That alone was enough to shake out a full refund. William writes:

My wife recently reserved a vacation rental from ResortQuest in Panama City beach for our family vacation. She called back less than 24 hours later to cancel as we found a better rental at another location. ResortQuest informed her that they would not refund any portion of the 330 dollar deposit. She was sent a "cancellation statement" that listed 95.70 in reservation fees and 190.92 dollars in "taxes".

I performed as an effective EECB that I could though the addresses were very hard to find and not all of them got replies.

I made mention in all of my emails that I wanted to know who assessed and collected these taxes on canceled reservations.

Before I got any reply emails I got a rep on the phone and went through the motions of requesting the refund and when told no I started asking the taxes questions and let the representative know that I had sent all of the emails. She went and "discussed this with her manager" then returned and informed me she would be issuing a full refund. However she could not give me any paperwork confirming the refund and that it might take as many as three weeks to refund.

Later in the day after talking to a nice lady from corporate who assured me that the matter would be taken care of. Later in the day the manager of the Panama City office did contact me via email and provide me an "email confirmation" of the refund.

As of 14 days later the refund had been credited.

Notes:

We reserved the condo on a website www.vrbo.com which is supposed to be by owners only and not commercial outfits.

Nowhere on the ad or during the reservation phone call was it mentioned they would keep the reservation fee if canceled.

I would understand if you canceled the week or month before, but the next morning, three months in advance.

I still did not find out who was getting the 190 dollars in "taxes."

(Photo: fotografar)

My airline is grounded — now what? [Elliot]
(Photo: $arah Murray)

TSA Responds to Nipple Ring Complaint [AP] (Thanks to Louis!)
PREVIOUSLY: TSA Forces Woman To Remove Nipple Piercings

Only a handful of seats cost $1. Fares are capped at $20, which is still competitive with Greyhound and the Chinatown bus companies. From BoltBus' FAQ:

Our fares will start @ $1 (plus a transaction or booking fee), with a minimum of one $1 fare available on every schedule we operate every day. The fares we charge will vary by day of week, overall passenger demand and how many days until the travel will take place. Typically someone who purchases a week or two out will receive the cheapest fares so it will save you money to plan ahead. Even our higher walkup fares will be reasonable and will allow for inexpensive spur of the moment travel.

Finally, BoltBus is the bastard spawn of Greyhound and Peter Pan, two of the most universally reviled transportation companies. They do, however, have a loyalty program: four round-trips earns you a free one-way ticket, a $1 value!

Frequently Asked Questions [BoltBus]

Hi all,

As a devoted reader of your site, I have read the multiple articles on the famous "Rule 240" which can sometimes assist the desperate traveler. Thus, when I saw that my return flight was canceled, I remained calm knowing I was armed with this knowledge. I had arrived a full two hours before my flight, and was extremely patient in the fifty minute wait to get to the counter. A different flight had also been canceled, and I watched with amusement as one man actually put his friend on speakerphone to confirm that weather was *not* an issue in Newark. I must say that the agent's face was a lovely shade of eggplant during this stunt. When I finally reached the front of the line, I was positive that courteousness and sympathy would cajole this harried staff into pushing me onto another flight.

At this point, it is important to give a bit of background. I am a full-time college student, so naturally money is always an issue. I had decided to fly home for spring break, and had booked it out in advance on Continental using my father's miles. I had the perfect setup: an early flight on Saturday + an evening flight on Sunday = maximum time with family and pets. I had an exam on Tuesday, and the review was Monday morning. Missing class was NOT an option. I was flying out of South Bend, Indiana into Manchester, New Hampshire- two very small airports which are both two-three hours away from the major hubs of O'Hare and Logan.

Now- back to the story. I asked if he could check whether or not there was an available route that would get me back to school (I stressed that the number of connections were not a problem) and he responded that the absolute soonest he could manage this was TUESDAY. I explained the issue with my exam, and was met with a blank stare. I decided it was time to drop the 240 line. He rolled his eyes and responded, "Well you can ask them," motioning to the other counters. I glanced at the Delta and United lines, which were approaching Disneyworld length, and politely requested that he check what would be available to me before I left the counter. He told me he could not do that. I asked if he could check Logan, figuring they would have many more flights. After no more than two seconds of glancing at his screen, he said that they had nothing. I then asked if he could specifically check Logan to O'Hare. This time he didn't even pretend to look- he just flat out said no. I was trying to remain calm, but I was almost in tears at this point. I was literally running up against a brick wall.

I hauled my bags down to the Delta counter. Once I reached the front, I quickly explained my dilemma to the woman. She gnawed on a red talon as she informed me that the Delta flight to Chicago was pulling back and there was no way I could get there in time. I almost lost it at this point- if Mr. Continental had gone the extra inch, I could have been on that flight. She was slightly more helpful in terms of willingness to actually use her computer, but produced no results. I got the basically same story at United.

Thankfully, my father saved the day. He went online and found a Southwest flight to Chicago leaving in about fourty minutes with a few open seats. Given the circumstances, we had no choice but to pay the exorbitant price for the last minute ticket. So much for saving money. I made it back to Chicago, but missed the bus back to campus by fifteen minutes. I had to wait another two hours to catch the next one (another $40, by the way), finally returning at 2 am. My car was still at South Bend airport, and I couldn't find a ride to collect it until Wednesday ($30 extra). The final kicker? A heavy baggage charge from DELTA randomly appeared on my credit card from the flight home (I hate dealing with Capital One).

Bottom line: I would not be writing this e-mail if the agent had offerend one iota of assistance or even sympathy. I know they are often the messenger who gets killed, and I always keep this in mind when I am dealing with them. Screaming at them is no more effective then screaming at your local gas station owner about prices. However, I expect this decency to be returned, and I truly feel that it wasn't. I urge EVERYONE to vote for the airlines (most especially CONTINENTAL) in The Consumerist's worst company contest... they are working harder than Hillary to win this thing.

Still, we can't help but notice that the real disservice here is from Laura's college. Who schedules a midterm two days after spring break? That's just cruel.

(Photo: lunchtimemama)

"So, everybody calls Allegiant Air," Rigas said. "Three people got hung up on."

"'You're on your own' is basically what they told us," Duncan said.

Roy Harris, Jr., a passenger from Huntsville, called an attorney after he realized nothing was being done to help the passengers.

"At first, they did not want to give us a refund," he said. "Their attitude was, 'Too bad, you lost your money.' "

The people who did get through to Allegiant Air were told it was their fault for not getting to the airport two hours before their flight, Harris said.

"I arrived early before the flight," he said, "but not as early as some others who had been there up to three hours."

Travelers left holding their bags as flight leaves without them [The Huntsville Times]
(Photo: Cubbie_n_Vegas)

American claims they had no alternative:

"With such a small passenger load we did consider whether we could cancel the flight and re-accommodate the five remaining passengers on other flights.

"However, this would have left a plane load of west-bound passengers stranded in London Heathrow who were due to fly back to the US on the same aircraft.

"We sought alternative flights for the west-bound passengers but heavy loads out of London that day meant that this was not possible."

Plane flies five passengers from US to London [Telegrah]
(Photo: Cubbie_n_Vegas)

The three questions:

• 1. Ask how close your room is to the construction. Hotels are constantly undergoing renovations, so it's safe to assume that your is no exception.
• 2. Listen Rapunzel, ask for a room below the eight floor. Firefighters aren't scared of height, but their hoses can't reach past the eighth floor.
• 3. Ask for a room on the same floor as the booster pumps. They make your shower strong, like Ukraine.

I know you already did a piece on strange hotel charges a little while ago, but I was in the Bahamas at the Comfort Suites in Atlantis and I thought this was so misleading I took a picture of it.

I just think it's outrageous-if it wasn't bad for the Earth, I might as well be leaving on all my lights when I leave the room, just to get my money's worth! I was with a family of 4, and we booked the hotel because it was cheap. However, they did not include this 24 dollar a night tax! We stayed for 6 nights-they jipped us of $144!

PREVIOUSLY: Watch Out For These 14 Hidden Hotel Fees
10 Annoying Hidden Hotel Fees

He writes:

My wife and I went on our honeymoon in March of 2006. We both had saved about $2,500 to spend on our ten day trip. Rather than paying currency exchange fees and carrying a huge amount of cash with us, we opted to carry our Bank of America Visa debit cards with us and withdraw smaller amounts of cash at Citibank ATMs (which only have very minimal cash withdrawal fees).

Both of us called Bank of America's customer service about two weeks prior to our trip and went through the whole ridiculous ID verification nonsense you talked about. We spoke to their fraud protection department and let them know on each of our individual cards that we would be in Japan during that time and that we would be making frequent large purchases and cash withdrawals on our cards. They assured us that everything was taken care of and we'd have no problems using our cards while we were in Japan.

On the third day of the trip, we went to Akihabara to make some video game purchases. I found the only Wii system we saw the entire time we were on the trip and tried to buy it. My card was declined, which was incredibly embarrassing and difficult to deal with because of the language barrier. My wife tried her card and it went through, thankfully. The next shop we came to had something she wanted to purchase, at which point her card was declined. She paid with the cash she had left over, leaving both of us with about the equivalent of $15 total in cash.

We assumed we'd hit some sort of daily limit and thought we'd just get more cash out the following day and it'd be fine. When our cards were both declined at the ATM the next morning, we got worried. We spent the last of our cash on the cheapest phone card we could find so we could call the bank and get this mess taken care of. We scoured their website looking for a 24-hour customer service number but couldn't find one (with the time difference between here and Japan, they had just closed their main customer service department and it would've been 10 or so hours till it opened again). We tried calling the other 24-hour numbers to see if there was a way to get to someone that could help us.

We ended up having to spend an entire day sitting in our hotel room doing absolutely nothing waiting for their customer service department to open. We didn't have any money for food and all we were able to eat was a few candy bars we had picked up a few days prior. When we finally got to talk to someone that night, they said we should've tried the 24-hour number and that the other people we spoke to should've given it to us. Both cards had been frozen due to unusual activity and they basically said it doesn't matter that we told them exactly what we were going to be doing. They assured us we wouldn't have any more problems this time, but when we went to get money out (about a mile away from the hotel) my wife's card was declined again. After walking back to the hotel and getting it fixed again, we were able to use our cards for the rest of the trip without a problem.

Still, we wasted an entire day on our honeymoon in Japan, wondering if we would even be able to fix the problem at all. When I called customer service when we got home, I was told that the problem was our fault because we were relying on those two cards. Their reaction to what happened was that I should've had other credit cards or cash available in case there was a problem with our Bank of America cards. It took me more than six months and countless phone calls with threats to move my accounts (two checking, two savings, a money market savings, and a mortgage loan) over to another bank for them to take any responsibility and offer me a $300 credit for the time lost and the poor experience.

Sorry for the lengthy email, but I couldn't resist when I read your article. Bank of America has absolutely horrible customer service and more people need to be aware of it. I'm glad someone with access to a widely read forum was able to post this sort of information and get the word out.

PREVIOUSLY: Bank Of America Won't Let You Access Your Money
(Photo: mrhayata)

(Photo: Getty)

It costs Marriott over $1,000 to scrub the smoke-stink off a room, a charge they happily offset by smacking smokers like Dan with a $250 fine.

Some hotels seek out actual physical evidence before they levy a fine. The New York Marriott Downtown first started charging people $250 for simply leaving the smell of smoke in their rooms after the brand went 100% nonsmoking in Sept. 2006. Within a few weeks, they realized they had too many complaints, says Anna Cervenyak, the hotel's office manager. Security started taking pictures of butts or ashes when housekeeping found them. Though they still make "plenty" of refunds, they now show people physical evidence, which usually is enough to draw a confession, Ms. Cervenyak says.

Physical evidence also plays a role when a guest tries to protest against the charge through a credit-card company. Sam Patel, who owns the Quality Inn Brick Town in Oklahoma City, says, "A lot of times you have to argue with the credit-card company" to have a smoking charge accepted. "If you don't find a cigarette," he says, the charge will not go through, and "we lose money." he says.

At least one hotel gives employees an incentive to catch illicit smokers: Swissotel Chicago awards housekeepers a $10 bonus for every smoker they catch.

Where were we?
Right, smoking in hotel rooms.

Please don't.

Now at Hotels: The $250 Cigarette [WSJ]
(Photo: Getty)

5. (tie) Priceline.com & Cheapoair.com
4. CheapTickets.com
3. Expedia.com
2. Travelocity.com
1. Orbitz.com

Most of Orbitz's complaints dealt with problems ticketing and boarding... and of course, refunds.

Air Travel Consumer Report [DOT]

1. If there is a hint of bad weather anywhere, that will be used as the excuse
2 .Weather is considered an "Act of God" and it basically means the carrier owes passengers nothing.
3. When an airline says a flight is affected by weather we have to take it at its word.
4.'Our definition of a weather delay is absurdly loose.
5. 'We're even confused by the way we report weather delays.

Jeff's email to Cathay Pacific:

My girlfriend and I flew on flight 889 from JFK to HKG on 1-1-08 and flight 105 from HKG to MEL on 1-4-08. When I originally made the booking my girlfriend and I spent a fair bit of time selecting our seats for all four of our flights. My girlfriend becomes ill if she does not have a window seat and we figured that we would be fine for this journey since we were able to select all window seats.

When we checked in for flight 889 we were assigned a center and an aisle seat for the flight. When I inquired to the ticket agent we were told that there was no seat selection on record and we were out of luck as the plane was full. The same thing happened when we checked in for flight 105. Again for that flight we were assigned a center and an aisle seat. If you check your flight records you will find that at some point during that flight one of the coach cabin lavatories was closed off by the flight crew. My girlfriend was the reason why as she became violently ill during this leg. It got to the point where we were forced to talk to Australian quarantine and medical officers in Adelaide. At that point the gate agent was finally able to give us a window assignment for the final 45 minute leg to Melbourne.

This situation would have been bad enough on its own however we also opted for kosher meal selections. ALL of our meals arrived with the entree steaming hot yet the rest of the meal was completely frozen and inedible. Your flight crew was sympathetic however as these meals are not prepared onboard they were unable to rectify the situation as the rest of the food onboard was not a suitable kosher alternative.

We are currently booked on flights 110 and 840 from Sydney to Hong Kong and Hong Kong to New York respectively on 1-26-08 under the names Jeff and Crystal. Based on what we have gone through I feel that we are entitled to either a complimentary upgrade for those flights (with a window seat for Crystal) or a partial refund of our fare. If not I feel those flights will be our last with Cathay Pacific.

Please contact me via email if there are any further questions as I do not have mobile service in Australia."

We write in response to your emails of 21 January 2008, regarding your recent flights with Cathay Pacific whilst travelling from New York to Melbourne via Hong Kong. We are concerned to learn of the difficulties you and Ms Crystal encountered on board our flight, and we sincerely hope this letter finds her well.

We fully appreciate your disappointment with the seat allocations on your flights CX889 from New York to Hong Kong on 1 January and flight CX105 from Hong Kong to Melbourne on 4 January, and any inconvenience you may have experienced is deeply regretted. Having retrieved a copy of your booking records under computer reference K4EY3, we are however unable to find any Advanced Seat Reservations (ASR) that you have made prior to your flights. This explains why our check-in staff at both New York and Hong Kong were unable to locate your requests for window seats.

Whilst our staff will help all passengers with their seat preferences to the best of their ability, it may not always be possible to comply with all requests, especially when most seats are still being held as ASRs or are allocated to passengers who have already checked in. Nevertheless, we must and do apologise for any disappointment you may have felt with our staff not being able to offer you better seats, and that the seats ultimately assigned to you had caused you and Ms Crystal discomfort.

We are also very sorry to note that you were unhappy with the quality of our inflight meals. Our Catering Department is committed to ensuring that our inflight meals are of the highest standard, and we regret if our efforts fell short of your expectations in this instance. Customer feedback is always appreciated as it enables us to identify areas that may need improvement, and we are extremely grateful to you for sharing your views with us. Please be assured that your comments have been noted and will be forwarded to our Catering Department for the necessary review.

Mr Jeff, whilst we are unable to accede to your requests for any upgrades or a refund of your tickets, we do note that you have not made any seat reservations for your upcoming flights yet. Therefore, in order to make your flights with us more comfortable, we have taken the liberty of confirming adjoining seats for you and Ms Crystal on both of your returning flights CX110 and CX840 on 26 January. Your confirmed seats are 35H & 35K(window seat) for your flight from Sydney to Hong Kong and 36J and 36K(window seat) for your flight from Hong Kong to New York. However, since ASR can only be held up to 1 hour prior to flight departure, may we ask that you kindly present yourselves at check-in as early as possible, and our will make the necessary arrangements for you.

In closing, thank you once again for taking the time to share your views and concerns with us. May we take this opportunity to thank you for choosing Cathay Pacific, and we sincerely look forward to the pleasure of welcoming you and Ms Crystal on board our flights very soon.

Susan Tam

Dear Jeff,

Thank you for your email. I apologise on behalf of all of us here for the disappointment we caused you on your recent trip, and for failing to meet your expectations in terms of the service we offered you.

I've had our IT people check what could have happened with your Advanced Seat Reservation (ASR), in view of there being no record of any ASR in your booking. Quite simply, if an ASR had been made, it would have been in your booking. If anyone deletes an ASR there is a record of who did it and when: there was no such record in your case, therefore it cannot have existed in the first place.

We've looked at the back-up files for the transaction on 15 September 2007. While they are not complete, they show that you opened the seat map window but that you tried to continue the selection of the seats after the confirmation of your bookings. Unfortunately the system does not recognise such seat requests: they have to be implemented prior to confirmation of the booking.

In the interests of a speedy reply to your email I have not had time to check exactly whether the confirmation screen sent to you would have made it clear that there was no specific seat allocation made. However I acknowledge that it should have done so, and I apologise for our not being able to allocate you a window seat when you checked in for the flight.

I am also sorry that the temperature of some of the dishes served was too cold. For health and hygiene reasons airline food is loaded cold and heated on board; cold dishes need time to warm to the right temperature and it would appear that the crew have been leaving insufficient time between removing them from the chillers and serving them. I do apologise for this.

Jeff, I am sorry we have let you down on this trip, and by copy of this email I am asking our Sydney Airport staff to issue you with lounge invitations at Sydney and Hongkong to make your trip home tomorrow a more pleasant experience. However I have to say that I don't believe I can go as far as an upgrade or a partial refund of your fare in all the circumstances.

With best wishes
Tony Tyler

If intransigent foes are keeping you from your desired customer service resolution, read our guide to launching your own Executive Email Carpet Bomb. If your grievance is with Cathay Pacific, exhaust all normal customer service channels and then shoot an email to tonytyler at cathaypacific dot com.

Attention Frequent Flyers: JetBlue Airways Now Offers More Convenience and Flexibility With Refundable Fares [Press Release]
(Photo: crawfishpipe)

Fuel fees pump up airfares [Los Angeles Times] (Thanks to Nicole!)
(Photo: basictheory)

10. Chicago, IL (MDW) 74.09%
9. Miami, FL (MIA) 73.70%
8. New York, NY (LGA) 72.29%
7. Atlanta, GA (ATL) 72.19%
6. Charlotte, NC (CLT) 71.66%
5. Dallas/Ft.Worth, TX (DFW) 71.57%
4. Philadelphia, PA (PHL) 69.62%
3. New York, NY (JFK) 69.06%
2. Newark, NJ (EWR) 68.40%
1. Chicago, IL (ORD) 68.15%

Seek alternate airports when possible, or factor the likelihood of a delay into your plans.

Ranking of Major Airport On-Time Departure Performance Year-to-date through November 2007 [DOT via Rick Seaney]
(Photo: Lili Vieira de Carvalho)

Chatham County Man Says Son's Cremated Remains Were Stolen [WRAL] (Thanks to Christine!)
(Photo: Getty)

As Elliot points out, there's no formal audit of airline's claims of delays due to weather. The Department of Transportation essential takes their word at face value.

A forensic meteorologist, on the other hand, is like a weather detective, piecing together Doppler images and technical charts to see what weather was happening where and when. Howie Altschule, a forensic meteorologist, says, "Airlines that falsely use bad weather as an excuse may be in for a rude awakening should someone decide to challenge them."

You know how they say, "Everyone complains about the weather but no one does anything about it?" Well, now you can. If you really feel that an airline's weather excuse is a lie to get out of paying you your due, consider hiring a forensic meteorologist and including his findings in your correspondence with the company. While it's difficult to predict the weather, it's relatively easy, for a trained specialist, to see what weather we've already had.

Forensic meteorologist: "I believe bad weather is being used as an excuse" [Elliot]
(Photo: Getty)

Full text of DOT's airport rate change proposal [DOT]
Feds Change Airport-Landing Fees Policy [AP]
(Photo: Getty)

Justin writes:

Last May I traveled to Las Vegas to get married. In booking my travel trough American Airlines Vacations I used an American Airlines credit card as I would receive 6 months same as cash when using that form of payment. Now this was the card issued by Citibank for the airline, but was not an actual visa/mastercard. I had paid off the card after returning from our trip.

We already had plans for a trip in May of '08 to go to Walt Disney World so given the experience that we had with American, we had planned on financing and booking our trip through their vacation department. I had every detail planned and proceeded to book online. Everything was in order and I went to pay. I couldn't enter the credit card as payment because of the lack of an expiration date on the card. No big deal as I then remembered that I had the same problem when booking the Vegas trip, so I called the credit card issuer and they informed me how to remedy the problem. Alas, I was back to the excitement of booking a Disney World vacation for my family! Still didn't work? Okay. I then decided that the best option would be to call directly and book. And here is it where it gets interesting.

I get in touch with an agent and proceed to go over the vacation that I had saved online from earlier. Everything was the same and sounded great. I gave the form of payment and was placed on hold. I was relieved and knew that everything was going to be o.k. Alas the agent gets back on the line and says "Sir, I am sorry but we don't accept this card". I ask " You mean to tell me that American Airlines does not accept their own credit card". I was then informed after being transferred to a supervisor and explaining that I had used the same card to book my previous vacation that they had recently switched to a new "system" and that the bug in the system would not let them accept the American Airlines credit card. I asked if this was just a "bug" if you will, then how long will it be before it is fixed? No one could provide an answer. Imagine that!

So after several e-mails to customer service, several phone calls to reservations and my own research I have yet to hear an answer or explanation beyond that. Granted I could have just said okay well then put it on another card. But that isn't the point. We only have one other card for emergencies and light spending and rely on it for an emergency. I had paid this card off as fast as possible in anticipation of our next trip and now after everyone is exited (including my 5 year old daughter) about finally getting to go to Walt Disney World we are being denied our only means of paying for the travel portion of our trip.

My only hope is that this at the least gets some attention. I know people will say that we could simply finance by another means, but the fact is as we live comfortably, we just can't afford to finance this vacation with our finances that were allocated for spending money and still afford to go. I just feel cheated by the Airline for not thinking or considering how many people this could effect that aren't the frequent fliers or substantial customers.

Rather than use AA's extremely limited card, it would be wiser to deposit the would-be credit payments into a free high-interest savings account. Assuming debt that can't be immediately satisfied opens you and your family to a world of financial pain that could be avoided by saving before paying. Even those playing the 0% APR game need to be able to pay off their credit card bill in full every single month.

American Airlines Credit Card [AA.com]

Crandall either reflects poorly on American Airlines, or the dollar-driven management style that makes Wall Street giddy. Crandall's successor, Donald Carty, was ousted for his own cost-saving strategy: asking unions to accept almost $2 billion in salary cuts while showering executives with lavish retention bonuses. Something to keep in mind next time you ask for peanuts or a pillow.

The enlightening clip comes from NBC travel maestro Peter Greenberg's excellent two-hour behind the scenes look into American Airlines, which occasionally airs on CNBC.

Wonder What Goes On Behind the Scenes at the Airlines? [Peter Greenberg]

UAL raises surcharge to offset soaring fuel costs [a wire service]
(Photo: Ben Popken)

We're not sure yet of what the recovery time will be, so we don't know when she'll need to fly back. Could be a week, could be more. Luckily she has her bf's family there with whom she can stay during the recovery. I live in Munich, and my mother lives in Portland, Or where my sister will finally be returning to. Alaska Airlines is who she was flying with from Seattle to Portland and they said no problem with a reschedule for no fee which really makes American look like the bad guy.

The booking agency she used, Students Travel or something like that said they could draft some letters to send to AA, but that we shouldn't expect any sort of a response for 6-8 months, and 'no' would be the likely response.

I know I should probably write up a formal letter of request, with some paperwork, and perform an executive e-mail bomb but I'm not sure how quickly I can get paperwork from the ER in London to me, in Munich.

Do you have any advice/recommendations?

John

The most frequent complication of appendicitis is perforation. Perforation of the appendix can lead to a periappendiceal abscess (a collection of infected pus) or diffuse peritonitis (infection of the entire lining of the abdomen and the pelvis). The major reason for appendiceal perforation is delay in diagnosis and treatment. In general, the longer the delay between diagnosis and surgery, the more likely is perforation. The risk of perforation 36 hours after the onset of symptoms is at least 15%. Therefore, once appendicitis is diagnosed, surgery should be done without unnecessary delay.

Sheesh. We hope your sister gets better soon! Absolutely launch the mighty executive email carpet bomb. Check the bottom of this post for a list of target addresses. You can also try a chargeback with your sister's credit card company.

What other ideas do you Consumerists have? Can anyone get Richard Branson to swoop in and offer a lift on Virgin Atlantic? Share your wisdom in the comments.

Appendicitis and Appendectomy [MedicineNet]
RELATED: Even If You Have Colon Cancer, Spirit Air Doesn't Give Refunds
(Photo: Getty Images)

5. Northwest Airlines (42 complaints)
4. Delta Air Lines (78 complaints)
3. United Airlines (88 complaints)
2. American Airlines (92 complaints)
1. US Airways (101 complaints)

Consumers can file airline service complaints with the Department of Transportation a number of ways but this web form makes it pretty easy.

Airline complaints surge 37 percent in latest report; US Airways is most complained about carrier [Elliot]
(Photo: balmes)

Gold star to anyone who can guess what the airline's response was.

From USAToday:

Air France told Travel Weekly it could not comment since it had not seen the suit, but the carrier added that it takes "very seriously any incident involving the death or injury of one of its passengers onboard its flights."

Widow Sues Air France, Claims Bumping Led To Husband's Death [USAToday via Tripinator](Thanks, Craig!)
(Photo:gocart)

We were kicked off the 747-400 because they refused to allow a car seat on board and my two year old son was incapable of staying in his coffin-like seat. We were told we were a security threat, threatened to be left behind and accused of not following crew instructions.

We were flying back from China on a vacation that was business related. I had my wife, Christine, our baby sitter Kathleen and our two boys, Max, age five (5) and Rex age two (2). We flew to China by Cathay Pacific. We took on our child's FAA approved car seat and with Rex strapped in he slept the entire way to Hong Kong. Such was not be the same on the way back.

We flew business class. I paid nearly $20,000 just for the tickets. Full fare each way. So we get aboard the new 747-400 and the seats are arranged in a herringbone pattern. Walls separate each seat from each other like little coffins. I put the car seat in and began to get Rex in his seat when I am told no car seats allowed. I explained that Rex is 2. He does not have the mental capacity to sit alone and the seats that they have would strangle him or allow him to unbuckle himself. There is a three point harness on the 747-400 that is at the right level to strangle children. When I had no luck in demonstrating that the seat was FAA approved and was the only safe way to fly, two fellow passengers stepped in: an attorney from Fulbright & Jaworski and another passenger who heads a hedge fund came to our aid to negotiate with the airline. I took the car seat out as they requested and then sat Rex in his seat - as if right on cue, he reclined the entire chair flat and unbuckled himself - we did this three times.

First class seats that had forward facing chairs were not offered to us.

After 30 minutes the captain eventually comes down and seemed to agree that the car seat was the safest. Yet his crew told him the rules, the rules must be followed (I guess that is what you get in a communist country) so faced with a crew who refused to allow us to use the car seat - the captain takes a vote of his crew - they kicked us off.

We are taken from the plane and not told of making any new arrangements. My wife is crying, my son Max who loved the seats was traumatized. Rex was loving the attention and I was left feeling helpless. I was, as father the guy who remains calm, who has the answers and relies on logic and reason - yet, here I was thousands of miles away from justice and a bill of rights and totally at the mercy of the Cathay Pacific manager, Andrew Man. I was essentially alone and had to put up the face of cool, calm and collect Jim Daily. It was all that I could bear. I stood at the window looking out at the 747 as it pulled away while surrounded by Cathay Pacific employees.

The Airport Duty Manager, Mr. Andrew Man was introduced to us. In our conversation he threatened my wife and I. He told us we were a security threat - that we had violated an order of the crew (he never told us what since we followed everything they asked us to do) He told us we were not going to get on any other flights and continued to claim we were somehow a threat -to date we know of no order that we failed to follow.

I believe that people need to know that the Boeing 747-400 is unsafe for travel by children. That the airline has no capability of providing for a toddler and no answer to the problem of an incompetent individual sitting aboard their plane. The airline allowed our son to fly in his car seat from the USA - they sold our son the ticket - then without our knowledge, without any input from us or warning to us at anytime, they refused him the only safe way to fly. Further they had all sorts of rules, but no common sense.

Threatening my family because they had no answer - how does a toddler fly if not on his car seat strapped in so he cannot let himself out?

Here is the e-mail I wrote while in their custody awaiting another flight...they did get us out on another aircraft that had all forward facing seats.

Dear Mr. Man:

Thank you for speaking to me after our my wife Christine, son Maxwell age (5), son Rexford age (2) and our baby sitter, Kathleen D. were told to disembark from the plane because our son Rexford would not be able to sit in his car seat and risked injury to himself and others by his being placed into his seat unattended.

You have advised me that I, my wife, our sons or our baby sitter violated a safety regulation by not following the instructions of captain or crew. The actual allegation of what we did or did not do was not clear to me.

Nevertheless I disagree with any such claim and would appreciate a copy of any such report of the incident so that I may address such claim directly.

Please forward a copy of any such report to my office. I reiterate that we followed all directions from the crew. When they told us to stow the car seat, we did. The delay, if any, was that our son kept getting out of his seat. This did not make us feel that our child was safe in such situation and we addressed that with your crew and the captain. Our son Rex sat alone in the seat and unbuckled himself no less than three times while your crew was there. We were never informed before boarding that car seats were not allowed and we do not believe that your plane was designed for children age 2 to sit in business class - the seats are unsafe at any speed. A child is subject to strangulation or decapitation by sitting in such seat. Car seats are the safest seat for them. Your company should revisit its policy in this regard.

We look forward to an uneventful flight out. The entire affair has left us exhausted, stressed and saddened by the entire experience. We hope that some good will come of this.

Please contact me if you are interested in any further information concerning this matter. Our home phone number is [redacted]

Best Regards,

James D.

New Battery Rules [DOT]

benpopken: Does he now qualify as an asshole?
consumeristcarey: Getting warmer. How did he react when the steward told him that they appeared to be all out?
benpopken: Confused.
consumeristcarey: Asshole.
benpopken: Wonderful, I had that instinct when I saw it on the plane last night and wanted to make sure I wasn't off-base.
benpopken: I guess that makes him a first-class asshole.

(Photo: mandolux)

10. Chicago (MDW) 10-11pm
9. New York (JFK) 7-8pm
8. Seattle (SEA) 10-11pm
7. Chicago (ORD) 8-9pm
6. Miami (MIA) 10-11pm
5. Atlanta (ATL) 9-10pm
4. Philadelphia (PHL) 7-8pm
3. New York (LGA) 7-9pm
2. San Francisco (SFO) 10-11pm
1. Newark (EWR) 5-6pm

[via AvoidDelays]
(Photo: mkinne)

A Hawaiian Airlines spokesperson said the charge was, "a refund fee for processing the refund...There's administration involved — paperwork, computer entries... The processing of the refund takes staff time that costs the company money."

In contrast, the Hilton canceled their reservation without blinking, as did Delta for a separate trip to Maine. Hawaiian Air should be ashamed of itself for trying to profit off dead people. Since Jane charged it on her American Express, she was able to do a chargeback for the $225.

Airline descends to a new low: a death fee [LAT] (Thanks to Paul!)

I had purchased a ticket on Spirit Airlines for a friend of mine in Brooklyn, New York to come and visit me in Orlando. I had purchased the ticket about three months prior to the departure date so I could get the lowest fare. To make a long story short, my friend had been diagnosed with colon cancer and had to start treatment immediately....

This meant that he would not be able to make the trip down to Orlando and when I explained this situation to Spirit Airlines they couldn't care less. I even offered to give them medical documentation on my friends condition and they said, "sorry but Spirit policy is no refunds".

This airline is a complete joke and as heartless a company as you will ever find. Just thought I'd share my hellish experience with you guys to go along with the thousands of other complaints against this joke of an airline.

-David M.

Maybe your credit card company will let you do a chargeback?

Carry the airline's timetable, or a list of alternate flights to your destination, which can be downloaded or printed from any airline's website. This is useful when you try for a rebooking or want to go standby. Let's say flights are delayed two hours across the board. The previous flight might still be waiting to push back from the gate. Check the timetable you brought with you and make a beeline for that earlier flight. Try to stand by and get out early, instead of waiting for hours for your scheduled itinerary.

Five ways to get an edge over other air travelers [Upgrade: Travel Better]
(Photo: Getty)

On Nov 22 my 36 year old brother Mike died suddenly. So I quickly hoped on-line to get a flight from San Francisco to Pittsburgh, leaving Nov 24th.

After a few minutes I realized that I booked the wrong "come back to San Francisco-return" date. I called Travelocity less than 5 minutes after booking my flight information on line. I told the man I was frantic over my brother's death and needed to change the "return flight"—-he became confused. I explained my concerns a few more times to him and he said he understood.

The man on the other end of the phone didn't know what a funeral was!!!

He said he could help me but the computers were down and he would make a note that I called right after booking my ticket so I could change it without penalty. In addition, I purchased the flight insurance.

When the funeral was over I called again and they had no record of my call. I was put on hold and the phone hung up after about 28 minutes so I called again and logged into my account with you so I could have all my info right at my fingertips...

Here is a list of a few of the problems I encountered.
-Can't get info on flights under the "my stuff" heading—was told the web site is having problems.
-Put on hold for upwards of 40 minutes—3 times.
-Hung up on twice.
-Customer service didn't know what a funeral was!!!
-Non English speaking customer service.
-Loud background noise of people talking and laughing.
-My account was not updated with the numerous calls I made after the receptionist said they were.
I was quoted $580.00 to change my flight after I was told there would be no charge.

I would like to cancel my flight with you on December 7th.
I would like to be reimbursed the 279.00.

Thank you for your time and attention in this matter,

Jason Doctor

My brother's death record.

http://www.vindy.com/content/records/deaths/290366058863793.php

http://www.vindy.com/content/records/tributes/290373562903006.php

http://www.vindy.com/extra/tributes/905414192.html

I am without words......

I only get put on hold or an automated message when I try to iron this out..

(Photo: bedpanjohn)

• New York: MacArthur Airport in Islip is far, far away from the preferred outer-borough airports, but it is serviced by Southwest and accessible with a $10 Long Island Rail Road ticket.
• Miami: South Florida has two viable options: Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Both have regular service to Miami via Tri-Rail for $5.50.
• Chicago: No, Midway—our favorite Flight Simulator airport—is not the preferred alternate. Consider Milwaukee. Yes, Milwaukee.

  Not only is it a hub of the highly-regarded Midwest Airlines, but also Amtrak's Hiawatha Service makes seven roundtrips a day between Chicago and the Milwaukee Airport. Each 90-minute one-way trip costs $21, much cheaper (and often faster) than using a cab.

• Los Angeles: West Coast visitors can choose from Burbank, Long Beach, Ontario, Orange County and Palmdale airports. Long Beach has the best on-time arrival stats and good access to transportation.
• San Francisco: Oakland is a good alternative, but may soon be as congested as San Francisco International.

America's Best Alternate Airports [Peter Greenberg]

I would be wiling to pay, hm, maybe up to $15 extra to be able to use airplane WiFi that accessed the entire internets. Crackberry and diddlymail (Yahoo) users will be thrilled. The rest of us will have to wait.

JetBlue to Test Inflight Email, Instant-Messaging Services [WSJ]
(Photo: MeghannMarco)

Who's Been Naughty and Nice With the Airlines [Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights via Rick Seaney]