54°
Name:
Screen name:
Email:
Position: © 2016, The Washington Post
Email: celliott@ngs.org
Wireless roaming charges are “outrageous,” to hear travelers like Karen Pliskin talk about them. And she ought to know. On a weekend visit to Vancouver, B.C., the San Francisco-based anthropologist...
DATE: Dec. 25, 2016 | COLUMN: The Travel Troubleshooter
If you’ve never heard of a strategic lawsuit against public participation, consider yourself lucky. I hadn’t either until a knock at my door on a January evening seven years ago. A process server...
DATE: Dec. 18, 2016 | COLUMN: The Travel Troubleshooter
The Department of Transportation fined airlines $4.5 million in 2016 for infractions ranging from lengthy tarmac delays to failing to compensate passengers for lost luggage, almost double last...
DATE: Dec. 11, 2016 | COLUMN: The Travel Troubleshooter
If you’re looking for new luggage, I have good news and bad news. The latest travel bags, available just in time for the holidays, are the most exciting ones I’ve seen in years. Thanks to tracking...
DATE: Dec. 4, 2016 | COLUMN: The Travel Troubleshooter
For better or worse, travelers are turning to a last-ditch tactic to resolve their disagreements with airlines, car-rental companies or hotels: instigating credit-card disputes. Chargebacks are on...
DATE: Nov. 27, 2016 | COLUMN: The Travel Troubleshooter
Confidential to procrastinators: Thanksgiving is only a couple weeks away. Do you really want to wait until the last minute to plan your holiday travel? Not this year. You don’t need me to tell you...
DATE: Nov. 19, 2016 | COLUMN: The Travel Troubleshooter
It’s a story that Carrie Calzaretta’s 14-year-old son, Tyler, will probably tell his kids someday. This summer, the Calzarettas paid American Airlines an extra $300 for their son to fly round-trip...
DATE: Nov. 12, 2016 | COLUMN: The Travel Troubleshooter
Is your airline telling you everything? After a government operation that netted four airlines, the unsurprising answer is: No. Last year, the U.S. Department of Transportation dispatched...
DATE: Oct. 29, 2016 | COLUMN: The Travel Troubleshooter
Maybe you missed the announcement that the American Society of Travel Agents is introducing a “ground-breaking” new course focused on ethics in the travel industry. If you’re like most travelers,...
DATE: Oct. 22, 2016 | COLUMN: The Travel Troubleshooter
Car-rental companies are collecting millions in toll fees – from their customers. When he crossed the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge in Northern California, James Kaiser expected Avis to bill him for the...
DATE: Oct. 15, 2016 | COLUMN: The Travel Troubleshooter
The recent passage of the Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016 in the Senate raises a new question about the reliability of online reviews for travelers. User-generated reviews on websites such as...
DATE: Oct. 1, 2016 | COLUMN: The Travel Troubleshooter
The National Trust Tours brochure for its upcoming Odyssey of Ancient Civilizations – a seven-night cruise through Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and Greece – advertises an “all-inclusive”...
DATE: Sept. 24, 2016 | COLUMN: The Travel Troubleshooter
