Christopher Elliott is an author, consumer advocate, and journalist. He founded Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps solve consumer problems. He publishes Elliott Confidential, a travel newsletter, and the Elliott Report, a news site about customer service.
In an oversized, wood-paneled boardroom with a view of Tokyo’s Imperial Palace, Tsubasa Yokote is trying to explain the city’s approach to sustainable tourism. And it’s not easy. Yokote, representative director of Blueground Japan, says sustainability — best exemplified by the concept of mottainai, which emphasizes avoiding waste — has been part of Japanese society for centuries. Many…
All Rhonda Bryant wanted was a refund for her airline ticket. She’d booked three tickets with American Airlines for a trip from Portland, Maine, to San Francisco. But when American canceled her connecting flight from Charlotte to San Francisco after hours of delays, her plans fell apart. And then American refused to return her money,…
The holiday travel season is right around the corner, and what better time than now to face your travel fears — especially your irrational ones? Sienna Hart’s phobia is losing her passport. She constantly — and obsessively — checks to make sure her ID is in her pocket when she travels abroad. “I’ve even been…
Travel insurance may cover you if you get into trouble on your next vacation. But what if travel insurance could help you avoid trouble? Consider a natural disaster like the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year. If you’d had a travel insurance policy with Travelex and downloaded its Travel On app to your phone, the…
Allison Sanders prepays for her checked luggage on a Frontier Airlines flight from Denver to Orlando. But the airline charges her for her bags twice. Now it won’t refund her for the second charge. Can she get her second charge back? Q: I was flying from Denver to Orlando on Frontier Airlines. I prepaid for…
Christina Anderson thought her hotel room in Reykjavik, Iceland, was refundable. But when her flight to Iceland was canceled because of bad weather, she made a stunning discovery: It wasn’t. Anderson, a retired nurse from West Lafayette, Ind., booked her room at the Iceland Parliament Hotel through a travel website affiliated with Priceline, and she…
Victoria Broer has parked her family van at USAirport Parking near Denver International Airport for a decade. The company held her keys for her in its office, and she felt safe — so safe that she paid $1,825 every year for unlimited parking privileges. And then everything changed. The Parking Spot, which acquired USAirport Parking…
Victoria Muenchow hits a deer while driving a Hertz rental van, files a claim through her credit card insurance, and waits 10 months for Hertz to send a $5,873 bill. After her insurance settles the bill, Hertz demands an additional $842 for “diminished value” but can’t provide documentation. Can she fight this fee — and…
Worried about every little ding on your rental car? Do you always go into “anonymous” mode on your web browser before booking airline tickets? If you do, then you probably have AI anxiety. Travel companies are quietly deploying artificial intelligence systems, creating an invisible web of automated billing that can cost you hundreds or thousands…
Angela Reiffer and her husband thought they were getting a free couples massage after they checked into a Palladium resort in the Dominican Republic for their honeymoon. Instead, they ended up spending seven hours in a high-pressure sales pitch, surrounded by multiple salespeople and plied with drinks, they say. By the end of the day,…
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