The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, which is expected to land on the president’s desk later this week, promises to help consumers by prohibiting unfair, misleading and deceptive practices in the credit card market. But those protections may not extend to international travelers.
From the monthly archives:
May 2009
First, the bad news: European airlines still routinely deceive customers when it comes to air fares, according to a new report by the EU. But there’s also good news — it’s not happening as often, thanks to tighter government regulation.
Any day now, Google Voice — an application integrates voice mail, phone service and e-mail — will be released to the general public. As someone who has tested Voice since its introduction, here’s my advice to travelers: Get your number as soon as you can.
The roundtrip airfare from Brussels to New York on the European online travel site eDreams was €337 — until Alisa Schlossberg clicked on the “buy” button. Then it jumped to €592, creating an eNightmare.
It’s been a year since Anita Isaia’s cruise, but the insurance claim she made through a company that offered traveler “protection” is apparently lost at sea. Will she ever get her $675 back? Find out.
Scott McCartney writes The Wall Street Journal’s “Middle Seat” column and is the author of the new book “The Wall Street Journal Guide to Power Travel: How to Arrive with Your Dignity, Sanity, and Wallet Intact.” With the travel season about to take off, I asked him for his thoughts on flying in the summer of 2009.
No industry piles on the fees and surcharges like the car rental industry. Yes, they have their reasons. And yes, they have competition from airlines, which haven’t met an ancillary fee they don’t like. But sometimes it’s useful to watch the rubber hits the road, so to speak.
This is what Tom Frazier’s bag looked like when Frontier Airlines returned it to him after a recent flight from Minneapolis to Albuquerque. Frontier refused to compensate him for the damage, and there was no way to appeal its decision.
Travelers got a pretty good scare last week with swine flu. They haven’t seen anything yet.
When it comes to this weekend’s Travel Troubleshooter column about a Disney vacation that lacked a little magic, there’s no middle ground. Either you side with the unhappy visitor whose monorail broke down and whose room wasn’t up to his standards, or you believe the real victim was the Mickey, who compensated the customer in the end.
Like so many things in life, the latest Flip Ultra is two steps forward and one step back. At $199, this compact HD video camera is less expensive than the sleek Flip Mino. But it’s also bulkier than its little brother in several ways.
Jack Taras and his friends thought they would be checking in to the Occidental Grand hotel on the Dominican Republic’s postcard-perfect Eastern shore for Spring Break. But when Taras, a 19-year-old sophomore from Providence College, arrived at the resort, he was greeted with the hotel industry’s latest trick: he was walked down.
Troy Pelias and his extended family have a disastrous Disney vacation, featuring everything from a broken-down monorail to confusing meal plans. But his complaints are being ignored. What can he do to get Mickey’s attention?
John Romantic’s title is director of customer relations and central baggage resolution at US Airways. But he’d prefer you simply think of him as your advocate at the airline. For the last nine months, he’s had the unenviable job of improving the carrier’s iffy reputation for customer service. I asked him how he’s doing it.
Click on the National Parks Reservations site, and for a moment or two, you might think you’re visiting a government-operated reservation service. There’s a familiar tree logo, a park-like color scheme, and, of course, the words “National Park” repeated throughout the pages.
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