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.

Will Jetblue let this old cat fly home from the Dominican Republic?

Can JetBlue really refuse to let my cat fly home from vacation?!

December 3, 2024September 29, 2022

Flying with your cat internationally can be complicated — especially when an airline changes its pet policy mid-trip. Yekis Fortunato found out just how complicated after flying JetBlue to the Dominican Republic with her 19-year-old cat, Foxxy.

Shockingly, soon after arrival, the airline summarily canceled the feline’s return flight. The reason? JetBlue updated its policy prohibiting any pets from flying to or from the island on its aircraft.

The name on your passport must match the name on your ticket. This is why.

What happens if the name on your passport doesn’t match your ticket?

February 24, 2024September 28, 2022

Can you fly off to an international destination if the name on your ticket does not match the name on your passport?

The answer to that question is “No.”

Ralph Lantz found this out in a devastating way. He booked his friend, Jackie, a ticket to meet him on a dream vacation to Greece. But his generous gesture went all wrong at the check-in counter. That’s where Jackie’s Mediterranean plans came to an abrupt end when a Virgin Atlantic agent pointed out that the name on her ticket was not the same as the one on her passport.

Why did Travelocity send this customer to a closed hotel in a remote area of Mexico?

Why did Travelocity make me pay for a permanently closed hotel?

October 5, 2023September 28, 2022

Rosalva Paulino recently used Travelocity to book a pleasant-looking historic property in a remote area of Mexico. However, upon arrival at the location, she was confronted by a permanently closed hotel. Complete with blocked entrances and overgrown vegetation, it was clear the hotel had been shuttered for some time. Bewildered, she scrambled to find alternative accommodations on her own.

Rosalva assumed Travelocity would apologize and quickly refund her prepaid reservation for the permanently closed hotel.

She was wrong. Her shock turned to anger when Travelocity rejected the refund request, claiming the hotel refused to approve it.

Vrbo does not allow shared space rentals. So why won't this host leave?

Vrbo doesn’t allow shared space vacation rentals. So why won’t this host leave?

February 11, 2023September 27, 2022

Franklin Wu had a most unusual experience with Vrbo after he prepaid $9,000 for a four-month apartment rental in Switzerland. Although Vrbo doesn’t allow shared vacation rentals, suddenly, in the middle of the night, the host made it clear she wasn’t leaving. So he did.

But then Vrbo gave him another shock — the host could keep all his money.

United Airlines canceled a passengers flight and then sent his refund to a closed credit card account. Where did the money go? And can our advocacy team help?

Help! United Airlines sent my refund to a closed credit card account.

April 11, 2024September 26, 2022

United Airlines canceled Eric Noderer’s flight to India and sent his refund to a closed credit card account. Since then, he’s been in an endless battle between the airline and Chase to locate the missing $2,217.

Now he’s hoping our advocacy team can provide the backup assistance he needs to find and retrieve his money.

Can we do it?

It’s never a good idea to close a credit card when you’ve used it to pay for upcoming flight or cruise. There are many reasons this is so, but Noderer’s struggle highlights the primary one. Here’s his frustrating tale.

An Air Canada mistake ended with this passenger being detained for two weeks in South Korea.

An Air Canada mistake caused me to be detained in Korea – for two weeks!

April 21, 2023September 25, 2022

An Air Canada agent made a mistake that set off a terrible chain of events for Sarahy Sigie during the dark days of the pandemic. The end result? Sarahy was detained in South Korea for 15 days against her will and at her own expense.

This Budget customer says she returned her rental car as scheduled. So why doesn't the car rental agency know that?

I left my rental car at the airport, but now it’s missing!

May 12, 2023September 24, 2022

Maureen Heller recently received a shocking message from Budget Security about a missing rental car. The letter accused Maureen of failing to return a Nissan Sentra that she had left at the Detroit airport weeks earlier.

But with no receipt to prove she returned it, will Maureen be on the hook for this missing rental car?

If you don't want to tip on your cruise, you need to let the cruise line know before you leave the ship. This cruise ship passenger thinks auto-tips are unfair.

This is what happens if you don’t want to tip on your cruise

March 16, 2025September 22, 2022

What if you don’t want to tip on your cruise? Or maybe you’re not against cruise gratuities but prefer to give on a person-by-person basis. Can the cruise line force you to pay a set amount for the crew’s bonus?

That’s the question Laurie May wants to be answered. She says Oceania recently blindsided her by adding $320 to the cost of her 10-day European cruise. The reason? Automatically added gratuities.

Now she wants our advocacy team to retrieve the crew bonus and put it back in her wallet. But is that something we can do?

Is this the worst booking mistake ever? This traveler wanted a beach, family vacation and ended up in the mountains of Kingston, Jamaica in a business hotel.

Here it is: The worst booking mistake I’ve ever seen

June 16, 2024September 22, 2022

What if you made the worst booking mistake ever — and realized it just moments too late?

Lori Korosek did just that. This novice traveler intended to book a relaxing all-inclusive beachfront hotel in Jamaica for her son and herself. But she accidentally ended up with a nonrefundable, landlocked business hotel that forbids children — located one hour from the beach.

Now Lori is asking our advocacy team if we can do anything about her $1,500 vacation planning gaffe.

Lori’s colossal booking mistake underscores the fact that not everyone should attempt to book their own travel. In this case, a professional trip advisor could have provided critical guidance to this rookie traveler. And although we don’t typically mediate self-created fiascos, Lori has an extenuating circumstance that I found difficult to disregard.

This traveler's car crashed in the sea! Now he's plunged into an insurance nightmare.

His rental car crashed into the sea. Now he’s in a $27,825 insurance nightmare!

May 30, 2023September 21, 2022

Last fall, Russell Wayne’s rental car inexplicably crashed into the ocean in a picturesque seaside town in Spain. Unfortunately, the strange accident totaled the Europcar-owned Audi and plunged Russell into an insurance nightmare with Chase Eclaims.

Now Russell is asking our advocacy team for help in getting his $27,825 insurance claim paid.

Can we do it?

Michelle Couch-Friedman

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