Beware of Card Mill Promotions Offering Free or Reduced Travel as Travel Agent Perks ASTA's Consumer Affairs Department cautions consumers to beware of offers from card mills, companies which sell questionable travel agent credentials. Consumers may be led to believe that such cards allow them to travel at free or reduced fares.  Organizations making these offers are known throughout the travel industry as card mills because they routinely offer credentials by the thousands in the form of an identification card that is sold for a significant fee. In turn, these cards would presumably be accepted by every segment of the travel industry. Many suppliers of travel, however, do not accept them. In recent months, ASTA's Consumer Affairs Department has received an increase of calls from consumers being wooed by these card mill operators. Most of those solicited have been promised that they can get all the benefits of being a travel agent. However, ASTA cautions that the industry has become much more vigilant in clamping down on those using card mill credentials. http://www.astanet.com/education/cardmill.asp