Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Protect Your Identity While Traveling


Many times we are so excited about going on vacation--focusing on packing, making sure we are complying with TSA rules and checking our itinerary—but forget to think about protecting our identity while we’re traveling. Don’t let your vacation be ruined by having a thief steal your personal information and take off shopping on your credit:
• Only take the credit cards and ID that you absolutely need. Leave the other cards and checks home.
• Make two copies of those cards and ID—leave one at home with a family member or friend whom you can call in case the cards are stolen. Keep the other copy in the safe in your hotel room in case the cards are stolen.
• Be sure to call your credit card companies to let them know you are traveling and spending in an area outside of your normal spending patterns—otherwise you may find yourself being denied credit at the point of sale since the credit card company will suspect ID Theft and put a freeze on the card.
• Be vigilant about protecting your cards and ID—if you go to hotel pool or beach and don’t want to take them with you, lock them up in the room safe.
• If you take your laptop with you, be careful where you use it.
• If you use the hotel’s computers, don’t log into your online backing account.
• Be sure your mail at home is safe—either put a hold on the mail through the postal service or have a neighbor gather it for you. Stop your newspaper delivery—you may save money but more importantly, are not advertising that you’re not home.
• Don’t put your Facebook status “on vacation” or tweet that you’re in another country—that’s an open invitation to burglars.
For more information, see Privacy Right’s Clearinghouse’s tips.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Choosing a Travel Agency


While it is much easier today to research and plan a vacation on your own now, it does take a lot of time to navigate through the multitude of choices. Maybe you want to have a travel agent do all the work for you? While most travel agencies are reputable and guide consumers honestly and competently, there have been cases where consumers have paid for tickets that were never received. Follow the following steps before selecting a travel agency:

Find out how long the agency or tour operator has been in business and whether there are any complaints or legal action against the merchant.
Check to see if the agency is a member of these trade associations:

• The American Society of Travel Agents at www.asta.org
• The United States Tour Operators Association at www.ustoa.com
• The Association of Retail Travel Agents at www.artaonline.com

When paying for travel, pay with a credit card rather than by check or cash. Certain “chargeback” protections apply to credit card purchases. For more information on choosing a travel agency see the Federal Trade Commission’s website:
www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/shop/travel.shtm