The Travel Troubleshooter

A nationally syndicated Q&A column that solves travel problems.

disappearing ticket

My airline tickets disappeared. How do I get them back?

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When Benjamin Eckstein’s JetBlue airline tickets disappeared, he didn’t know what to do. Should he call his online travel agent? Buy new tickets at the airport? Drive instead?

But it’s a 3,127-mile road trip from Boston to San Jose. That would have taken almost 50 hours nonstop. No, motoring cross-country with a wife and two young kids wasn’t what Eckstein had in mind.

Instead, he bought a new ticket to San Francisco on United Airlines the next day and tried to sort things out with his airline and travel agency.

He couldn’t.

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Can we get this fake Avis charge refunded ?

How can I make Avis refund this surprise $4,228 car rental charge?

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Avis blindsided Claudia Lockwood with a $4,228 surprise charge after her last car rental experience.

She thought she’d done everything right and expected no problems. She brought the car back to the correct lot and left the keys in the vehicle, as instructed. Lockwood even saved her gas receipt that showed she had filled the tank before returning the Ford Edge SUV.

Not much good it did her. One month later, Avis claimed she still had the rental car in her possession. This, even though she had proof that she’d flown to Germany (without the car, of course) soon after the end of her car rental contract.

So will she just be stuck paying Avis this $4,228 upcharge?

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Why would this Vrbo host refuse to let his guest into the property to celebrate her birthday.

Why did this Vrbo host ruin her birthday party?

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Charysma Adams’ birthday party was ruined by a Vrbo host who wouldn’t let her into the house she’d rented for the night. But now, instead of returning her money, the host is making a bad situation even worse — and Adams wants our help to make it right.

Adams’ strange case is a warning to anyone thinking of using a rental platform like Vrbo or Airbnb for a special event. It’s also a reminder to do your due diligence when you’re planning a party. You don’t want to overlook certain important details, or you could end up standing outside in the cold like this birthday girl.

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This traveler's GotoGate refund is missing. Can we help find it?

Where’s my airline ticket refund from GotoGate? It’s been eight months

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When SriLankan Airlines cancels the flights for Joseph Obiora Ezezue’s wife and son, he requests a refund. But the airline refers him to his online agency, GotoGate. And it doesn’t help him. Who is responsible for getting his money back?

Question

I purchased two airline tickets from GotoGate for my wife and son in late 2020. The tickets were for a one-way trip with SriLankan Airlines from Guangzhou, China, to Kigali, Rwanda. Sadly, the airline canceled the flight. I bought new tickets with Qatar Airways for my family to return to Kigali.

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This Avis rental went all wrong in Seattle.

He got into an accident in his Avis car. Why won’t the company take back the vehicle?

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When Mayank Kumar gets into an accident in his Avis rental car, he does everything in his power to return the vehicle to the company. But nothing seems to be working, and now Avis is asking about its car.

Question

I recently rented a vehicle from Avis in Seattle and had an accident while visiting Mount Rainier National Park. A local towing company towed the car away. I reported this to Avis and gave them the towing company’s contact number and address.
An Avis representative said they would work with the towing company to recover the vehicle from them and that I didn’t need to do anything. I still followed up with them almost every day for two weeks to ensure they had the car.

Avis hasn’t recovered the vehicle yet, and it is still at the towing company’s facility. An Avis representative keeps telling me the case is being processed and that the car will be recovered soon.

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Will Vrbo offer a refund after this customer's job loss.

Vrbo offered a refund after my husband lost his job. Where is it?

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When Betsy Bair’s husband loses his job, they cancel their Vrbo rental. Are they going to lose all their money even though Vrbo offered them a refund?

Question

My husband unexpectedly lost his job last year [2021]. We had to cancel a two-day vacation rental through Vrbo. I spoke to a Vrbo representative, who agreed to issue a partial refund of $751. I waited a month but did not receive anything.

I called Vrbo and the company told me it approved the refund, but that I would need to contact the property owner since the owner was the one that was holding up the refund. I contacted him again. Now he says he doesn’t know anything about a refund and never agreed to a refund.

Can you help me sort this out? Initially, all I wanted was a refund of the cleaning fee since we weren’t there. But ideally, I would like them to honor their promise of a partial refund. — Betsy Bair, The Dalles, Ore.

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Hertz billed this customer for extra days after she returned the car.

Hertz sent me a $700 bill for eight extra days! How do I get a refund?

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When Elie-Anne Chevrier rents a car in Palm Beach, Fla., she expects to pay around $200. So why did Hertz just charge her over $900 for extra days she didn’t have the vehicle?

Question

I recently rented a car from Hertz for three days in Palm Beach, Fla. Hertz billed me for 2 hours and 11 days.

I have contacted the car rental company several times to try to resolve this. But Hertz employees haven’t been able to fix this problem.

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Why did Marriott cancel this traveler's hotel reservation? It's complicated.

The hotel didn’t open as scheduled. What does Marriott owe me?

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Cindy Tomlinson made a reservation at TownePlace Suites New York/Chelsea, but then Marriott canceled the stay. What’s going on here?

Question

I recently made a reservation to stay at the TownePlace Suites New York/Chelsea at a rate of $416 (for two nights). Recently, Marriott notified me that it would not be open when I arrived.

A representative said they could honor my reservation at the SpringHill Suites Times Square South and that I should contact the hotel. I tried calling the hotel directly, but I got cut off multiple times. So I called Marriott Customer Service to see if they could help. They contacted the SpringHill Suites, which told them to have me send an email with my confirmation information, and they would honor the rate.

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