A passport mistake caused this solo traveler's vacation to end abruptly in a Mexican jail, A solo female traveler ended up in a detention center in Mexico City.

How did my vacation dreams end with me in a Mexican jail nightmare?

If you arrive in a foreign country without a valid passport in your hand, you’re going back home. That’s guaranteed. But sometimes, that’s not all that happens, unfortunately. Here’s how a simple passport mistake landed one female solo traveler with vacation dreams in a Mexican jail nightmare.

Here’s her story.

Swiss Air denied boarding aircraft mistake, refused boarding this aircraft, SWISS, Swiss Air International, airplane in the sky

Swiss Air denied boarding to me by mistake. Who will pay for this?

Stepping up to the Swiss Air check-in counter at Newark International, Zivia Berkowitz didn’t expect any problems. She was excitedly on her way to join an expedition team to hike to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. 

At least, that was the plan. But that isn’t what happened. Swiss Air denied boarding to Berkowitz – she says by mistake. So, instead of flying to Africa, she spent the night in an airport hotel scrambling to find last-minute replacement flights.

The ultimate guide to planning a cruise, expert cruise guidance, what cruisers need to know about planning a cruise, taking a cruise guide, Michelle Couch-Friedman cruise fiasco expert

Planning a cruise in 2024? Here’s your guide to avoiding common mistakes

Over the years, I’ve mediated hundreds of requests for help from distressed cruise line passengers. Many of these cruise fiascos were the result of passenger mistakes and could have been avoided by following some simple guidelines. With wave season just beginning, now is the perfect time to review Consumer Rescue’s ultimate guide to planning a cruise.

Here’s all the information you need to know about planning and taking a cruise.

cruise mistakes, Flying on same day as cruise and packing passport in luggage, cruise ship sailing away, missed cruise

How two little mistakes can end in tears at the cruise terminal

Two mistakes – and one delayed flight – led Tom Watson to arrive at the Miami cruise terminal without his passport. With just minutes to look for the document, time ran out. He and his wife were denied boarding the cruise, and the ship sailed without them.

Watson places the blame on Viking for their missed cruise, and wants a full refund. But who is really responsible here?

This tale highlights the danger of flying on the same day as your cruise is set to begin. Although it may seem convenient to fly into your embarkation city and transfer straight to the ship, even a slight flight delay can have devastating consequences.

Singapore Airlines, an aircraft taking off

Middle name on your passport? Don’t make this airline ticket mistake

What happens when your middle name is on your passport and airline ticket, but your last name is missing? Eleanor Rasmussen can tell you because it happened to her.

If your middle name is on your passport, you probably always try to add it to your airline ticket. But many airlines and booking agencies don’t give you that option.

The reason for this omission? Travelers aren’t required to include a middle name on their airline ticket – even if one is displayed on their passport.

In Rasmussen’s case, the online booking agent her friend used to book their airline tickets didn’t have a specific field to add a middle name. That led to a travel fiasco that left her with an unusable ticket to Tokyo with only her first and middle name.

Now, with her middle name on her ticket where her last name should be, Rasmussen is asking for our help. She’s hoping Consumer Rescue can convince Singapore Airlines to correctly rewrite her ticket.

But will the third-party booking agent cooperate

LOT Airlines, an aircraft in flight with the words LOT Polish Airlines on the side.

LOT Airlines mistakenly denied boarding to us. How do we get our $2,249 back?

Yevgeniy and Artyom Yevtushenko flew LOT Airlines from Toronto to Astana, Kazakhstan, via Warsaw, Poland, last June without a hitch. But it was a different story when they tried to check in for their flight back to Canada in August. That’s when a stern LOT Airlines agent reviewed their passports and quickly denied boarding to the father and son. 

Confused by the employee’s announcement, Yevtushenko assumed there was some mistake that the airline could easily correct. That is until a supervisor appeared who promptly ended that assumption. He confirmed that LOT Airlines was required to deny boarding to the pair because they were missing Canadian visas. 

But the agents had some good news for the rejected passengers. Since their ultimate destination was Grand Rapids, Michigan, LOT could reroute the pair and avoid Canada altogether. However, there was bad news as well: the new itinerary would cost an additional $2,249. 

Given no other choice, a frustrated Yevtushenko paid the fee, and he and his son flew home to Michigan. 

Now, Yevtushenko is asking Consumer Rescue for help getting the money back. He hopes we can convince LOT Airlines that its employees mistakenly denied boarding to him and Artyom. They didn’t need Canadian visas, and he can prove it – if only someone would listen and look at the facts. 

If you’re familiar with our team, then you know he came to the right place to find someone willing to listen.

Carnival Cruise Line ship, cruise ship on the ocean.

We had our Real ID! Why couldn’t we board our Carnival Cruise?

Although a Real ID and an Enhanced ID look nearly identical, there are critical differences between the two identifications. Diane Dipalma recently received a rapid and painful education on the topic while attempting to board Carnival Cruise Line’s Legend. 

She and her new husband believed they could use their Real ID driver’s licenses to take the cruise. But the Carnival Cruise Line staff quickly clarified that they couldn’t, and the shocked newlyweds missed their honeymoon. 

Here’s their story and what you need to know about the differences between a Real ID and an Enhanced ID.