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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.
Fake Verizon customer service calls, phone scammers pretending to be Verizon customer service, protect yourself and know the signs of a scammer

Verizon customers beware of phone scammers pretending to be helpful agents

Verizon customers are being targeted by phone scammers pretending to be helpful agents of the wireless titan. The predators deliver troubling news to their unaware victims and then provide urgent solutions to “fix” the problem.

I know this firsthand because one of these crooks called my Verizon number and tried his scheme on me. As you can imagine, things didn’t go quite as this phone scammer had planned.

What is an unaccompanied minor? How young is too young for a child to fly solo?

My child wasn’t an unaccompanied minor. Why was he denied boarding?

If you send your child on an international journey, you better ensure they are old enough to fly alone on all parts of the trip. One mom thought her son was finally old enough to fly as a solo young adult instead of an unaccompanied minor. Turns out she was only half right.

Carnival Cruise Line, a cruise ship on the horizon

Our Carnival cruise ended with a shocking roaming charge! Can you help?

Cesar Resendiz and his wife thought a Carnival cruise would be the perfect way to celebrate their anniversary. What they didn’t think about was putting their mobile phones in airplane mode during their ten days onboard the ship. That oversight led to a shocking $2,349 roaming charge they discovered only after disembarking from Carnival’s Venezia.  

United Airlines aircraft, airport, flights,

United Airlines travel credit: How to make sure you don’t lose yours

United Airlines travel credit, like all airline credit, has a limited shelf life. Despite that fact, many passengers remain unaware of the expiration date of their future travel credit – and end up losing it all. Here’s one traveler’s unfortunate tale and what you need to know so this doesn’t happen to you.