive web application works on any device, anytime, anywhere.

• CRM to manage all clients and leads
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• Recieve commission payments from Agency, Host, or Wholesaler
• View details on over 250,000 properties and ships
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Tess for the Travel Agency

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Tess for the Host Agency

Host agencies have unique needs and Tess scales to fill them seemlessly.

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