The best advice is that if an offer sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Look for these red flags:
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Offer at a super low price: Often a low price is offered to college students and then additional charges are piled on to your bill. Companies may add international, credit card, and late booking fees. A company may even require you to pay an extra charge in case the price of gas increases.
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Be wary of offers that require you to act fast: Scammers may push you to act quickly before your opportunity flies by or someone else takes advantage of the offer. When a company excessively stresses the limited time offer it may mean the company is trying to get a financial commitment from you before you have time to shop around and make sure the company is legit.
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Read the fine print: You should understand a company´s cancellation policy before making a commitment. A company might require that consumer disputes are only handled by arbitration in a state other than Nebraska. Although you do not anticipate your trip ending in a legal dispute, you never know what could happen. Once you take the trip it will be too late to argue that the cancellation policy is unfair.
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Know your rights: You should be able to cancel a charter package without penalty if a major change was made by the operator. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation major changes include changing a departure or return date, the destination, or the hotel to one not named in the contract. Raising a package price more than 10 percent may also qualify as grounds for cancellation. Go to the Federal Trade Commission´s website for more information about avoiding scams at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt029.shtm.