Charles McGovern clicked on the wrong Days Inn property when he booked a room to attend his grandson’s high school graduation in Richmond, Va. He assumed the hotel chain would transfer his reservation to the right hotel. He assumed wrong.
August 2009
When it comes to “gotcha” fees, the cellular phone industry makes travel companies look like rank amateurs.
Can you tell that half of this hotel is under renovation? Neither can I. You have to walk to the other side to see the scaffolding.
Even though Kim Ryan’s airline just went out of business, her online travel agent assures her she’ll still be able to fly to Hawaii for her honeymoon. But that doesn’t happen. She’s forced to buy a new ticket and spend an extra night on the island, and now the travel agency is dragging its feet on a refund. Can this honeymoon be saved?
This is an interesting twist. Remember the Continental/ExpressJet tarmac incident earlier this month? Everyone was quick to blame the airline for holding passengers overnight against their will. Now, a preliminary investigation by the Transportation Department has found that Mesaba, a regional carrier owned by Delta Air Lines, was the likely culprit.
Sneharthi Roy is the senior vice president of operations for CheapOair, a Web site that sells discounted airline tickets and hotel rooms. I asked him about the low travel prices we’ve seen lately and some of the possible pitfalls of buying travel in a buyer’s market.
An exclusive interview with CheapOAir’s Sneharthi Roy about refunds, cheap fares, and online criticism. Plus, there’s another tarmac stranding incident, and a question about censoring negative reviews on TripAdvisor.
Another day, another tarmac delay.
Mari Ann Chaney paid for her vacation at Sandals in St. Lucia twice: once to her travel agent, which paid Watsonville, Calif.-based Happy Vacations, and again when she checked in.
Next time you rent a car, take a picture of it. No, seriously. Whip out your digital camera and take a snapshot.
TripAdvisor, which appears to have weathered a fake-review scandal thanks in no small part to a plausible explanation from its chief executive, has never been accused of pulling any punches. Until now.
And now an update on an interview I published last week with United Airlines regarding the viral video controversy, United Breaks Guitars.
Here’s a balloon disaster with a happy ending.
What to do when your travel company fudges the numbers is the topic of this week’s MSNBC.com column. Plus, has American Express lost its mind? And would America’s worst hotel please stand up and take a bow?
Pop quiz: When Americans go on vacation, how do they travel?
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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