What to do if your hotel doesn’t exist
For just $89 a night, the all-suite hotel in Killeen, Tex., promised Steven Hoybook and his family “European-style luxury” – an offer that seemed too good to pass up.
HOTEL
Why are families drowning in travel fees?
After Eric Kodish finished making his reservation at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani in Honolulu’s Waikiki Beach for the upcoming Christmas holiday, he tried to tie up one loose end: ensuring the two rooms he’d booked for his family were connected.
Should US Airways compensate me for a lodging error?
Ken Middleton and his girlfriend were flying back to the mainland after enjoying a vacation in Hawaii. At least, they were supposed to be. But their US Airways flight was canceled because of a mechanical problem and they were rebooked on a flight 24 hours later.
The travel industry is lying about fees — and now it’s gone too far
It’s more than a decade since the airline industry, led by a then-ailing American Airlines, quietly stripped the ability to check your first bag at no extra cost from the price of an airline ticket — an act given the antiseptic name “unbundling.”
It’s time to ban the hotel minibar once and for all
If shelling out $10 for a small bag of M&Ms makes you feel a little scammed, then you’ll love the hotel industry’s latest trend: closing its in-room minibars.
Do hotels lie about being “family friendly”?
Somewhere between a booster stool at the check-in desk and a DJ spouting profanities at the kids’ pool lies the definition of a “family-friendly” resort. No one seems to agree. Maybe it’s time we did.
Don’t forget to confirm your hotel reservation
A two-night stay at the Driftwood Inn in Chestertown, Md., was supposed to cost Bruce Romano $138 through a Web site called HotelPlus Destination Portal, as long as he prepaid for his accommodations. That seemed like a good deal. After all, it was Memorial Day weekend, one of the busiest travel times of the year.
A few secrets about asking you probably don’t know
Although Vivian Olds’ customer-service problem is pretty common, the solution isn’t.
A canceled wedding causes an existential crisis
Not every case that crosses my desk makes me question the very foundations of my consumer advocacy practice. But Sandy Neff’s did.
Privacy? There’s no such thing on the road
Recent revelations of the National Security Agency’s sweeping domestic surveillance programs may have angered many Americans, but for most travelers, it was nothing new.