Christopher Elliott biography

Christopher Elliott is a journalist and consumer advocate.

His articles, columns and essays offer advice for people who want to become more informed customers.

Elliott is National Geographic Traveler’s reader advocate and a nationally syndicated columnist through Tribune Media Services, which distributes his columns to publications from the San Francisco Chronicle to the Chicago Tribune.

He writes a column for The Washington Post’s travel section and is a personal finance columnist for Mint.com.

He’s the author of the 2011 book Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals (Wiley).

He has hosted the TV show “What You Get For The Money: Vacations” on the Fine Living Network and has been a regular commentator and independent producer for public radio.

He’s penned regular travel columns for ABCNews.com, CBS Interactive, CNN.com, Kiplinger.com, MarketWatch.com, MSN, MSNBC.com, The New York Times and USAToday.com. His essays have appeared on nearly every major U.S. newspaper’s op-ed page.

Elliott is a contributing editor to SkiSnowboard America & Canada, the leading ski guide book in North America.

He has been featured as a travel expert on TV, including NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight and CBS. Radio appearances include NPR, public radio’s Marketplace and Sound Money, CNET Radio, and numerous ABC network affiliates. He’s also been quoted as a travel expert in a variety of publications, from BusinessWeek to The Wall Street Journal.

Elliott is the co-founder of the Consumer Travel Alliance, a Washington-based advocacy group for travelers.

Before he became an independent writer, Elliott worked for Dow Jones & Co., where he frequently wrote about the stock market and initial public offerings for The Wall Street Journal. He also served as a section editor for Travel Weekly, a travel trade publication. Elliott completed seven editorial internships, including stints at the Los Angeles Times, The Dallas Morning News and Reuters.

Elliott is a 1990 graduate of the University of California at Irvine, where he majored in humanities. He completed his Master of Journalism degree in 1991 at the University of California at Berkeley and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 1996.

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