If you can answer “yes” to the eternal question, “Are we there yet?” then you probably need a survival manual for the first day of vacation. The 24 hours after you arrive are among the busiest and most stressful — the unpacking and settling in, the arguing, and the inevitable chaos.
It’s T-minus 12 hours before we leave. In some ways, it’s the worst part of the vacation countdown. Everything’s half-done.
Millions of other travelers will experience the same thing this summer in the agonizing hours and minutes before their departure.
Kids do the darndest things on vacation. Their antics include dangling off cliffs in Utah, immersing themselves to the icy waves of the Gulf of Alaska, and braving some of the world’s most hazardous roads in Africa. I know because that’s what my children have done — and it scared the living daylights out of me.
Alyson McFarland’s Alitalia problem may be solvable. She’d missed her flight from Johannesburg to Tunis even though she showed up at the airport on time. But the solution isn’t going to make her happy, and it probably won’t make you happy, either.
At first, Beverly Parker’s Greyhound bus problem looked like a slam dunk case. Valuables had gone missing from her checked luggage during a recent trip from Birmingham, Ala., to Albion, Mich. And Greyhound wasn’t exactly breaking a land speed record to help her. But then I read the details of her request, and a simple case suddenly became complicated. It wasn’t the $150,000 claim amount that fazed me. My computer adds a few extra characters if I don’t release the zero key fast enough. I was certain that was a typo.It was everything else.
Staying home may not be your idea of a vacation, but more people are reportedly considering a “staycation” this year than any time since the Great Recession.To which I say: Go for it! Staying home can teach you so much about having a better vacation.
Cristina Falcon wants to know if her ticket refund problem is her mistake or a Lufthansa mistake. After all, the fare she chose said “refundable.” But is a refund from Lufthansa even possible for her?
Lindsey Clark wants to return her seven-year-old mattress. She claims it has a manufacturer’s defect. But is something else going on?
Did Renata Lambert steal a TV from her rental apartment in Warsaw, Poland? Lambert says she didn’t, but her host insists she did. Now the two parties are locked in a dispute over an Airbnb theft that she thinks I can settle. Lambert’s case raises questions that have no easy answer. How do you prove a guest took something from your rental? If you’re a guest, how do you prove it wasn’t you? And what’s Airbnb’s role in mediating these conflicts?
Atif Shabbirdin’s wife is denied boarding on EasyJet because a representative incorrectly believes she doesn’t have the right visa to fly from Spain to England. Even after the airline promises a refund of her airfare and out-of-pocket expenses, EasyJet leaves her waiting. What’s going on?
