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.
Peggy Kite’s flights from Washington to Bozeman, Mont., are rescheduled by her airline, leaving her with an abbreviated connection time — and an expanded bill. Specifically, there’s an extra charge of $1,534. How does she get that removed?
When the price of Steven Estrella’s Cancun vacation takes a nosedive after he’s already paid for it, he tries to make a claim under his online travel agency’s price guarantee. But for some reason, the company never processes his claim. What’s going on? And will he ever see a refund?
The hotel Valerie Acosta booked through Hotwire.com isn’t what she expected. The site claims it’s a four-star resort, but the reviews say otherwise. How about a refund?
May Tong reserves a condo in Winter Park, Colo., but calls off her vacation about a month before her arrival. The cancellation policy seems to allow for a refund, under certain conditions. But have those conditions been met? Maybe.
Pamela Metcalf Kunelis and her husband miss their Disney vacation because of a misunderstanding. Her airline will allow her to redo the vacation, but Disney wants $500 for new hotel rooms, and it refuses to make an exception. Should it?
Gordon Houston is offered a $9.80-a-day rate for a rental car in Mexico. But an agent refuses to rent the car to him without insurance, which more than doubles the price of the vehicle. Now neither his agent, nor the rental company, will refund the difference. Is he stuck with the bill?
Karen Smith loses her paper airline ticket to Spain and has to buy a new one. Now her airline is dragging its feet on a promised refund on the second ticket, and her online travel agency isn’t helping. How do you get them moving?
Nancy Westcott’s rental through Enterprise does not go well. She’s handed the keys to a junky car and then she’s accused of damaging it when she returns it. Now the company wants $775 from her. What can she do?
When Marko Grdesic tries to make a change to his itinerary, a Travelocity representative tells him it will cost another $300. It doesn’t. The online agency bills him $4,000, and despite promises to refund the money, it won’t. What now?
How long is too long to wait for a refund from your airline? If you said one year, then maybe you know Dani Lind, who spent more than 12 months waiting for Air One to refund $670. How could that have been prevented?
