Jennifer Kucinski lives in Kansas City. Her father lives in Orlando. Make that lived in Orlando.
death
Sometimes, even death isn’t a good enough reason for a refund.
A death certificate can be a trump card for travelers who want a refund. Whether you’re locked into a nonrefundable hotel room or a consolidator ticket, proof of a relative’s death can loosen the rules — if not get them waived entirely.
David Walters’ wife passes away before they can fly from Dallas to Midland, Texas. But when he asks his online travel agency for a refund, it refuses, saying the airline will only offer a credit. But dead passengers can’t use a flight credit — or can they?
The TSA’s response to Osama Bin Laden’s death last week couldn’t have been less clear — or more self-serving.
When Cheryl Ellis’ mother dies unexpectedly before her vacation, she’s told by her insurance company to cancel her trip and that the claim will be taken care of. But it isn’t — instead, it’s denied because of a pre-existing condition. But her mother died of natural causes. What now?
Rules are rules, but what happens when a travel company promises it will bend them? That’s the question Rebekah Conlon wants to answer. Her rental car, booked through Priceline, was non-refundable and non-changeable, and she knew it.
Behind the scenes, employees often grumble that their customers would do anything to get a deal. They justify their own misrepresentations by saying consumers lie, too.
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.
After a death in the family, Art Wallace tries to cancel his pre-paid reservation at a Days Inn. No can do, he’s told. The rate is totally nonrefundable. Appeals to Days Inn are useless. Is Wallace going to lose the money?
Michele Keller was all set to take a dream vacation to the Dominican Republic through Apple Vacations last year, when her significant other fell ill. After he took an unexpected turn for the worse, she learned that the insurance on her vacation didn’t cover her the way she though it would. Now she’s holding a voucher for a vacation she’s never likely to use.
Chou recently experienced a family tragedy. Just two weeks before his wedding day, his father died unexpectedly. He had to postpone his wedding and honeymoon in order to take care of the funeral arrangements.
I had to wonder what was wrong after numerous travel agents posted furious responses to today’s story about an agent that acted in an apparently unethical manner. Why were they being so defensive of a colleague who probably ought to be looking for another line of work?
Laura Brown is the acting assistant administrator for communications at the Federal Aviation Administration. After the death of Billy Mays yesterday, she was quoted as saying the TV pitchman wasn’t wearing a seatbelt on a plane that made an emergency landing. I asked her about the interview and the importance of seatbelts.
Believe it or not, the latest celebrity death has a travel angle. TV pitchman Billy Mays, who was found dead in his Tampa home this morning, was a passenger on a US Airways flight yesterday. His son first reported the news on Twitter. And here’s where things get a little weird. The highly respected TV [...]
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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