Christopher Elliott

To hear travelers like Dani Robin talk about it, the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to ground the Boeing 737 Max 8 last week caused a minimum of disruptions to air travel. She never had to worry about her passenger rights because Southwest Airlines solved her problem almost before she knew it existed.

But passengers are concerned about next time, which could affect more aircraft, and might not go as smoothly. What are their rights? Is there any way to avoid having your trip disrupted when an aircraft is grounded?
Read more “What happens when your aircraft is grounded?”

Two weeks after Kim Bruno returned his rental car in San Francisco, he received a surprise $285 charge from Budget.

The reason? “Pet hair,” says Bruno, a lawyer from Washington, D.C. He and his wife had visited the Bay Area with her emotional support animal, an Australian cattle dog named Sprite.

“The customer service department sent me photos of the car,” he says. “There was some pet hair below the rear passenger’s seat. It did not look excessive to me. It could be vacuumed up.”
Read more “Fur flies over travel industry pet cleanup charges”