• What's ticked?
• Accolades
• Contact us

c o l u m n s

• Cheap Charlie
• ChrisCrossings
• Err Travel
• Leocha
• Travel Notes
• Archives

s u b s c r i b e

• Elliott's E-Mail, a free weekly newsletter, is your insider resource for moneysaving ideas.

First name

Last name

E-mail address

Subscribe
Cancel

• Like what you see? Now you can become an underwriter.

a l s o

• Ticked e-mail
• Visit Tripso
• Referring sites
• Home

s e a r c h

• Find a story.



(c) Elliott Publishing.

FREE Travel!
Err Travel · June 5, 2002

Free airline tickets!

Free hotel stays!

Free rental cars!

Free breakfasts!

Free shuttle service!

Free HBO!

Free admission to local attractions!

Jeez. If we didn’t know any better, we’d think that we could travel for free. But of course we do know better. We know that there is always a price to pay for “free” travel. We know we can’t fly, stay, drive, or eat for free.

Nevertheless, when it comes to marketing, nowhere is the word “free” used more than when it comes to travel. Likewise, nowhere is it used less honestly.

Don’t believe me? Try walking up to a Southwest Airlines counter and saying, “I’m a friend of Bob’s. He couldn’t make it today, but as his friend, I’d like to take advantage of your ‘Friends Fly Free’ promotion and fly for free to San Diego. Where do I get on the plane?”

Or walk into a Marriott Hotel and say, “I didn’t have the time to stay in your hotel for three nights, but I’d still like to spend the weekend here for free. How do I get to my room?”

Or wander up to an Avis counter and ask for the free use of a car on Saturday, even though you don’t plan to rent one for any additional days.

Or saunter into a Hampton Inn and, as you pass the front desk, mention that you are there just for the free breakfast and to make a few free phone calls.

You get the idea.

You and I know that this “free” business is a big, fat marketing lie. Offers that travel vendors pass off as “free” are, at best, “discounts"—and are usually discounted for a reason.

Those selling leisure travel are even more culpable. In that market, one rule seems to apply: The bigger and flashier the word “free,” the more the offer will likely cost.

Here, for example, are a few "free" travel offers that recently got past my email spam filter.

  • A wonderful getaway that is completely FREE! All that is required at Calypso Cay, in Orlando is “a $49 deposit at the time of registration which will be refunded back to you after a 90-minute tour of the resort.” Do you really believe that the only time you will hear from a time-share sales agent is during “a 90-minute tour of the resort”? Me neither. (And what’s the deal with the cay? Isn’t Orlando in the middle of the state?)

  • Two FREE airline tickets. Just agree to Discounts USA's offer “to have one of our counselors contact you in regards to establishing your future by becoming independent as an Internet marketer.” That sounds like fun. And here’s a zinger. You must stay “a minimum number of nights … at the standard rates [my emphasis, of course]” at a selection of undisclosed hotels. You could end up spending a bundle on a hotel and still have to deal with some high pressure “counselor.”

  • A FREE 2-night cruise. The agreement from TakeMeOnVacation notes that you still have to pay “port charges” of $118.00 to be hauled back and forth on this almost 50 year-old casino ship that travels every other day from Ft. Lauderdale to Nassau.
What fun. And all this is FREE!

 

Dr. Terry Riley is a psychologist and travel security authority. He is author of the popular book Travel Can Be Murder. Visit his site at http://www.appliedpsychology.com or e-mail him at terry@ticked.com.