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We at Spring Break Direct are very concerned about young travelers having a reliable purchase and travel experience. Unfortunately, not all companies share this same philosophy.
Below you will find a list of ways other companies take advantage of youthful travelers. Please make sure you check out a company before purchasing a trip.
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Reliability,
Reliability, Reliability:
Make sure to check out a company
with the Better Business Bureau. Click
here to launch the BBB’s
online reliability report lookup. Simply type
in the name of any company you're considering
buying a trip from and read their BBB report.
You may be shocked.
Hidden
Fees:
It is illegal for a company
to charge you more to use a credit card. Some
companies hide this fee - they allow you to pay
your deposit w/o a fee and then charge an extra
$25.00 to pay the balance by credit card. Most
travelers don't discover this until they attempt
to pay their final balance.
All-Inclusive?
Not really…
This term is probably the
most misunderstood term among spring break shoppers.
And evil sales people take advantage of that.
"All-Inclusive" refers to a hotel feature that
includes three meals/day and all drinks paid-for
at your selected hotel's on-premises restaurants
and bars. There are usually hours this applies
to (like drinks from 10AM-11PM, and meals during
the hours of the restaurants). The less-scrupulous
companies may tell you that your package is "All-Inclusive"
when they mean to say "complete" (i.e. all taxes
and transfers included). Many companies offer
dine-around meal plans (outside your hotel) and
party wristbands that get you free drinks at different
clubs (outside your hotel) during the day. They
then mislead the consumer to believe the package
is "All-Inclusive." To view the Spring Break Direct
hotels that offer the All-Inclusive feature, visit
our trip planner. The hotel name will be clearly
marked. For example, in Acapulco we offer Playa
Suites and Playa Suites All-Inclusive.
Sue
Me? Sue You! :
Beware of companies that
word their contracts such that you will waive
your right to sue if you have a problem with
your trip. Companies that do this prefer to
settle disputes via arbitration, which is in
the best interest of the company, not the traveler.
Crazy Co-Terminals:
Industry-standard travel contracts state that the tour operator can elect to name co-terminals. Common co-terminals are (BWI/Reagan/Dulles), (Midway/O’Hare), (JFK/LaGuardia/Newark). This means that if you book say, “JFK” you may have to fly out of “LaGuardia.” The above co-terminals are rarely more than 20-40 minutes apart from each other. The problem arises when a spring break company names “crazy” co-terminals.
Here
is a co-terminal list from a competitor’s
contract: (Newark/JFK/LaGuardia/Philadelphia),
(Philadelphia/BWI), (BWI/Reagan/Dulles/Richmond),
(Richmond/RDU), (RDU/Charlotte), (O'Hare/Midway/Milwaukee),
(Indy/Louisville/Cincinnati/Columbus) (Syracuse/Buffalo/Toronto/Rochester),(Detroit/Toledo).
In
this case, the tour operator could require
you to travel six hours to a new airport
(with no option to cancel). It’s out there – be
careful.
Don’t Get
Scammed
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