With Summer Travel Soaring, Here’s How to Prevent Getting Scammed

(KNSI) – As more Americans get vaccinated against COVID-19 and new cases fall, people are eager to travel this summer.

“The demand for travel is high,” says Gretchen Winters, director of sales and marketing for Bursch Travel. “We are so busy. People want to get out; they want to start traveling for summer.”

Winters says a trend that emerged last year is continuing into this summer: Domestic travel to outdoor attractions like national parks and monuments.

“A lot of that stuff is already sold,” Winters said. “A lot of those national park campsites or resorts are already completely sold out. If you’re thinking you want to do something of that nature, now’s the time to get that booked.”

Winters says this is the case with 2022 travel plans, too, especially cruises — those trips stopped in 2020 and are back on a limited basis for 2021.

Though domestic COVID cases are on the decline, there are still COVID-related travel mandates to be aware of. When crossing international borders, most countries are requiring a negative COVID test to enter, and the U.S. requires a negative COVID test to return to the states. Winters says she has heard of travelers buying fake COVID test documents to get around that requirement. She doesn’t recommend it.

“The unfortunate part is that you don’t know exactly what the official document looks like, so you could probably end up purchasing something like this and then still get stopped at the border,” Winters said. “If you’re vaccinated, your chances of contracting COVID are going to be very minimal, so the test should be negative and it should be no problem. And, the hotels and resorts have been doing them complimentary, so there’s really no need to have to purchase something.”

International travelers departing the U.S. from Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport have the option of doing a rapid COVID test at the terminal.

Another consideration: Winters says there is a national shortage of rental cars. If you’re trying to rent a vehicle, be wary of scams.

“You want to make sure that you’re being cautious if you’re looking to rent a car that you’re doing it through a legitimate source.”

In general, Winters says there are two ways to help yourself avoid travel scams: plan with a travel agency and read the fine print.

“If a deal’s too good to be true, it isn’t, and that’s why the real concern now is to book through legitimate, professional travel resources,” she said. “Of course, being that travel agency, travel advisors, that’s going to be your best protection. We only work with preferred suppliers.”

Winters added that reading the fine print can help you know what you are liable for in case your car rental or AirBNB stay gets double-booked, canceled or is an outright fraudulent situation. If there’s not much fine print to read, that’s not a good sign — “that leaves that person the flexibility to cancel or take your money and not return it,” says Winters.

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