You like traveling and one day you come across an offer that makes you think twice: “Become a travel agent, so you can use your 50-70% discounts all over the world, for flights and at several hotels, pubs, and restaurants.”
Since you already do a lot of traveling, at your own expense, and would love to be able to do more, this is a powerful offer. You see credible testimonials and decide to join the club, since it only takes 20 minutes to take a so-called test and $200 to register. That doesn’t bother you, since you’ve already worked out you will save at least $200 in your first trip.
So what’s the catch? The scam has two variations.
Scenario 1. You get a travel-agent card through the mail, and that’s a relief because you had told a couple of friends and they had laughed at you. But clearly this is not a scam. The bad news comes when you try to use that card at your first destination or anywhere else – it’s only really useful as a very expensive bookmark.
Scenario 2. You pay $200 for the registration and…and …AND??? That’s it, you can go on expecting the promised benefits forever and you can never, ever, catch them on the phone.
How to avoid: if you really want to become a travel agent, then apply for a job at a travel agency.