Where You Should (and Should Not) Book Your Next Vacation

Although travel agents are still around, it’s common today for people looking to find a deal on their next vacation to turn to travel-booking sites.

When big airline sales hit, you can expect to see a rise in the number of people booking travel through these sites, but money expert Clark Howard, who used to run a travel agency, says you can also see a rise in scam activity.

Clark explains, “These scamsters are able to con you more easily because people say, ‘Hey, look at this price versus what I saw somewhere else,’ and before you know it, you’ve gotten ripped off. It could be anywhere on that continuum from rip-off to scam.”

Searching for Travel Deals Online? Read This

A person commenting on the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker recently posted about a travel site that supposedly processed payment for a trip and ended up taking the money.

“This travel website will book a ticket and send a confirmation email,” the poster wrote. “Once they get your money from your credit card, they will cancel your ticket with the airlines … You never get a refund.”

Beware of Fake Travel Sites …

Although criminals are always adding new wrinkles, these types of scams have been happening for a while.

A few years ago, a Michigan couple was trying to Google Delta Air Lines to book a flight to Japan, according to USA Today. Instead, they happened upon a site that looked like it was associated with Delta — but it wasn’t. The couple almost lost $300, the paper reports.

And Fake Travel Guidebooks

Other travel resources skew the line of ethics with paid products from so-called experts.

“I don’t know if this is something that would necessarily call a scam, but the New York Times found that Amazon is being deluged with fake guidebooks,” Clark says.

“There are so many phony baloneys out there who are giving fake travel advice. Now, it’s so easy using various computing abilities like the much-hyped AI to write fake travel guides that steer you with advertorial content to people who have paid for placement.”

Because of the prevalence of travel scams, Clark says:

“I need for you to be really, really cautious and careful when you do any kind of search for travel deals using any search engine.”

Although you may find cheap prices on some third-party websites — Clark even uses a few of them — he says it’s up to you to make sure you’re dealing with a reputable site. Sad to say, but many third-party travel sites won’t offer you the consumer protections that booking directly with the hotel chain or airline would. And some of those third-party sites could be downright scams.

In this article, I’ll show you where you should book your travel online, then we’ll get into where you shouldn’t book.

Where To Book Flights Online

As you may know, to find cheap fares, Clark typically uses a combination of travel alerts and websites.

“Far and away my favorite for finding airfares is Going.com,” Clark says. “It used to be called Scott’s Cheap Flights.”

“Going is fantastic if you love to start your trip planning by following wherever the deal is. That’s my whole thing. I look for the deal. Then I figure out where I’m going from there.”

Another Clark favorite is Google Flights.

To book, Google Flights will take you to the specific airline’s website or in some cases allow you to book through your Google account.

Here’s how to save money with Google Flights.

Where To Book Hotels Online

To get good deals on hotels, Clark’s go-to third-party sites are Hotwire and Priceline.

“If you are willing to book non-refundable and not find out until after you book where you’re staying, I get at least 80 or 90% of my bookings through Priceline and Hotwire,” Clark says. “They save me a fortune. Just be sure to only bid for hotels that are four stars or higher. You’re asking for it if you bid below three stars!”

There are many legitimate third-party sites out there with travel deals. The problem is that there are also a great number of scammers who are trying to take your money through fake travel sites or bogus deals.

Where Not To Book Your Online Travel

Clark is not opposed to using third-party sites to book travel. The problem usually comes when you don’t know much about the site.

The travel industry is rife with scammers so it behooves you to protect yourself, Clark says. 

“Be very very careful with how you get to booking for something in the world of travel,” Clark says.

1. Third-Party Sites and Apps You’ve Never Heard of

Clark says many travel deals you may run across online could take you to sites that are not necessarily scams but sketchy nonetheless.

“Let’s say you go on something like TripAdvisor and you’re looking for a hotel,” Clark says. “And you look through the reviews. You pick out the hotel you want and then TripAdvisor will show you a whole bunch of booking sources to book that hotel, and a lot of the ones they list there are really shady.

“They’re not scammers, necessarily but man, you should read what people post.” He adds that some disgruntled travelers will say, “‘We booked at this, that or the other and when we got there, blah, blah blah, no room, nothing.’ Their money’s gone.”

2. Third-Party Sites and Apps With Bad Reputations

So you’ve found an online travel deal that sounds almost too good to be true. The only problem is that you’ve also caught wind of some bad experiences with this particular travel provider. What should you do?

Your first inclination may be to reason that, “It won’t happen to me,” but the reality is that it may be even worse for you than the previous customer.

That’s why, if you have doubts, it’s important to do some research on any third-party travel site you’re considering using to book a trip.

How To Vet an Online Travel Provider

• Check the website’s contact page: Look to see who you can get in contact with just in case there are issues. Look for phone numbers and a customer service email address.
• See if you can find a cancellation/refund policy: Before you buy anything, make sure you find, read and can understand what happens to your money in the event you need to cancel your travel and get a refund.
• Check the website’s social media channels: To get a good feel for the company, take a look at its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts to see what they’re all about (and read the comments to see what people say about them).
• Read the reviews: All you have to do is search the name of the website followed by the word “reviews.” Take the time to page down to all sources.

If all those things check out but you’re still wary, take a final step and look the site up on the Better Business Bureau website to see if there are complaints about how it does business.

Here’s how to spot a fake website.

Final Thoughts

Clark is not against booking vacations via third-party sites and apps, but he wants you to be careful. Typically these sites and apps are fine for searching for deals, but booking direct provides more protections for consumers if something goes wrong.

Tell us about your experiences with third-party travel booking sites. Which sites are your favorites? How do you spot scams? Join the conversation in our Clark.com Community!

Want more travel tips from Clark? Read our guide on how to plan a trip.