It looked like a lost cause.
policy
Nina Boal needs a travel insurance policy. But with so many choices out there, which one should she buy?
Just a few days before the busy holiday travel period, the Transportation Security Administration has decided to change the rules of flying – again.
Yotel is a Japanese-style capsule hotel at London’s Heathrow airport. It won the Business Travel World Award for best accommodations — a fact that its managers repeat endlessly in their email signatures. But volcanic eruptions? Not their problem.
After my recent luggage standoff with an American Airlines gate agent in Orlando, which ended with her threatening to charge me $100 to check my regulation-size bags on my return flight, a lot of you have asked me how the journey home went.
It was just a matter of time before Southwest Airlines, which started accepting pets as passengers earlier this year, got into a dog-fight with a customer. Actually, this one’s more of a cat fight.
When Stewart Sheinfeld redeemed 10,000 Starwood points for a night at the W Chicago Lakeshore, he found a strange new rule at the bottom of his confirmation. It said if he canceled his room after 6 p.m. on the day of his arrival, he wouldn’t just lose his points — he’d also have to pay $689.
If airlines can redefine the meaning of a day, then why can’t hotels? At least one of them is, according to reader Catena Fugazotto. She recently booked two rooms at a Super 8 in Norwich, NY, for her daughter’s graduation. She was told she could cancel either one if she called within 24 hours of her stay. Trouble is, they couldn’t agree on when her stay actually begins.
Fumiko Seguchi did everything by the book on her recent flight to Tokyo. She confirmed her departure 24 hours in advance. She secured a seat assignment. And she arrived more than two hours before departure. It wasn’t enough.
Kristin Luna reserves a car in Austin, Texas but when she checks in, her car rental company is out of vehicles. She’s free to rent from another company, but will have to pay an extra $245. Shouldn’t her car rental company or travel agent help her?
It’s not every day that I republish a complaint letter in its entirety. Then again, it’s not every day that an airline does the right thing without yours truly getting involved. Maybe it was the letter. Or maybe it was the fact that the airline in question was Southwest.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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