TravelSmart VIP
Reviews and Complaints

My friend and I purchased a membership whilst holidaying in St Lucia in 2019. This was during December and our second trip to the island within 3 months. (We loved it) the service has now changed and I have no real understanding what we can and cannot do. My friend tried to use the service when last in Jamaica and was unable to. She was also unable to use the fly back service. How can get get someone to explain what exactly. We now have and it if no longer suitable, we can cancel.

Scam! We are Travelsmartvip members. Part of paying annual membership fees is the exclusive discount members receive when booking through TS. However, their booking platform has been down for over 2 months now. We have 6 rooms to book and risk losing out on any sort of discount and no concrete answers or resolutions fromTS. When asking to escalate to management, they run circles and you are left frustrated. So choices are limited. We either book outside of TS and lose discount of approx $300/pp (total of $3600 lost savings) or we wait for the system to be back up and running but potentially lose availability for resort and dates of choice.TS needs to get their ish together. This is a class action lawsuit waiting to happen.

AS it stands it seems there are NO advantages to having purchased the Travelsmart plan other than having paid a fortune upfront to get a delayed discount per holiday! When we were in Saint Lucia, we were promised 1 way transport, butler service (no matter what room we booked), Diamond club services, room upgrades, smart points of 40000 for the first 3 years. Also a huge benefit was if we didn’t go one year or two years running we could roll forward the points and afford a fantastic room or bring friends. Also we had special weeks and bonus weeks. It’s really disappointing as we feel we have been sold one thing and given another. When we were on holiday we got the hard sale and were promised many things. We were even given the phone numbers of your sales Director etc so if we had issues we could speak with him direct. But now the sales Director has either changed phone number or worse he has blocked our number.

Please advise what exactly we have paid for and not having used the plan at all yet how we can get a refund because we have been given something completely different to what we were sold!

It has taken you over 2 years just to get the correct pricing showing when I login to Royalton to book. I have checked over the years and unless there is a special offer from you, it very rarely works out a lot cheaper considering we have to book our own flights and transfers and are also not protected by a package deal!

The whole thing is a nightmare to get organized and hence we are yet to use it!

We are constantly disheartened by all this and it has caused a lot of stress.

Please advise how we can get this resolved (either better deals need to be provided) or we want a refund / cancellation of contract.

Regards

Natalie and Darren Croucher

I am another unfortunate TravelSmart customer with the membership from 2017.

Travel Smart unilaterally changed the old benefit system with points and special/bonus weeks to some discounted rate with eliminating agreed upon terms and conditions and, hence, breaching the contracts signed before 2021.

Travel Smart has used pushy deceitful and inappropriate practices for selling their membership which, as I understood later, eventually brings zero value to their customers. Their straightforward lies on the “would be” benefits that I was promised such as RCI or Owners link only add up to the frustration. They would not initially tell you that some resorts do not have Diamond Club or use TS point system, such as in Cuba and Planet Hollywood. They would never disclose that no one will meet you for personalized check-in if you arrive after 8pm to their resorts because they have already left. They would never have any room upgrades for you despite of this being promised in the contract and will always say – it’s subject to availability, and there will be NO availability for you ever unless you pay them extra with cash. And they love cash! Everything they offer as their “Member services” is easily available to all other customers without paying thousands for this “VIP vacation treatment”.

There are better and cheaper opportunities of other travel companies offering vacations which do provide much more positive experience without lies and aggressive practices that Travel Smart uses with its customers. I deeply regret making a decision to become a member of the TS in March 2017 as I feel like being a victim of TravelSmart pushy selling practices and promises that never came true.

I had horrific experience with Travel Smart affiliated resorts few last times that I visited them specifically the last one in Planet Hollywood in Cancun which I will always remember as a worst nightmare for my entire family.

There are no reasonable cancellation options of the membership besides the first few days after the purchase. The situation of the customer can change. Someone might not like to travel at all anymore or feel like it for personal reasons. There are members of TS that I know which have their spouse deceased and unwilling/unable to travel due to financial and/or psychological reasons. Travel Smart offers no consideration of these matters and just continues to push for money payments without any value offered.

They also have been sharing their clients information including email/phone and address with third party fraudsters who up to this day contact me to offer selling my membership to them which is another scam on top of what Travel Smart already is.

If you stop annual membership payments which increase substantially every single year, Travel Smart will be spamming you on a weekly bases or even few times a week with both voice messages and threatening emails about late fees and reporting your “account credit” (which it is not because membership fees is not considered a credit). Meanwhile they will be procuring your credit card information from Visa or Mastercard even when you withdraw your authorization for it in writing. Eventually they might offer you to “transfer your membership” for $300 and paying all late fees without disclosing to whom this transfer will be happening and on which terms so that they can get some more money from you in the end.

I am also aware of the fulfilled re-imbursement request in 2018 from Travel Smart to my friend who was a TS member and found herself in a similar situation such as myself. She regretted a decision to purchase a TS club membershipand requested a re-imbursement which was fulfilled by TS despite no such conditions in her initial contract. So TS had acted against the conditions initially signed in a TS contract.Why similar approach can't be used for others?

We were sold points that we could use, roll over and borrow from years ahead. Contract changed to 30% off one week a year. We booked and then found we could book elsewhere just as cheap. We went back twice there are NO VIP privileges like the diamond club that was sold to us. We waited in line for an hour and a half WITH a so called "reservation". The beverages were warm and the place was filthy. The people next door fought and cursed and yelled relentlessly. The whole deal is a scam. They have sold out/ changed their name and /or changed companies so they no longer honor any part of the contract they sold us. They must have no firewalls and internet protection because my information has been leaked out to every scam artist or worse yet sold by them.

We just returned from a trip from Punta Cana, DR. When I booked the room, I used the Travelsmart website (like Ive been doing since 2018), the luxury suite with water views seemed pricey and so I called to confirm that our discount was applied? I was assured that that was why I was paying this rate, because of the view and service (which I assumed was Diamond Club) when we went to register at the front desk, not only were we NOT Diamond Club but that our room had a view of the pool and not the ocean with two queen beds. The resort also told us we booked on the Royalton site. When we go to try to book it does pop you into the hotel website, the same thing with the emails. Just like the complaints here, we fell like we got scammed out of thousands of dollars for a deposit and monthly payments to see very little benefit and even poorer customer service. We also found out from a ex worker that the company filed for bankruptcy.

Travel smart needs to return all funds Or at-least allow people to CX and stop paying, especially if they’re filing for bankruptcy.

This Travelsmart vip company is A TOTAL SCAM. I bought the membership in 2018 worth 1 week per year for a junior studio that accommodated up to 4 people and were told that we only had to pay for the "All Inclusive" (food and drinks) not for the most basic type of room worth 15,000 points. Was also told that if the 15000 points were not used in the current year they could be rolled over to the following year and this could allow us to get a larger accommodation and/or better view (ocean) based on availability. Since I don't travel every year but every other year, this sounded good. Then when I looked online in 2019 to reserve my junior suite, I saw they were available for 15,000 points or could get a better one with an upcharge or getting future points brought to current year as per the contract. However due to my father's illness I couldn't go through with the reservation. Then the pandemia came and traveling plans came to a halt. I paid my membership contract in full within a couple of months of signing the contract at Punta Cana and have paid membership fees yearly since then but have not been able to get my room (as I should since I already paid for it in advanced) because Travelsmart VIP decided to eliminate the points system and just give discounts, which sounds like a breech of contract to me. Thousands of dollars paid to this company upfront IN GOOD FAITH and now it wants to give me a 35%discount on a room I already paid for! I spoke to someone thephone last week and he had the nerve to say they never promise a room to anyone but a discount only and that THERE ARE SALES PEOPLE THAT LIE to get the sale through. Then he sent me a proforma quote for a vacation week at negril with many options ranging from $2,600 to $3,300 for two adults just for the ROOM! This is ridiculous! I have paperwork that specifies I am also entitled to two special weeks to be used during the 10 year contract and that the use of each special week generates a bonus week in the same year, this is in addition to two bonus weeks that came with the contract. My membership of 15,000 points was for a 1 week junior suite per year at no discounted rate but as my right as a paying member. I also have a document that explains the rolling of points from one year to the next and also bringing points from next year to current year to get better room or a longer stay (2weeks) depending on season and availability but this people now say they don't use the point system anymore and they just give discounts. Well, I signed a contract for 15,000 points per year for a 1 week junior suit that I have not been able to get, nothing is mentioned about the special weeks and the bonus weeks either when you speak to Travelsmart on the phone. They are now harassing me to pay this year's fees but they don't want to HONOR the terms of my contract. So just because they decided to stop using tge point system I am supposed to agree and pay 65% of the cost of the room? Like I said, I paid for this membership in full within a couple of moths IN GOOD FAITH! But this people don't know what that means. Having the nerve to say that salespeople lie to sell these contracts was the icing on the cake! Thank God I did not agree to anything beyond 10 years but I will definitely bring the documents to my attorney to see what my options are because in my eyes and all the people complaining here about the same thing this looks and smells like fraud.

We bought into our membership back in Dec 2019 and have never used it … I have tried multiple times to cancel our membership and the ONLY response is that we can not cancel - we signed a promissory note and have to fulfil our agreement to pay … I do not have enough legal knowledge to know what my options are … I have seen many people say that they simply stopped making the payments and all that happened to them was that they keep calling and emailing, but there’s no legal recourse … before I reach out to a lawyer does anyone have any experience in this? Did anyone get out of their membership? If so, please tell me how … any help / advise would be greatly appreciated!

My parents have been missold this product my dad was not in the right frame mentally and has since passed away with motor neurone disease.
This happened in March 2019, they just kept giving him drink and we believe that is why he signed but this is a big scam.

I have told them this and sent all documentation to support this and they will not give a full refund, they asked for a death certificate but now they are saying my dads name can be removed as my mums name is on there and all she has to do is pay the membership fee in order for her to use this.

This company just extorts money from people, my dad was ill from 2020 so was never even able to use this, and I have told them this but they have no compassion.
They were missold and we just want their money back they said if we send them money they can try and sell for us.

Me and my husband got sucked into this scam of travelsmart VIP, I wish I could turn back the clock to 2019 when we signed with them, we paid a little over 10k and we were promised this world and the next, unfortunately things don't actually happen the way they say it does. When you try to book everything is full, you end up in some cheaper resort with no VIP status at all, and it turns out that whatever you are "saving" you actually aren't! Cheaper to book on your own without this stupid travelsmart scam. Another thing that was never mentioned was late annual fee payments, as we all know covid sneaked up on us and both me and my husband found ourselves between paying for this ridiculous anual fee or providing out children with food on the table, we missed 2022 anual fee payment, this year we are back on our feet and once I try to pay my amount was a little over 800$ usd, that's a good 1k, explain to me again, where am I saving money? I initially paid travelsmart a little over 10k to get into this membership, every year we paid the 300 and something usd anual fee and the one time you can't they tally it up to a ridiculous amount. Regardless of the stupid amount they are charging me right now, but with 10k plus the 300$ and something usd in anual fees I could have gone on amazing vacations, because in all honesty you don't save [censored] with them, they pocket your initial rate plus your anual fees.

I'm so disappointed in myself that I fell for this scam 😞

Signed up in Punta Cana in March 2020 as they closed our hotel and were moving us to a sister hotel next door. In order to basically get a room that would compare to the 2 rooms we had at our reserved hotel they conned us into the WONDERFUL vacation club. Since then they have harassed us to pay additional fees yearly, change the contract and will not honor what we signed up for. Every hotel we have tried to book is full. And the price is ASTRONOMICAL compared to booking through Expedia. TOTAL SCAM. I do not plan on paying them one more dime. Tried talking to customer rep. What a joke. You d9nt wanna honor your end of the contract, nor am I.

Depot de plainte contre Travel Smart vip club

Nom : Mario Lechasseur

m.[protected]@globetrotter.net

1619 vip 3888029

Contract: (TSVC) 2010576

Vous avez changer mon contrat pour une semaine par année et aucune semaine Spécial et semaine Bonus

Comme il est indique sur l’image dessous j’avais des points et encore 7 semaines Spécial et 6 semaines bonus

Donc vous m’avez enlevé pour un 40% mais mon contact est beaucoup mieux que ce que vous me donné

Je vais contacter la compagnie d ‘avocat qui m’avait contacter pour vendre mon forfait

La photo ci-dessous était au moment de leur vendre l’année passé

Ne pas me contacté pour me dire que c’est votre politique

Je ne parle pas anglais

You changed my contract for one week per year and no Special week and Bonus week

As it is indicated on the image below I had points and still 7 weeks Special and 6 weeks bonus

So you took me off for a 40% but my contact is much better than what you gave me

I will contact the lawyer company that had contacted me to sell my package

The photo below was when selling to them last year

Don't contact me to tell me it's your policy

I do not speak English

We signed up for this membership 3 years ago and have only used it once, not saving any money at all on this trip. We invested over $10,000, at the beginning it looked like we would save money traveling. TravelSmart has changed their policies since covid, now all membership benefits promised have been changed or excluded. We signed up with the point system but have never used any of the "bonus points and accrued points" offered at signing.

I currently get a better deal trying to book our vacations (at the Royalton resorts) through Expedia and other advertised travel websites. TravelSmartVIP offers a 35% reduced rate to owners, in accordance to the benefits they currently provide. The reduced rate along with the plane fare still is more expensive than Expedia and other website offers, up to $1000 for a 7 day vacation: same dates. We also have the extra expense of the annual fees which are rising every year although we were told they would not. I cannot get help with the reservations, leaving messages and never getting a call back.

We feel the company provided false advertisement, breach of contract and we were scammed into a vacation travel contract. We cannot find in the contract where changes of benefits can be made by either party.

TRAVEL SMART IS A SCAM

This company is a huge scam. They manipulate you into signing a contract that is way too expensive and that you can not get out of. I have never used the service’s benefits but yet they claim they have a right to my money as “I’ve had the opportunity to use them”. Since the beginning of this year I’ve stopped paying them and since then they have tried to contact me every single day… literally! They use different phone numbers and different email addresses to try and get you to answer them and they will stop at nothing trying to get me to pay for a service I didn’t want in the first place.

I’ve had a call with my creditcard company that stated that they know this company is fraudulent and that they are taking steps in order to take legal action against them. I’ve since then requested a new creditcard and stopped paying. They keep sending emails threatening with collection agencies which they have no right using, just to make people scared into paying them money that you DO NOT owe them.

Please be aware of these criminals. They lure you into signing a contract promising benefits but once you sign the contract you won’t ever get rid of them. Do not be afraid of them, do not pay them your hard earned money. If you’ve signed a contract with them contact your creditcard company ASAP and they will tell you they’re a scam and they will pay you back every dollar you’ve payed them.

We signed up for a vacation package in the Dominican Republic May of 2018. After not being able to use the vacation plan due to personal health issues, we contacted the company multiple times to explain that we wanted out of our membership. We were told that this was not possible, but a new plan was offered agreed upon to lower our costs in September of 2020 with the understanding that we still wanted to cancel. It is now September of 2022, the membership was never canceled, and they are trying to collect club fees for something that we have not used and will not use. We were deceived from the start of the entire process.

We signed up in 2018, and we’re promised the world, a world of VIP status.

Our first trip was 6 month later and the hotel we wanted wasn’t available, we booked a sister resort which was no where near VIP and would have been cheaper to book direct through Sunwing ( as we’re from canada and all inclusive trip was almost what the air fare alone was)

We took a second trip to Dominican Republic- the hotel was horrible, no top shelf VIP liquor at hotel pool bar, caught them refilling bottles of VIP with local, dirty hotel, no VIP bracelets access for dinner, needed reservations yet they were never available for the place we wanted.

Upon our return the pandemic prevented us from our next year of travel. The Travel Smart spent so much time trying to market the great prices they had in the empty hotels, yet wouldn’t acknowledge my request to bank our week as we couldn’t travel ( like the rest of the world!)

They refused to allow us to bank, and I finally decided enough was enough and stop paying when my credit card expired on file

I emailed and told them to cancel my account, which they replied you can only do so by phoning, so they keep calling ( almost daily now) and reminding me I’m over due and owe them, I don’t care- these people are full of lies and I don’t need to be part of the vip status that is only during the sales campaign!

We signed up with travelsmart In 2019 , to get 15,000 points a year and planned on taking a nice trip every other year . Was told that our membership would cover everything but all inclusive fee. We were told that would be 75.00 a day per person for the length of stay . We were good with that . Haven’t used since we bought plan. Just called and tried to book a trip for our sons honeymoon to st Lucia for 6 days . Was told it would be 3500 dollars. What the heck. They say they did away with points system . And this is a good deal. With out discount would be 5400 . With 3500 plus my 2568 a year in fees and annual payment . I’m saving nothing I’m spending a lot more. We don’t take multiple trips a year and this isn’t what we signed up for. Where I was told we would only pay 150 dollars a day for vacation is more like 700 a day . Rediculous. Very disappointed.

Like many of the people before me, I was sucked into signing a contract for TravelSmart VIP. Mine was 12/18/2020. Again, the world promised to us, nothing delivered. The individual resorts are good but this is such a scam. Where I tried to cancel in the beginning they talked me into continuing to give it a try. Unfortunately I then missed the deadline. When I called to complain they said it was clearly stated in the contract.

Another issue is the "flyback program" which turns out is a separate scam company than TravelSmart VIP. With them they say it takes up to 180 days after filing to get your money. What they don't tell you is that when you do receive your money, you have to notify them that you received it within 30 days or it prevents you from receiving money the following year if you fly. They said "see paragraph 6 of the one page contract." I was never verbally informed regarding this. This is no way to do business.

I just want to get out of the contract and lick my wounds and I am willing to kiss my "investment" goodbye. I don't want to be own the hook for an additional $200 per month for an additional 4 years.

I am open to joining a class action lawsuit against Travelsmart VIP if anyone else is. I have never dealt with a company that is as deceptive in their business practices as Travelsmart VIP. I only wish I new of the dissatisfaction of so many people before I signed the contract.