By Shae Rozzi, Fox23 News
If you haven’t started planning your Spring break trip, you have just about a month to do so. And scammers know you may be looking for last minute deals.
Whether you’re planning to soak up the sun at the beach or hit the slopes and go skiing or snowboarding, Spring break is just around the corner and the time to book is now if you haven’t already.
“Make sure you have plenty of time to plan ahead to make sure that you’ll have all the activities, you get the space that you want. So planning ahead and doing your homework is really important.” says Amie Mitchell, CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Eastern Oklahoma.
Mitchell says you also need to be careful what words you type as you search and plan.
“We would highly recommend that you don’t use broad search terms like ‘cheap’, ‘free’; anything like that. Stick with the sites that you know are legitimate. Then double check your URL to make sure it’s not a fake website.” she says.
She also says it’s pretty common for people to fall for fake websites.
“There unfortunately are a ton of travel scams. Whether it be being uncareful with the Wi-Fi, booking the actual purchase; we have to be really careful and make sure that we read all the details in any kind of agreement we’re making when we’re booking anything. We really have to double check to make sure it’s a legitimate site. We’ve had a lot of issues with businesses or scammers creating business sites that look so realistic and so close to the actual business.” she says.
Mitchell says it’s always good to go with brands you know or a travel agent who have used before or friends have recommended.
“Go with the travel agent that someone else has recommended. Check Better Business Bureau to make sure that there are no complaints. If there are complaints, how are they handling them? So just be really cautious.” she says.
Mitchell also says that when it comes to getting insurance for your trip, you may want to do it just in case something happens to your family or if you have to cancel for any reason.
“Consider the insurance,” she says. “It depends on your circumstances on where you are and what’s going on in your life. A trip this week may make sense to have insurance, and next week it may not. So it all depends on your circumstances, but at least consider it with whatever you’ve got going on.”
Whether you’re booking a Spring break trip or any vacation, the BBB always recommends using a credit card. That way, if you run into any problems, you have a better chance of getting a refund.
