As the hour of the House Subcommittee on Aviation hearing on airline fees draws closer, I’m amused by the number of self-appointed consumer advocates who have come forward to claim this issue as their own. And troubled.
TRAVEL
I probably shouldn’t be writing this. I have a 102-degree fever, but I can’t sleep. That Peggy Lee song is going through my head. Over and over. You know which one.
Wow, that was some trip.
A stolen bag. Lost cash. A missing passport.
If you’ve recently been the unlucky recipient of a rejection letter from your airline, hotel or car rental company, you’re in good company. The travel industry appears to be sending out more form letters than ever.
Forgetting to read the fine print. Not packing a change of clothes. Confusing a.m. and p.m.
Want to hear the latest stupid-passenger joke? Just hang out near the galley on your next flight, and you might catch the attendants poking fun of our gullibility — and geographic illiteracy.
The Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals is holding its annual conference in Atlanta this week, and I was fortunate enough to be an invited speaker. I shared my thoughts about travel and customer service with a select group of SOCAP members from the travel industry yesterday.
Here’s a story that’s familiar to anyone traveling to and from Europe in the last week: Erupting volcano. Canceled flight. Nothing to do but hit the Internet for some help.
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.
Travelers who complain to the government — particularly the federal government — get such empty promises as “look into the problem,” form letters, or no response at all.
Accidents happen when you travel. The bad accidents — the fender-benders, the missed airline connections the unfortunate food-borne illnesses — are the ones that come to mind first, of course.
As self-described “adventurous grandparents,” Trevor and Jean Broome had been looking forward to their upcoming trip to Costa Rica, which included diving, hiking, snorkeling and whitewater rafting.
I’ve been following today’s announcement about Apple’s new iPad, and wondering what all of this means for travelers.
Carolyn Fletcher’s honeymoon started heading south the moment she and her husband landed in Cancun. No one was there to pick up the newlyweds. It took an hour for her to convince a van service to deliver them to their hotel. But when they checked into their four-star resort in Akumal, they discovered it was [...]
Which 10 blogs should you bookmark next year?
Steph Ulyett’s airline ticket should have said “Stephanie” of course, but she’s always gone by Steph, so that’s the name her partner typed into Expedia when he reserved their flights to Chicago.
When Judy Galliher of Silver Spring sent me her hotel horror story, I had a reflexive, Scrappy Doo-like reaction: Lemme at ‘em!
Good news, fellow travelers: The worst of the travel downturn may be over.
