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.

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

Vacation Planning 101

For me, vacations are the icing of life. You don’t have to have one—it’s not a “need” but they certainly are a delicious way to spend your time.

Now, we’ve all had vacations that didn’t turn out so well—hotel wasn’t what you expected, choice of location left something to be desired or rental car charged more than you got the quote for—while all consumer purchases should be carefully researched, I would argue that choosing/planning a vacation is one of the consumer choices that absolutely can not be done with research. Not only is it your money at stake, it’s your precious time and quality of life.

If you plan to book your travel yourself versus using a travel agency, start researching possible locations by looking at general websites--just do a search on Travel Tips and you’ll have get a ton of resources--narrow it down to a type of vacation—beach travel or city; an area of world you want to see—Europe, South America—or an activity that you love to do—ski or hike. Make a list of what’s important on the vacation—to everyone traveling—it may be that some want to relax and others are dying to be on the go. Once you have some focus, check review websites—keep the reviews in perspective however, you don’t know if hotel staff are leaving them or really individual consumers. Decide how you will get to your location and where you want to stay—is a suite critical since you have a large family or is a bed and breakfast perfect for you?

Additional Tips:
• Check prices on several different websites and then call the airline/car rental company/hotel to see which price is the best.
• Use those points you have from credit cards.
• Try to find a car rental location away from the airport—these can be dramatically less costly.
• Compare one way and round trip travel--they are often very different prices.
• Be careful when purchasing—there generally is a “No Refund” policy on airfare once you have purchased that ticket.
• Decide if you want to plan out your activities before you go or are fine with planning once you get there. Either way, do some checking around online to see what the options are and if there are any online coupons.
• Always check the US State Dept’s travel alert website if you are traveling out of the US.
• Be sure to call right before you leave to confirm the travel and hotel.

For more tips, see the FTC’s webpage on travel tips.

For tips of choosing a travel agency for planning your vacation and protecting your Identity while traveling, check back soon.

Instant Tax Refunds--but at what cost?

Tax time is approaching. Are you hoping for a refund to pay off those holiday bills and thinking of going to a tax preparation company who offers “Instant Refunds”. Why wait to get your tax refund when you can get it now?

While it sounds good to get your tax refund instantly, consumers need to be aware of the fees involved. Basically, the company is issuing you a loan for the amount of your anticipated refund and your refund goes to them to pay off this loan. Not only will you pay the fee for doing your taxes but if you sign up to receive your money instantly, you will generally pay $100 or more for this convenience.

For example on a typical $1500 tax refund, one tax preparation firm charges $60 to file the federal form, $15 to file the state form, $64 loan fee and $24 for getting your money now. This means you would be paying $75 for them to fill out the forms, which are fairly easy, and you could do on your own or use the free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) services in your community. It also means that you pay $88 for the convenience of having your money now—that’s 6% of your refund. If you waited the usual 8-10 days that $88 would be in your pocket.

Also, many of the tax preparation companies are partnering with other businesses, such as car dealers, rent to own centers, even mortgage companies. Before agreeing to have your refund used to buy a car or other products, be sure you find out how much that privilege is going to cost you—it makes better financial sense to get your refund on your own and negotiate for whatever product you want without the issue of your refund muddying the waters.

For more information, see FDIC Tips and National Consumer Law Center’s Tips.

New Years Resolution--Check Your Credit Report!

Start the New Year off right—get a copy of your credit report. It’s free and easy. Your credit report contains information about how you have handled credit, such as loans or credit card accounts, as well any bankruptcies, tax liens or monetary judgments issued against you.