For Carol Margolis, it was an almost-ruptured eardrum.
From the category archives:
The Travel Critic
One minute I was rolling my carry-on bag along the concourse floor at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The next, I was arguing with a useless box on wheels — and dreading what would happen to my back if I had to carry it.
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.
It’s no secret the airline industry wants you to pay extra for everything. And I really mean everything.
Resort fees. Mandatory tips. Concierge surcharges. If you’ve stayed at a hotel in the last few years, you’ve become accustomed — if not anesthetized — to these annoying extras. You expect them. You’re indifferent to them when they appear on your bill. You shouldn’t be.
David Harm is worried about his wife’s ticket to Omsk, Russia. When he made her reservation through Aeroflot’s Web site, his finger slipped — “I hit the ‘L’ key instead of the ‘K’ key” — and misspelled his wife’s last name (“Slirtenko” instead of “Skirtenko”).
It used to be so simple: The price you were quoted for an airline ticket, rental car or cruise used to be the price you actually paid.
Carolyn Fletcher’s honeymoon started heading south the moment she and her husband landed in Cancun. No one was there to pick up the newlyweds.
It took an hour for her to convince a van service to deliver them to their hotel. But when they checked into their four-star resort in Akumal, they discovered it was a [...]
Waiting. That’s the worst mistake a traveler can make these days.
Steph Ulyett’s airline ticket should have said “Stephanie” of course, but she’s always gone by Steph, so that’s the name her partner typed into Expedia when he reserved their flights to Chicago.
This was supposed to be a feel-good column for the holidays, where I asked readers what kind of presents they wanted from the travel industry, and all of the resulting good tidings left us warm and fuzzy. And then I talked with you.
I’m not sure how a fully inflated beach ball got in my hotel room.
The ornamental blue vase next to the flat-screen TV? Not entirely certain about that, either.
But shortly after we checked in for the weekend, the two met. My four-year-old son couldn’t wait to get to the beach so he could play with his [...]
Ask Suzy Bennett how she’s approaching the 2009 holiday travel season, and she’ll tell you she isn’t.
These are hard times for clothing-optional travelers.
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