The Travel Troubleshooter is a weekly consumer column that solves travel problems. Missing cruise refunds, lousy airline service, car rental surcharges — it’s all fair game for this feature. Each story presents a problem and fixes it in a quick Q&A format.
American Airlines bumped Nicholle Acciarri from an oversold flight to Cleveland, and a gate agent promised her $650. She rented a car and drove home. Then the airline offered just a $250 credit and called it an equipment downgrade instead.
George Meyer’s voucher promised unlimited mileage on a 27-day rental in France. Then he returned the car three hours late at Charles de Gaulle, and Europcar billed him $650 for additional kilometers. Can a short delay void an unlimited contract?
Canceled without consent, then charged $360 more to rebook the same two hotel rooms. The company admitted its error. How the refund was finally won.
Cindy Woodring booked a 10-day cruise at $479 a person, applied a credit, and paid in full. Her confirmation said paid. Three days later, Holland America said the fare was an error and wanted $1,530 more, or she could cancel.
Mila Schoun and his wife paid $3,274 for premium economy from Miami to Prague and back. On the long-haul leg home, Swiss downgraded them to economy. Then it claimed it had paid them with a cash card they never received.
Michael Hughes prepaid his Spain and Portugal tour a year early, to lock the price. Then his flight was canceled, the operator rebooked him and mailed a bill for $670 more. The price lock, it said, did not cover airfare.
Deborah Keck upgraded to a suite on the Star Princess, paid the $1,449 she was quoted, and got a confirmation reading paid in full. Months later Princess added $3,967 to her booking and said pay, downgrade, or lose the cruise.
Dennis Drake returned his Dollar rental car in Albuquerque, told the agent about the leaky tire and the engine light, and flew home to Texas. Weeks later, Dollar billed him as if he still had the Jeep, and threatened repossession.
Aaron McIntosh rented through the Avis Uber program to drive for a living. Avis billed his account erratically, his bank froze it, and while he waited for a new card he asked Avis one question: should I return the car?
A family emergency forced Christine Grosart to return her Avis rental in Spain early. Instead of a smaller bill, she got a bigger one, an unexpected charge that nearly doubled the cost. Nobody had told her early returns cost more.
