Part of the nature of taking a vacation and in particular taking advantage of the discounts available on discounter vacation auction sites is that you are always taking a risk. In the case of bidding on a vacation package you will find that the actual name of your vacation hotel or condo is not revealed until you have been awarded the bid. So if you hate staying at the Holiday Inn but then find out that the vacation you bid on is at the Holiday Inn then there might not be that much you can do about it after the fact. This is the type of disappointment that you must be prepared to take if you decide to engage in online travel auction biddings or in purchasing vacation packages that are a bit vague with the details.

However, if you find yourself the victim of a real scam when it comes to bidding on a vacation on an auction site you are not without recourse. This would be the case if promised tickets did not show up in the mail or you were sent to a land where a hotel doesn’t exit or where your reservation has been sold to someone else.  You can also nail a seller if they do not deliver the goods in a timely fashion or deliver something less valuable then they advertised when they described the travel item in the first place.

However keep in mind that when it comes to going after a seller for false advertising it can be difficult to go after a seller who is selling a vacation or hotel booking with a minimum reserve bid that is already sixty percent or less of the vacation’s value in the first place.  It might be implied that you understand that something could be wrong with the item and that is why you are on an auction site offering discount travel in the first place!

However if you are really dissatisfied, you can go after the seller of a vacation if they fail to disclose all of the relevant information about the destination or the terms of the sale.

If you run into a problem try to work it out directly with the seller with the auction web site.  Some travel auction sites are more cooperative then others if you end up having problems. Know that some auction sites like eBay do not have a comprehensive intermediary program for people who encounter problems if they purchase a bad vacation and simply encourage bad feedback as being the best revenge.

You can always file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission by calling toll-free 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357) or visiting the FTC’s web site.

If you are someone who loves to travel and you have never ever heard of online travel auction then you are going to also love the concept of the travel auction. The travel auction fun way to grab an exotic and inexpensive last minute vacation.

A travel auction works like any other auction. You browse the open auctions online, select one you like and then bid. You then monitor the bid and rebid on the vacation package. If you win you are obligated to pay for what you have one.

How do so many resort packages, cruises, five star destinations and exotic adventures end up on a virtual auction block?  Travel companies use auctions to sell holidays that, for a variety of reasons, may be difficult to sell using the traditional methods. They often choose to get rid of so-called ‘distressed stock’ in this way. The reason it is preferable to do put up these vacation packages on travel auctions is because offering discounts through travel agents can diminish the travel outfit’s ability to sell anything at full price.

However not all packages are put up on virtual auctions because they need to be offloaded. Sometimes this is a way for a company to promote or introduce a new type of vacation package and encourage people to take advantage of it and then tell their friends what a good time they had. Putting up a vacation for auction is a way of generating good word of mouth about your hotel, cruise or travel agency.

There are not that many sites on the Internet that run travel auctions. The three big companies that dominate the travel auction scene are eBay, Skyauction and LuxuryLink.  There is also Priceline, which also offers vacation packages, but it is not a true auction. Instead you offer the price you want to pay for a trip or vacation and see if it can be offered. There are some priceline coupons at CouponKid.com

On eBay travel is just one more category on its massive roster of products and services up for auction. As the name implies LuxuryLink is intended for high rollers when it comes to bidding. Skyauction offers the cheapest deals.

Although eBay is one of the pioneer sites when it comes to offering vacation package deals up for auction it is not necessarily the most specialized ones. Unlike the travel auctions offered on eBay, the vacation packages and destinations on Skyauction and LuxuryLink are exclusive to the travel industry.