Platinum Travel

SCAM!!! Run away!

They should be shut down! You can get the same deals through Living Social and Travelocity with NO membership fee and with great cancellation policies. They charge you a huge membership fee & yearly renewal fee for NOTHING. They pretend you will get deluxe accommodations and they have an extensive inventory to select from.

The truth is the properties are mostly average, and they have to wait for other companies to have an overstock to make an offering. Their policies are outrageous, making you wait months and months to get your booking, with a it's all we have take it or leave it attitude, and you have to cancel more than 60 days in advance for a refund. We were never told about the reservation policy during the presentation. Don't believe a word of the presentation.

If it's not in the contract you won't get it. They are smooth talking thieves.

The "free" plane tickets is also nearly worthless as you are charged a surcharge to leave from Austin, flights can't be booked two weeks before and after any public holiday, must be booked a month in advance and only valid for a year after validation which means about 10 months. You have to pay $100 for the tickets as well and of course don't have a choice of the connection times.

We were lured to the site saying they were a wholesale full service travel agency specializing in luxury properties and we'd be given a pair of free airline tickets to check out their services. They are a professional scam agency which lulls you into a false sense of security.

They promise 5 star properties, justifying huge outlays of cash to become a member (which are discounted 50% only if you purchase that night). You are guaranteed a frozen rate for properties for the future with approx $300 yearly maintenance fee. We were not shown the arduous, lengthy reservation system which requires 30- 90 days for them to reply to you, even for non peak travel. The properties they came back with were mediocre and would cost us the same amount if we purchased them online if you include their weekly rate plus the yearly maintenance fee.

Also, I would choose a better property than they offer and need immediate response. They claim to be full service, but require extremely lengthy lead times. Supposedly they'll do the airline reservations etc to accompany the travel and guarantee the lowest cost per the presentation. However, once you've waited 90 days the best rates are no longer available.

We were not provided the company names beforehand to check out the business. They cover themselves very well as nothing is written in the contract that shows the savings you incur or the type of properties offered.

It's only in the presentation and invitation letter that state the properties are luxury. You are much better off signing up for free travel promotions through Travelzoo and Travelocity.