What kind of Karma is this? I can’t even connect to the internet with it
Linda Dutrow’s Karma hotspot can’t connect to the internet. The company won’t help her, so she turns to our advocacy team for help.
Christopher Elliott
No Expedia refund after his neighbor’s sudden death. Is this fair?
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.
Help! My three-piece bonded leather living room set from Abbyson is peeling
Jeri Lynn Wentz’s new living room set from Abbyson is peeling. Why won’t BJ’s Wholesale Club help her?
‘Unless your mother is dead, there’s nothing we can do and this conversation is over’
When Kim Davidson’s mother fell deathly ill just before a planned vacation to Greece, she asked Swiss International if she could postpone the family trip. But sometimes, what an airline says and what a customer hears are not the same thing. Now Davidson wants to know if she has any chance at a Swiss refund.
Can Southwest Airlines extend my ticket credit? I have cancer.
Tammy Davies wants to know: “Can Southwest Airlines extend my ticket credit?” After all, she’s recovering from cancer.
What to do if you get into legal trouble abroad
Oh, the legal trouble Americans get themselves into when they’re abroad.
But there are ways to stay out of trouble, and steps you can take to help yourself if you should fall into it.
Airline offering a voucher? Just say no!
Beware of funny money, fellow travelers. Airlines, hotels and cruise lines are quicker than ever to push vouchers into your unhappy hands when something goes wrong and you’re owed a refund or apology. But think twice before you say “yes,” because you might be forking over your hard-earned money without even realizing it.
These “truly evil” charity scams follow every storm. Don’t get taken by them
If 2017 was a record year for national disasters, then it was a disastrous year for charity scams.
It’s difficult to estimate the size of these swindles. The site Charity Navigator says total giving to charitable organizations hit $390 billion in 2016, an increase of 2.7 percent. A separate UK study estimates that charity fraud amounted to $3.1 billion in 2017.
The worst hotel ever? This traveler thinks he found it
Myron Schuur thought he’d found a deal through Orbitz to stay at the American Inn Benton Harbor in Michigan. And he had — but it wasn’t the deal he expected.
“The first thing we noticed was a terrible odor in the halls,” he says. “It was like a mixture of cigarette smoke, dust and stale air. The walls had been poorly patched and painted over.”