An informal survey of travel auction Web sites by Australia’s Sun-Herald has found the sites yield dramatically varied results, including excellent bargains, mediocre deals — and a few nasty traps.
The results reflect the experiences of American travelers, who for the better part of the last decade have been bidding for travel on a variety of so-called “opaque” Web sites such as Hotwire and Priceline.
According to the Australian survey, travelers are attracted to such sites by the promise of a bargain: the potential to either spend less or get a more luxurious holiday for their money. But it advises travelers to check the bid against published rates.
Many prices found on auction Web sites turned out to be the same or similar to those available through other sources, including booking directly with the hotels. What were being held up as cheap auction prices were, in fact, standard low-season rates or routine promotional offers from the hotels.
There are other traps. One offer on a popular auction site looked like a great deal but had a condition that the buyer must attend a “presentation” during their vacation. Such presentations usually prove to be pressure-selling sessions and should be avoided, according to the report.
The lesson? Look before you book.
And if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
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“There are other traps. One offer on a popular auction site looked like a great deal but had a condition that the buyer must attend a “presentation” during their vacation.”
Worldmark By Wyndham (aka: Trendwest) does this very often. It’s their way of business of selling you timeshare. They say the “presentation” is only 90 mins, but you actually get stuck there for about 3-4 hours with them passing you from one sales person to the next for every time you say no. If you’ve been to one or going to one, take notice that there’s never any clocks, calculators, notepads, or pens around for you to use.
There are lots of numbers and $ figures being told to you at all times in hopes that everything sounds good and forget the totally actually “ownership” price (buy-in cost, maintenance fee, membership fee, interest (can be as high as credit cards), etc.)
Then, they give you as an incentive, “free” vacations, but actually you’ll just end up going to these presentations again. This time around, you’re now an VIP member.
It’s a never ending cycle.