Josh Banta and his wife cashed in some of their hard-earned American Airlines miles to fly from New York to Miami for a funeral. But the tickets weren’t free; they paid $125 for the privilege of using their miles within 21 days. That’s a fee someone has yet to explain to me.
May 2010
If you’ve recently been the unlucky recipient of a rejection letter from your airline, hotel or car rental company, you’re in good company. The travel industry appears to be sending out more form letters than ever.
The Transportation Security Administration’s unpopular restrictions on liquids, gels and aerosols in carry-on luggage — better known as the 3-1-1 rule — are history.
When Jeff Allen falls and breaks his tibial plateau just before a Carnival cruise, the company offers him a 50 percent cruise credit. But he thinks the company should let him redo the cruise after his surgery. Who’s right? And is there anything he could have done to avoid losing his vacation?
Here’s a life lesson, courtesy of my friends at Starwood Hotels & Resorts: If you haven’t had your first cup of coffee in the morning, do yourself a favor and read every email twice.
No cruise refunds. Plus, read your email carefully and more seats on a plane.
It seems like just yesterday that American Airlines scrapped its More Room Throughout Coach program, which made flying in the back of the plane a more civil experience by adding a few extra inches of legroom. But that program was announced a decade ago and killed five years later.
.. Yosemite National Park in California. That’s according to a new survey by TomTom, which aggregated the average speeds of vehicles traveling through the parks, based on anonymous user-shared data using its navigation devices.
Like millions of other Americans, Yvonne Chan is planning a road trip this summer. She and a friend decided it might be a good idea to get a AAA membership — they’re both students — so they signed up through the organization’s site.
Uncomfortable beds, says a new survey by D.K. Shifflet & Associates. But that’s not the real story. Three out of the top five annoyances had to do with extra charges — fees that properties could easily eliminate.
When is a deal not a deal? When the “savings” evaporate with a little research.
Screwball ticketing. Plus, cellphones on planes, deceptive marketing and strike responsibilities.
I’ve been getting quite a few questions like Joyce Fishman’s lately. She’s afraid her airline is about to go on strike, leaving her stranded.
Mandatory resort fees added to your hotel bill have been annoying hotel guests for almost as long as I’ve been covering the hotel industry, which is to say, a long time. But how do you persuade a property to remove these extra fees from your bill?
How do you know that the rules restricting electronics on planes are impractical? When you see a crew member openly texting at 36,000 feet.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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