Q: I booked a hotel room through Hotwire.com. But when I arrived at the property, they had sold out all of their regular rooms. I was offered a “parlor” room, which was basically the living room part of a suite. It had a dining table, sitting chairs a TV and a bathroom, but no bed. [...]
2004
Q: My husband bought airline tickets from Chicago to Puerto Vallarta on Continental Airlines through his travel agent, who is an old friend. But my ticket was issued with my husband’s surname, even though I did not change my name when I got married 18 years ago. When I notified the agent of the error, [...]
The cruise industry must believe that loose lips sink ships. Otherwise, they’d share their secret with the world: This fall, prices on luxury cruises are better than ever–and they’re not likely to plunge this low again for a while. It’s “a price anomaly,” says Daniel Kwoh, chief executive of cruise specialist 7 Blue Seas. “Major cruise lines are selling out and raising prices. But luxury cruise lines have inventory and are surreptitiously lowering prices.”
Q: My fiance is in the Navy and currently on a submarine. Before he left for his tour of duty, he purchased a $1,300 ticket from Priceline for me to visit him for his first port call, which at that time was scheduled to be in Japan. He spoke with a Priceline representative and asked [...]
Half an hour into a crowded flight to Phoenix a couple of years ago, something brushed by my feet. It felt like a cat. But I said to myself, ”Wait a minute, I’m on a plane. They don’t have cats on planes.” I looked down, and sure enough, there was a medium-size black cat. It [...]
Q: I was scheduled to speak at a conference in Gainesville, Fla., in September. But the meeting was cancelled because most of the delegates in the area were still without electricity after the recent hurricanes. I had booked my airline ticket through Orbitz and a car rental on Hotwire back in August. Both Orbitz and [...]
Q: We booked a Caribbean cruise package, which included airline tickets, on Norwegian Cruise Lines through our travel agent last year. We charged the initial deposit of $700 and paid off the balance of $2,812 on our credit card a few months before sailing. But when we arrived at Detroit for our flight to Miami [...]
On a business trip to Bismarck, N.D., David Godfrey flew into town two days early to qualify for a cheaper airline ticket. His total savings were $300. He stayed at a friend’s house instead of checking into a hotel, knocking an additional $100 off his expenses. His friend even picked him up at the airport.
Q: Last year I flew on American Airlines from Dallas to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. Six months later my travel agent called me to say American had billed her $404 more for the flight. She explained that there were certain fare rules in effect that she wasn’t aware of, and that we had no choice but [...]
These aren’t the best of times for the airline business. Fuel prices are soaring, profits are plummeting and bankruptcies have become almost routine. But JetBlue Airways apparently didn’t get that memo. It continues to prosper and expand (earlier this month, it added service from New York’s LaGuardia Airport to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). Not that it’s always been a smooth ride for the new airline – last year, for example, it admitted to handing over passenger records to a Defense Department contractor. Christopher Elliott recently asked JetBlue’s chief executive, David Neeleman, how the company has managed to navigate the turbulent skies.
Q: I rented a minivan from Payless last January. I had declined all waivers of insurance they offered me because I knew my Visa covered the rental. When we dropped it off at the airport, an associate looked around the van and said we were good to go. I received a letter from Payless in [...]
For the occasional traveler, the latest round of airline bankruptcy filings may feel like the early 1990′s, when some big carriers flew under a dark cloud of bankruptcy protection and others never emerged from it.
Q: I am trying to get a refund on a ticket from Northwest Airlines. It was for my husband, who passed away earlier this year. Shortly after his death, I contacted the airline and was told I would receive a full refund if I could show a death certificate. I sent my first of three [...]
On a business trip to Amsterdam I met two women who were on their way to Kenya to follow the wildebeest migration into Tanzania. They said there was room for one more person and invited me to join them. Why not, I thought. It was such a spur-of-the moment decision that I didn’t even tell [...]
Elliott is consumer advocate 
I'm on Facebook: Please "like" 
WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM? If you're having trouble with a travel business - any business - and you've reached a dead end, maybe I can help. Send me an
US Airways ends with you
September 13, 2004
So long, US Airways.
Now that the nation’s seventh-largest carrier has filed for bankruptcy protection a second time in as many years, many industry-watchers give it only a few months before it liquidates. Even David Bronner recently predicted it wouldn’t be saved from Chapter 11, and he ought to know. He’s the airline’s chairman. But while most of the pundits are fixated on the reasons for US Airways’ likely demise, one question has gone largely unasked: Who is going to pay for this failure?
Be the first to comment