Travel Club

Travel Club Scam: How It Works

Travel lovers, beware of the Travel Club Membership scheme, aka the Exclusive Travel Club Scam.

You hear from friends, flyers in the mail, or cold calls, that there is a great event coming to your city. You're invited to a travel club conference offering an amazing opportunity: a travel club membership like no other. If you qualify, you could save several thousands of dollars on your future trips. The conference is huge and is held at a convention center. They might even promise free airfares. At the door, they will ask for your personal information and credit card. How does the scam work?

Watch the video below to see the Travel Club scam exposed:

After a promising presentation underlying the benefits, which are amazing, they will proceed to pressure you into buying a lifetime membership in the travel club, which could cost up to $7,000 plus processing fees and annual dues exceeding $200. Little do you know that the ‘great' deals for your future trips will be the same as you could find them online yourself.

If you're traveling from the United States, Canada, Australia, or the United Kingdom you should be aware.

Travel Membership Club Scam: How To Avoid

Stay away from this kind of travel club scams, they're already under the FBI lens. Use only reputable companies that have a legitimate reward system in place. There are tons out there. Create your vacation and find an affordable travel club on your own terms.

If you see a travel club that piques your interest, type the name of the company that runs it into BBB.org. If you can't find the name of their mother company it should be a red flag, but it should be in the About Us section or the footer of the website.

Best Travel Clubs To Join

If you're looking for the best travel clubs to join, try to avoid paying annual fees and focus more on the content of their offering. Don't be afraid to consider life-changing trips such as The SPARK Experience, a viral event for people who are selected to join according to their charisma and life lessons, regardless of their age or job. You can apply on their site. You can also watch the video below about one of their experiences:

Travel Club Membership Scam: How To Report

Make your family and friends aware of the Travel Club Scam by sharing it on social media using the buttons provided. You can also officially report the questionable travel club companies to the Federal Trade Commission using the link below:

Report Scammers To FTC Here

EXCLUSIVE: “The Scam? Travel Club Companies Sell Dreams, Not Experiences”

We invited Sorin Mihailovici, the founder of The Spark Experience and producer of the TV show Travel by Dart, for an interview on travel club scams. You can see some invaluable insights below from a professional who traveled to over 50 countries, encountered a lot of fraudulent practices, and now created a fabulous event that captured the world's attention.

travel club membership

Must-Read Article: Timeshare Resale

Scam Detector: Sorin, let's get into the deeper levels of the travel club membership scams. Why do they work?

Sorin Mihailovici: When it comes to travel, people always like to brag about their findings. Think about it, how many times have you heard your friends saying things like: “I found a great deal”? Offering a great deal – or what the client thinks is a good deal – is the hook that catches everyone. You get invited by a friend to this fancy presentation. Lots of people in suits and ties, champagne, some apparently famous guest speakers, etc. You feel important, right? There, you feel you're in a different community. You want to be there forever. And pay the price. The truth is, once you're done with that evening, you'll never see them again.

SD: What do you mean?

SM: They will ask everyone to come with their credit cards ready. Then, they create this hype for the three-hour presentation, everyone applauds. They make you feel like you will NEVER find a deal like this. Videos with amazing sceneries, crystal clear water, hot girls and cabana boys, and so on. Victims have their jaws dropped. The climax ends with them asking everyone to sign up at the door as the exclusive travel club membership is only available that night.

“The Scam Comes in Two Variations

SD: Why do you say that “you'll never see them again”?

SM: You noticed that I didn't even say anything about the price, right? The whole point is that these questionable travel club companies sell dreams, not experiences. The only experience that the buyer is going to have is a horrible one. Why? The scam comes in two variations. In the first one, the travel clubs sell you a number of trips per year for a price that they call amazing. They promise free airfares, free hotels, and so on. If you do the math, it would make sense to pay a few thousand dollars for all the number of trips you're promised.

SD: And what happens?

SM: The platform is made in such a way that you will never be able to redeem those trips annually or for the period mentioned. Why? Because you never read the 3-pages fine print that you agreed on at the presentation that night. People in the line-up behind you, the excitement, the hope, the dream – all made you sign the contract without reading every word. When you try to call them – weeks after weeks – they don't pick up the phone or return your money. However, not all the travel club companies are scams, don't get me wrong.

Timeshare Presentation Traps

SD: How about the second variation of the scam?

SM: The second one refers to timeshare presentations. All these high-pressure events get the victims to purchase a timeshare instead of trips. They invite people to come to these conferences and keep in there for hours promising exclusive deals. In reality, it is the same scheme as the one mentioned earlier. Got everyone so excited about lies, drinks, and caviar that a signature is the biggest mistake you'll make.

SD: What should people look for?

SM: Research the name of the company that organizes the event. Dig deeper into who really is behind it, not just the name of the event of the travel club. Type the name of the company in your search engine and add the word ‘scam', ‘reviews', or ‘complaints' at the end. You'll be surprised about what might come up.

“Make A Wish Foundation For Adults”

SD: You created a special, exclusive event for people: The Spark Experience. Why?

SM: It is about the reason I was mentioning earlier. Spark offers experiences, not dreams. You will live your dreams here, with us, whether you are looking for solo travel, 40th birthday trip ideas for couples, or father-son trips. It is an exclusive event because I want to personally be there with people who qualify to be part of this. More of an intimate group, so you don't get lost in the shuffle. The idea is that you will have a life-changing experience. The most important thing will be the people you're with – there will be selected applicants only who will inspire you and can teach you a thing or two.

spark experience life changing trip society

Recommended Read: Cancelled Flight Compensation Scam

SD: It seems like a Make A Wish Foundation for adults. What made you do this?

SM: People tend to have more regrets as they get older. My dad paralyzed at 42 and been a vegetable since. Mom had to take care of him for 27 years. They told me the only regret they have is that they never traveled enough. I realize there are millions of people like that in the world. I want to help them. SPARK is for those who have been working 9-5 hours and never had time for themselves, for those who want to recharge their life and press the reset button, for the midlife crisis individuals who don't want to have regrets, for those who want to surprise their partner with an extraordinary birthday or anniversary gift, or even for those who want to finally get out of their comfort zone.

SD: Tons of people like that, true.

SM: We're there for them. There are a lot of people that are less in the spotlight due to various reasons, such as children or physical appearance. People need to feel love and appreciation at any age. They want to say “I still got it” occasionally, as they tend to have more insecurities as time goes by. That's what we're here for.

SD: So with SPARK the regrets are never settling in!

SM: That's why it is called SPARK. This event will spark all your senses.

SD: Thanks for the insights about the travel club membership scams! 


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84 thoughts on “Travel Club”

  1. Charles G Mocsiran

    If you’re visiting Charleston SC avoid getting involved with Exclusive Platinum Travel. They will pull you in off the street and proceed to feed lies to you in order to get you to sign on the dotted line. When I signed up I paid an additional $1300 have them remove me from Bluegreen Travel membership. They did nothing to accomplish this promise never contacting Bluegreen once. In addition they represent themselves as being a BBB A+ rated business when in fact they are rated F-. Do your due diligence if you have an inclination to get suckered in. They are nothing by lying scammers.

  2. Charles G Mocsiran

    I got scammed by Exclusive Platinum Travel out of Charleston SC for almost $8000 for membership to their travel club and their promise to remove my membership from Bluegreen Travel. Once they got the money in Feb of 2020, they have done nothing to affect removal. Avoid them and their promises at all costs. They claim to have an A+ BBB rating when in reality they are not even accredited. All lies!

  3. Anyone dealt with Exclusive Travelers Club? There have been a lot of reports/complaints online about it, they say is a shell corporation in Panama ran by a company in Florida called GBS International. It is not BBB accredited and has 18 official complaints against its practices. on the bbb page.

    I was also approached by someone claiming to work for Last Minute Club. It sounds good, but too many doubts.

  4. Same comment to the T with World Discovered Pacific posted by Laura. Wondering, did they ever get their money back? Very disapointed.

  5. Goodlife site
    this membership scam is a really fake place, people calls us  from all around and trying to force me to attend to their meetings and get free packages when sign up for membership. I have signed up with a guy who said he works for goodlifeusa, some of the company representatives were with him, they gave m bunch of articles and took my money, they said that I will receive an email confirming my membership and the vouchers for bookings, its been weeks no one contacted me. I have called several places they transfer myself into some reservation place, even they couldn’t find my details. Finally I realized I got scammed. I’m still looking for those guys. they are scaling and running

  6. augastine cooray

    GoodlifeUSA is a SCAM
    My friends I were interested on purchasing their wholesale prices for vacations, cruises and light membership. We were on vacation in orlando florida and went to one of a presentation set up in all the major tourist areas and simply inquired about pricing for a membership and they claimed to have the best prices around. this is how they initially tackles us. We were promised a discount of $150.00 off the regular price of the helicopter ride, all we had to do was pick up the tickets from their office…oh and watch a 90 minute presentation about a new travel company and were told "don’t worry it is not a time share presentation you get access to wholesale pricing for everything from airfare to hotel stays, car rentals and condo rentals. We sat there pondering the pricing, platinum membership – which is the only one they show you at first – cost $10,000 to join. other options that were cheaper…an $8,500.00 package or a $5,500.00 package. We were continued to discuss the pricing as we were still not comfortable spending that amount of money. Again, the tag team duo came back and offered another "special package" for young people like us who can’t afford the larger packages and they offered it to us for $3,500.00 for a 5 year trial, and they also discounted the other packages, they also discounted the $499.00 "Administration fee" to $299.00 and also threw in a $500.00 credit to use towards future bookings within the next 2 years. Ok so at that point, after offering us all this "good stuff" and we were going to gain access to "wholesale pricing" for future vacations – we made the stupid decision of agreeing tto buy and handing over our credit cards for payment. As soon as I got to our room I have checked the email, I received my login information for their website and proceeded to test out its functionality. The savings was a load of crap, and I could not even my hotel or trips as the system told me there was "no availability" for my specific search. After realizing that I would probably have issues gaining the back the value for the money we spent, we headed straight back to the office that same day to cancel out of the program. I requested a refund and they of course tried to continue to convince me not to cancel. I was persistent and advised that we signed the paper work to cancel and want my money back. They gave me the run around advising that they could not refund be until 15 days. I argued with them stating that it was a load of lies and that I want my money back as it had t been charged so they could VOID the purchase same day. After much arguing, they advised that they would put a rush on the refund and process it the next day. I checked my card the next day, Waited 2 days and when I saw that the refund still was not processed, I’m keep calling them Again they promised me that I would see my refund ASAP. It has been over a two weeks since I asked to cancel and still no refund…
    be vigilant they are so manipulators

  7. GoodLifeUSA VIP Card For Travel Benefits:
    Those who pay money to join these networks receive so-called benefit VIP Cards, which they are supposed to redeem in hotels and other sorts of accommodation worldwide. Sometimes they even get commissions based on the number of people they bring into the club to sign up.
    Nonetheless, there are some legitimate companies out there that do that, but be aware of the sneaky ones. Don’t fall for the VIP card if in the long run it costs you more than the benefits it brings. 
    GoodLifeUSA This vacation club is a scam, they promise you bunch of savings on hotels, flights etc…. They make people through telemarketers and scammers, some of the innocent online moneymakers and poor people who doesn’t have a full time jobs, marketing this fake memberships.  VIP Card For Travel Benefits is the worst part they shows that they give $100,$200 and rip us in the worst, I have noticed this people changes booking agents time to time, members we are lost, we have paid to goodlifeusa, when I tried to book it takes us to another company website, and they says they are booking agents, they doesn’t know anything once we got stuck.  They are very rude when we were asking questions from Goodlife contacts they direct us to several people, their big boss, Is the biggest scammer, very fake guy, and he has a bunch of well trained barkers, they call they are the legit business according to their members, we are not members according to those barkers. They takes care only members who bring business for them. This looks like a pyramid place, they sell ourselves to scratch their lotteries. bunch of crooks,  they don’t have a proper accounts with hotels or airline or any places, they steal our money and just give us a third party wholesalers and it takes us nowhere, its non refundable at any case, they even charge you at first. in an emergency or for any reason you will not get a single penny back, here is the list of scammers, their talks are too louder than anyone, VIP Card For Travel Benefits is the real scam! Be aware of this bunch of guys, They ripped me off, they were charging me membership to give me discounted travel packages, it seems very aggressive when we see the first pricing, they ripped off at the end wit all the charges, it comes over the regular prices compared to other prices on the internet. Guys stay away from this crooks .

  8. SCAM alert World Discovered-Just Dreams-Paradise Blue-Pacific Dream are all the same company
    GOOGLE THE NAMES follow their trail

  9. I agreee with Laura — her claim is prob more than valid — I’ll post my story in a little while, as its extensive — but a quick "cliff notes" on my story — mailed in the cancelation letter as it stated to within the 3 day window — claimed they never got it — said the letter for cancellation told me to CERTIFY MAIL IT ONLY AND ALSO RETURN THEIR FANCY BINDER — no it doesn’t, I can up load a photo of that as well. Tried to lower my "package" to a "better deal" for 5 years — like many others were offered with the ability to upgrade later (at the travel prog cost in 5 years, no price hold guarantee bull..) He said since he "didn’t get my cancellation" letter in the mail that he can’t help me w/ canceling at all. I even resent a scanned/emailed copy of the letter I mailed (bc of course I kept a copy) to the manager and it was still not good enough. He said that the "loan itself is out of his hands after 3 business days and turned over to the financing company and there is nothing he can do about it because he doesn’t work THAT PART of the program" and that "he wishes he could help me because he doesn’t care about losing his commission on my sale over MY HAPPINESS AND SATISFACTION" — wtf — Sales manager said he would get back to me after making some calls — never did — never return my calls or messages since then. oh and BTW — the company that "collects payment" for this travel program is a LOAN SHARK COMPANY!!!! THE STAFF DIDNT EVEN KNOW THAT!!! While they offer "loans" their primary banking/servicing is to hunt down unpaid debt for collections as LOAN SHARKS. the lender they handed my "financing package" over to is called "monterey financial" don’t believe me — google it — they’re a fn loan shark company and they DESTROYED MY CREDIT FROM A 770 TO A 648!!! instantly i can’t believe it. Now, if you google world discovered pacific, they have 5 rocking stars on google. but did you also know that companies/businesses can PAYYYYY to have filters on their ratings and actually remove negative comments so that they don’t bring down sale or deter business!!!! There are tons of illegal businesses that specialize in hacking and manipulating the WWW and associates softwares.. now I’m stuck in this joke of a program whose lender destroyed my credit (even tho I have NEVER missed a payment on their stupid membership fees plan) AND there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. Be careful man

  10. ATTENTION REVIEW OWNER LAURA… PLEASE CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY TO PROVE THE VALIDITY OF YOUR CLAIM. (808) 495-4770

    We believe this review to be fraudulent because of the facts associated with your review do not meet the criteria of our companies policy

  11. Frederick Andrews

    when to the World Discovered Pacific today. First they have a guy sit with you and ask all kinds of questions about your travel habits then the ninety minute presentation After that they tag team you wanting you to buy. We were very interested but wanted to talk to our daughter first before spending 10,000 dollars man they lost interest in us and couldn’t push us out the door fast enough after we said no we were going to talk to our daughter first

  12. Did anyone hear about Good Life USA or Canada and their Legacy Tree program? They distribute $200 VIP cards which you are supposed to give away, and get back $100 as commission. Cards could be used for travel (hotels) and you get your $100 when the person you just gave it to uses it. It’s like a pyramid scheme, and you also have to recruit and get more rewards. So you become an IBO (Independent Business Owner) and you get money ($25) for every person you enroll in this Good Life VIP Club. Classic Amway style.

    I don’t really trust MLM businesses, especially new ones. Here is the only decent review I found online, but I would like to hear more if any of you joined GoodLife:

    "• GoodLife USA sells 3rd party discounts and has no product of their own.
    • Expensive unless you travel extensively
    • Compensation plan relies heavily on recruitment
    • GoodLife USA is not newbie friendly
    • There are free travel discount companies like expedia.com
    • Will most likely only last a few years like the rest of the travel MLM schemes.

    Even after my extensive research on GoodLife USA, I am still very confused.
    I am still left with more questions than answers to be perfectly honest.
    The most important question is; How do you end up saving money on travel by spending anywhere between $150 & $900 a year on membership?
    I am also wondering if the two founders have ever heard of expedia.com?
    I am sure some customers could take advantage of the discounts that GoodLife offer but the average customer will end up losing money.
    The reason I make this assumption is because the vast majority of people travel once a year.
    How are you going to make a ROI with this?

    I guess you could also become an affiliate which you could possibly make money, but all you are selling is memberships with the promise of more discounts.
    But I have a hard time recommending a MLM that focuses on nothing but membership sales and recruitment.
    The other thing I don’t understand about the compensation plan is the concept of commission sharing.
    If someone is really good at recruiting, then they have to share with people that have done little to no recruiting at all?
    Hmmm, sounds weird.

    Overall, this company is decent in comparison to other travel niche MLMs and you can make some serious cash if you are already well versed in the recruitment game.

    However, I will not recommend joining this company if you are a newbie.
    Stay away if you are new to the recruiting game and go find yourself a MLM that has extensive training programs."

    I am also reading that the two founders of Good Life USA, Mark Seyforth and Edward Dovner, have a bunch of experience in the MLM sector, some of it even being in the grey area.

    Anyone?

  13. WORLD DISCOVERED PACIFIC (in Waikiki Hawaii) is a SCAM (they are associated with ACTIVITY HUT).

    My husband and I were duped into purchasing their so called "computer software" that would give us access to "wholesale" prices for vacations, cruises and more – COMPLETE BULLSH*T. We were on vacation in Waikiki Hawaii and went to one of the many "Activity Huts" set up in all the major tourist areas and simply inquired about pricing for a Helicopter Ride around the island and they claimed to have the best prices on the island…this is how they initially suckered us in. We were promised a discount of $150.00 off the regular price of the helicopter ride, all we had to do was pick up the tickets from their office…oh and watch a 90 minute presentation about a new travel company and were told "don’t worry it is not a time share presentation". We arrived on the day and sat through the presentation (and they do a very good job of making you believe that you need to buy into this vacation software to save thousands of dollars on future vacations because you will gain access to "wholesale pricing" for everything from airfare to hotel stays, car rentals and condo rentals). My husband and I sat there pondering the pricing (as the platinum membership – which is the only one they show you at first – cost $10,000 to join). When they saw us pondering the decision, our sales person tag teamed with the presenter to offer us other options that were cheaper…an $8,500.00 package or a $5,500.00 package. My husband and I continued to discuss the pricing as we were still not comfortable spending that amount of money. Again, the tag team duo came back and offered another "special package" for young couples like us who can’t afford the larger packages and they offered it to us for $3,500.00 for a 5 year trial, and they also discounted the other packages (if we decide we want to upgrade to the 10 year, 20 year and lifetime packages in the future) we would have the discounted prices locked in and would only have to pay the difference. Oh and because we are Canadian, they also discounted the $499.00 "Administration fee" to $299.00 and also threw in a $500.00 credit to use towards future bookings within the next 2 years. Ok so at that point, after offering us all this "good stuff" and we were going to gain access to "wholesale pricing" for future vacations – we made the stupid move of agreeing to this hoax and handing over my credit card for payment. After leaving the office, my gut just didn’t feel quite right and questioned whether we should have spent $3,500.00 USD on this software program that we weren’t even sure would save us money. As soon as I got to our hotel and was connected to the internet I received my login information for their website and proceeded to test out its functionality. The savings was a load of crap, and to boot I could not even book specific dates or trips as the system told me there was "no availability" for my specific search. After realizing that I would probably have issues gaining the back the value for the money we spent, we headed straight back to the office that same day to cancel out of the program. I requested a refund immediately and they of course tried to continue to convince us not to cancel. I was persistent and advised that we signed the paper work to cancel and want our money back. They gave me the run around advising that they could not refund be until 15 days. I argued with them stating that it was a load of crap and that I want my money back now as the visa had just been charged so they could VOID the purchase that day. After much arguing, they advised that they would put a rush on the refund and process it the next day. I checked my card the next day, no refund. Waited 2 days and when I saw that the refund still was not processed, went back to their office. Again they promised me that I would see my refund the next day. It has been over a week since I asked to cancel and still no refund…WARNING DO NOT TRUST THESE SCAMMERS!!!

  14. We attended a session last night from Resort Consulting Services, a partner of Save On Resorts. I was tired and questioned the presentation. Got lucky, today I decided to research and call Save On Resorts, turns out they never heard of Resort Consulting Services. Basically a scam… Thank fully, we are in our 3 day right of cancellation. Hopefully they honor it. Why is there not a reputable firm out there where a timeshare owner can make money renting out their timeshare?

  15. We just returned from a presentation with a 4 seasons travel; the cost went from $12,900 for two people, to $7,009, to $999 for each of us and finally $999 for both of us. We continued to say no, so they finally gave us a brochure with instructions on how to get our two airline tickets and our hotel stay of two nights. When I got home, I read the fine print. We had to arrive on a Monday or Tuesday and we had to mail in $50 each for airline and hotel, then wait for a redemption letter before we could even make a reservation. Millellium Travel was the company that I would need to deal with. Try researching them, IT IS NOT GOOD!!

  16. I joined WIN TRAVEL, definite scam, nothing was that great of discount unless you stay in old timeshares. NOT WORTH IT< stay away.

  17. Debra Langston

    I have owned several Timeshares and Travel Clubs in my life, my family loved the concept except they fall short of their promises, that is except one very amazing company we luckily got involved with, IDS Travel or better known as IDS INC. IDS Travel has been the most amazing experience for me and my family, the customer service is simply amazing and the savings is real. IDS is located in Woodland Hills CA and the have a five star A+ rating with the BBB. I highly recommend IDS they have truly been a shining star for my family, if you would like to see for yourself you can find them at http://www.idsdiscovery.com http://www.idstravelservices.com http://www.idstravel.net

  18. Has anyone received a gift from the Travel Service Center in Tampa Florida? They are offering a free cruise for $100 activation fee and another trip with free airfare and hotel for $75 activation fee. Has anyone traveled with them? Their web site is http://www.travelpromotionsFAQ.com. How do I find out if they are legitimate?

  19. Coconut Club Vacations

    We received an invitation to hear about the Coconut Club by post card and decided to attend this April. Jay Rogers made a glowing presentation about how we could save big money on travel, and that they would do all the work setting up a trip. There would be weekly offers of special trips and savings, with examples of luxury condos in Hawaii. No opportunity was given to actually test their system. We asked if we could go home and study the proposal and were told the offer was for this day only. We fell for it to the tune of $4995. From our experience, the presentation had no relationship to actuality.

    Their website gives little to no information about the lodging offered. You have to search elsewhere to see the class, quality, facilities, reviews and location of the properties.

    Since then we have had three experiences with Coconut Club travel.
    1) We got information on bookings to a hotel in Austin Texas. Unfortunately, we had never asked for a hotel in Austin, it was sent to us by mistake.
    2) We planned a trip to Colorado for this summer and asked for week-long condo rentals. One of their suggestions was a condo that our daughter and family rented for a week of skiing. It was so bad that they left after two days and drove back to Dallas rather than stay in that dump.
    3) We then planned a road trip to Montana with several days in Gardiner, MT (the north entrance to Yellowstone). They proposed a place in Big Sky, MT. Big Sky is 33 miles from Gardiner as the crow flies, but 130 miles by road through Bozeman and Livingston (using MapSource software). There are no roads over the mountains. I then looked elsewhere on the internet for bookings of similar quality and the same dates in Gardiner, and found one.

    They do offer a number of trips weekly, but you do not get a chance to see what is offered until after you pay. Most of them are to Orlando, Mexico, or the Caribbean; we did not evaluate these opportunities. We had thought of using them to set up and trip to South America next year, but if they can’t handle Yellowstone then we don’t want them to try South America.

    If you use them, expect to spend as much time in checking and evaluating their proposal as you would in setting the trip up on your own.

    We are not inexperienced travelers, having lived on 5 continents. I have over 2,000,000 miles just on American Airlines!

    So far we have not seen any value in joining, only mistakes in their travel plans.

    We spoke with Scott Ceilman at Coconut Club and explained our experience thus far with Coconut Club, three strikes and out. He said that we were committed to our one-year membership and there was no way we could have our money refunded. An honorable company might have agreed to cancel the contract and refund our money or offer some other solution, but this company didn’t.

    Others may have different experiences and expectations than we had, but for us this was a huge waste of money.

  20. Avolon based in Las Vegas, NV and Fun Time Vacations in Maryland are also travel scam "companies". BE AWARE and stay away. I unfortunately found out too late and lost $138.

  21. Detroit forever

    Well, I did some little research and here is what various travelers reported as scam companies, whether is about deceptive practices or just simply not providing the service. All these companies are listed on the ripsoff report page. Watch out for these sneaky travel agencies, folks: American Vacations, AFC Holidays Dubai, Priceless Times, Millennium Travel and Promotions, Inc., Farewell Vacations, Explorica Travel, eDreams, Grand Discovery Travel, Crystal Travel Tours and Holidays, Global Vacation, Sweet Dreams Vacations, and Go Global Travel.

  22. Got my check for airfare for $1000. So I called and Shane after 8 questions said I qualified. Now he insisted I come to a presentation this afternoon. I said no, then come Monday. Something told me to google them and check them out. Thanks to all of you out there for posting about this scam company. I really appreciate it.

  23. Can anyone tell me about Turkish vacation clubs Palmet travel & tours and Milano Turizm. I’ve been offered vacation packages by them

  24. Satisfaction Enterprises? Has anyone ever dealt with this company. Call Paul @ 360-601-9759. This has been the WORST experience and money travel scam ever. We were dumb for joining.Can we get our money back since we’ve never used them? How and any suggestions would be helpful. Member services is located in Scottsdale, AZ and Reservations are located in San Diego and Belize.

  25. I am a member of IDS. I don’t know about these other companies mentioned but we love our membership. No matter what we search, IDS is always cheaper than on line searches…BY A LOT. You guys and gals should use IDS if you like to travel. They even have a 100% owner satisfaction guarantee.

  26. We just went to the talk by Florida Concierge travel. They wanted $8,000 for lifetime membership. My husband declined. Then they gave us a special price $5700 for fewer resort reservations. It sounded so good but my husband said no. I was so upset with him!! Thank goodness we didn’t buy it.

  27. Has anyone had dealings with IDS Inc. Woodland Hills Ca? I have seen several web site that are travel club related who all point to IDS, I would like honest reviews if you have joined their Travel Club

  28. Anyone have complaints about Global Options Travel.
    We just gave them some money for a lifetime membership and I am thinking we should use our right of rescission.

  29. Linda Hallmark

    We attended a travel club seminar and were lead down a false path for the tune of $4995. I got my credit card bill and it was billed to an Alpine Dental in AZ, which never returned my phone calls. We were unable to log on to our new travel account, given wrong passwords, no call backs, wrong information which would change from day to day. I am now in the process of a dispute on this charge. What a scam. The travel club was also known as Enterprise Travel Club.

  30. After reviewing all of the paperwork from Save On Resorts, LLC, dba Fun Marketing, dba Vacation with Ease Network Travel Services, we are using the 72 hour right of rescission clause in the contract! We missed the fact that they did not issue a written confirmation about the yearly "buy back three weeks program at $750.00 per week every year" and we also missed the "one time $350.00 non refundable processing fee notice"…Their sale process/presentation was not a pressure to buy approach but a slick version of "keep them occupied and talking so they will miss the fine points of the contract". Bottom line: we are out $250.00 after receiving our promised $100.00 incentive for sitting through their 60 minute presentation. My wife thought something was "wrong" but I didn’t listen!

  31. We also attended a sales presentation, sent in the required docs…but have never heard from them…so I figured it was a scam. Am not calling…just forgetting about this company who should not be in business.

  32. On 3/10/15, we received an offer from Norwegian Cruise Line for an 8 day/ 7 night cruise of 2 adults (approximate retail value $1499). Additionally, if we responded within 72 hours, we received round trip airfares for 2 adults. So we called the number provided, spoke with Trish (844-663-1378 ext. 3357).

    She confirmed that we did qualify for these to free gifts, and set the time for the 90 minute sales presentation that we needed to attend in order to claim these prizes. She stated several times that we did not need to buy anything and that we would indeed receive the cruise and airfare at the end of 90 minutes. On 3/21/15, we attended the sales presentation at the Red Lion in Eureka, CA.

    The program is being put on by Save on Resorts. What they would selling was travel lifetime membership. At the end of the sales pitch, the cost was $5,995, plus yearly dues of $199. We declined and left with our certificate for the cruise and flight. This was all presented to us as a package gift. We could use the flight to travel to our desired cruise port.

    On 3/22/15, we mailed the voucher to Travel Select Rewards to redeem our prizes. On 3/27/15 we received the confirming email from IIG Promotions. After reading and reviewing the email, I called IIG Promotions and spoke with Debbie. Bottom line after speaking with her, I learned that we cannot use the flight in conjunction with the cruise…they have to be 2 separate vacations. Additionally, the cruise will cost us at least $500 per person possibly more. I told her that I thought this was a scam, very misleading and that I would be throwing away the free vouchers.

  33. We went to the My Getaways presentation (90 minutes) because we thought it was from Norwegian Cruise Line; it had the NCL logo on the invitation. The invitation was for a 7 night cruise plus airfare – for going to the presentation. The presentation was professional, and the sales pitch was persuasive. Since we had already booked a cruise on NCL in October, I asked the sales person to compare that cruise with what they had to offer. Their price was higher than what we had already booked. Fortunately, we didn’t purchase anything. We sent in our paperwork for the free cruise, but as you might suspect, we haven’t received anything. I caution everyone not to be fooled by this scam.

  34. Savonresorts.com is a ripoff, along with their licencees; "Where my Dreams Come True", "Sunday Enterprises", and who knows how many others, including their sales presentation affiliates, In Compliance Services. Classic scam of charging for information you can find on the net for free and promised discounts that never materialize. As a result, we are $5,400 poorer but much richer in experience. BEWARE!!!

  35. Just received the "bait check" in the mail and my husband brought it to me very excited. After reading all these comments I had to break the news that it was a scam. Thank you all for posting your complaints because we can’t afford to lose money this way. Going to Hawaii in the summer and would be broken hearted if we had lost our vacation money. Thank you all again!! Remember: "When justice is done, it is joy to the righteous but terror to evil doers."

  36. May 9, 2014, my husband and I went to a presentation and was shown slides and advertising with the Savon Resort logos, I was even given paperwork with the better business rating for Savon Reorts. I questioned the paperwork we were given with Summer N Company logo. We were promised, and I purchased, access to savon resorts site for discounted travel for $3593.00
    May 10, 2014 I get a welcome call from Jill Wilds. She said I would be getting my password to access the site by email. I told her I was excited to search for our next trip and see how much we could save.
    May 13, still no email with instructions to access to any site. I call Jill at 3:30 p.m. PST.
    I alert her that I still have not been able to verify the promises made to us at the presentation and I want to cancel my membership now, if she is not able to perform. She gave the phone to her boss( who just happened to be in the car with her) he told me to wait until I had access to the site before I cancelled. He assured me I would be happy with the savings.
    May 14@ 2:35 pm PST I get an email from [email protected] notifying me my account has been activated. I start to look for "the deals". I search airfares and get directed to the Kayak website! The next day My husband and I call the reservations number to search again, it takes two days for them to respond. We search the hotels they came up with and find the same ones and same prices on Travelocity! Even the same pictures! I text Jill Wilds a few times asking for assistance since I’m not seeing the saving I was promised. After a few more days of searching and comparing and much frustration, I send SummersNCompany a notice to cancel and I notify my credit card company. 5 months later, my credit card company calls and says the Merchant is disputing my cancellation because they did not receive my cancellation within the time frame of the contract. I feel the representatives purposely delayed activating my access to the websites so the time frame for me to cancel would expire. I acted in good faith and allowed them the opportunity to prove to me they could live up to their promises. They could not perform.

  37. Thank you Scam Detector, Bill, Olga and the few others!!!!! we were just about to give business to Saver Express… 🙁 Thank god i googled this!!!

  38. Receive a post card with no company affiliation on it and the 855-878-9444 only would say they are The Claims Center and had very little info about the appointment for presentation so I did a little research based on the info I did get. Has anybody heard of PTC known as Professional Travel C???? that seems to also be known as Savers Unlimited outside of Houston at 14405 Walters Rd Houston, TX 77014? with a number of 832-484-1300 or 281-893-0086. Seems like they are giving out some type of airline vouchers and hotel vouchers to attend a presentation about some kind on online buying service and Travel club that seem a little fishy?

  39. Has anybody heard of PTC known as Professional Travel C???? that seems to also be known as Savers Unlimited outside of Houston at 14405 Walters Rd Houston, TX 77014? with a number of 832-484-1300 or 281-893-0086. Seems like they are giving out some type of airline vouchers and hotel vouchers that seem a little fishy?

  40. Has anyone has dealing with Roark Travel Club out of Branson, we keep getting ask to go to a presentation and have NOT done so.

  41. karen schroeder

    Yes, we lost our money also, Saver Express said they are a third party & are not responsible for the fees collected. They would not refund & S E Promotions who they hired to sell their travel packages filed for bankruptcy. I believe that money is long gone, never to beseem again…… At the very least, SAVER EXPRESS should honor the membership until the initial amount paid up front was completely used, including using the amount for all annual fees.

  42. My name is Jan Baker. I have a comment I made earlier – If I had taken the time to do my research I wouldn’t be leaving these comments. PLEASE, please don’t get taken by these clubs – especially SaverExpress. I spent a year dealing with them because they would not honor their own promise that they could beat any price for a cruise. THEY COULD NOT. I have been working with the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office who has corresponded with the company. At one point SE agreed to reimburse me for the cost of the cruise IF I would not make any more complaints. We never heard from them again. They are actually headquartered in Hong Kong which makes it very difficult to make any connections with them. Take the money it would cost for a membership and you can safely take a wonderful trip and feel good about not being scammed. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Believe me I have the documentation to back up my comments. I would like to see a civil action brought against these jerks.

  43. Clevie Theresa Sims

    We got took by this company. They were supposed to buy our existing timeshare. After lots of phone calls we finally got action to transfer our timeshare through Sumday Vacagtion in Kimberling City, Mo. They tried to transfer the timeshare but our Timeshare refused to transfer the unit because they said this company has had experience with them before and they would transfer to a bogus company and when the maintenace came due there was noone to pay the maintence. They are a fraud also.

  44. Richard Cindi Hare

    We fell for the PVV, Save on Resorts presentation on June 12, 2014 in Rochester, NY. We were told we would be contacted the next day (Fri 13th) but we were not. We got two voice mails on Saturday the 14th while we were away from home. Tried calling as told to on Sunday the 15th with no results. We left messages to call. Not hearing from them on Monday the 16th we began calling and ultimaetely had several conversations with Lynn Hancock were in she promised resolution of the issue: ie:we never received any info as to how to log in and set up our user name and password although we kept getting e mails saying to log in for a tutorial which we couldn’t do as no instructions were provided. The tutorial is separate from the log on site anyway. The bottom line is we never have received any info as to how to begin using this service. Our last contact with anyone from PVV, Save on Resorts was on June 18 when Lynn Hancock told us that they had sent the log on info….they never did and we have had no contact since that date. Would one not think that if this is a legitimate business they should have made an attempt to contact us and resolve this issue…..they have not. We have since filed a dispute with the credit card company re: this and am filing a complaint with the NY State Attorney Generals office. Do not get hooked into this deal. Ignore any mailings you may receive. If this is how they handle a new customer how can we even think of trusting them to provide travel plans to the tune of thousands of dollars?

  45. you get a card in the mail that looks like it is from Sowest airline offering free flights. you find out it’s really not. but an offer of free airline tkts + hotel if you listen to a 90min. presentation from SAVEON RESORTS. they aren’t too hard sell. you go home, submit paperwork for your freebie.. a month later get the info on the freebie. turns out you have to depart only Mon or tue. Your "free" coach fare cannot exceed $200 and taxes and fees you have to pay are about $120 – $220.

  46. We were almost scammed b Island Traders Travel Club. IF they had the goods they say they do, the price would have been right. But there was absolutely no way to verify that they could deliver. Luckily, we send back the materials within the rescind window and their charge is off our credit card.

    And do NOT try to get the free, no obligation plane tickets or hotel. You need to send a cashier’s check to set it up. Try getting THAT back!

  47. Happy I researched and foudn this! SaverExpress are just pure scam artists! My husband and I believed in what they claimed and lost our vacation money.

  48. Miss Holbrook:
    Your information is incorrect, SaverExpress does NOT use Expedia unless they offer a way lower price than the competitors(They use a variety of search engines).
    Please note that there is also "Expedia for Travel Agents" which is not the same as "Expedia" for the general clients.

  49. Unfortunately, there are very few "legitimate", cost effective Travel Club Membership programs, but, there are some. We’ve looked at dozens. We’re members in a Club that cost us less than $1,000 initially, with an annual renewal/usage fee of $199, to be paid only if we are going to use the program. Although the savings vary, we always save something on any usage, particularly compared to the internet sites, such as Expedia, Travelocity, etc., which we always shop. With just one resort vacation we saved the cost of our initial enrollment, plus some. Yes, certainly beware of those who offer "free" and valuable "gifts" for just "participating" in the presentation, who put on their "show" in a fancy "showroom", etc., all of that costs $$, which the consumer ultimately pays. We had the opportunity to go another route, via a referral, and are very happy with the value we’re receiving vs. what it cost us.

  50. Debbie woodworth

    It’s a scam. We signed up for the free vacation and payed money.no one ever called to set up the vacation. I mailed the forms certified 2 times and still no reply. They took my money. The phone number the have on the free vacation is the wrong number. I sent a letter and no response.

  51. All these comments seem to me that people want something for nothing. and get angry when they don’t get it. We love our saver express membership…believe me we’ve tried to beat their prices….no way….it will take a few years for us to get our money back but when u consider the rising costs of great holidays the program definitely pays off…we have saved over $4000 on just two vacations….do your homework people before you complain

  52. Doug,
    Are you the: Mr. Douglas Grozelle
    Sales & Marketing Manager of Saver Express?

    All the BBB talk is meaningless, found truth with your and those complaining arguments.

    The fact those who call and award the gift for attending the SE sales meetings do not work for your company in any way excludes you from answering to the plethora of complaints against their fraudulent claims is laughable. You chose to hire the company to execute that particular portion of your overall plan to get the people in the door. You chose them and if they are not reputable, why not move on to one that is reputable?

    A $9k offer for 30 yr membership, 400$ Reg fee, and 200$ annually, worked out to $15,000.00 for 30yrs (roughly 1.37$ per day, 500$ per year). After 2 min discussion, dropped to $5,000.00 for membership including the reg fee.

    Could not give me demo of the site or answer process of refund if I found a cheaper vacation.

    Kept distancing themselves from the company that called us and fulfills the gift for attendance, all red flags, we will see if they are legit soon !

    Reputable companies do not give time limited discounts unless the metrics show time loses money, in this case, if people have time to think, discuss and research the deals offered, they more often then not pass in the offer. It was high pressure selling tactics, disguised as discounts to who signs up first (1k off for first two couples to sign up) and only platinum memberships offered tonight!

    Sean

  53. We just tried to redeem the free travel reward. They want us to pay up front fees before we even see what is available to choose from. JERKS!

  54. My husband and I have been members for a little over two years. I love getting money back on my trips and have been very happy. Am I missing something I should know about

  55. WARNING * WARNING * WARNING

    SaverExpress failed to live up to their end of our contract when we were able to find a cheaper cruise with AAA. The contract states that if you find a cheaper price you will "cruise for free". This did not happen. I have been "fighting with them for a year. I have invested $5000 in to their company with no results. They are a Goliath and believe me you will not win. After 4 months of trying to reason with me they quit taking my calls and emails. They offered me a bouquet of roses and $300. How condescending. I filed a complaint with the BBB and found out they were not even rated though we were told they had an A+ rating. I have corresponded with their concierge (Concierge Royale International) for the past 6 months who also tried to reason with them. Guess what – she no longer works their. I have also filed a complaint with the Attorney General (Arkansas) and if nothing else SE will never set foot in Arkansas again. So, friends – BEWARE OF WOLVES IN SHEEPS CLOTHING. STAY AWAY FROM THIS ORGANIZATION.

  56. Have been a member for 3 years. Every trip has been lower than at the travel agency or what is online.
    I guess I could find fault with Saverexpress some where
    But the Hotels and cruise we booked have all been lower than any one else that quoted us. I agree …wholesale or discounted rates is better than paying retail.

  57. shelley Holbrook

    Purchased a Saver Express membership in July. Just returned from a 10 day road trip to Oklahoma. We requested hotel rooms be booked for us in Flagstaff,
    Amarillo, Moore, Oklahoma, Albuquerque, and Laughlin.
    The room in Flagstaff was great, but was told by the desk clerk our reservation had been made on Expedia.
    The room in Moore, Oklahoma turned out to be in a very bad area of Oklahoma City and was not the promised 4-5 star hotel. The hotel in Albuquerque, The Nativo Lodge was a disaster. The hotel room lacked basic essentials, toilet paper, soap, Kleenex, the elevator did not work. Definitely, not a 4-5 star hotel. Savers Express is a scam, do not believe their pitch of 4-5 star rooms. They use Orbitz, and Expedia to book the rooms. The Albuquerque room was booked on Orbitz. Don’t wasted your money, you can book these rooms yourself and save $6000. the cost of the membership.

  58. We just attended a Savers Express presentation in Pleasant Hill CA. We were offered a 10-year membership for $2499. We told them we wanted to think about it overnight, and of course check it out on the internet. After checking on Trip Adviser and a couple of other sites, all we saw were complaints. More than one quoted the old dictum "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." What a wonderful resource the internet can be. I guess we’ll just have to continue paying retail.

  59. I’ve attended a Saver Express presentation and was impressed. Every travel club isn’t going to be perfect but the deals do work. Don’t be swayed by all the nay sayers out there.

  60. went to a presentation from my getaways 2 days ago. They were promoting saver express memberships. Gave them a couple of deals to work on before my recind period expires (5 days). Came up with savings of over 1000$ on one of my planned future hotel bookings. Does anyone out there have experience using Saver express?

  61. We signed up with saver express, in October or EPG for $7500. Tried for hours and hours to book a cruise and the 7 night suite free gifts. almost impossible to book, on their schedules, every 30 days, will not tell us when we go until 60 days prior, not good enough, need to get airline tickets, etc. Thought we were getting a good deal, should have checked out reviews. Now going to try to get our money back.

  62. I attended a Blue Horizon Travel Club intro. For $8,995.00 and 4 condo stays, they could not get me to sign in… Therefore the price came down to $5560.00 for 2 weeks of condo stay yearly for life. Since I still was having doubts, the price now came down to $2.500.00 for 1 week condo use per year, for life. No references, no where to find reviews, no phone numbers, no website to go check the properties and the corporate email account was a gmail account. The presentation was good, The sales staff – although no pressure was imposed – was dying to get a del done. I almost fell for it.

  63. Just attended a presentation by Blue Horizons. Membership was $8,995 plus annual fee of $199. No high pressure. Promoted staying at time shares for $399 a week. Promised discounts on cruises, airfares, rental cars and motels. Could not find anything on the Internet for Blue Horizons. Gift fir attending was 2 airfares and 2 night stay in a name brand Hotel. Had to send fees to Oracle Promotions for the airfare and hotel. Found Oracle in scam alerts.

  64. I just got a letter from Saver Express. Talked to the guy and made an appointment for a "presentation". Gonna check it out. But I won’t give them my credit card or any other info if they ask. Told I would get a free cruise and air fare for 2.
    Anyone else deal with these people?

  65. Holiday Systems lnternational is one of these companies.They have affiliates with resorts who sell timeshares. Timeshares are now called fractional ownership. Beware of these scams.

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