How do I protect myself from travel and vacation scams?
Book through established platforms or directly with the accommodation, use a credit card for all travel purchases, and verify every booking confirmation through the supplier's official app or website before your trip.
Last reviewed: 10 June 2026
Explanation
Travel scams exploit enthusiasm and the complexity of trip planning. Common types include fake holiday rental listings, fraudulent airline websites selling tickets that do not exist, accommodation booking sites with inflated prices and hidden fees, and 'vacation club' or timeshare high-pressure pitches promising savings that never materialise.
For accommodation, use well-known booking platforms or book directly with the hotel or host after verifying their identity on the platform. For vacation rentals, apply the same checks as you would for any rental: verify the host's profile history, look for consistent past reviews over a period of time, and insist on paying through the platform rather than directly to the host's personal bank account (which removes you from platform buyer-protection programs). Fake listings are a growing problem — if a property looks far better than comparable rentals at the same price, it may be a cloned listing.
Airline booking scams use names and web designs that mimic official airline sites to sell non-existent tickets. Always book through the airline's official website or a well-known agent. Before any flight, verify your booking reference directly on the airline's official website — not via the booking site — to confirm the reservation actually exists in the airline's system. Book with a credit card to enable a chargeback if the ticket proves fraudulent.
Vacation club and timeshare presentations are legal but frequently use deceptive high-pressure sales tactics. If you attend in exchange for a promised free gift, the gift is usually conditional on sitting through a multi-hour pitch and purchasing. You typically have a statutory right to cancel within a cooling-off period — read the contract carefully before signing.
Common red flags
- Vacation rental price significantly below comparable properties in the same area
- Host asks you to pay outside the booking platform directly to their bank
- Airline or hotel booking site domain does not match the official company website
- Confirmation email asks you to re-enter payment details to 'confirm' your booking
- Vacation club pitch promises savings you cannot verify before the event ends
- Hotel or rental listing has no reviews or only very recent generic-sounding reviews
What to do now
- Verify every accommodation booking via the official platform or supplier app before travelling
- Book flights and accommodation on established platforms or official websites and pay by credit card
- Reverse-image search property photos before booking a holiday rental
- For vacation club pitches, do not sign anything without reading the cooling-off terms
- If a booking does not exist in the airline's system, contact your card issuer immediately
- Report travel scams to the FTC and the platform where the listing or offer appeared
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to book directly with a rental host outside a platform to save fees?
Taking a booking off-platform removes you from the platform's buyer protection and dispute resolution, and makes it harder to verify the host's legitimacy. The fee savings rarely justify the risk, especially with hosts you have not used before.
What is a timeshare exit scam?
Timeshare exit scams target existing timeshare owners who want to sell or exit their contract. The fraudster charges large upfront fees promising to legally exit the owner from their contract and then disappears or fails to deliver. Always verify any timeshare exit company with your state attorney general's office.