Luz Marquez’s rental van gets a flat tire, and so does the spare. The family’s Southern California trip is ruined when their van spends the entire vacation in a repair shop. Now their car rental company wants to charge them for the rental, plus the damage. Can it do that?
INSURANCE
Joel Peterson says it does — or at least did — when he booked a hotel room through Priceline in February. He made a name-your-own-price bid, which he says was accepted, along with an unwanted trip insurance policy.
When Gary Kawesch books airline tickets through Orbitz, he finds a $24 charge for travel insurance that he never bought. Or thought he never bought. Can he get a refund, or is he stuck with something he never meant to order?
The estimate for a nine-day car rental in Panama was just $177, a bargain that Lawrence Lubertozzi couldn’t say “no” to. But maybe he should have: When Lubertozzi and his wife returned the vehicle to National Rent-A-Car in January, they were charged $376.
Let me start by saying that I like Orbitz. I like its new CEO, Barney Harford. I like the hard-working folks in its customer service department. I like the way it uses technology to improve your trip. But I do not like the way it pre-checks the option to buy travel insurance when you’re booking [...]
Angie Zimmerman calls United Airlines to fix a seat assignment and ends up with a mysterious $35 fee. The airline says it’s for insurance, but she insists she never bought the policy. Her credit card sides with United in a dispute. Is she out of options?
The Oberramergau Passion Play is a once-in-a-lifetime experience — an event held every decade — and this was to have been Bente Krarup’s year to experience it. But then tragedy struck twice, and now she is may have paid for a trip she can’t take.
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.
Here’s a truly strange case, brought to you by the H1N1 virus and our friends at Access America. You might say Marian Levin’s claim was denied on a technicality. An important technicality that I’ll get to in a moment. But it’s how her problem was resolved that’s even more interesting: Her travel insurance company turned [...]
Ahem. Are we forgetting something? The debate about health-care reform seems to be ignoring a significant group of Americans: international travelers.
Does your health insurance cover you when you leave the country? A survey commissioned by the US Travel Insurance Association suggests you aren’t.
Gordon Houston prepaid $97 for a rental car in Cancun through Hotwire — a rate that was supposed to include all required fees. But then his car rental company, Europcar, added a mandatory insurance charge to his bill, leaving him with a $268 bill. Who pays? In the short term, Houston shelled out the extra [...]
Remember Prime Travel protection, the Colorado travel insurance company that shut down amid allegations it sold unlicensed policies? Turns out it’s not dead yet.
When Jessica Santangelo and her husband check in at the Hertz rental counter in Zagreb, they’re told they have to buy insurance. But Santangelo had been told she was fully covered before her trip. Should Hertz refund her insurance now that she’s home?
Colorado has issued a cease and desist order again Prime Travel Protection, the bankrupt travel insurance company based in Arvada, Colo. The move caps an extensive investigation by the state and comes on the heels of a similar action by Florida.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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