The Travel Critic
5 most common ticketing mistakes — and how to avoid them
You don’t have to look far for ticketing mistakes in an age of do-it-yourself booking. Here are the five biggest booking blunders — and tips for how to avoid them on your next flight.
Elliott Videocast
Aren and Iden visit Disney’s Toy Story ride
The Elliott boys tried to visit the Toy Story ride at Disney Studios today. Here’s what happened.
Here’s the high-resolution version.
The Troubleshooter
Room with a wrong view
Bob Ledford is promised a room with a two-sided ocean view when he books through Expedia. But when he arrives, the view isn’t what he expected, the hotel doesn’t seem to care, and Expedia won’t post the negative review of the resort. What’s wrong with this picture?
Recent columns
Elliott blog
Travel like Indiana Jones? You’ve gotta be kidding
I’m baffled by Expedia’s latest marketing campaign, a tie-in to the upcoming film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The other day, my friends over at the online travel agency sent me a fedora in a box along with a note that promised I could “Travel like Indiana Jones, starting today.”
Renting a car? Beware of the fuel reclamation rip-off
With fuel prices near $4 a gallon, car rental companies are turning to a little-known practice called gas reclamation to squeeze every last penny from their vehicles. In the process, they may be squeezing their customers too, according to a car rental insider who has performed degassing services for a major agency.
Yellow fever, red light: paperwork problem sinks Costa Rica vacation
Whose responsibility is your travel-related paperwork, like visas and vaccinations? If you said “mine” — you’re right.
Beware of this Cancun all-inclusive fax scam
You already know that if something looks too good to be true, it probably is. But clever scammers also know that you have an “override” button. Like invoking a well-known travel brand. Or using the name of a trusted media outlet.
Point taken: how hotels deny your hard-earned awards
Poof! There go your hard-earned points. Employees at budget hotels are using a variety of strategies to deny travelers their rewards, including typing the wrong name in a guest’s reservation or failing to include important frequent-stayer information.
Life in the Fast Lane: Transportation Department goes blogging
Is there a federal agency out there that doesn’t have a blog? The U.S. Transportation jumped into the blogosphere today with a site called Fast Lane that promises postings from none other than Secretary Mary Peters and other senior officials.
It’s ALIVE! Race to create world’s worst airline heats up
Just when air travelers thought things couldn’t get any worse, they have. The competition to create the world’s worst airline is heating up, and the losers have already been decided. We are the losers.