Beware of Super Bowl ticket scams

EASTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) - The Patriots are heading to Indianapolis and so are thousands of fans, but those considering taking a trip to watch the Superbowl should be on the look-out for Internet scams.

The Massachusetts Office for Consumer Affairs issued an advisory asking Patriots fans to consider potential scams and misleading offers when trying to find online deals in hotels, airfare and game tickets.

The owner of Easthampton Travel Vicky Puza-Allen told 22News, purchasing last minute deals online could be very risky because many people simply assume that best prices are found online, but that’s not true.

“They should really call a travel agency first and double check to make sure we can find something better,” Puza-Allen said. “And 99.9 percent of the time, we do find something better.”

She told 22News, there are bundled packages offered through travel agencies where airfare, hotels, game tickets and even shuttle services are included because travel agencies have better connections.

Also, if the purchase goes wrong, without a travel agency, customers are on their own. Puza-Allen said, “If they go online and something happens, they can't get money back. They usually cannot reach somebody to help them if they are stuck in Indianapolis for instance, and their ticket was not a true roundtrip."

Often times, these packages are cheaper than what many would pay for one game ticket on popular online ticket agencies.

Also, online deals are often not insured so if your flight is canceled or the airline overbooks a flight you are faced with losing thousands of dollars.