Bait and Switch
Are you familiar with the advertising term “bait and switch”? It’s a type of advertising that promotes a really amazing price point, then when you actually try to buy it you find the devil is in the details.
Right now there are some very egregious bait and switch travel ads going on that I feel I need to warn you about.
Cheap trips to Europe for three or four nights. Believe me as a person who travels to Europe several times a year, no one on earth needs to vacation in Europe for only three or four nights. You spend a day and half just getting there. Then you’d have two and half to three days in destination to turn around and spend 24 hours getting back home. You’d spend more time getting there than you spent in the destination. That’s a horrific trip, ask anyone who’s been. This ad is aimed at people who have never been to Europe and don’t understand the logistics.
When you call about that ad, you’re going to be told you can upgrade to 7 nights for only this many more dollars, OR you’re going to be told that offer no longer exists (the hotel is sold out etc) but they have a 7 night option you might like. The lure you in with the cheap trip as bait, and then switch you.
Decreased all-inclusive plans. One was one of my favorite brands has a new promotion that is going to offer you a “breakfast only” all-inclusive program. They are going to tell you it’s a great way for you to get off of the resort and enjoy some local restaurants. I know almost all of their 50+ resorts personally, and almost none of those have local restaurants anywhere close to the resort. By the time you pay cab fare and for the meal, you could have just paid the exorbitant meal charges at the resort. Oh, wait. Another thing they are going to do it lure you into their timeshare program with “we can add the all-inclusive program to your stay if you’ll just spend 90 minutes at our Vacation Club presentation”. Bait, switch.
Or they are going to get you to add the all-inclusive plan at check in. You would have been better off to just purchase the full all-inclusive program from the beginning and have it all paid for by now. You would not come home with a huge credit card bill. Let’s be honest, that’s what we all love about all-inclusive resorts. We can pay in full up front, and relax and enjoy our vacation without worrying about additional costs, right?
Another huge offender is the cruise lines. For instance they offer an Alaskan cruise from as low as $899 per passenger. They do not mention that the price they have listed in only available on the very first sailing in May, and only for four interior cabins. Once those four are booked the price is higher. Bait, switch.
This is why we do our very best to quote accurate and total pricing on our Facebook posts. We want you to know right up front what the trip is going to cost. We do our best to be totally transparent.
The Joy of Travel, professionals you can trust.