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.
David Marsh encountered a frustrating problem while on his Princess Cruise – his Allstate Rewards gift card, worth $1,800, didn’t work. Both the cruise line and Allstate Rewards blamed each other for the issue, leaving David stranded in the middle.
Michelle Sprekelmeyer is chasing down a missing $1,632 Hotels.com refund from the early days of the pandemic. What’s taking so long?
When the price of Lai Mun Yip’s airline tickets doubles, she goes looking for a refund from Gotogate. But who has her money?
Daryl DeCrow cancels his Tauck cruise after it imposes a COVID vaccine requirement. Does he deserve a refund?
When Airbnb bans Svitlana Marchenko from the site, it won’t tell her why. Could it have something to do with her residence? The answer is complicated.
Krista O’Brien accidentally pays $449 extra for her checked luggage on an Aer Lingus flight. Why won’t the airline help her undo the mistake?
Daniel Onn books a business class ticket on Amtrak. Then the rail carrier removes the business class car. Does it owe him anything?
Budget sends Tony Parise a $250 bill for recalibrating a camera on the windshield of his rental car. But he says nothing happened to it. Does he still have to pay?
Celeste Rubanick loses 80,000 Marriott Bonvoy points when she books a hotel in Scotland. Why won’t the company restore the points?
