Two people named John left their iPhones in their rental cars as they hurried off to catch a flight. Both Johns tracked the phone and found an agency employee had it. The agency — Budget in Boston, Alamo in Seattle — did nothing. nytimes.com/2024/01/08/tra…

Three of seven default insurance plans sold by major cruise lines do not cover travelers who miss the boat because of flight delays, even if the cruise line itself booked the flights. (The other four come with limitations.) Buy your insurance separately. nytimes.com/2024/02/01/tra…

How much should you get when you're involuntarily downgraded? 日本航空 | Japan Airlines gives a couple less than they deserve and British Airways basically admits they don't know the law in my latest Tripped Up column for New York Times Travel. nytimes.com/2024/04/04/tra…

Summer travel warning: When a merchant uses a portable credit card reader, insert or tap the card yourself or at least watch the screen carefully. Otherwise, you might end up getting charged, say, $1000 or more for a tank of gas in Los Cabos. nytimes.com/2024/06/06/tra…

nytimes.com/2024/08/29/tra… The worst case scenario when you accidentally click on a duplicitous Google ad bought by an unscrupulous New Jersey-based travel agency owner who goes by the pseudonym Alec Baldwin.

What happens if your short-term rental is canceled last minute? Will the company spring for a comparable replacement at last-minute prices or will you be stuck with a refund that won’t cover a hotel? nytimes.com/2024/09/19/tra… #airbnb #vrbo #travel ⁦New York Times Travel⁩

Budget hit a traveler with a $450 fee to for a rental car returned with routine dirt and a few kid footprints on the back of the driver’s seat. Today’s New York Times Travel column may be my last - if Budget will hire me to clean cars for $450, that is. nytimes.com/2024/10/29/tra…

You technically cannot sue airlines in small claims courts, but when you do it works pretty well. That and what the Trump administration better not cut from DOT, in my end-of-year column. nytimes.com/2024/12/12/tra…

Over the last ten years, hundreds of Portuguese-speaking foreigners have started creating content for Brazilians. Why do Brazilians love (and occasionally hate) us so much? I interviewed nine of the more thoughtful "gringos" to find out. youtube.com/watch?v=wObq5I…

Brazen (and suspiciously thin?) Brazilian thieves are robbing pharmacies at gunpoint for #ozempic. nytimes.com/2025/02/15/wor…

If your Airbnb is burglarized, you better have insurance because the company will only cover you if you meet very specific conditions...and not always then, either. nytimes.com/2025/02/13/tra… by me via New York Times Travel

For my New York Times Travel column, I resolve disputes between travelers and (usually) big corporations. Today, it's a very small (and admirably stubborn, but definitely wrong) non-profit. Have an issue for the column? Reach me at [email protected]. nytimes.com/2025/03/06/tra…

What are the pros and cons of voluntarily giving up your seat on an overbooked flight? Here's one more for the "cons" side: nytimes.com/2025/04/24/tra…

A cruise ship charged two passengers for a whale-watching excursion without their permission and then refused to refund them when they missed a deadline to back out. They won't be doing that anymore! nytimes.com/2025/05/15/tra…

Whose responsibility is it when luggage disappears from the carousel? I got no comment from six of the seven biggest U.S. carriers, as well as JFK airport. Kudos to americanair for saying "it's ours." nytimes.com/2025/06/05/tra…

A larger-than-life Brazilian archaeologist who transformed an impoverished region of the country died last week, and though I never met her personally, I did get to write the obit. nytimes.com/2025/06/10/sci…