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This is your final warning: don’t buy airline vouchers online

June 2, 2008

Thinking of buying a cheap airline ticket voucher online? Oh no you don’t.

The latest MarkMonitor Brandjacking Index confirms what readers of this blog already know. The fraudulent sale of ticket vouchers online is a growing problem.

There is a brisk online trade in airline ticket vouchers, averaging more than 160 listings daily with deep discounts of more than 80% under their face value. Interestingly, this trade flourishes despite the fact that most airlines have a policy that these vouchers are non-transferable.

To test its theory, MarkMonitor bought several vouchers. “To no surprise, the voucher numbers could not be validated by the airline when we tried to use them to pay for a flight,” it concluded.

That’s not all. Apparently, we haven’t seen the worst of it.

With the recent airline industry bankruptcies we may expect to see an increased incidence of online fraud related to refunds, credits and vouchers.

Unfortunately, people are still falling for this scam. Just last week, I heard from another traveler who had bought several hundred dollars worth of vouchers and wanted to know if they would be usable. (They might be, but it wouldn’t preclude the airline from coming after you once the flight was over to collect the fare.)

Remember, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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19 comments

  • Bri

    I don’t think this deal is too good to be true, I’m trying it out, http://www.petergreenberg.com/contest/

  • Poley

    Its too bad people scam others by selling something thats not valid or non transferrable. That makes it so its impossible for people to sell legitimate vouchers. For instance i have one of those vouchers from USAirways for giving up a first class seat on an oversold seat and taking a later flight. It says right on there that its transferrable with valid pin. What if i decide i dont want to use it? I definatley cant sell it because no one would trust me that its real

  • richard osweiler

    I live in San Francisco and just last week, I bought a voucher from a guy in New York through Craigslist. I flew to New York two days later non-stop on American for a total of $325. Just wanted to say that it can work out in a pinch if you do your due dilligence.

  • http://www.alexa.com/data/details/main/psiseminars.com psi guy

    Just like anything else, it is better to purchase from the issuing organization than a third party.

  • Ted

    I’ve bought discounted vouchers three times off craigslist and it worked, although I input a lot of time into making sure I did not get scammed. A conference call with the airline is a good option, and a phone conversation with whoever you are buying from is important.

  • Pingback: tripso.com | Have an airline voucher to redeem? Read this first!

  • Brett

    I’ve purchased vouchers online several times and used them with no problem. I’ve also used a single voucher to pay for multiple tickets, so I don’t really think that they’re non-transferable, and if they are then it obviously isn’t enforced. I don’t really consider it too good to be true; if someone gets a $400 voucher for free and isn’t going to use it, why not sell it and get $300 cash? In my mind it’s a win-win situation.

  • Dave

    I agree with Brett’s comments. I have already bought 2 sets of vouchers saving 500 off two separate flights (in total). Granted half of all listings I reply to are scams but it does not take a college degree to understand your being scammed.
    On a side not to sellers of vouchers. THEY ARE NOT CASH so please dont treat them as cash (They have no cash redemption and expire within 1 year). If you get an $800 voucher for free from being bumped off a flight then I would sell it for $600. Dont list at $760 as your add will most likely be over looked by serious buyers because they are unfamiliar with airline policy and $40 savings is not worth any hassle. Remember you got it for free so its all profit for you, might as make the selling experience as easy as possible without headache and just get rid of it.

    If you follow basic safety measures you have little to no chance of getting burned.
    1. Do your homework and get to know the airlines voucher policy. Dont trust the seller as they might not even know.
    2. Dont use your primary email address when contacting people off craigslist. Even if you acknowledge the scam and walk aways its already too late and they have logged your name/email address and you will get spam.
    3. No online transfers or money orders. If your not willing to meet someone in person then this is not for you.
    4. USE COMMON SENSE. Your the buyer. You have leverage over sellers as they have a time frame until the vouchers expire.
    5. If you live in NYC or LA then most airline have a ticketing office outside of the airport. Meet the seller there and verify the balances with that airlines representative. Otherwise call the airline directly with the seller and confirm the value.

    Good Luck

  • Travel Guy

    I have used a voucher a few times as well and so far not had a bad experience. Always managed to save a few bucks and the voucher was going to expire for the person selling it as well, so he made a few bucks. Just do your due diligence and it works.

  • Barry

    obviously this is someone from the airline industry writing this article–very biased and guess what, i’ve done it and it has worked for me

  • Marine Vever

    I’m sorry but i’m trying to sell my American airlines voucher which are transferable, and I am doing it very honestly!
    So It can also work! world is not all black. Think before you wright so stupid informations.

    M.

  • deb

    I am looking for american or continental voucher.

  • Ken

    Im traveling from philadelphia to eother chicago or indy around labor day with my mother. looking for some vouchers that might help

  • Chris

    Thanks for the great post Chris. I have to disagree vouchers can be sold and should be if the owner will like to do so. A safe location to do so is http://www.vouchia.com, where you won’t have to worry about the validity of a voucher and where there are many interested buyers.

    Check out http://www.vouchia.com!

  • mark

    i disagree with the notion of not buying an airline voucher to save money. A few weeks ago my spouse and i purchased 2 vouchers from the same seller on eBay classifieds and was able to save $200.00 with no sweat at all. Here is what i recommend: 1st, pay with pay-pal this way if anything goes wrong you are backed 100%. 2nd, ask the seller how they obtained the vouchers, when they expire, if they are redeemable for any flight, as well as contact information. Make sure to store all emails as they can be used for legal purposes in the event that something goes wrong. I would like to say that while it is good to be a safe buyer, it is also good to know that not everyone out there is a bad person. You will often find genuine sellers in the online market who have legitimate vouchers to sell. I was fortunate to have such experience and i welcome anyone else to enjoy the savings.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FNNDQALIAVUOIMSHKYZLRBGNUA jareb

    I actually do sell mine on cl I do there picnics in phx http://www.bouncealot.com and we get a ton of them so call the airline to confirm it is legit before you hand over the cash

  • http://profiles.google.com/markrodr Mark Rodriguez

    I totally disagree with this article. I bought/used a voucher for my vacation last year and i saved 200. Use Paypal when paying and don’t buy a voucher unless you plan to use it right away as it may become expired and its harder to process a claim with paypal if you wait to long. Be smart and you can save big money. 

  • April Chueca

    who did your purchase yours thru? We are planning an international flight for feb to march, we will need 3 tickets and would not like to get scammed

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EGA4M7EW5PNFQVUR7VTHXNEFIM kirkm

    I’ve bought 3 vouchers, and sold 1 online… with NO PROBLEMS!  Are there scammers out there, yes, but if you do your homework, use Paypal, and use common sense you should be ok!

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