When Betty Lees booked a flight from Philadelphia to Cancun, Mexico, recently, her confirmation contained an odd relic from the past: a request for a “non-smoking” seat.

It also contained a nasty whiff of the future — a $9.50 charge for the seat.

“Very curious,” she told me. “Since you can’t smoke on the plane, why is there a fee for a non-smoking seat?”

I couldn’t believe any airline would sell “non-smoking” seats, since the Transportation Department banned smoking on flights decades ago. (It first limited passengers from lighting up on April 23, 1988, when it banned smoking on U.S. airline flights of less than two hours.)

But alas …

I tried to contact USA3000 for an answer. No response.

Here’s what might be going on: All seats on USA3000s flights are non-smoking, so passengers like Lees can breathe easy. Like other misguided discount carriers, USA3000 charges passengers extra for seat reservations — according to its Web site, however, that $7 per seat.

What does USA3000 charge $9 for? According to its site, it used to charge $9 per bag for domestic checked luggage. It now charges $15.

Maybe the airline upped its prices and forgot to update its site. Maybe the reference to “non-smoking” was just a relic from a legacy reservations system. Maybe no one really knows.

But one thing is certain: Lees must pay the $9 if she wants to fly. Plus all of the other silly little extras that airlines like USA3000 throw her way.

That’s the price you pay to fly today.

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They promised Hans Slatosch the world. Literally.

In a sales presentation he attended a year ago, Dallas-based Royal Palms Travel offered him deep discounts on cruises and other travel products. All he had to do was pony up a $5,593 membership. He did.

But something about the transaction made Slatosch uncomfortable. The sales staff had pressured him to make a decision before he left, and they wouldn’t let him keep the material they’d distributed, he says.

Once we got home I researched Royal Palm Travel on the Internet and found very unfavorable information about it. The company was described as a fraud, a scam and accused of unethical business practices.

Now we feel uncomfortable doing business with the company, and are afraid we are victims of deceit.

Slatosch tried to fix his mistake.

The following day, I spoke to Arnulfo, the membership representative, and asked him to cancel our application. He informed me that since we signed the contract, it is binding. I did send a registered letter to Royal Palm Travel within three days to request the cancellation of our membership, but to no avail.

I’ve handled countless claims like this one, so when Slatosch came to me for help, I knew Royal Palms Travel would not give me the time of day. Only the long arm of the law — either by authorities or in court — could help him find justice. So that’s what I recommended.

Slatosch filed a complaint with the Texas Attorney General. Yesterday, he got some good news: Texas had cracked down on Royal Palms Travel.

According to court documents filed by the state, Royal Palms Travel Inc. and All Inclusive Excursions falsely promised steep discounts as part of travel club memberships they offered through a “shell” company, Sealand Travel Club. The memberships actually had little or no value.

In response to the state’s enforcement action, a Dallas County District Court today issued a temporary restraining order against the defendants that prevents them from continuing to violate the law.

That’s good news for Slatosch and any future victims of this travel club.

I find it amazing that people still fall for this nonsense. A travel club that offers “discounts” in exchange for a huge membership fee? Take-it-or-leave-it sales tactics? Come on. I thought the scam artists perpetrating these predatory businesses had all moved on to Internet gambling or bogus job placement services.

Needless to say, if you ever find yourself in a presentation in which someone offers you discounts for belonging to a travel club, run, don’t walk. I’m sure Slatosch wishes he had.

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It’s our turn.

Almost three months after filing a lawsuit against one of its customers and me, our lawyers have answered Palm Coast Travel’s charges in two separate motions for dismissal.

Here’s Peter Lay’s motion (PDF); here’s mine (PDF).

I’ll hit the highlights, starting at the top. Here’s the summary of my attorney’s response:

This lawsuit is a classic example of a corporation attempting to use the burden and expense of litigation to silence a consumer advocate and stifle free speech.

Count I and Count II of Plaintiff’s Complaint must be dismissed because Plaintiff fails to state a cause of action for either defamation or tortious interference against Elliott. To state a valid claim for defamation under Florida law, a plaintiff must plead actual damages. By failing to identify a single customer affected as a result of Elliott’s alleged defamatory statements, Plaintiff fails to state a cause of action for defamation.

Plaintiff also improperly alleges that Elliott’s reporting depicted it in a “false light,” a tort that has been abandoned by Florida courts. Similarly, Plaintiff also fails to state a cause of action for tortious interference. It is well established under Florida law that a plaintiff claiming tortious interference must identify the agreement or the specific customers allegedly interfered with.

Plaintiff does not specify a single customer or agreement allegedly interfered with. Furthermore, the alleged defamatory statements at issue in this case are simply nonactionable, protected as privileged under basic Florida defamation law.

This Court should put an immediate halt to Plaintiff’s attempts to use expensive litigation to silence a renowned consumer advocate, and should readily dismiss this baseless action.

Here’s Lay’s attorney’s summary:

Counts III and IV of Plaintiff, SMOLINSKI AND ASSOCIATES, INC. D/B/A PALM COAST TRAVEL’S Complaint (hereinafter “Complaint”) should be dismissed because the claims of defamation and tortious interference asserted against Defendant, PETER LAY fail to state causes of action for which relief may be granted, and the Court cannot properly maintain personal jurisdiction over Defendant, PETER LAY in this matter.

Not much more to say. See you in court.

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Erich Bley bought two tickets from Miami to Aruba on Travelocity. Instead, he got six.

Double-bookings — at least the inadvertent kind — are rare. But triple-bookings? This is the first on I’ve come across.

Turns out it’s three times as difficult to resolve, too.

First, let’s hear from Bley, who describes how it all happened.

After filling out the requested information on the computer screen, I got a reference number that said a written confirmation will follow. A few days later, having not received the promised confirmation, I went back to Travelocity to check the status of my tickets.

There, in bold red letters, it said: “This flight is not available.”

Then Bley received his credit card bill.

We were charged for six tickets!

I called Travelocity immediately and somebody from India told me that we should get a refund from American Airlines for four of the tickets.

I called American Airlines, but they told me it is Travelocity’s fault and I should contact them.

This has been going on for a number of times back and forth between American and Travelocity, and I agreed to pay a $75 per ticket cancellation charge.

Guess what? Now American is not crediting their balance.

I talked to my travel agent about the situation and she suggested to write to you — that you are the only one who could help.

Well, I don’t know about that, but I can certainly try to help.

I contacted Travelocity. Here’s what it had to say:

Chris, the duplicate booking was a technical error we take responsibility for. Normally, we have systems in place that automatically detect this, but it did not work in this case.

We have contacted AA and they have agreed to refund $346 per ticket for a total of $1086. We will refund the $75 cancellation fee for each ticket.

The customer should see this reflected on his credit card statements (he used two different cards) in the next two billing cycles.

Let us know if you need anything else and thanks, as always, for bringing this to our attention.

Case closed? Not exactly.

The money didn’t show up on Bley’s next statement. Or his next one. Five months went by, and still no refund.

I nudged Travelocity, but it seemed to feel this case was closed, too.

Yesterday — almost a year after the triple-booking and many months after getting a promise of a quick refund — the credit showed up.

Bley explains:

When you called me about six months ago and told me the refund from Travelocity would be happening, we were delighted. Thanks for opening the door.

When nothing happened until December my wife started calling. We heard all the excuses possible:

“We do not pay after six months”

“It is American Airlines’ responsibility, call them.”

“We can’t find your records.”

My wife recently called Travelocity. When a representative promised my refund would be processed, we were skeptical. But today we received our refund. Mr Elliott, thank you so much for guiding us into the right direction.

I’m glad Travelocity and American finally resolved this. But why did it have to take so long?

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Here’s a question I get often: The name on my ticket doesn’t match the name on my ID. What now?

As most air travelers know by now, the Transportation Security Administration is in the final stages of implementing Secure Flight, which requires an exact match. How, exactly, that will make us all safer is beyond me. But there you go.

Joe Lukach has his reasons for wanting to know.

My sister-in-law recently booked reservations on Delta Air Lines online. She inadvertently used Joe instead of Joseph on the reservation form.

Delta said once a reservation is confirmed and paid, they can’t change it. They said they have documented a special remark on the reservation form about the name change. Do you think I will have a problem at the airport?

I asked Delta. Here’s what it said:

Carriers are slowly phasing in the Secure Flight program and their final implementation timelines will differ, but all are required to have the program fully operable by November 1.

At Delta we are phasing in the program and in August 2009 began making it optional for passengers to provide the data (name as it appears on govt. issued ID, DOB, gender). The date that this information will be required by Delta is still yet to be determined, but we are working to have the program in place well before the government’s November 1 deadline.

As for this specific case, the passenger should not have any issues at this point. Although as part of the regular ticketing process, we do want people to become familiar with the requirements so spreading that message would be helpful.

Consider it done.

So “Joe” vs. “Joseph” — not a problem. What about this one, from reader Saule Akysheva?

I am an international student in the USA. I bought a ticket from cheapair.com more than a month ago. And I have recently noticed that my last name and first name are flip-flopped.

I checked my profile on cheapair.com, and my name is written correctly there. I don’t know how that happened. I need to depart in 5 days. What can I do?

As someone who has had tickets that said “Elliott Christopher” on many occasions, I’d say he’s home free. After November, maybe not. But in the next five days, I don’t think he’ll have a problem.

I’m still puzzled by one apparent contradiction. If you forget your ID, you can still fly, under TSA rules. So how, then, can they match the name on your ID, if you don’t have an ID?

Just wondering.

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If you’re a frequent flier, maybe you covet a Delta Reserve American Express Card. It offers access to Delta’s Crown Rooms, a first-class companion certificate and a generous 10,000-mile bonus when you sign up.

Vincent Petty did. So he signed up for one. But when American Express or Delta — it’s not clear which one — failed to credit him with the promised points, he set off on an odyssey that led him nowhere closer to getting the miles he’d been offered.

Can a card company simply refuse to give you what it advertised?

I think you’ll agree the answer is no.

But first, let’s get the story from Petty:

I write to you out of utter frustration! I do not know where else to turn.

This past August, in part largely due to the extremely heavy marketing efforts by Delta, I called American Express to inquire about “upgrading” my Delta Platinum American Express to the Delta Reserve American Express. I specifically asked the representative if I would have an issue with my “threshold” since I was switching toward the end of the calendar year from a $25,000 “threshold” to a $30,000 “threshold.”

I was specifically informed that if I upgraded, I would not lose out on any money spent during the year with my Delta Platinum American Express. I was told that since I had been a Delta Platinum American Express for most of the year, that I would still be eligible for the lower “threshold” of $25,000 if I made that spending by the end of the year, despite upgrading to the Delta Reserve American Express.

Well, at the end of the year, I had spend over $28,000 combined on both the Delta Platinum American Express and then the Delta Reserve American Express. However, to date, I have never seen the 10,000 Delta Medallion Miles.

OK, in other words, Petty made the switch and spent the required amount of money, but got no miles.

American Express is claiming that they can do nothing and that this is all automatic and up to their Delta liaison. However, they are unable to tell me who that liaison is, or how to get in touch with them. They have closed this case multiple times, and they refuse to help. I finally spoke with a supervisor the other day who sympathized with my plight, and issued me some base “bonus miles” but stated that there was no way that I could get the 10,000 Delta Medallion Qualification Miles that I was owed. Is there anything you can do to assist me?

I don’t typically get involved in mileage disputes, but this one set off a few alarm bells. First, Petty is a super-elite customer who should get the moon if he asks for it. I can’t imagine why American Express or Delta would toss him a few bonus miles and arbitrarily close his case.

But a deal is a deal, and if American Express and Delta said they’d give him 10,000 Medallion Qualification Miles, it shouldn’t really matter if you’re a Flying Colonel or Joe Sixpack.

I don’t know who the Delta liaison is for American Express, but know a few folks at Delta. I contacted one of them on Petty’s behalf.

The next morning, I heard from Petty:

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I cannot even begin to describe how thankful I am to you for assisting me in this matter!

Delta seemed extremely happy to fix American Express’ mistake, and I received a call from Delta today, informing me that they would be placing the 10,000 MQM into my account by the end of the day.

Thank you so very much! You accomplished more in less than 24-hours than I was able to do in 3 months of e-mails with American Express.

I’m happy to have helped, and glad that Delta could come through for this customer.

As many of you know, I’m not too keen on loyalty programs, because they benefit the airline more than they do you. But here’s one case in which the scales were tipped in the customer’s favor — even for just a moment.Similar Posts:

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If you’ve ever been broadsided by unexpected taxes, fees and surcharges when you booked an airline ticket, then fire up your email program now and send a letter to your senator. Ask him or her to support the Clear Airfare Amendment that Sen. Robert Menendez introduced this morning.

The amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Bill (PDF), which will be considered by the Senate next week, is simple: It requires airlines and travel agents to disclose the full price of a ticket, including taxes and fees, right up front. (Other governments, including Australia and Europe, already do this.)

But there’s more. The amendment would also make them disclose any fees for checked baggage, seating assignments, and optional in-flight goods and services, and other fees that may be charged after the ticket is purchased — all prior to submitting any personal information.

This goes a long way to disclosing a “total” price and would allow air travelers to easily and fairly compare airfares.

Here’s the full amendment:

Purpose: To ensure that all consumers are able to easily and fairly compare airfares and other costs applicable to tickets for air transportation, including all taxes and fees.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES-111th Cong., 2d Sess.
H.R.1586

AMENDMENT intended to be proposed by Mr. MENENDEZ to the amendment (No. 3452) proposed by Mr. ROCKEFELLER

Viz:

At the end of subtitle A of title IV, add the following:

SEC. 407. NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO THE SALE OF AIRLINE TICKETS.

(a) IN GENERAL.-The Office of Aviation Consumer Protection and Enforcement of the Department of Transportation shall establish rules to ensure that all consumers are able to easily and fairly compare airfares and other costs applicable to tickets for air transportation, including all taxes and fees.

(b) NOTICE OF TAXES AND FEES APPLICABLE TO TICKETS FOR AIR TRANSPORTATION.-Section 41712, as amended by this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following:

(d) NOTICE OF TAXES AND FEES APPLICABLE TO TICKETS FOR AIR TRANSPORTATION.-

IN GENERAL.-It shall be an unfair or deceptive practice under subsection (a) for an air carrier, foreign air carrier, or ticket agent to sell a ticket for air transportation unless the air carrier, foreign air carrier, or ticket agent, as the case may be-

“(A) displays information with respect to the taxes and fees described in paragraph (2), including the amount and a description of each such tax or fee, simultaneously with and in reasonable proximity to the price listed for the ticket; and

“(B) in the case of a ticket for air transportation sold on the Internet, provides to the purchaser of the ticket information with respect to the taxes and fees described in paragraph (2), including the amount and a description of each such tax or fee, before requiring the purchaser to provide any personal information, including the name, address, phone number, e-mail address, or credit card information of the purchaser.

“(2) TAXES AND FEES DESCRIBED.-The taxes and fees described in this paragraph are all taxes, fees, and charges applicable to a ticket for air transportation, including-

“(A) all taxes, fees, charges, and surcharges included in the price paid by a purchaser for the ticket, including fuel surcharges and surcharges relating to peak or holiday travel and

“(B) any fees for checked baggage, seating assignments, and optional in-flight goods and services, and other fees that may be charged after the ticket is purchased.”.

(c) REGULATIONs.-The Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out subsection (d) of section 41712 of title 49, United States Code, as added by subsection (b) of this section.

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Remember the “America-only” provision in Expedia’s Best Price Guarantee? Earlier this week, I wrote about reader Craig Simpson’s efforts to persuade the online agency to adjust his rate at a hotel in Antigua after he found a lower rate on the property’s Web site.

But Expedia’s price warranty had a provision that “in the unlikely event that you find a lower rate on Expedia.com or on another U.S.-based website within 24 hours of booking with Expedia.com, we will credit or refund to you the difference.”

Not only did Expedia honor his rate after I got involved. Now it’s also also changed its policy.

Last night, I received the following note from Expedia:

Good news to report. We did a scrub of the terms and conditions for this aspect of the Best Price Guarantee and we decided to make a change.

We now cover a broader set of partners by changing the wording to “English-language” websites (rather than “US-based” websites).

Thanks again for bringing it to our attention. I’m pleased that we’ve been able to use this case as an opportunity to improve our policy and better serve our customers.

This is good news. And I’m very pleased that Expedia decided to revisit its price guarantee after Simpson’s case.

But does this mean I think these price guarantees are worth the virtual ink they’re printed on? I’m not sure I’d go that far — yet. Price guarantees are chock full of fine print, including strict limits on time, categories and vacation-package components.

The bottom line for customers is that making a claim on Expedia’s price guarantee is still difficult, but not as difficult as it was before.

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First, the good news: The government this morning announced that the number of overall traffic fatalities reported at the end of 2009 reached the lowest level since 1954, a new record.

Now the bad news: The boss is still unhappy.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood dismissed the results in a blog post this morning:

I am … disturbed that we are still talking about nearly 34,000 preventable deaths a year. There are still too many people dying in traffic accidents every year. Just too many.

What’s not to be happy about?

Traffic fatalities declined for the 15th consecutive quarter, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The projected fatality data for 2009 places the highway death count at 33,963, a drop of 8.9 percent as compared to the 37,261 deaths reported in 2008, according to the government.

The fatality rate for 2009 declined to the lowest on record, to 1.16 fatalities per 100 million Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) down from 1.25 fatalities per 100 million VMT in 2008.

Any way you look at these numbers, they’re great news for the American motorist. Simply put, our roads have never been safer.

But holding up a “Mission Accomplished” banner might endanger LaHood’s pet project on distracted driving — a project we’d all be wise to support, by the way.

Then again, maybe LaHood can’t leave well enough alone.

We will be breaking down the numbers over the next few months to see where we have the best opportunities to reduce the number of traffic deaths even further. Because, although these numbers are moving in the right direction, we won’t rest while there are still deaths on America’s roads.

It would be nice to see that kind of zeal applied to consumer protections for airline passengers.

The DOT has signaled an interest in standing up for the rights of air travelers by increasing enforcement of existing regulations and creating new rules that would help passengers. But it still has a long way to go.

What do I mean? Well, try booking an airline ticket online, and you’ll see. Disclosure of a full ticket price is lax. Airlines continue to lure us in with a low base fare and then pile on the extras for everything from checked luggage to the ability to reserve a seat.

I hope that disturbs Ray LaHood. Something tells me it does.

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Everyone knows that hotel rates can fluctuate from day to day. But when Preston Moore tried to book a room at the JW Marriott Denver at Cherry Creek, he was surprised to find they wanted to raise his rate by $130 from one day to the next — a price he says he couldn’t afford.

Can Marriott do that?

Yes it can.

Moore was in town for a wedding, and the family’s contract for a wedding rate began on a Thursday. So an early arrival like him would have to pay whatever price Marriott asked.

Moore explains:

I work at a school in Norfolk, Va., and make little money, so saving costs is a must when I travel. My cousin is getting married on July 31 in Denver.

The best deal I can get on a flight is using Frontier Airlines which flies direct from Newport News to Denver. That flight is just over $200, which is about half what I could find for other airlines. That flight leaves on Wednesday, July 28, and returns on Sunday.

They do not have a Thursday flight. My problem is the JW Marriott Cherry Creek in Denver will not honor the wedding rate for the room on that Wednesday night that I arrive in Denver. I am traveling with my girlfriend who is also a teacher. The wedding rate is $169 per night, but they want to charge me $299 for the Wednesday night.

I believe that they should charge the wedding rate as that is the only reason I’m using their hotel. (My cousin has all the shuttles and a few of the meals lined up to be at the Marriott.) What can I do to get them to honor this rate?

Well, I agree that it would be nice of Marriott to honor that price. But does it have to? No.

I checked with my Marriott contact. “I understand the predicament,” he told me. “But typically we have to abide but what’s in the contract.”

But in this situation, Moore wasn’t asking Marriott to lower its contract rate — just to match it. That doesn’t sound like an unreasonable request to me. Still, the hotel might be full and if the price is higher, the price is higher.

Moore could have made a polite request in writing, which probably would have been declined. As an alternative, he and his girlfriend might have considered another hotel for Wednesday night. Denver has lots of terrific properties that cost less than $299 a night, or even $169 a night.

I asked Marriott to take another look at Moore’s request. Even though it didn’t have to honor the wedding rate on Wednesday, it decided to make an exception for their guest.

That’s good customer service. Nice work, Marriott.

Update: After numerous complaints, I’ve changed the headline on this post.

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