I've been getting a steady stream of comments from unlucky folks who got ripped off by Hawaii Travel Network, a reseller of travel packages and attraction tickets (luaus and whatnot) that suddenly went AWOL without paying its bills, leaving hundreds if not thousands of Hawaii visitors in a lurch. The situation does seem to be more serious than was first apparent. Some of the commenters have lost thousands of dollars to HTN. I have yet to hear what Hawaii law enforcement is doing about this. The case of HTN should be fair warning. The travel market is filled with shady online operators peddling to-good-to-be true prices and packages. Here's a few sure-fire ways to avoid this nasty gotcha.

First, you can now book just anything you want through the bigs, such as Expedia, Travelocity and Kayak, even down to luau tickets or scuba and snorkeling trips. Second, you can book directly with the Hawaii activities folks through the Activities and Attractions Association of Hawaii. The deals are comparable if not better. The Gold Card is a total deal. Booking here also helps the mom-and-pop operators because the activity middlemen generally take a pound-o-flesh cut of 40% to 50% of the gross booking. So the guy who owns your scuba boat can barely make a living, unless you pay them directly. Lastly, if you are about to book a hotel, call the hotel and check if the tour consolidator / onlin operator you are planning to buy from is in good standing. It may be hard to tell but in generall the hotels figure out pretty quickly when a scam is underway.

—Alex, 06/10/07