Travel Troubles

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!

A Lufthansa aircraft on a runway, Lufthansa flight delay causing problems

After a Lufthansa flight delay, I canceled the trip. Where’s my $5,459 refund?

December 30, 2023January 20, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

How did an extensive flight delay cause a Lufthansa passenger to lose $5,459?

That’s what Sruthi Samraj wants to know after her bizarre experience with Lufthansa. She recently boarded a last-minute flight planning to make a connection in Frankfurt to Bangalore to attend her grandmother’s funeral. But after an extensive delay, during which the passengers deplaned, it was clear Sruthi would miss her connecting Lufthansa flight.

So she canceled the trip and went home.

But the disappointment of missing her grandmother’s funeral was soon exacerbated by the airline’s response to her refund request. Lufthansa intended to keep her entire $5,459, calling her a no-show on the delayed flight.

Oregon coast, road trip down the Oregon coast, ocean and flowers to see on a road trip in a rental car.

Budget charged me twice for the same car rental! Can you help?

January 7, 2025January 18, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

Eileen Wendorf says a Budget mistake caused her to pay twice for the same car rental. She wants her money back. But there’s a big problem with her discovery — it occurred nearly seven months after she returned the vehicle.

Now she’s asking our advocacy team to convince Budget of its expensive billing mistake and retrieve her $426. Can we do it?

cleaning supplies, blue spray bottle to illustrate an article about an excessive cleaning fee.

Is this legal? Here is the most excessive Airbnb cleaning fee ever!

October 28, 2023January 16, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

James Parker just got hit with the most excessive cleaning fee I’ve ever seen as a consumer advocate. Soon after checking out of his recent Airbnb rental, the owner sent him a $1,470 bill to clean up the mess she says his family made.

But what mess was she really cleaning up?

Colorful London residential street, Airbnb rental in London

This vacation rental had no working toilet! Will Airbnb refund this family?

September 14, 2025January 13, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

It goes without saying that a vacation rental in the heart of London should come with a working toilet. And, of course, if your Airbnb doesn’t have one, you should get a refund. Right?

Unfortunately, Airbnb guest Karen Morris just found out that not everyone agrees with that basic premise.

ANA owes this Expedia customer a $1,296 refund for a flight the airline canceled. He asked Consumer Rescue for help getting it.

ANA canceled my flight two years ago. What happened to my $1,296 refund?

March 25, 2023January 6, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

Over two years ago, All Nippon Airways (ANA) canceled Jurian Yee’s flight to Japan. ANA promised that it would soon send a $1,296 refund through Expedia. But it never did materialize.

Now a frustrated Jurian (via his dad) is asking the Consumer Rescue team for help. He’s hoping we can nudge ANA to send that refund so he can finally take his long-awaited trip to Japan.

But after so much time, is this a lost cause? Let’s find out.

This is why you should not skip parts of your airline's flight itinerary.

You should never skip parts of your flight, this is why

March 11, 2024January 5, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

Thinking about skipping parts of your next flight? Charlie Williams can tell you from experience — it’s a very bad idea.

Here’s why.

Consumer alert: Don't buy two one-way airline tickets to save money. This is why!

You should not buy two one-way airline tickets to save money. Here’s why

May 27, 2024January 3, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

Airline passengers can sometimes save money by booking two one-way tickets instead of a round-trip flight. But Sharon Sanborn found out the hard way that there’s a downside to this practice.

Now she wants to know if our advocacy team can do anything to help her out of the financial headache in which she’s landed.

This traveler was hit by a hotel billing error during her getaway to Tucson. Now she wants Consumer Rescue to help.

A hotel billing error ends in a lost chargeback. Or will it?

April 2, 2024January 1, 2023 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

Linda Ralston has been fighting an expensive hotel billing error for months. Several weeks after her 3-night stay at the Westin La Paloma in Tucson, Arizona, she discovered an extra night’s charge on her credit card. Now her battle seems to have ended in a lost chargeback, with the resort coming out the winner.

But with all the evidence on her side, how did she lose?

Baby was denied boarding international flight because the mom didn't know she needed a passport. This is a cautionary tale that babies need passports too.

Our baby was denied boarding our international flight. Whose fault is this?

June 12, 2024December 28, 2022 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

Yes, your baby needs a passport to fly internationally, just like you do. Otherwise, your little tot will be denied boarding their flight just like any other passenger who doesn’t have the required documents for international travel.

Aly Meyer wishes someone had given her this critical information before her family arrived at the airport ready for their tropical vacation. That’s when an airline employee broke the bad news that without a passport, the baby was being denied boarding the international flight. As a result, instead of flying to Mexico, the family headed right back home.

What to do if American Airlines vouchers expired.

My $7,762 American Airlines flight credit expired! Can I get it back?

December 15, 2025December 26, 2022 by Michelle Couch-Friedman

Tom Suminski intended to redeem his stockpile of $7,762 American Airlines flight credit for a Hawaiian vacation. But he says an airline representative gave him faulty redemption instructions that led the vouchers to expire right under his nose.

The entire $7,762.

That put the family’s tropical dreams in jeopardy. Tom hopes we can convince American Airlines to reinstate his flight credit. But is this just a lost cause?

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