Erysse can’t find any Easter Eggs. Her brothers got ‘em all. No worries, hon. The Easter Bunny won’t forget you.
From the monthly archives:
March 2008
Here at the travel industry’s unofficial complaints department, we count on having a day or two off, Good Friday being one of them. Not this year. Here are three recent stories of compassion-less customer service that arrived in the “in” box on what was supposed to be our “off” day.
And now a truly bizarre story about the darker side of customer service. CheapoAir.com is a site that sells discounted airline tickets, car rentals and hotel rooms. It also has one of the most aggressive collection departments you’ve ever come across. Or, to be more exact, that Melanie Dennis has come across.
They may be a little late to the game, but then again, the first skiers who will probably be hit by these fees won’t see them until this summer (winter in South American ski resorts like Valle Nevado and Cerro Catedral). But a group of skiers is protesting the planned second-bag surcharge that United Airlines and US Airways have announced, hoping to enlist scuba divers, golfers and parents with strollers to their cause.
Ah, the lengths to which a car rental company will go to squeeze a few bucks out of a customer. Consider what happened to John Conkel of Las Vegas, Nev., when he rented a vehicle from Alamo in Denver recently. Kinda makes you wonder why they don’t just look up the IRS rebate calculator, like everyone else. But I digress.
Uh-oh! They let the Armchair Traveler out of the office this week to visit Colorado and New Mexico. (Does this mean I can’t call myself the Armchair Traveler anymore?) Details are in this week’s blog and videocast. And that’s not all. I have a new Troubleshooter case, a compelling MSNBC.com column about low-fare carriers, and fascinating blog entries about everything from customs to surprise cleaning bills.
Let’s assume, for a moment, that you can’t stop 2008 from becoming the Year of the Fee. Let’s assume you’ll cheerfully pay every fuel surcharge, resort fee, excess luggage fee and security fee they throw at you. But here’s a question no one else seems to be asking: What’s in it for you?
When Alamo runs out of the kind of car Steve Chan has reserved in Ireland, it offers to set him up with a car from another company. Chan is led to believe that he’ll pay the same rate, but when his credit card bill arrives, he discovers he’s been billed more than twice the price he was first quoted. Now Alamo won’t refund the difference. Does Chan have a case?
Here’s a story with more disappointments than the college basketball invitational. Shortly after Mary Van Veen returned her Budget rental in Ireland, she discovered a surprise $174 charge on her credit card. She contacted the car rental agency, which told her “the car was extremely dirty and they had to pay a valet to clean it.”
They let the Armchair Traveler out of the office this week. Here’s his report on the “highs” and “lows” of travel, as he visits New Mexico and Colorado. Here’s a high-resolution version.
If you really want to understand how the Southwest Airlines safety scandal is affecting passengers and employees, there’s only one thing to do. Get on a flight and strike up a conversation with a crewmember. Which is exactly what I did this morning.
There’s no feeling like soaring above the city of Albuquerque, N.M. in what they call “the box” — a pocket of air that allows a skilled pilot to steer his airship with pinpoint accuracy. It’s a feeling we’ll never forget, thanks to our new friends at Rainbow Ryders.
It’s not your typical winter that you see this kind of snow in Durango, Colo. Then again, this isn’t your typical winter. They have an abundance of the white stuff here in town. Not bad if you’re a skier — or if you’re in the snow removal business.
What does a country owe you when its customs agents give you the once-over at the border, even though you’re completely innocent of any criminal activity? Should it refund your vacation? That’s the question Regina Hutchings, a social worker from Media, Pa., wants Bermudan officials to answer.
It may be something of an exaggeration to say that at this time of year, you can have Mesa Verde National Park all to yourself. But it isn’t much of one.
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