raffy
Nov 23, 01, 2:25 am
Source: SFGate.com
Today's slumping travel market is putting more and more pressure on travel companies to hype their services. And I'm afraid that, under such pressure, all too many companies will resort to scams, deceptions and stretching the truth -- even more than they already do. Travelers need to take a hard look at any travel ads they see -- especially those that make extravagant promises.
This unhappy line of thought was triggered by a release from OneTravel, one of the larger Web-based travel discounters. "We try not to toot our own horns, " says the message, "but here's information you need to know about some of our competitors. Many Web sites do NOT include port charges in their pricing."
I know that claim is true: I've seen quite a few cruise promotions with fine print saying "port charges additional."
Those "port charges" are not like airport charges -- fees that various governmental agencies levy on passengers. Instead, they're simply a part of the total price that some cruise sellers carve out of the total and falsely label "port charges." The money doesn't go to port agencies; it goes to the cruise seller. Any real fees that actually go to port agencies are added on top of the phony "port charges."
The big cruise lines are generally OK about port charges. Several years ago,
the Florida attorney general's office got them to agree not to split out phony port charges in their Florida advertising. Florida is such a big part of the total cruise market that the lines decided to stop the deception throughout the United States, not just in Florida.
Unfortunately, the Florida agreement does not apply to some cruise lines, and it doesn't apply at all to cruise resellers. Several of them are still highlighting phony low prices with a "plus port charges" footnote. The worst offenders are on the Internet.
Are those ads actually scams? Certainly, most travelers can easily add, say,
a port charge of $150 to a featured price of $399 to get at the real price of $549. But highlighting a price of $399 for a cruise that really costs $549 does create some sort of inaccurate impression in many consumers' minds: Either the advertised deal sounds better than it really is, or a more honest competitor's advertised price seems higher. Either way, consumers must be on their guard.
The pernicious practice of hiding part of the total price in small print isn't confined to cruise resellers. Lots of hotel chains started doing it earlier this year with phony "energy surcharges." Car-rental companies often exclude their costs of renting space in airports from their advertised prices - - even though it's simply one of the regular costs of doing business. Airlines have done it for years with their "each way based on round-trip purchase" deceptions. Periodically, tour operators have done it by carving out a part of the total price and calling it "tax and service."
Now, with so many truly good deals out there in the marketplace, some travel suppliers have decided to compete by trying to advertise fake low prices to unsuspecting consumers rather than giving real discounts. Watch out for those add-ons in small type, even when the deception may be mild and easily countered. Keep in mind that a supplier willing to stretch the truth in an obvious way may also be stretching it in ways that are less evident. Enjoy the good deals -- but don't get caught by small-print deceptions.
Today's slumping travel market is putting more and more pressure on travel companies to hype their services. And I'm afraid that, under such pressure, all too many companies will resort to scams, deceptions and stretching the truth -- even more than they already do. Travelers need to take a hard look at any travel ads they see -- especially those that make extravagant promises.
This unhappy line of thought was triggered by a release from OneTravel, one of the larger Web-based travel discounters. "We try not to toot our own horns, " says the message, "but here's information you need to know about some of our competitors. Many Web sites do NOT include port charges in their pricing."
I know that claim is true: I've seen quite a few cruise promotions with fine print saying "port charges additional."
Those "port charges" are not like airport charges -- fees that various governmental agencies levy on passengers. Instead, they're simply a part of the total price that some cruise sellers carve out of the total and falsely label "port charges." The money doesn't go to port agencies; it goes to the cruise seller. Any real fees that actually go to port agencies are added on top of the phony "port charges."
The big cruise lines are generally OK about port charges. Several years ago,
the Florida attorney general's office got them to agree not to split out phony port charges in their Florida advertising. Florida is such a big part of the total cruise market that the lines decided to stop the deception throughout the United States, not just in Florida.
Unfortunately, the Florida agreement does not apply to some cruise lines, and it doesn't apply at all to cruise resellers. Several of them are still highlighting phony low prices with a "plus port charges" footnote. The worst offenders are on the Internet.
Are those ads actually scams? Certainly, most travelers can easily add, say,
a port charge of $150 to a featured price of $399 to get at the real price of $549. But highlighting a price of $399 for a cruise that really costs $549 does create some sort of inaccurate impression in many consumers' minds: Either the advertised deal sounds better than it really is, or a more honest competitor's advertised price seems higher. Either way, consumers must be on their guard.
The pernicious practice of hiding part of the total price in small print isn't confined to cruise resellers. Lots of hotel chains started doing it earlier this year with phony "energy surcharges." Car-rental companies often exclude their costs of renting space in airports from their advertised prices - - even though it's simply one of the regular costs of doing business. Airlines have done it for years with their "each way based on round-trip purchase" deceptions. Periodically, tour operators have done it by carving out a part of the total price and calling it "tax and service."
Now, with so many truly good deals out there in the marketplace, some travel suppliers have decided to compete by trying to advertise fake low prices to unsuspecting consumers rather than giving real discounts. Watch out for those add-ons in small type, even when the deception may be mild and easily countered. Keep in mind that a supplier willing to stretch the truth in an obvious way may also be stretching it in ways that are less evident. Enjoy the good deals -- but don't get caught by small-print deceptions.