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.
From the category archives:
Elliott Blog
Everyone knows airline refunds can take a long time. But how long is too long? A month? Three months? Six months?
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.
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 a [...]
Are the government’s airline cops about to get tough on crime? The Department of Transportation says it is, and now there’s new evidence that it’s following through.
I never meant to openly challenge American Airlines’ indefensible policy of charging those who can least afford it – budget-conscious leisure travelers – for the first checked bag. I had no intention of making a scene when I boarded a flight to Dallas with my family this morning.
Bedbugs.
Just the mention of these tiny, bloodsucking insects is enough to send a veteran road warrior packing. But what does a hotel owe you if you’ve been ravaged by a swarm of Cimex lectularius during your stay?
No, that’s not an academic question.
I wish it was. So does Hilton. So does Diane Lapin, who claims she [...]
Florida’s Department of Financial Services is in the early stages of a far-reaching investigation into the activities of Palm Coast Travel and its affiliated companies, according to documents released this week under the state’s Public Records Act.
The documents also raise new questions about the relationship between Access America, the largest travel insurance company in the [...]
Here’s a common problem for travelers who book a hotel room online: Once they “confirm” their accommodations with a credit card, the hotel doesn’t assign a room, leaving them wondering if they’ll have a place to stay.
Most hotels offer less expensive, nonrefundable rates that can’t be changed, no matter what your circumstances. Book them through a site like Hotwire, and they’re extra nonrefundable, because of the site’s strict no-cancel, no-refund, no-change policies. Or are they?
As I reported last week, Palm Coast Travel and its companies, including Smartcruiser.com, are headed to a hearing with a Florida administrative law judge to determine if it sold unlicensed travel insurance. This is an important story, because fake “trip protection” policies are known to have been sold to people across the country for years, potentially costing travelers millions of dollars in lost vacations.
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