The cruise ship virus is back. Why did we fire the health inspectors, again?
Norovirus has already claimed its first victims at sea this year. Things may be about to get a whole lot worse.
Christopher Elliott
Is the TSA finally at its breaking point?
The Transportation Security Administration is facing an existential crisis.
In Houston, wait times at the screening area hit three hours this week. Atlanta and Philadelphia had to close entire checkpoints because they didn’t have enough staff. Now there’s talk of entire airports shutting down because of insufficient TSA screeners.
Your credit card isn’t as safe as you think when you travel. Here’s the fix.
Eric Finkel thought he’d dodged a bullet on a recent visit to Vietnam. His hotel “accidentally” charged his credit card $1,500 instead of the correct amount of $66. The staff immediately cancelled the erroneous charge right in front of him.
My milk frother quit just after the warranty expired. What are my rights?
When Andrew Fogel’s milk frother sputters to a stop right after the warranty ends, he gets steamed. Fogel rarely used his Paris Rhône appliance before it died. And now the manufacturer wants to offer him only a discount towards a new machine. Can it do that?
Avis charged me $250 for smoking weed in my rental car. But I don’t even smoke!
Gary Mullen-Schultz thought he was getting a reliable rental when he picked up a vehicle from Avis in Sacramento. Instead, he got something else — a vehicle that reeked of marijuana. Now Avis wants him to pay $250 to get rid of the smell. Can it do that?
Hyatt ignored these 80-year-olds’ pleas — then hit them with a $53,678 bill
Beverly and Larry Burmeier learned a painful lesson about the timeshare industry recently: Sometimes no doesn’t mean no. Sometimes it means, “Yes, I’ll sign whatever contract you put in front of me.”
Have travelers become their own worst enemy?
The coconut smoothie test is hardly a scientific way of determining if you’re a savvy traveler. But it’s highly effective.
The government wants to know everything about your last trip
Marilyn Kaufman didn’t realize she was inviting an observer into her living room when she signed up for a lower car insurance rate. To secure a discount, her insurance company required her to keep a driving-tracker app active on her phone all the time. It monitored her braking and acceleration, but it also followed her while she walked her dog or sat at her kitchen table.
Are airline tickets too expensive?
If you haven’t looked at airfares lately, you might want to sit down before you read this. The numbers on the screen aren’t a glitch. They’re the shocking new reality of a Middle East conflict.
Sustainability meets serenity (and a surprise) on Germany’s Baltic coast
The Baltic Sea islands of Rügen and Usedom are known for their serenity — those quiet postcard-perfect days during the summer when the calm ocean waters reflect a cloudless sky. But this part of northern Germany, a long-cherished vacation spot for Europeans, also has its secrets.