Back to Homepage Travel - The Ten Golden Rules Travel - Pay With a Credit Card Travel - Determine Insurance Needs, Alway Confirm Everything Copenhagen Points of Interest Paris Points of Interest Brussels Points of Interest Wasa Museum Stockholm Kutna Hora Ossuary Leonardo in Krakow Rome Points of Interest Chersonesos, Ukranie Nice - Museums of the Riviera Sucevita, Romania Kizhi Pogost, Russia Sanssouci, Germany	Travel - Pay With a Credit Card PAY WITH A CREDIT CARD You'd be surprised how often travelers are tempted not to, especially when there are bargains to be had. Leslie Brown of Greenwich, Connecticut, succumbed after spotting a newspaper ad for discounted airfares. He sent Twenty Eight Street Travel, in Manhattan, a $2,300 check for two New York Bangkok round-trip tickets on Northwest Airlines. After Brawn checked in at JFK, a Northwest supervisor examined the tickets and said they were stolen. Additionally, Northwest would not honor them because Twenty Eight Street Travel never remitted Brown's money to the airline. He had to purchase new tickets for $3,202. Back from Bangkok, Brown learned that Twenty Eight Street Travel had shut down. He wrote to Ombudsman, but we couldn't help. Unfortunately, consumers who get stuck with stolen tickets usually have little recourse. In fact, we told Brown he should consider himself lucky that Northwest waived restrictions on the new tickets and gave him the lowest available fare to Bangkok. If Brown had paid with a credit card, he could have disputed the charge with his card issuer under the Fair Credit Billing Act and probably gotten his money back. Not only should airline tickets and all other transportation be charged to a credit card, so should store merchandise, especially anything you plan to ship or might need to return. BUT DON'T ASSUME A CREDIT CARD WILL ALWAYS PROTECT YOU If you think charge cards will leap to the rescue the way they do in TV commercials, think again. I remember when Paul Van Camp of Cardiff, California, bought a sapphire in Thailand for his wife's wedding ring. The couple told us they spent three days in Bangkok visiting jewelers recommended by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, and that the American Express office there assured them that if they were to buy a sapphire, get a guarantee of authenticity, and laterfind out from an appraiser in the United States that it was worth less, AmEx would cancel the transaction. They ended up buying a sapphire from Betty Thai Silk & Jewelers that was valued at $5,515. Back home, an appraiser toId them the stone was worth about $1,540. Many letters and phone calls to AmEx got the Van Camps nowhere, so they contacted Ombudsman. We pointed out to American Express that there was nothing more Van Camp could have reasonably done to protect himself (today the Thai Gem Center in Bangkok serves as a central organization for jewelry appraisal). Although AmEx was ultimately unable to retrieve one cent from Betty Thai, it made up the difference between the amount Van Camp paid and the stone's retail value. Credit card issuers' hands are often tied when dealing with merchants in foreign countries because of different cultural standards and local laws-or the lack thereof. So don't depend on a charge card as insurance against your own naivete. ASK ABOUT CANCELLATION FEES At some hotels you can cancel a stay without charge just a few hours before your scheduled arrival; other places, especially vacation resorts, require that you cancel several weeks in advance. Unfortunately, incompetent reservationists and travel agents may neglect to mention such fees. No one warned Nick D. Hansen of Irving, Texas. He and a group of friends rented a boat from The Moorings yacht-charter company and prepaid for a stay afterward at the Mariner Inn, the company's hotel in the British Virgin Islands. Unfortunately, Hansen and his wife had to fly home in the middle of the boat trip because of an emergency. When they asked for their hotel deposit back, the property responded that it had a no-refund policy. This was news to the Hansens. We weren't optimistic-island resorts rarely give refunds in the case of last-minute cancellations but we contacted The Moorings anyway and were impressed with its sensitivity to the Hansens' predicament. The hotel decided to make an exception to its policy and refunded his money as a gesture of goodwill. The hotel pointed out, however, that it was the responsibility of the travel agent to explain the cancellation policy and that the Hansens' group had been given the opportunity to purchase trip-cancellation insurance. Either the agent didn't inforýn the group organizer of this, or the group organizer didn't inform the Hansens. If a company fails to stipulate its cancellation policy-especially if it never sends written notice-dispute any cancellation charge with the companyand, if you gave a credit card number, with your card issuer. Also, if you must pay a whopping nonrefundable deposit-not onlywith hotels but also with cruises and tours strongly consider buying a travel-insurance policy that covers trip cancellation.