When a beach isn’t really a beach, and other travel disappointments
To call Smathers Beach in Key West, Fla., a beach might be a little stretch.
The Navigator
Billed twice by Avis car rental? There’s a fix for that, travelers
Glenn Rossi’s recent Avis car rental had him seeing double. Literally.
What are airline ticket credits really worth?
Bethany Tully might have been forgiven for her confusion. After canceling an upcoming flight from San Francisco to Boston under unhappy circumstances, she discovered that her ticket credit on United Airlines was worth about half what she expected — an increasingly common complaint among air travelers.
What to do if your hotel doesn’t exist
For just $89 a night, the all-suite hotel in Killeen, Tex., promised Steven Hoybook and his family “European-style luxury” – an offer that seemed too good to pass up.
Do you have enough time to make your flight connection?
When Mike Conrad bought an airline ticket from Washington to Berlin, the last thing he considered was his connection in Frankfurt, Germany.
What is an airline credit really worth?
It happened to Louise Andrew twice last month. She made reservations on the United Airlines Web site, tried to cancel them within 24 hours for a full refund, and was told that the airline would be happy to issue a ticket credit instead.
Losing it over car rental “loss of use”
After Ben Harris dropped off his Mazda 3 rental at the airport in Maui last December, a Hertz agent pointed to some scuffed paint on the underside of the front bumper. Although the employee asked Harris to fill out an incident report, he assured Harris that it was just a formality, and that he wouldn’t get a bill for the damage.
The government shutdown’s surprise effect on travelers
The government shutdown was supposed to be a non-event for travelers, but it didn’t quite turn out that way.
TSA’s new Pre-Check programs raises major privacy concerns
When the Transportation Security Administration’s Pre-Check formally launches sometime this fall, its trusted-traveler program will already have the enthusiastic endorsement of frequent travelers — and an equally enthusiastic denouncement from privacy advocates.
What to do when your river cruise turns into a bus tour
It was supposed to be the vacation of a lifetime for Pat and James Frost — a river cruise in France on the Viking Europe, from Avignon to Chalon-sur-Saône. The retired couple from Concord, Ohio, even added three days in Paris to round off their bucket-list getaway.