A trip that started off promising by indentifying cheap travel options including cheap airplane tickets and discount hotel rooms or cheap vacation packages can go bad quickly if travelers allow themselves to be scammed while on vacation. The best advice tourists should remember is if it looks too good to be true, it usually is too good to be true.
The following are common travel scams that lonely planet warns tourists to stay away from:
Sometime people pretend to be police or will in fact be police and demand to see your passport and then suggest that some imaginary problem can be fixed if you pay a fine on the spot in cash. Refuse and offer instead to accompany them to a police station.
Tourists are often offered gem or carpet deals that are unbelievable values. Such deals usually involve the purchase of worthless gems and carpets that never will arrive at your home.
Airport taxis have been known to ask tourists to pay inflated fares or take tourists a roundabout way to their destinations in order to charge more. Only travel in licensed taxis and do not hand over cash until you reach your destination.
Avoid people offering free scratch cards that indicate you have won some sort of a prize. Often tourists end up being dragged into timeshare presentations in order to collect their prizes.
Taxi drivers sometimes tell tourists that their hotel, restaurant, or shop is closed and then try to steer them to an even better one. Insist on first visiting your planned destination.
Tourists returning rented motor bikes or cars are often confronted by people demanding money for imaginary damage costs to the vehicle. Make certain that you take pictures of the bike/car before leaving the lot (ideally with the renter sitting on it) so there is no question later of what damage you may be responsible for.
Bird poop or something else accidentally spills on a tourist and a stranger approaches to help with a towel. In the confusion, valuables often end up disappearing.
Attractive women often approach male tourists traveling alone and get them to agree to accompany them to a local bar/tea shop. On receipt of the bill tourists are stunned to learn that they owe up to hundreds of dollars.
Many hotels have names similar to popular hotels and rarely are of the same quality. Before handing any money over when you check in confirm you are at the name and address of the hotel you have a reservation. www.cheapfares.com