Nassau grandmother fears Caribbean family vacation will not happen after paying travel agency tens of thousands of dollars
The woman tells News 12 she paid the travel agency Crafty Getaways more than $32,000 for flights and resort reservations that she says were not paid.
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A Malverne grandmother worries her family trip to Antigua may not happen after she worked with the Crafty Getaways travel agency.
Patricia Phillip says she paid the travel agency more than $32,000 for flights and resort reservations she says were not paid.
"Hopefully, we can have a trip,” she said.
Phillip says the six-day trip in July 2025 was booked in January to celebrate her recent marriage and to honor her mom who passed away last year.
She says she booked the trip with an agent she’s successfully worked with for more than 10 years.
"I feel like a fool because I trusted him,” she said.
At the end of April, she decided to check on the reservations.
"JetBlue tells me that they have the nine reservations, but that they're canceled for nonpayment,” she said. "I called the resort and the resort says they have the reservation, but it was not paid."
Whenever she tried calling the travel agency or the booking agent to get a refund, she said the call would go straight to voicemail.
She says she tried getting a full refund, but her credit card company only returned $10,000.
Phillip filed a complaint with New York State’s Division of Consumer Protection and then called News 12 after seeing stories of others on Long Island who say they went through a similar experience.
News 12 tried getting answers from the agency at its last known location in Bethpage.
The space is now vacant and the only trace of the company being there is a Crafty Getaways banner on the floor.
Phillip has now booked her own flights but still doesn't know if she has a place to stay.
"I'm going to be worried crazy until I get to Antigua and know I have a room to sleep in,” she said.
News 12 reached out to a contact for Crafty Getaways and the travel agency’s attorney for a comment about her claims, but they have not yet returned the request for comment.
