By SDCN Staff
San Diego, CA–As summer and holiday travel plans ramp up, Better Business Bureau Pacific Southwest, Central and Inland California (BBB) cautions consumers to be wary of eye-catching deals on unfamiliar third-party travel websites.
While these sites may offer enticing prices, numerous complaints to BBB Scam Tracker reveal that such deals can lead to unexpected charges, poor customer service, and even canceled reservations.
“We’ve been getting complaints about unfamiliar travel sites. They have catchy names and crazy good deals,” said Joe Ducey, BBB AVP of Public Engagement and Investigative Outreach and host of the ‘Joe Knows Better’ podcast. “But some customers say tickets can disappear and they have to pay again. Or they show up at a hotel and find their paid-for reservation is not in the system. Basically, a lack of any customer service.”
Consumers have reported instances where third-party booking sites charged them twice for the same tickets, refused refunds, or failed to provide adequate customer support. In one case, a California man booked a flight at a low rate, only to be told later that his ticket price had increased by $400 and that cancellations or refunds were not allowed. An Arizona consumer faced a similar issue when the site couldn’t locate the ticket he had already purchased, forcing him to pay an additional $1,300 to fly on the same day.
Before booking through an unfamiliar travel site, BBB recommends the following precautions:
- Research the company thoroughly, including checking reviews and ratings on BBB.org.
- Be cautious of websites with names that mimic popular travel brands.
- Avoid deals that seem too good to be true, as they often are.
- Use a credit card for transactions, which can offer additional protections.
“If you find an unfamiliar travel site with a great price before you book, check out the name online and at BBB.org,” Ducey advised. “I found one of the sites had a BBB warning about a lack of licensing and ‘bait and switch’ pricing. And if you pay with a credit card, you can fight for a refund later.”
Incorporated locally in 1938, BBB Pacific Southwest, Central, and Inland California serves Greater Arizona and Southern, Central, and Inland California, providing critical tools to ignite success, including mentorship, online products, events, and meeting spaces. Their objective expertise educates the community on ethical behavior in the marketplace and shows businesses how to build trust.
The Better Business Bureau has empowered people to find businesses, brands, and charities they can trust for more than 110 years. In 2024, people turned to BBB.org more than 220 million times for BBB Business Profiles on 5.5 million businesses, and 725,000 times for BBB charity reports on 12,000 local and national charities.
