First Alert Safety Check: How to avoid travel scams

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now)—If you’re planning to travel this summer, booking a vacation requires time and planning. The Better Business Bureau encourages you to stay alert for common travel and vacation scams.

Booking a vacation rental brings the comfort of home to traveling, but be wary of rentals that don’t exist. If you aren’t using a trusted site like Airbnb or VRBO, contact the property manager to confirm it’s the real deal.

“Is it for sale right now? Because we have seen that happen where all the pictures are stolen off of a for sale site, then they’re entered on a vacation rental site, cause they’re great pictures, everything looks perfect, and you get there and it’s somebody’s private home, said South Dakota BBB Vice President, Jessie Schmidt.

When booking your summer vacation online, take extra caution. Even when using a legitimate travel site for your hotel or flight, you could be led to a third-party booking site.

Schmidt explained, “You get on a travel site or a hotel site and you click on something, and then it takes you to a site you did not want to be on. We have had that happen to us as well. You end up paying more at that site than you would have directly.”

If you’re asked to wire money or use a prepaid debit card, this is probably a scam. Once that money is sent, you can’t get it back.

“Those nontraditional means would be a reason that you would want to be very, very cautious and perhaps find a different way and book a vacation,” said Schmidt.

Before you even head to your destination, prepare for anything! Don’t opt for cash for purchases on your trip.

Schmidt recommends, “Use a card that you get specifically just for travel, and it pays to take two cards. Perhaps you have one card with you, and your spouse has another, because if your cards get lost or stolen, left in the back of a cab, then what do you do? You’re stranded with no access to any cash.”

Above all else, the BBB recommends using a travel agent if it’s within your means. This will help avoid most travel headaches.

“Vacations are fun, they cost a lot of money, why not have guarantees that everything is gonna go as planned?” said Schmidt.

Do your research and look at reviews! For more information on travel scams, click here.