For the same reason people go to a car race (to see a fiery crash) or a hockey game (bare-knuckled fight) Shamu Stadium was packed to the gills for the 12:30 p.m. show Sunday, on Shamu’s second day on the job after the unfortunate incident in which he killed his trainer. Everyone wanted to see if something would happen.
February 2010
Accidents happen when you travel. The bad accidents — the fender-benders, the missed airline connections the unfortunate food-borne illnesses — are the ones that come to mind first, of course.
Now you see it. Now you don’t. When you’re airfare shopping, attractive prices can vanish in a split second.
Everyone knows airline refunds can take a long time. But how long is too long? A month? Three months? Six months?
How long should you wait for a refund? Plus, a failure to launch, and TSA cracks down on Good Samaritans.
Glenn Cox had planned a trip to Orlando to watch the next Space Shuttle launch, but when liftoff was postponed, he found himself holding a hotel reservation with some surprise restrictions. His room at Orlando Airport SpringHill Suites by Marriott was completely nonrefundable, to be exact.
After my recent luggage standoff with an American Airlines gate agent in Orlando, which ended with her threatening to charge me $100 to check my regulation-size bags on my return flight, a lot of you have asked me how the journey home went.
If you’re unlucky enough to have a medical emergency on a plane, your flight attendants are trained to help. Same thing goes for other public places, like restaurants and schools. But an internal memo circulated to employees at one airport suggests the TSA would rather you take your heart attack elsewhere.
Two feet of fresh snow in 48 hours? Put it all together in a resort like Beaver Creek, Colo., and you have two of the best days of skiing I’ve ever experienced. And I’ve skied in a lot of places.
Amazing Race for Regular People – Competitours is a team travel competition as your vacation! 17 teams accomplish fun, quirky challenges on a mystery European itinerary with $9,000 in prizes at stake. No auditions, no extreme stunts, no eliminations, so anyone can play! Check out Competitours now. Here’s the online version of Elliott’s E-Mail. If [...]
Looks like Palm Coast Travel has company. Florida regulators have filed charges against three more travel agencies as part of their expanding probe of unlicensed insurance offered through defunct Prime Travel Protection.
Here’s a pick-me-up story for a Monday morning: Penny Parrish’s niece bought a roundtrip ticket to Florida to visit her ailing father late last year, but when he died and she asked to return home early, JetBlue Airways charged her a ticket change fee. Parrish’s niece is deaf, so she suspects there may have been [...]
As self-described “adventurous grandparents,” Trevor and Jean Broome had been looking forward to their upcoming trip to Costa Rica, which included diving, hiking, snorkeling and whitewater rafting.

Elliott is consumer advocate
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