The Travel Troubleshooter is a weekly consumer column that solves travel problems. Missing cruise refunds, lousy airline service, car rental surcharges — it’s all fair game for this feature. Each story presents a problem and fixes it in a quick Q&A format.
Randall Lee returns a rental car to Avis after a 7-hour rental during which he only drove 57 miles — only to receive a $450 cleaning fee a week later for a “heavy smoke smell.” But hang on. Neither Lee nor his wife smoke. Can he get a refund?
Bartosz Jusypenko rents a car through Turo in Canada and returns it without incident — or so he thinks. The host claims a new scratch appeared during the rental, but the car was dirty at pickup. Now Turo wants him to pay $1,200 to fix the damage. Is that right?
After Aer Lingus cancels James Jones’ flight from Paris to Philadelphia, he requests a full refund. The airline shorts him by $744 and then it stops responding to his emails. What can he do to get the money back?
After Airbnb bans Kevin Donovan for life, he tries to find out why. But Airbnb won’t tell him. Will it tell this consumer advocate?
A couple faces a $385 charge after an Airbnb keypad fails during a rainstorm. The locksmith blames the weather, but Airbnb sides with the host. When weather wreaks havoc, should guests foot the bill?
When Cory Belkov cancels his Carnival cruise, he gets a refund — minus a $500 cancellation fee. It’s the first he’s heard of the fee. Does he have to pay?
When Todd Janus sends his luggage to Norway via FedEx, it gets stuck in customs. Does he still have to pay $1,237?
Bonnie Thiel and her husband are stranded in Toronto after a flight delay on Lufthansa. Why won’t the airline cover her hotel expenses? And how does she get reimbursed for them, now that she’s home?
A family’s dream Alaska cruise collapses when a flight delay leaves them stranded. Holland America refuses to issue a refund despite having booked their flights. Can they get their $3,952 refunded?
Emily Day’s family vacation nearly collapses when FlightHub’s system assigns random passport numbers to their tickets, forcing them to buy new flights. Why won’t the airline refund the tickets they couldn’t use?
