Southern Africa’s Travel News Weekly
July 22 2009 I No. 2063
Our rate card won’t keep you up at night. It’s just like being at home, except someone else makes the bed in the morning.
TRAVEL NEWS WEEKLY
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Reservations: 0800 113 790 or www.citylodge.co.za. Galileo Access: CG, Amadeus Access: TA.
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INSIDE
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News
Profile
Feature
Johannesburg-Lagos
ITC or Agency?
Bellview suspends service
Choosing in the recession
The Gulf
Page 9
Page 2
7/7/08 11:06:58 AM
Dubai – weathering the economic downturn Page 10
Beware the scammers! A built up over a few months with a senior consultant. He booked tickets to Cape Town and then stalled with the payment, depositing two separate cheques for the same amount into our bank account the day before departure. “This only reversed after the long weekend. The bank advised that the account the cheques were drawn on was closed so long ago that they did not even have the account number on their database any longer. “We have been in contact with him, and he has made numerous promises to compensate us, but all this has come to nothing. We have laid a charge of fraud against him, but he has so far been able to avoid arrest.” BSP & Fin Consulting’s
Linda Dempster says if agents follow the BSP rules properly they should not be held liable. “By accepting the client’s credit card as payment the agent is collecting the amount on behalf of the airline. Most of the problem arises when agents accept credit card details over the phone or accept credit card payments without actually sighting the card.” Linda suggests agents use the following process when accepting payments by credit card to ensure they’re covered: ● Sight the card ● Validate the card ● Make a copy of the front and back of the card ● Verify the signature ● Secure a copy of some form of identification, eg passport, ID, etc.
One agent wrote to TNW: 10, but the bank said they “We had a few cases of wouldn’t be able to tell us if fraud here in Pretoria. These the cards were legitimate or were, however, not enquiries not as they were international that we got via email. The credit cards. I eventually clients actually came into Googled the bank’s name on our store with some form the card and contacted them of ID, passports and credit directly. They informed me cards. The names on the that this was not one of their ID and credit cards were credit cards after I emailed the same. We phoned for them copies of the front and approval codes and advised back. We checked all the 22575the Airlink 2:56 PM Pagecredit 1 cards with bankPemba that we30x206 thought6/23/09 it international might be a possible code Visa to see if the names on
the cards corresponded with the bank that the credit card was registered with at Visa, and none of them did.” Her advice? Phone Visa (your bank should be able to give you the number), give them the name of the bank name on the card, along with the credit card number, and ask them if the name corresponds. If it doesn’t, you know it is a fraudulent credit C M Y card. ■
Natalia Thomson
GENTS, be forewarned! Credit card fraud appears to be in the spotlight again as a new group of scam artists sweeps through Pretoria. These fraudsters have become even more brazen and are no longer simply sending enquiries by email but are actually visiting agencies with ID, passports and credit cards. In other cases the standard cheque system of depositing cheques and then cancelling them, or claiming that the amount was overpaid and then asking for a refund of the difference, applied. This was the case with this agency, which wrote to TNW this week: “A young man defrauded us out of R8 500, using his friendship
Fraud alerts
Do you feel lucky? Bet on Naïade’s Lucky 7 travel agent incentive – your key to a seven-night all-inclusive stay for you and a partner at Naïade’s four-star Tamassa property in Mauritius. It’s as simple as making seven bookings of seven nights, inclusive of flights to Naïade’s four-star Tamassa, five-star Legends, five-star Les Pavillons or five-star de-luxe Beau Rivage and you will receive seven nights’ accommodation for you and your partner at the all-inclusive Tamassa. Make another seven bookings and Naïade will throw in the flights and transfers too! For the rules of the game, visit Naïade’s Travelinfo pages. Marketing manager Mandy Watson (far right) says Naïade has also extended its Early Bird offer for Tamassa until December 20. “By booking and paying 30 days in advance of travel, clients will get a 10% discount. We’ve done this to make it even easier for agents to earn the incentive.” Mandy is pictured here with (from left) groups manager, Anabela Henscul, Ayanda Sibisi from reservations and Matthew Fubbs, gm Photo: Tijana Huysamen
Flywell departs Sure Group Staff
reporter
THE Sure Flywell Group has announced its resignation from the Sure Travel Group CM with MY immediate CY CMY K effect. The Flywell Group said in a
statement it would make a further announcement on the way forward, but still looks forward to the usual co-operation with its preferred partners. To page 2
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