Tagged: scams

Traveling to the Caribbean? Don’t Get Scammed Into Paying for This Free Entry Form

It’s not just the sandy jet blasts from ultra low-flying planes above Maho Beach that visitors to the Caribbean island of St. Maarten should keep an eye out for.  The government of the…

How to Complain to Marriott or its Brands: Official Phone Numbers and More

Need to send some choice words to Marriott about its policies or about a recent experience with one of the hospitality giant's hotels or resorts?Below, we've gathered customer service…

NYC Mayor Bans Hotel Junk Fees, or So Headlines Say. Here's What's Really Going On

The American media has never demonstrated much of an ability to confront junk fees in the travel industry with much strength or clarity. Take the New York Daily News headline from…

The Airlines, Unchecked, are Showing Passengers Prices They Can’t Actually Find

It's difficult enough comparison shopping for airfares among online ticket agencies and the carriers' own sites. Airline pricing has gotten more complicated and more confusing…

U.S. Airlines Try to Abandon Passenger Rights and Performance Reports—to Secretly Police Themselves

The nation's largest airlines are quietly asking the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to virtually eradicate every meaningful consumer protection we have. If the big carriers…

Airbnb Scam Warning: AI-Altered Photos Used to Accuse Guest of Causing $16,000 in Damage

Airbnb has had to apologize and issue a refund to a guest after a host allegedly used AI to create fraudulent photos in support of a claim that the guest had caused a whopping $16,000…

Travel Scam Warning: Don't Throw Away Your Bag Tags at the Airport

If you're the type of traveler who fails to remove airline luggage tags until the next time you need to catch a flight, never let anyone accuse you of being neglectful. Turns out…

As Las Vegas Tourism Craters, Resort Fees Are Waived at Some Hotels

Las Vegas is hurting. Tourism numbers are nosediving, and the operators of casino-hotels are scrambling. In April, the city reported a drop of 180,000 visitors compared to the same…

U.S. Senate to Force Sale of Millions of Acres of Publicly Owned Vacationland

There is an update to this story at the bottom of the post.The U.S. Senate is marking public lands to be pillaged, and preservation groups are sounding the alarm to call fans of…

Travel Scam Warning! This "Unpaid" Tolls Con Targets Road Trippers

Have you gotten any urgent text messages on your phone lately letting you know that you owe money for unpaid highway tolls? Well, there's good news and there's bad news. The good: You…

Disney Is Poised to Solve its Lightning Lane Disaster—But at What Cost?

We don't have to tell you that just about everything in the life of an American consumer seems to be degrading in quality, from useless AI chatbots replacing the assistance of live…

Demand a Resort Fee Refund! On This Website, Hotel Workers Show You Legal Ways How

Hotel workers in San Francisco have been on strike for months as they demand higher wages and more affordable healthcare. (A November demonstration at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco is…

How to Get Out of Paying a Hotel's Resort Fee—It Can Be Done!

Resort fees can be the ultimate buzzkill during your hard-earned vacation. Having to pay an extra $20 to $50 per night, plus tax, is a good way to cancel out whatever good vibes you…

Florida Is Trying to Ram Development of State Parks, "Skirting the Legal Process"

Floridians are sounding a red alert after the state unexpectedly revealed its intent to allow rapid development at nine of Florida's nature reserves, sidestepping the usual process…

This Carnival Cruise Customer Service Scam Cost a Family Their $900 Vacation

We've warned you before about travel scams involving fraudulent phone numbers for airlines' customer service call centers. Passengers fall prey to that con when they look up an…

Orlando's Visitor Toll Pass Saves You $20–$30 a Day. More Tourists Should Know About It.

Cashless tollbooths may be convenient for locals, but they're hostile to out-of-towners. As states eliminate tollbooth workers so cars can zoom through sensor points using…

Disney World Rebrands Genie+/ FastPass, but It's Still a Miserable, Complex, and Costly Chore

 How did we get here? The casual and relaxing days of Walt Disney World began to die in the 1990s, when Disney purchased the ABC networks and forced its channels to plug the company…

Find Vacation Rentals—But From Someone You Know: Meet Trustr, A New Rental Site

According to the National Association of Home Builders, there are 7.5 million second homes in the United States, which is 5.11% of the total number of homes. Yet even in this age of…

All of Las Vegas Hotels' Resort Fees in 2024—So You'll Know the True Price of a Night

Along with gambling and over-imbibing, resort fees have sadly become a way of life in Vegas. These per-night, plus tax, add-ons can turn that cheap Vegas deal you found into an…

How to Get a Refund from or Complain to Any Travel Company: Which Government Agency Oversees What

Whether it’s a bankrupt cruise line, a canceled flight, a missing car rental reservation, or a hotel “walking” you due to overbookings, there are times when you need to complain to a…

Disney's Lightning Lane Is a Scam. Why Do People Keep Buying It?

Forget creativity, forget "magic" and "dreams," forget Walt's "vision." The Disney brand of our day is built mostly on cash grabs.Disney routinely hikes prices far past the rate of…

How to Fix the Airlines: A Prescription

Here’s a secret that isn’t a secret: The airline industry is broken. We all know it—except for airline executives and their most die-hard supporters. It’s broken, but it’s also a…

Is Your Airport Hiding Big Uber and Lyft Fees from You?

It's impossible to be an informed consumer if you're not allowed to know exactly what you're paying for.Frommer's has found that a majority of airports in the United States that force…

Lyft Is Charging Customers Extra Fees but Hiding How Much

A warning for travelers who rely on rideshare company Lyft: The company is quietly hiding the true amount it takes in extra fees that are added to your base fare. A recent ride I took…

Travel Influencer Sued for Telling "Increasingly Bold Lies" to Build Her Brand

This story was published in April 2022. An update to this story is posted below.A travel influencer with more than half a million Instagram followers and more than 207,000 TikTok…