First aid for travel | elliott.org

The Travel Critic

This site's flagship leisure travel column first appeared online in 1997 as The Crabby Traveler on ABCNews.com. It moved to CNN.com in 2000 and was called Going Off. The Travel Critic now appears on this site and in select other media outlets.

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» Cruise lines try to lure more first-timers

» A no-show nightmare

» Skipping your port

» A summer troubleshooter

» Seven money-saving secrets

» A sick seatmate

» Kids on planes!

» More seats on planes

» Low fares vanish

» Best seat on the plane

» Resort fees: the sequel

» Who polices the ships?

» Never say this

» I want my boarding pass!

» Hotels let guests feel the pain

» A new emphasis on service

» Bird flu jitters

» Feeling the burn in your room

» Maps that steer you wrong

» Opulent Orlando

» A babymoon boom

» Where is your hotel?

» Check your cancellation

» Retailers offer rebates

» Getting a view with your room

» Slow posting of mileage credits

» And now a word from the sponsor

» 8 rules for travel in 2005

» Airlines blacklist passengers

» Miles can vanish into thin air

» Getting off the security watchlist

» Luxury ships, lower prices

» Do our points have a future?

» A cellphone mystery

» Getting the deceiver rate

» Fares take a fall

» Hotels get pushy about their loyalty programs

» Dialing for car rental discounts

» Hotels, again profitable, are adding surcharges

» Travelers feel pressure at car rental counters

» Europe after March 11

» Kiosk to my room

» It's all about the bed

» Car rental companies talk of total pricing

» Cruising the virtual seas

» The price is right

» Frequent sighers

» High times in winter

» Avoiding fly traps

» A midwinter night's dream

» Up scale, down fee

» Are we lost yet?

» Posh, not pricey

» Cruising for less

» Saturday night's all right

» $200 a night, bed extra

» Orbitz takes off

» A turbulent time for the bottom line

» Blame it on the weather

» No more kids fly free?

» Airline reform takes off

» If inexpensive is your theme...

» How's the food up there?

» Alternate airports get alternates

» Continental offers relief for XL fliers

» Searching for 'hidden cities'

» Whew! Time for a vacation

» Hey taxi driver! Get me there in one piece

» Bothered & badgered at b&bs

» Ticked at seat kickers

» When travel goes really wrong

» The lowdown on high-altitude 'news'

» What a tangled web we weave

» Truth not always a frequent flier

» Their version of the truth

» Time to ban airline miles?

» Lose the chocolates, keep the phones

» Spring cleaning at 36,000 feet

» Carrying on in the luggage wars

» A guide to hotel doublespeak

» All passengers not created equal

» Shipboard safecracker raises security questions

» Is the travel industry ruining our music?

» The joys of the red-eye

» First-class turbulence in 'third class'

» Airlines punish back-to-back passengers

» Travel's bad reputation not entirely deserved

» Potty break denied

» Dial a rant: res agents get snippy

» Don't bet on bargains in 2000

» Compulsive cruisers hit the seven seas

» Travel gifts gone awry

» Lies, lies, lies

» Fear of flying misplaced

» Highway robbery: bad road stops

» Con Air with kids

» New year's nightmares

» Compromised concierges

» Payback for airlines

» Thrills for sale: deadly adventures

» Calling for trouble

» Annoying lists

» New hope for macho drivers?

» First class fading fast

» Waiting at the gate

» That's a wrap!

» Stale air up there

» Don't do their bidding

» Long lines, short tempers

» Fast food rules on the road

» Attendants with attitude

» Read that, seen that

» Bad news? What bad news?

» Cattle call at the airport

» Airlines ignore web whines

» Road rage on holiday

» Gay travelers rap United

» Rooms and boards

» Addicted to miles

» Fed up with flying

» Kiddie meals redefined

» Fight or flight?

» How hotels get the goods

» Pets on planes?

» In the doghouse

» Ban the bins?

» Cramping your style

» Noisy neighbors

» Be kind to gatekeepers

» Ban babies on board?

» Reckless in rentals

» Travelers fret over Y2K

» Wedging in wide bodies

» Flying by the rules

» Fire your airline

» Smoking scuffles hit travelers

» Lock 'em

» Battle for bookings

» Flying the stormy skies

» Online booking travails

» Airlines less accessible

» Telling airline time

» Goodbye to all that

» Fight for your rights

» Avoid white elephants

» Mile-high madness

» Germs fly free

» Name that airport

» Shuffle by United

» Bugged by buggies

» Airing dirty laundry

» Nosing around

» Clueing in passengers

» Top airport annoyances

» Lost in cyberspace

» Myths travel fast

» Adding padding

» Ditch first class

» Can first class

» Driving up prices

» Morals take a holiday

» Agents fight back

» Trashing travel agents

» Angling for upgrades

» No booze? No way!

» Flying high

» Solomangarephobia

» Space invaders

» Break out of chains

» Runway run-ins

» One-way ticket rip-off

» In praise of Ontario airport

» Can you trust a travel writer?

» Stuck with seatmates

» A pox on the passengers

» Fight the power

» Making nice with mechanics

» Lavs: measure of a good airline

» Attendants strike back

» Ringing up charges

» Shoved off Southwest

» Insecurity complex

» Lost luggage lament

» Creative delays

» Miles with a smile

» Bring your own T-bone

» Cabin fever rages

» The great minibar markup

» Forget flying - take the train

» Putting the squeeze on knees

» Piling on the perks

» Dissing Denver International

» Magnets messing up laptops?

» Who's to blame for a bad year?

» Gadgets for laptop lovers

» Seeking comfort in economy class

» Totally useless travel gifts

» Free cell phones are costly

» Rental lots get remote