iPod-swiping cabbies, idiot TSA screeners and Northwest’s “dirty” gift certificates
January 2009
For her 35th wedding anniversary, Cheryl Cantillon’s children gave her a Northwest Airlines gift certificate. But when she tried to redeem the voucher for a ticket, the airline told her she’d have to wait. Now, bear in mind that someone paid cash for these vouchers and hoped Cantillon would use them for a flight — soon.
You’d think that by now the Transportation Security Administration would have figured out a way of dealing with the infant formula issue. Then I got Kristi Grady’s e-mail with the provocative subject, “TSA screeners are all idiots,” and felt like someone had turned back the clock five years.
Aren, Iden and Erysse Elliott spend a morning looking for Indian shell mounds and minding the alligators at Hontoon Island State Park, near DeLand, Fla.
When it comes to travel, forbidden is in. Cuba, Iran and North Korea — long off-limits to most American visitors — might be added to the “allowed” list under an Obama administration. Other destinations that were considered too dangerous or hostile to Americans are becoming fashionable again as travelers jettison boring “staycations” for something more exotic.
Kay Rihn reserves a nonrefundable rental car through Hotwire and uses a payment system that allows her to send a check. When she doesn’t receive a confirmation from the online agency, she mails a check anyway. Turns out she doesn’t have a reservation. But her money? It’s gone.
Lynne Lenhart’s daughter had her $140 iPod taken on a recent visit to New York. The thief was a taxi driver who remains at large, with the apparent blessing of the government and the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. This sad — and apparently unsolvable — case raises some important questions about the use of credit cards.
Gerry Schwartz reserved a Advantage car when he booked his Hawaiian Airlines tickets online. It just took a few extra clicks and the weekly rental cost only $270. So why did he end up spending an extra $707 for his car?
One of the presumed silver linings on the dark cloud of airline fees is that if a company charges for a service, it’s responsible for a higher level of care. But at least one airline doesn’t feel that way.
Kicked out of first class, time-traveling flight attendants, and understaffed check-in counters … plus, how to become a YouTube star on your next vacation.
When Angela Gross buys a ticket through Frontier Airlines’ Web site, it tacks on an extra $10.95 for travel insurance. How did it manage to do that? By having a checked box on the booking screen that she had to opt out of. Now Frontier is balking at a refund.
Denyse Sadkin and her husband had two first-class tickets from St. Thomas to Buffalo on US Airways. At least they did until the airline bumped one of them back to economy class to make room for a crewmember. The Sadkins, which had redeemed a total of 120,000 frequent flier miles for their flights, weren’t happy with their new seats, so they asked US Airways to be rerouted. It refused.
We’re traveling down an uncertain road this year. Buckle up. “This kind of reminds me of the old sea maps from the 1300s that showed a coastline with the caption which read, ‘Here be Monsters,’” says Patric Douglas, the chief executive of Shark Diver, a tour operator in San Diego, Calif. “Trying to forecast this thing using any models from the past 20 years will be useless.”
After reading Robin Preston’s letter to American Airlines this weekend, I realized there was only one reasonable explanation for what happened: They’ve discovered time travel in Fort Worth. Preston, a frequent flier on her way from Miami to Dallas in economy class, had such a positive experience — that’s right, positive — that she not only wrote a letter praising her flight attendant, but she also copied me on it.
American Airlines recommends you check in two hours before an international flight. But Fran Mingle’s friend showed up two hours and twenty minutes before her flight from Orlando back to Japan, missed the plane and had to pay $2,600 to get home. What gives?
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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