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.
When American Airlines changes Neil Gupta’s flight from Seattle to Miami, he asks for a refund. The airline suggests it will give him his money back but then backtracks. Now what?
When Joel Revill’s ticket purchase on Iberia doesn’t go through, a representative advises him to dispute the purchase on his credit card. But now he doesn’t have a valid ticket. What should he do?
British Airways cancels Maureen Kelleher’s flight from Cairo to Boston and rebooks her on a different airline. But it also downgrades her from business class to economy class. Is she entitled to a refund from Road Scholar, her tour operator?
After Budget finds animal hairs in Bernard Sia’s rental car, it charges him a $125 car rental cleaning fee. But Sia doesn’t have a pet — and that’s not his only problem.
Keith Dawe has been waiting since 2020 for Expedia to refund his airline tickets. But neither the online agency nor his airline can find the missing money. Where is it?
Why did Valeska Wehr pay twice for her stay at a Marriott property in Boston? And why won’t Booking.com, the site through which she made the reservation, help her?
When Diane Gottlieb’s tour of Iraq is canceled, the tour operator offers her a voucher for a future trip. She wants a refund for her canceled tour. Can she get her $7,590 back?
When David Tuttle’s Airbnb host moves him to a different rental, Airbnb offers to cover his hotel expenses. Where’s the money?
When United Airlines cancels the last leg of Andy Wilson’s flight to Iceland, he must buy a new ticket. The airline blames a “desynchronization” — but will it cover his extra costs?
When Cheryl Mander’s rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, Vrbo agrees pay her $21,014 for her replacement. Now she has a Vrbo refund problem, because it won’t pay up.
