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.

Norwegian Cruise Line treated this couple very differently than another couple just two weeks before. What's going on here?

Why did Norwegian Cruise Line treat these two couples so differently?

October 7, 2023October 3, 2022

Last December, Patrick Doyle and his wife boarded a Norwegian Cruise Line ship, vaccinated and COVID negative. They intended to celebrate Christmas with a tropical cruise sailing on NCL’s Dawn. Unfortunately, within three days of embarkation, Lee Doyle became very ill. In the medical center onboard the vessel, she received a diagnosis of influenza. Her husband, who was feeling fine, tested positive for COVID, and their holiday adventure suddenly took an awful turn.

Why did this Royal Caribbean passenger think a printout from Ancestry.com was a valid ID to cruise to Canada?

No, a printout from Ancestry com is not a valid ID to cruise!

March 12, 2025October 2, 2022

Barbara Vannier’s adult daughter tried to check in for her international cruise with just a driver’s license and a printout from Ancestry com. Unfortunately, she quickly found out that this is not valid ID to cruise to Canada and the ship left without her. Now Barbara wants an apology from Royal Caribbean and a full cash refund for her daughter’s missed vacation. But is she entitled to either?

what does a cruise line owe passengers for itinerary changes, canceled ports of call, compensation for cruise itinerary change, NCL Baltic Sea cruise problems.

These cruise itinerary changes ruined my trip! Shouldn’t I get a refund?

February 21, 2025October 1, 2022

The cruise itinerary changes on Iris Fennel’s recent Baltic Sea journey completely ruined her trip. She says Norwegian’s Breakaway sailed right past three out of five of its scheduled ports of call. Based on that ratio, Iris has calculated the cruise line should give her a 60 percent cash refund.

But does the cruise line owe Iris anything for these changes to the itinerary?

This tale is a harsh reminder of the reality of cruise schedules. These itineraries can be as fluid as the seas the cruise ships sail upon. In fact, the captain can change course for a plethora of reasons with little to no notice to the passengers. And if you’re curious as to what the company owes you if your cruise makes a giant deviation, read your contract. The surprising truth is there.

These college students encountered a gross vacation rental with rats in NYC. Can the Consumer Rescue team help?

This vacation rental has rats! Can the Vrbo host keep my $8,865?

October 2, 2023September 30, 2022

After a 12-hour flight from Israel to the U.S., college students Nadav and Odelia were eager to get settled. They grabbed their luggage and headed to the cute Vrbo in Queens, scheduled to be their home base for three months. But those plans quickly changed when they arrived at the vacation rental and shockingly found rats already settled there.

Then things went from bad to worse for the tired and bewildered United Nations interns. The Vrbo host refused to release them from the nearly $9,000 rental contract. Instead, he told the young ladies to go to a youth hostel while he evicted the rats from his vacation rental property.

Now, after several weeks of trying to reason with this Vrbo host, they’re asking for our team’s help. The college interns do not want to return to the basement-level apartment where the rats have been residing. But the owner claims they are in breach of contract, and he says he gets to keep the $9,000.

That definitely doesn’t sound right to the Consumer Rescue team. So can we fix this vacation rental fiasco?

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.

Michelle Couch-Friedman

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