Why is the "super-cost-effective travel card" that is so popular in online live broadcast rooms so difficult to redeem?

It is the peak season for e-commerce consumption, and many live broadcast rooms have begun to sell "super cost-effective travel cards", such as "999 yuan to choose 2 of 80 routes across the country", "valid for three years, full refund at any time if you don't go"...sounds quite tempting.

In fact, this type of low-price travel cards did not appear just this year. Many consumers have encountered disputes after purchasing similar products before. When they planned to travel or applied for a refund, they found that either the store had been removed from the shelves, the merchant could not be contacted, or the promised instant refund at any time turned into a long wait for installment refund.

Why can some dining and entertainment group purchase coupons be automatically refunded upon expiration, but these travel cards cannot? How do prepaid consumption commitments that last for several years circumvent platform fund supervision?

Place an order for a travel card in the live broadcast room

The merchant "runs away" when cashing out

"999 yuan to stay in a star-rated hotel, choose 2 of more than 80 routes across the country, food, accommodation and travel included after landing..." Many consumers were tempted by such propaganda in the live broadcast room.

In March 2025, Ms. Li from Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia spent 1,998 yuan to purchase 2 travel products in the live broadcast room of the short video platform "CITS Style 7". A few days after placing the order, she received a physical card from the merchant. However, when she was about to contact her for travel this year, she found that not only the product link, but also the store had been removed from the shelves.

Ms. Li: "You can go to famous scenic spots such as Zhangjiajie and Jiuzhaigou for three to four days. At that time, the other party sent me a card within seven days. I started asking about this at the beginning of this year and learned that the store and products had been removed from the shelves. I wanted a refund, but Douyin said that there was no other way. I took the card and tried to contact him again. There was no phone number on it, and now I can't find the person."

In Ms. Li's view, even if the coupons she purchased on the short video platform are not used, they will be automatically refunded when they expire. However, because the merchant issued a physical "travel card", the platform assumed that the goods had been received.

After Ms. Li couldn't contact the seller, she took a closer look and discovered that the merchant behind the store, "Wuhan Donghu New Technology Development Zone Zhihongfeng Department Store (Individual Industrial and Commercial Household)", did not have cultural tourism qualifications, and its industrial and commercial registration had been canceled three months after Ms. Li purchased the card.

The reporter further inquired and found that the department store was registered in February 2025, sold products to Ms. Li in March, and canceled in June. And there are many more similar routines.

Ms. Zhang’s mother from Beijing previously spent 999 yuan to purchase a travel card in the “CITS Select 8” live broadcast room, and also received a physical card mailed by the merchant.

Recently, when she was planning to join a group tour, she found that the merchant had been unable to contact her. After fetching back-end transaction snapshots and industrial and commercial information, Ms. Zhang found that the merchant, "Zanyang Department Store (Individual Industrial and Commercial Household) in Zhengdong New District, Zhengzhou City," was registered two weeks before her mother placed the order. It was listed on the list of abnormal operations less than a month after its establishment. The product category registered in the e-commerce backend was not travel services, but "picture frames."

Some formal travel agencies

Complaints about travel card being difficult to redeem

In addition to unqualified department stores selling travel cards, some regular travel agencies have also been complained that such products cannot be refunded if not consumed. Between May and June 2025, Ms. Lin from Beijing took two travel passes worth 2,400 yuan and 3,600 yuan in the live broadcast room of Guangzhou Xiangpeng Tourism Service Co., Ltd.

At that time, Ms. Lin recorded the store’s promotion——

Xiangpeng Live Room: "Today is a money-losing subsidy event jointly launched by CITS and the State Administration of Culture and Tourism. It previously sold for 5,980 yuan. Today, the No. 1 link only costs 2,400 yuan, and the No. 2 link for two people costs 3,600 yuan. You can play 3 different routes. It is valid for three years. It doesn't matter even if you don't go within three years. You can refund it at any time and get a full refund without any loss..."

In September 2025, Ms. Lin applied for a refund to the merchant because an elderly person at home was ill and unable to travel. However, placing an order is easy, but a refund is far away. Even though this company has travel service qualifications, Ms. Lin's card purchase fee of 6,000 yuan has only been refunded 500 yuan so far.

Ms. Lin: "After struggling for several months, I asked for a bank card and was told that I would be refunded, but it would be divided into 36 installments."

Ms. Lin's daughter: "Every time my family checks, the other party will say that the signal is not good, there is a problem with the system, etc., but the account has never been received. 6,000 yuan was only given to 500 yuan a year. After the communication, they said that the receiving account is the platform, and let us find the platform's protection plan."

Addressing travel card chaos

How to achieve effective supervision

The reporter checked the public rules of multiple platforms and found that the order completion and settlement rules applicable to ordinary physical goods, local life services and virtual cards and coupons are not the same. Some products use write-off as the settlement node, while others use shipment, expiration or confirmation of receipt as the basis.

For example, some e-commerce platforms have made it clear that the "expired automatic return" guarantee is not applicable to physical products that require logistics transportation. In other words, once the physical card is signed and the payment is settled to the merchant, whether the merchant closes the store or delays the refund, it will be difficult for the consumer to get back the full amount directly through the original order channel on the platform. How to achieve effective supervision on such issues?

From a commitment of 999 yuan to stay in a star-rated hotel, to 3600 yuan for three trips for two people, can such a price cover the normal reception costs? Is it feasible to choose any two of the so-called 80 routes across the country in terms of tourism operations?

Li Bowen, a professor at the School of Tourism at Beijing Union University, analyzed that it is impossible from an economic and cost perspective. From the perspective of operating or selling tourist routes, it is impossible for any company to have the ability to control 80 routes. Selling routes and selling scenic spots are two different concepts. Selling scenic spots is relatively feasible from the perspective of business negotiation. Selling routes has no operating entity and is not in the hands of any company, so selling routes is very unreliable.

Zhong Yuegna, an associate professor at the School of Tourism Management of Beijing International Studies University, believes that the verification of such abnormally low-price tourism products should not wait until tourists arrive at the destination and disputes occur, but should be moved to the live broadcast room to attract customers and consumer payment.

Keep the risk at the sales end

How does the platform perform qualification review?

To prevent risks at the sales end, how should Internet platforms perform their qualification review and consumer rights protection obligations?

Zhao Jingwu, associate professor at Beihang University Law School, believes that such products should be regulated as prepaid products. Once unqualified merchants sell travel products, the platform should also bear responsibility.

Zhao Jingwu: "The E-Commerce Law of the People's Republic of China clearly stipulates that if a platform fails to take necessary measures when it knows or should know that an operator on the platform has infringed upon the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, it shall bear joint and several liability with the operator. If the platform does not take necessary measures in the name of providing tourism services, If the merchant fails to conduct a preliminary review and does not verify whether it has the corresponding qualifications, it may bear joint liability with the merchant. Because the platform is not an administrative agency, the standard for performing the audit obligation is that the merchant must proactively provide necessary qualification certification materials related to its travel services.”

Faced with the mismatch status of "an order can be placed in a few seconds but the performance period is as long as three years" in the live broadcast room travel prepaid card, Zhao Jingwu said that the crux of the problem is that the place where the merchant is registered, the place where the platform operates, and the location of the consumer are often separated. For the purpose of protecting consumer rights and interests, the cultural and tourism department may need to combine the characteristics of online prepaid services in the future to explore a cross-jurisdictional assistance law enforcement mechanism to achieve a clearer way to manage merchants at the place of registration, manage sales channels at the platform, and manage service quality at the place of behavior.