Sometimes when you travel to other countries you may want to have local recommendations and advice. In most cases, big online travel agencies like Booking or Expedia can’t give you this kind of tailor-made services and you need to search for local travel agencies.
If you are planning to visit Mexico and you want to book your trip with a local travel agent you must know How to identify the best travel agencies in Mexico?, to find reliable and trustworthy travel agents to book online and avoid being a victim of fraud…
In recent years it has been very normal that a lot of travel agencies and most travel agents work remotely and this allows you to do practically everything online, without the need to go to any physical location to book your vacations to Mexico or any place in the world.
However, this situation has caused many scammers to take advantage of those who wish to book services on the internet, sometimes using some strategies that confuse not only the inexperienced.
To prevent you from suffering identity theft and fraud, we tell you some strategies or tips that can help you identify cheaters, we help you to know if a travel agency is legally established in Mexico.
How to identify reliable and legal online travel agencies in Mexico from fraudulent travel agencies?
When you are going to book your vacation to Mexico online on a website where you have no references, it is a good idea to take certain precautions to avoid being a victim of a scam, here we give you some tips that can be useful.
1. Verify if it is a travel agency registered with the Mexican Ministry of Tourism (Sectur)
In a lot of countries travel agencies or travel agents must be registered with the government body responsible for tourism.
One good first step is to check with the government entity if the travel agency has an official registration number or something that gives it legality and accredits it as a safe company.
In Mexico, the government body where reliable travel agencies can be consulted, both online and offline, is the Sectur; where all tourist service providers have a “National Tourism Registry” or RNT.
To consult travel agencies, hotels, boats and tourist transportation companies you can enter this link. You will need to know the name and location of the business.
2. Check visibility on social networks and reviews
There are several ways to have more information about the company and one of them is by searching the travel agency on social networks to learn more about them.
You will be able to consult reviews of those who have already used their services, and for that, you can search for comments on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
This which allow you to evaluate the quality of the company; but also remember that you will have to be objective and analyze the good and bad reviews.
On the other hand, if you see some bad reviews (because is difficult to find the “perfect company”) you can pay attention to the promptness of the travel agent’s response to customer demands, this also helps to know if once you bought the service or you have any problem, they will have adequate attention to your questions or needs.
And do not forget to pay attention to the dates of the comments, it is always better that they are constant and recent.
3. Be suspicious when you see very very cheap prices
If you find prices in hotels or flights well below the average, it is reason enough to investigate your service provider very well, you know that “when it is too good to be true” you have to be alert and verify that it is real.
Unless you or any of your friends know this travel agency and have traveled with them before, most of the “travel agencies” that offer too cheap prices are fraud, and the reason normally is pure “logic”, someone rarely sells a service at cost price or below it without the intention of making a profit, knowing that companies must pay taxes, employees and other expenses.
So don’t get carried away by the excitement of an all-inclusive “super offer” with flights, meals, and tours at a very low price without first checking that it is a real travel agency and reading the specific terms and conditions of the service.
4. Be aware of excessive pressure to pay for the service immediately
There may indeed be last-minute promotions, but in addition to the previous point, you should pay attention if the travel agent or agency puts too much pressure on you to pay immediately and offers you a price well below average.
5. Investigate its age in the market
Another good indicator that a company is reliable and a safe travel agency in Mexico can be the number of years it has been operating, which gives its work seriousness.
You can search for articles or publications about the company in the past years or some indication about its age and experience.
6. Make sure it has a real address
Another recommended tip to verify if the company is among the reliable travel agencies in Mexico is to make sure that it has a physical address, telephone number, or other secure means of contact in case you should go to them for any clarification and/or claim.
7. Be very careful with identity theft
All these tips are very helpful, but be careful and be sure that you apply them to the correct company since many “fake” travel agencies pose as other constituted ones.
This has increased with the growth of WhatsApp, since these agencies or travel agents open a whatsapp and simply put the logo of the official company, or they present as part of the company, they even use very similar emails or “letterhead” letters with logos of reliable agencies.
Be very careful because this can be done basically by anyone, a way to confirm that you are really talking to the real agency or an affiliate travel agent is to visit their official website and confirm that the phone number from which they are contacting you is published, in the same way, check the emails you receive that come from the official domain of the company.
If you have any questions, ask them on their official social network page or through the phones they publish on their website. Be very careful when someone contacts you coldly posing as an established travel agency.
The reality is that we have seen this type of scam both with local Mexico Travel Agencies and with other global online agencies like Booking, Expedia, Priceline, etc.
No one is safe from fraudulent people trying to pose as travel agents of an established brand, so be careful with that.
Extra Tips
- Whenever you book a service, consult the terms and conditions and also request a written description or order confirmation by an official email from the company, thus avoiding misunderstandings and having details of everything you buy.
- If you are going to enter personal data on a website, it must have a privacy notice for the proper protection of personal data.
- Consult the cancellation, return and/or change policies, it is better to be well-informed and know exactly what are you booking.
- You should also check that the websites have security conditions such as ” https:// ” and a closed padlock icon. Do not enter your personal data on public computers or if you need to do so, only make it in an incognito mode in the browser.
