Between all the fees and add-on charges that can come with a hotel reservation, just booking a room for the night can make you feel like you’ve been taken for a ride. But even when the hotel isn’t trying to nickel-and-dime you, there are scammers out there ready to steal your money by preying on common assumptions made by hotel guests. [More]
air and travel
Survey Says: People Still Hate The Airlines… Especially United
By 4.22.14
The folks at the American Customer Satisfaction Index have released their annual report on the airline industry, once again confirming that it’s awfully hard to please consumers when you treat them like cattle and charge a premium for the privilege. [More]
Delta SkyMiles To Be Based On Price Of Ticket, Not Distance Of Flight
By 2.26.14
In a move that may please some business travelers whose employers aren’t picky about pricey airfares, but will likely annoy frugal frequent travelers, Delta Air Lines announced today that it will be changing its SkyMiles frequent flier program so that the number reward miles earned will be based on the price of a ticket, and not the distance flown. [More]
Carnival Sends Out E-Mail With Boarding Advice For Cruise You Didn’t Book
By 2.24.14
It’s nice to get helpful advice from a cruise operator in advance of departure. But it can be alarming when that advice is for a cruise that you know nothing about and a ship you never booked travel on. [More]
Airlines Adding ‘Flying Nannies’ And Lactation Stations
By 9.5.13
Rather than banishing kids to a create a child-free zone on its planes or removing an entire family from the aircraft because of an upset youngster, one airline has decided to train its cabin crew as “onboard nannies,” while another carrier is carving out a small section for traveling moms who need a few moments of privacy. [More]
American Airlines’ Apology To Nursing Mom Only Ends Up Making Situation Worse
By 8.6.13
In a situation where a simple apology would have really helped, American Airlines went a few steps too far in its apology letter to a mother who claimed she was hassled by a flight attendant for nursing on the plane. [More]
JetBlue Goes After A Pricier Class Of Flier With Lie-Flat Seating, Single-Seat Suites
By 8.5.13
JetBlue made a name for itself as an all-economy class airline that provided better service than the usual low-price competitors. Now the carrier is hoping to appeal to those passengers willing to pay some more money for a little bit of extra luxury on longer flights. [More]
Are Crying Kids Reason To Be Booted From An Airplane? US Airways Thinks So
By 8.2.13
We see a lot of stories about passengers being removed from airplanes, some of which seem legitimate (intoxicated, verbally abusive travelers) and others that don’t (people who ask a flight attendant one too many questions). Here’s the story of a Consumerist reader who, along with her two young sons, was ejected from a flight because her crying kids were delaying takeoff — but is that really reason enough? [More]
Customs Cutbacks Result In Several Hours Of Waiting In Line For Some Travelers
By 7.25.13
Going through customs after an international flight can sometimes be a hassle, but the line for passengers arriving back home in their country of residence usually moves much faster than those visitors from other nations. Try telling that to American travelers landing at DFW International in Texas, where some have spent hours and hours waiting in line just to clear customs. [More]
My Dad Dies During Celebrity Cruise Excursion; Crew Throws Out Our Stuff
By 7.23.13
What was supposed to be a happy Alaskan getaway on a Celebrity Cruise ship turned into a tragedy for Consumerist reader Melissa when her father suffered a cardiac incident while on an excursion then passed away two days later in the hospital. Now Celebrity is telling Melissa that it discarded hundreds of dollars worth of clothing and other items that were left on the ship while she tended to her father. [More]
Which Airlines Have The Most WiFi-Enabled Flights?
By 6.25.13
By now, most of us are used to having Internet access wherever we go, but a majority of flights by the major U.S. airlines still don’t offer in-flight WiFi access to passengers. And your likelihood of finding WiFi on a plane all depends on which airline you’re flying on that day. [More]
Are You Really Saving Money When You Get A Room From Airbnb?
By 6.18.13
Some people prefer home-sharing services like Airbnb over hotels because they would rather stay in a cozy apartment than in a sealed-up room with of a chain hotel. Others choose these services because they feel they are saving money over the cost of a traditional hotel, but how much you save — or if you’re saving at all — depends on where you stay and how you book your hotels. [More]
Expedia Doesn’t Really Care That The 25-Acre Hawaiian Vacation Rental You Booked Is Now Closed
By 6.11.13
You go online to book a vacation through Expedia.com and there it is — your dream Hawaiian house, located on 25 secluded acres with an ocean view. So you book the 6-day package through the site and jet off with a couple of your friends for fun in the sun. But when you get there, your Pacific island fantasy is shattered. [More]
Jersey Shore Landlord Caught Renting Out Uninhabitable Properties And Homes He Doesn’t Own
By 6.6.13
The New Jersey coastline can be a goldmine for owners of rental properties, as vacationers flock to the Atlantic Ocean every summer looking to rent for anything from a few days to the entire season. But one landlord is accused of bilking dozens of renters by taking their money for homes not fit for human habitation, some of which he doesn’t even own anymore. [More]
Airbnb Cancels Reservation Because You Don’t Want To Post A Video Of Yourself
By 5.30.13
One month ago, home-sharing service Airbnb began rolling out a program called Verified ID, which requires some U.S. users (and eventually people in other parts of the world) to go through a verification process that uses social media logins — either Facebook or LinkedIn — and offline proof of ID, like a scanned license or passport. But what if you don’t use Facebook or LinkedIn? [More]
Royal Caribbean Passenger Says Crew Wouldn’t Let Her Leave Her Cabin After Daughter Fell Overboard
By 4.17.13
Last September, a 21-year-old woman on board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship fell overboard and lost her life. In a recently filed lawsuit, the woman’s mother says she was kept under guard in her cabin for days after the incident and that she was not allowed to leave her room or contact her other children. [More]
In Wake Of Poop Cruises, Senator Calls For Passenger Bill Of Rights
By 3.18.13
After last month’s “poop cruise” disaster on the stranded Carnival Triumph, one lawmaker is asking for the travel industry to police itself and create a standard passenger bill of rights so consumers know what is expected — and what forms of redress are available — when things go wrong. [More]
Carnival Forced To Cancel 12 More Upcoming Cruises Aboard Stranded Ship
By 2.13.13
With the Carnival Triumph and its 4,000 passengers still being towed back to port following an engine room fire earlier this week, the cruise line operator has had to pull the plug on a dozen additional upcoming voyages for the ship. [More]
