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Fiascos and Fixes
Here’s what happens when things go wrong for travelers on the road, in the air, at hotels, and in vacation rentals.
The Travel Troubles category at Consumer Rescue is a collection of real-life stories about travelers who’ve encountered unexpected issues during their adventures. Each tale is dramatic but is a cautionary example, offering valuable lessons and practical advice.
The Travel Troubles section is meant to educate and empower travelers, helping them avoid similar issues and know what to do when things go wrong.
Travelers who encounter a problem they can’t resolve on their own should ask for help from our advocacy team. Our direct mediation service is fast, friendly, and always free!
After a flight from Mexico, Lynda Lebrock discovered that unidentified “goo” had damaged all three pieces of her luggage. She filed a claim and hoped the airline would quickly pay — all $16,000 of it.
As you probably guessed, things didn’t work out the way she hoped. The sky-high damaged luggage claim was swiftly rejected almost in its entirety. Now she’s asking our advocacy team for help. But can we?
What if Orbitz made a mistake and canceled your return flight home from vacation, leaving you stranded abroad?
Before her recent Lufthansa flight to Hamburg, Kate Griffin purchased a Platinum lost luggage protection plan from Blue Ribbon Bags. That plan provides a $1,500 lump payment if an insured bag goes missing and can’t be located within 96 hours.
So when she landed in Germany but her two suitcases didn’t, Kate figured she was covered. She quickly filed a lost luggage report with Lufthansa and Blue Ribbon Bags and then waited.
Those 96 hours came and went, but Lufthansa failed to locate her lost luggage. So why did Blue Ribbon reject her $3,000 claim for the two missing bags?
Shannon Mikus says Hertz made a big mistake during her recent car rental. She says the company charged her nearly $750 extra, and she can prove it. So why won’t anyone at Hertz acknowledge this outrageous error and refund her cash?
Scoring an Air Canada refund during the pandemic was nearly impossible. Which makes this story particularly improbable. But it’s true.
Renette Frank was one of the lucky ones who actually received her Air Canada refund early last year. So imagine her surprise when the airline sent her an extra refund of $4,282. Even more surprising: When she tried to return the extra money, the airline made that impossible, too.
If your Airbnb host asks you to pretend not to be a guest during your stay, would you?
That’s the odd situation that confronted Josephine Avina last July when her family planned a short trip. But pretending not to be guests wasn’t the only thing the Airbnb host wanted the Avinas to do. She also expected them to be OK with living in the remnants of a bachelorette party held the night before.
Just like their parents, kids need passports to fly internationally too. But Kim Ross wasn’t aware of this requirement. She says the travel agent she used to book her family’s dream vacation never informed her. But when the family tried to check in for their flight to Turks and Caicos, Delta Air Lines quickly broke the bad news. Without passports, Kim’s children weren’t eligible to fly internationally, and the airline denied boarding to the family.
Kim blames her travel agent for their ruined vacation. But is that a fair place to put the blame for being unaware that her kids needed passports?
Elisa Boyd says her experience at a hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona, has been the most embarrassing of her life. This story begins with two friends on a relaxing desert getaway. But it ends with a mortifying accusation by W Hotel employees and a giant post-stay credit card charge.
Now Elisa wants her name cleared and her money returned.
Elisa’s experience is one more to add to the file of hotel guests blindsided by unexpected and dubious post-stay fees. And it serves as a reminder to make sure to leave your room in the same condition you found it. Otherwise, you might find yourself with hefty and embarrassing charges on your hotel bill — and no way to defend yourself.
SSSS — behold the four letters that you don’t ever want to see on your boarding pass. If you find the Secondary Security Screening Selection — SSSS stamp on your ticket, you should know that the TSA agents will be treating you to an extra-special and in-depth security screening.
Lucky you! But what does it mean and what can you do to avoid it?
Bonnie Orlin doesn’t know the two people who used her stolen American Airlines miles to travel around the world. But, she says, the airline promised to restore the hacked miles to her account. However, nearly a year later, her 120,000 miles are still missing.
Is this case hopeless?
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© 2025 Consumer Rescue / Michelle Couch-Friedman
