Michelle Couch-Friedman

Consumer reporter and ombudsman columnist

Michelle Couch-Friedman is the founder and CEO of Consumer Rescue. She is a journalist, consumer advocate, travel writer, mediator, and former psychotherapist. Michelle is also the travel ombudsman columnist for The Points Guy, contributing author at Fodor's Travel and previously served as the executive director of the nonprofit Elliott Advocacy. During her six years managing that organization, she resolved thousands of cases for troubled travelers and other consumers. You can read hundreds of 5-star reviews Michelle earned during her service to the nonprofit on Great Nonprofits. Michelle is a public speaker, and her expert guidance has been cited in the Washington Post, MarketWatch, Consumer Reports, Travel & Leisure, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Popular Science, CNN, CNBC, Boston Globe, CBS News, National Geographic, Travel Weekly, Reader's Digest and more. You might even catch Michelle on TV reporting on a situation. :) Professionally, Michelle is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and the American Society of Journalists and Authors (asja). Today, she continues to spend as much time as possible fiercely defending consumers and traveling the world. Contact her at Michelle Couch-Friedman or on Linkedin, Twitter or Facebook.

This is a ship on the ocean owned by the company Vantage Deluxe World Travel.

Vantage Deluxe World Travel: Here are the true tales from bewildered customers

January 1, 2024April 29, 2023

Attention Vantage Deluxe World Travel customers: The news isn’t good if you’ve got a trip planned with this tour operator. The unfortunate reality is that you might not be going anywhere.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, my consumer advocacy team has been fielding a heavy volume of Vantage Travel complaints. But recently, the number of pleas for help from customers of the troubled tour operator has skyrocketed.

On April 21, things went from bad to worse. That’s when the Vantage Travel website suddenly went offline and its phone system stopped working. Simultaneously, the administrator of the tour operator’s Facebook page disabled commenting.

But not before angry Vantage customers began sharing disturbing stories.

Travel club in Mexico, blue ocean and green palm trees with boats on the water

Post-vacation regret: Here’s why you should never impulsively join a travel club

March 10, 2024April 26, 2023

By all accounts, Sabrina Cousins’ trip to Puerto Vallarta was amazing. She had such a wonderful time that she ended her stay by purchasing an expensive Palladium Travel Club membership. But back home, Cousins quickly came down with a terrible case of post-vacation regret. And she wants us to help pull her out of the travel club mess into which she and her husband find themselves.

But is that possible?

Cousins is just one of a long string of consumers who contact our advocacy team in a panic after returning from vacation with an unplanned timeshare or travel club contract in hand. She discovered, just like the others before her, that these agreements are easy to sign, but breaking them isn’t.

Alaska Airlines aircraft, airplane in the sky

Alaska Airlines denied boarding to me by mistake! Who will pay for this?

May 12, 2025April 22, 2023

Stepping up to the check-in counter of Alaska Airlines, new mom Jisu Lee wasn’t expecting any problems. She was well-prepared for the grueling 20-hour journey ahead, flying alone with her infant from Seattle to Auckland via Vancouver. In New Zealand, her parents were excitedly waiting to meet their granddaughter for the first time.

Lee had anticipated almost everything – except the possibility of being mistakenly denied boarding by a confused agent of Alaska Airlines. That error caused the trip to morph into an expensive four-day travel nightmare for the frazzled mother and baby.

Now Lee is hoping Consumer Rescue can help. She’s asking Alaska Airlines to admit it made an error refusing to allow her to board the flight. She also wants the airline to repay her for all of the additional expenses she incurred as a result of that mistake.

But what is the real reason that Alaska Airlines denied boarding to Lee and her child? That’s the question of the day.

NCL denied boarding Norwegian Spirit, cruise ship on the ocean, Norwegian Spirit

I flew to New Zealand and got denied boarding my $8,154 NCL cruise!

July 14, 2024April 14, 2023

What if you flew 7,500 miles to take an NCL cruise only to be denied boarding at the pier? It happened to one stunned couple. Here’s their story.

As Erin Beztilny’s flight from Vancouver touched down in Auckland last month, she could hardly contain her excitement. She and her husband were about to embark on a much-anticipated dream cruise aboard NCL’s Norwegian Spirit from New Zealand to Australia.

At least that was the plan. But that isn’t what happened.

Why is this Airbnb host asking me to sneak into the property?

August 8, 2024April 11, 2023

What if you traveled halfway around the world only to find the vacation rental you booked on Airbnb is likely illegal? That’s the situation that confronted Alex Tarce when he tried to check into his Tokyo rental, and the host asked him to sneak in behind the doorman’s back.

What’s going on here?

A U.S. passport on top of a white and brown world map

Need a new passport fast? This is how to do it

February 23, 2025April 7, 2023

Imagine your entire family is excitedly packing for your first international adventure since the beginning of the pandemic. You’ll soon be on your way to the Caribbean to relax and enjoy some sun and tropical drinks.

Or will you?

The traveler in this tale neglected to look at his passport’s expiration date until a few nights before his family’s trip. That’s when he was shocked to discover the document had expired – two years ago!

But no worries, he thought. Consumer Rescue could surely help him.

Why was this guy so confident about that, you might ask.

Well, that’s the embarrassing part of this story.

An advertisement for a long term rental on TripAdvisor turns out to be a scam.

I lost $1,721 in the “TripAdvisor” long term rental scam!

April 24, 2024April 4, 2023

TripAdvisor is not in the business of long term rentals, so if you come across one on the site, it’s surely a scam. But first-time apartment hunter, Haley Cline was unaware of this fact.

When a friendly “TripAdvisor-approved owner” emailed her about a spectacularly discounted year-long rental, no alarm bells went off. The scam only came into focus after Cline sent her initial $1,721 deposit via Bitcoin to the online predator.

This is a stovetop, boiling water in a pot

Why was I charged $500 for stealing a stove from my hotel room?

November 30, 2024March 31, 2023

Laura Fernandez just got charged $500 for stealing a stove from her Home2 Suites hotel room. However, this accusation has two big problems. First, she says there was no such appliance in the suite and second, she’s not a thief.

But the management of the franchised property didn’t let those little details get in the way. Two hours after Fernandez checked out of her hotel room, they swiped her debit card for an extra $500.

And she called the police to file a robbery charge against the hotel.

Now she’s hoping that Consumer Rescue can get her $500 returned and clear her name.

What’s going on here?

How to get banned from flying to Singapore or anywhere else.

Surprise! You just got banned from flying. Now what?

October 19, 2024March 29, 2023

We’ve all heard the stories of air passengers getting banned from flying for aggressive and outlandish behavior. But Marko K. found a more harmless and unique way to get banished permanently by an airline. After threatening a mid-air starvation strike to protest the cost of airline food, he landed directly on Scoot’s no-fly list.

Marko’s tale serves as a reminder to travelers. Passengers who make any threats of problematic behavior – even benign ones – can end up banned from flying. No airline crew wants to be faced with an inflight situation that could force an emergency landing. So it’s vital that passengers resolve all of their complaints and concerns on the ground, not 30,000 feet in the air.

A thief stealing from an unsuspecting internet user

This is how a Craigslist thief easily stole his Target gift card

July 12, 2023March 27, 2023

Tony Tucker has a sad tale to tell. A Craigslist thief stole his Target gift card. Now he’s empty-handed, and he wants to know if we can convince Target to return the lost $284.

Tucker’s story is a reminder that there are multiple ways that thieves can steal gift cards, and these scammers are often one step ahead of the average consumer in their methods.

However, in this case, it seems that Tucker did something so ill-advised that the outcome was almost certainly guaranteed.