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Cruise Vacation Scams: How To Spot False Wins |
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As spring and summer cruise seasons approach, many seniors are making plans for sailing the seven seas. While most ads for cruises are legitimate, whether from your hometown agent, online travel agency and from the cruise lines, here are some phony deals that offer free or bargain cruises, as recently revealed by AARP.
Remember the carnival barker who made big promises with the line, “Tell ya what I’m gonna do fer ya”, but only ripped you off? Here are several modern versions of the same type of pitch.
1. A phone call or Email message congratulates you for winning a free cruise. It may include a vague hint that you’ve done something to make you eligible, such as made a store purchase, on-line buy or used your credit card to get gasoline at a local pump.
The caller will then ask for your credit card number and/or Social Security number to prove your identity as the winner. If you comply, within a day or two the numbers may be used illegally in ID theft purchases or for bank withdrawals from your account. Of course, in those cases, the only salt water you’ll see will be tears of frustration coming from your eyes.
2. The most annoying ones require you to attend what will be called an orientation meeting to prepare for your free cruise. When you get there, you’ll quickly find it’s the old, high-pressure timeshare type of scam along with a heavy pitch.
A cruise may be offered, but it could be sponsored by some rundown Caribbean resort in cahoots with a marginal cruise line. You may opt to get your cruise and island adventure, but it will be a shabby experience. With all the add-ons, it could actually cost more than signing up for a quality vacation with a legitimate travel agency or cruise line.
3. The foreign phone call scam is usually more annoying than highly expensive, but it could cost you several hundred dollars before you can try to cut the callers off with your phone company.
You get a phone call, often by a person with a foreign accent, telling you about winning your free cruise. To claim your prize, you must call a 900 phone number or one with an area code of 876, 868, 809, 758, 784, 664, 473, 441, 284 or 246.
They’re all to foreign countries, and a call will run your bill up at $5 a minute or more while you’re listening to a lengthy phony free cruise pitch. The crooks make money on the costly long distance calls. And, of course, you get no cruise.
Always remember: When a great free offer or deep-discounted cruise deal sounds too good to be true, it will be untrue and inevitably cost you lots of wasted money!
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Tourist To First Class: How To Get A Free Upgrade |
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Lots of leg room, gourmet dining, luxury wining and a wide seat that goes flat into a comfy bed. Trying for it doesn’t always work, but it’s always worth a try. First of all, to get a free upgrade to first class on a flight, the timing must be just right. Always remember that airlines hate flights taking off with any empty seats.
Here are several situations when you could succeed:
1. When in the waiting area with a coach ticket, you observe that your flight will be full. As boarding time approaches, politely ask the desk clerk if there are any first class seats still available.
If so, ask if you can upgrade without paying full price. Sometimes the clerk will be authorized to bump you up for free, or charge $50, a cost considerably less than the sky-high listed first-class fare.
2. This next situation applies if you’re not in a hurry to get to your destination. Once aboard in your coach seat on a full flight, listen for a flight attendant’s announcement asking if any volunteers will give up their seats.
If you go for it, you may be offered a first-class ticket for a later flight that day. An even better deal that could happen is you’ll not only get a first-class seat on the later flight, but also get a free full-fare ticket for a future round-trip flight.
If you do it right on a flight and are lucky, you could hit a jackpot savings of hundreds of dollars!
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Last Minute Cruise: Need trip cancellation insurance? |
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We live 30 minutes from the Port of Los Angeles, and sometimes we've grabbed deeply discounted last-minute cruises. Should we have trip cancellation insurance for these deals? J.L., Pasadena CA
A: Trip cancellation insurance is well worth the investment. Because you live so close to the port, you may not miss a cruise because of a late flight or ground transportation problem. However, sudden illness, accidents and other unforeseen events can cause you to cancel.
If you don't have trip cancellation insurance and miss the cruise, you'll typically lose your entire fare, with no possibility of refund or credit. We've heard the most heartrending accounts of missed cruises due to deaths in the family, catastrophic illnesses and freak accidents.
Trip cancellation insurance may add from 4% to 6% to your total price of a cruise vacation. For the peace of mind it brings, you should factor it into your budget. You’ve been lucky so far on your last-minute cruises. Don’t tempt fate on your next one.
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DVD Movies To Take With You On That Looong Flight |
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Seniors love nostalgia, and there’s no better way to go back in time than while you’re stuck in time while on a cross-country or foreign flight. Or while you’re wasting time sitting in a lonely airport waiting for that incoming flight that is still far, far away.
Of course, to choose your own movie menu, you’ll need to take with you a DVD player or other current portable gizmo that has a slot for them. You can buy the discs on line, new or used. You can also rent them from Netflix or other lending service. You may also be able to check out the DVDs free at your local library.
Here are our choices for fighting boredom on flights and in the airport, not necessarily in order of preference:
1. Airplane: Craziest flying collection of puns of all time!
2. Flight of the Phoenix: Original one with Jimmy Stewart
3. Air Force One: President Harrison Ford offs bad guys
4. The High and the Mighty: John Wayne without horses
5. The Spirit of St. Louis: Stewart does Lindy flight
Gotta add Casablanca, even tho there’s no flying, except at the end when Bogie says goodbye to Bergman as she’s about to board, when he snarls, “Here’s looking at you, kid.”
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Travel Hype: Be aware of ads that promise too much |
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Hey, confused traveler! We respect the simple fact that resorts, airlines, cruise ships and other travel- related businesses have to make money to stay in business. However, sometimes they advertise basically deceptive deals that are just too good to be true.
Typical is an airline ad for a $99 flight, when your actual out-of-pocket cost will be at least $125. Of course, some of the add-ons are fees and taxes the airline must pay Uncle Sam, but that doesn’t make the promo any less deceptive.
The same applies to deals offering $599 cruises that will take at least $1,000 from your wallet. The cruise line has to pay some of that for such stuff as government taxes and fuel price spikes. However, the ad deliberately doesn’t mention you’ll also have to shell out for compulsory tips, boozes, elite dining charges, excursions and other added costs that hike the price quote considerably.
As a savvy traveler, it’s your responsibility to try for the best deals at the lowest possible prices. All the information is online and at your travel agent’s office, if you’re willing to make comparisons before you commit to a specific trip. Get savvy about ways to economize with deals including off-season discounts, group trips, last-minute sailings and all other potential money-saving offers.
We certainly don’t begrudge airlines, cruise ships and hotels for making fair profits. We travelers just want to get our money’s worth, too.
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TIPS
