How to Protect Yourself From Online Fraud When Booking Flights
If you find a good deal on a flight on an unfamiliar booking site, do not click the “Check” button. This week, one family shared their experience of booking a flight through the website, claiming it was affiliated with Delta, which turned out to be a scam. In this case, the family lost almost $ 300.
“We are traveling with a two-year-old, so we were in a panic,” Naomi Pull, one of the travelers, told USA Today . Such scams are common; A week ago, another traveler was scammed over six round-trip tickets worth nearly $ 6,000 after calling customer service and claiming it belonged to Expedia .
If you want to avoid similar online travel scams, the easiest way is to book directly with the airline and verify the page or use a reputed third party site.
Check the website URL and confirm the support number.
Before booking, you should always check the website by doing an online search; check for site-related scams and poke around on the About Us and Terms and Conditions pages on the site. It may be worth avoiding at all costs a website with little or no information.
Also, always check the domain name to make sure it is genuine, as the Guardian recommends. For example, make sure you are visiting Delta.com and not DeltaTravel.com (which redirects you to the travel agent’s website). Be sure to check the top-level domain for “.com” as “.net” and “.org” will not be used for online shopping sites. Finally, check “https: //” when you go to the checkout page to ensure you are using a secure website; you should never pay on an unsecured website or be redirected to another third party site while processing a payment.
If you contact the airline support or booking site, make sure this number is listed on their website and is likely available on their Contact Us page. After booking, you should contact the third party website or airline to confirm the suggested itinerary. You can even confirm when booking your itinerary to be safe.
Make sure there is a written contract
And if a trade is too good to backtrack, try to avoid a few common red flags. As writes Mark Kahler of TripSavvy , do not pay in advance, unless there is a written contract. “Don’t settle for less,” Kahler writes. “If there is no record of promises, you will not have the opportunity to prove your point.”
While “time limited offers” are a common airline sales tactic, be a little skeptical when you find particularly large discounts that need to be booked immediately; if you are asked to pay at least 60 days before the departure date, this is usually the limit to dispute your credit card charges.
And avoid travel vendors and providers who may operate under different names; as TripSavvy also writes, it could be telemarketers or marketing agents who don’t care about your well-being as they shop and benefit the seller.
And for your safety, always buy flights with a credit card , as your bank will most likely offer fraud protection in the event you booked a fake flight. Never, ever, buy airline tickets with a debit card that allows scammers to easily break into your checking account and does not have the same insurance policies as your regular credit card.