Scam Alert: Some Travel Club Deals Are Too Good to be True

Danny White was vacationing in Branson, Mo., 18 months ago when he was offered free tickets to a show in exchange for attending a 90-minute sales presentation for a local travel club.

Getting those tickets, he says, was the only promise fulfilled that day. At Travel More Now's presentation, "they promised we could rent vacation condos for $199 a week," says White, 59, a benefits administrator from Tuscaloosa, Ala. "They promised 60 percent off on hotels, steep discounts on airfare and cruises, and inside access to travel deals no one else had. They promised to sell my time-share in Florida so I could afford the travel club."

To take the sting out of the $8,600 membership fee, White says, the club offered him a "no-interest, no-payments for one year" credit card it had arranged with CitiBank.

Today, White's time-share remains unsold, and Citibank bills him every month—with interest. "CitiBank said they never had such an arrangement with the club," he says.

And the promised "insider" bargains have yet to materialize. "When I traveled to California, this 'discount' travel club offered me a hotel 'deal' of $69 a night," White says. "I went to the hotel's website and got the same room ... at the same facility, for $59."

A 69-year-old retiree who spent $6,000 to join another travel club says, "They promise you access to all kinds of special deals not available anywhere else." Dissatisfied with the club's prices, she did an online search and elsewhere found "exactly what they offered me … the very same rentals."

Travis Ford of the Missouri Attorney General's Office knows the stories all too well. Ten of the 15 travel clubs registered to operate in Branson, a national tourist attraction, have generated similar complaints, he says.

While the offers made by these clubs may not be illegal, they aren't always a good deal either. "Most consumers ... say that after paying thousands in upfront fees to a travel club, they obtain travel arrangements just as good, or even better, on their own," Ford says. Initial fees for travel clubs typically range from $2,000 to $10,000, with annual renewals of $150 to $200.

Travel More Now spokesmen, including President Jim Kilroy, would not answer specific allegations made by White or other consumers who reported similar experiences. "I would merely point out that TMN has thousands of happy members," Kilroy wrote in an e-mail. His company has generated 394 complaints to the state attorney general since January 2004 and has an unsatisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Despite a Missouri law that clubs must give new enrollees three days to cancel their memberships, Ford says, the top complaint is about companies that don't let unhappy members out of their contracts. He says when consumers try to cancel within the allotted three days, their calls and e-mails aren't returned in time to do so.

David S. Akers, attorney for Grand Crowne Resorts, which runs a Branson resort and until recently sold travel club memberships, replies that such complaints are often a case of buyer's remorse and result from customer error. "Ninety-plus percent of the complaints we deal with, even with the BBB, are due to customers not reading their materials regarding the use of the travel club and unfamiliarity with the way to best use our website and services to save money," Akers says.

His company's travel club, Grand Crowne Travel Network, generated 624 complaints to the Missouri attorney general after January 2004, but the AG's office to date hasn't taken legal action. The Better Business Bureau has gotten nearly 100 complaints but rates the club satisfactory for resolving or attempting to resolve most of them.

Be wary of travel clubs that charge more than a few dollars for a membership and make big promises about discounted trips. If you joined a club and feel you were misled, file your complaint with the attorney general's office in the state where the club is based or with the BBB.

"The best advice is to think long and hard before joining," says Ford. "The complaints we hear seem to be [true of] other clubs across the country."

Sid Kirchheimer is the author of AARP/Sterling's Scam-Proof Your Life.

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