Tips for booking vacations online

Tips from Better Business Bureau

Whether your ideal vacation is relaxing at the beach or mountain biking in the mountains, the keys to a successful trip are advance planning and avoiding scams.

Finding trustworthy vendors for transportation, tours, excursions and accommodations is a matter of doing your research. Travel information is widely available online, and many libraries have books or videos that can help you learn about your destination.

Read consumer reviews closely. Beware of reviews that are too positive or use vague language that could apply to any company. If you see the same review on several sites, it could be fake.

Most consumers book travel online. But it pays to call hotels or tour companies to verify reservations and details of rooms or excursions you're booking. Ask what a "five-star" or "luxury" rating means. If you can't get a person from the travel company to answer the phone, consider using another firm.

Read and understand cancellation and refund policies. Many resorts will keep your deposit if you don't cancel by a certain date. Others may be willing to apply your deposit toward a future trip or a different room. Consider using travel insurance if you think you might have to cancel, but make sure the policy comes from a licensed insurer.

Some hotels and resorts charge extra fees for services like fitness centers or Internet access, and many of these are mandatory, meaning that you pay them whether or not you use them. Sometimes, the fees aren't included in an advertised price. Read any fine print or call the hotel and ask for the total price before you book a room.

Use a credit card rather than cash or a check to pay for your vacation, and make sure a website is secure by looking for "https" at the beginning of the URL in your browser's address bar. You may be able to dispute charges with your credit card if there's a mistake or fraud.

If you get an unsolicited call, text or email about a "free" trip or vacation, be skeptical. In some cases, the vendor charges fees that could cost you more than the trip would cost otherwise. In other cases, you may have to sit through a high-pressure sales presentation for a timeshare, travel club or other promotion. Travel clubs often charge high fees that could offset any savings and memberships may be difficult to cancel.

Be especially wary if a prize company asked for your credit card to "verify" your identity or your prize. A legitimate company won't ask you to pay for a prize, and divulging your personal identifiers or financial information could expose you to identity theft or fraud.

Most of all, don't let any vendor talk you into something you don't need or want. Remember, this is your vacation, and you make the decisions about what you want to do.

Mike Harrison is regional director for the Mid Missouri Better Business Bureau, whose mission is to create a marketplace where buyers and sellers can trust each other.