The Fourth Estate is freaking out about the Department of Homeland Security’s new journalist database. But before you dismiss this as an inside baseball story, let’s consider the effect of keeping tabs on people like me will have on the news you get.
This is a story about red tape and inflexibility, starring a wildfire, a small British Columbia inn called Becker’s Lodge, and one of our readers.
It is also a story without a happy ending but plenty of lessons — including the need for lots of research before you make a reservation.
There’s no survival guide for long road trips with kids, but maybe there should be.
Chances are, you’ll drive somewhere in the next few weeks, and you’ll probably need one. Last Memorial Day, for example, an estimated 28 million Americans hit the road — the most since 2005 — prompting AAA to declare that the great American road trip is back.
John Mardall signed a Europcar contract that added $135 to his car rental bill in England. He wishes he hadn’t. He shouldn’t have. But he did.
Mardall’s case is a cautionary tale about car rental agreements and the difference between a quote and a contract. It is also a frustrating exercise in “gotcha” travel pricing from which there is no easy way out, at least for him.
When the top of Joseph Hill’s new Kenmore washing machine shatters into a thousand pieces, he calls Sears for help. And waits. And waits. Will his appliance ever get fixed?
Technically, the check scam Pamela Kelley fell for is a business-to-business issue. But it’s so awful, and has so many applications in the real world, that I had to write something about it — and perhaps even advocate her case.
Today I have a Toyota switched lease case that just might be unsolvable. I’ll let you tell me if you think it is — or isn’t.
That’s right, it’s time for another Should I Take The Case?, a feature that gives you the chance to tell me what to do. (Haven’t you always wanted to do that?) This one shows the importance of reading the contract on your car lease very carefully
Are you allowed to take pictures on planes? Yes and no.
On a recent American Airlines flight from Santiago, Chile, to Dallas, Natalie Root had a front-row seat for an unpleasant confrontation. The aircraft she boarded happened to be a new Boeing Dreamliner, and her friend, an aviation buff, wanted to snap a few pictures of the plane’s interior as it taxied down the runway. Big mistake.
Home exchanges may be the oldest trend in lodging. Older, even, than the modern hotel. They’re also the newest thing, to hear some travelers talk about it.
Attention consumers: You need to know these legal concepts. But you probably don’t.
Consumers don’t always understand the law — and that can hurt them.
