Travel Troubleshooter

I am hoping you can help me get a refund for a cruise that my husband and I booked last June with Princess Cruises. Jim, my husband, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the spring.

I'm having an issue with Points.com I thought you might be able to help resolve. I recently traded 6,000 American Airline miles for 6,000 JetBlue miles, with a transaction fee of $100.

My wife rented a car at the Orlando airport from Budget recently. Even though she said she did not want or need the extra loss damage waiver insurance, she was informed that her car insurance was "invalid" and that in order to rent the car she needed Florida insurance.

I recently rented a car from Thrifty in Toronto for two weeks. I travel more than 26 weeks a year and rent lots of cars, but this is the first time I have been scammed by a rental car company.

Last spring, my family had tickets to fly from Fort Myers, Fla., to Milwaukee, Wis. When we arrived at the gate, a Southwest agent told us our flight was oversold and that all seats had been assigned. We were denied boarding.

We booked a ticket from Washington, D.C., to the Bahamas recently through Expedia. It was a code-share flight on Bahamasair operated by US Airways.

I recently booked a room at Hotel H2o in Manila (www.hotelh2o. com) through Hotels.com. I had to cancel my stay just before my trip, but I was incorrectly charged a one-night penalty.

In late December, my Air France flight from Paris to Strasbourg, France, was delayed because of an electrical problem. We returned to the terminal 2 1/2 hours later to find ourselves stuck in a mess of weather delays and cancellations – having to wait in a two-hour line multiple times – only to have each subsequent flight canceled.

A friend and I purchased a tour from Friendly Planet to Ecuador last July. We booked a round-trip flight on American Airlines from Dallas to Miami, to arrive in time to connect to the LAN flight to Quito, Ecuador.

I recently booked a hotel in Prague through Expedia. While perusing the hotels online, I saw an advertisement for an unpublished- rate hotel. I clicked the advertisement and was presented with three four-star hotels from which to choose.

My grandfather recently passed away. I needed to travel to Austin, Texas, for his funeral. Because I was already scheduled to fly from Baltimore to Austin on American Airlines on Nov. 24 for Thanksgiving, I thought it would be easiest to just move my outbound flight up a few days to Nov. 19.

I recently bought two one-way tickets from Madrid to Cancún, Mexico, through Cheaptickets.com. I found tickets that were within my budget and called the online travel agency to verify details, including baggage.

My friend and her husband have been extremely good to me this past year. It has been a difficult year for me and they have opened their home and their friendship.

We recently traveled on Amtrak's California Zephyr from Chicago to Sacramento. It was not good.

I recently booked a two-night stay at the Hotel am Konzerthaus in Vienna, Austria, through the Accor website. I was supposed to prepay $135 per night, but somehow, I made two reservations. .

I planned a once-in-a- lifetime trip for my two children and me to South Africa a few months ago. I used a travel agency to book my airline tickets.

I recently rented an SUV from Enterprise in Tenafly, N.J. A manager and I walked around the car before I left the lot. Neither of us saw any damage.

I'm an Indian national residing in the United States. I was scheduled to fly from Houston to Mumbai on British Airways recently. My itinerary involved a short stopover in London.

I'm having a problem with a car I recently rented from National in Denver, and I hope you have time to help me.

We rented a car for our monthlong vacation in Baltimore through Dollar Rent-A-Car recently. I was quoted a rate of $872 for an economy car.

I checked into the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort recently, and was unexpectedly charged a resort fee.

We are supposed to fly to Australia for Christmas to be with my wife's parents, but we're not sure if we'll be able to make it. I hope you can help us.

We recently checked into the Holiday Inn Express Hotel Poulsbo in Poulsbo, Wash., and experienced a lapse in service. We need your help with a refund.

I'm trying to resolve an issue with Alamo and have not been able to communicate directly with anyone at the claims department. Now they're threatening collections and legal action.

I just booked a hotel room in New Orleans through Hotwire. It seemed like a great deal. The listing was for a 4.5 star hotel. I started looking around their website, trying to determine what the possibilities were and by looking at the "hotel plus car" section I was able to see that there seemed to be three nice choices of 4.5 star hotels in the area the listing was in.

My wife and I are booked on a Viking River Cruise. We plan to go from Washington, D.C., to Moscow three days early, take the river cruise to St. Petersburg and remain there for three days before going on to a four-day stopover in Paris en route home.

I have had an ongoing dispute with the Econo Lodge Motel in East Hartford, Conn. This spring, I called the hotel directly and made a reservation for that evening for single night's stay, at a cost of approximately $75. We checked in at 10:30 p.m.

We recently canceled a trip from Minneapolis to Asuncion, Paraguay, we had booked on Delta Air Lines through Expedia. We were issued two flight vouchers, which we are trying to redeem. But Expedia isn't letting us.

We recently purchased 350 points in Disney Vacation Club, Disney's time-share program. New members of Disney Vacation Club are given help with their first reservation, and salespeople can go into Disney's cash inventory, if necessary, to get a better selection.

We booked a Budget rental car in Israel through Expedia. When my father arrived in Tel Aviv to collect his car, Budget would not give him the vehicle without mandatory theft protection and collision damage waiver. Since the policies are mandatory, shouldn't they have been included in Expedia's prices?

I booked a vacation package for three people to Hawaii through Priceline. After making the reservation, I noticed a typographical error on one of the passengers' names.

I've been haggling with Travelocity for almost three months about a flight, and I need your help. I recently booked flights from Newark, N.J., to Madrid, Spain via Continental Airlines and on to my final destination of Barcelona, Spain, via Iberia.

We recently rented a car from Enterprise in Phoenix. When we picked up the car, a representative inspected it with us. My husband noted a couple of small marks, but she said we shouldn't worry because "anything under 4 inches" was waived.

I recently bought a pair of tickets through Expedia for my husband and myself. We planned to visit Germany this fall as part of a retirement trip. Shortly after that, my husband passed away very suddenly.

I recently rented a pickup truck through National Rent-a-Car in Berkeley for a one-way move to Walla Walla, Wash. The two-day trip went smoothly, and we loaded and unloaded the truck without incident.

I recently purchased Amtrak tickets to Reno, Nev., on my American Express card. I paid $156 for the round-trip ticket and in return, I received 11,000 rewards points, which allowed me to buy another round-trip ticket. There was a misunderstanding when I booked the second ticket, and my first ticket was somehow canceled.

My wife recently rented a car in Columbus, Ohio, from Dollar Rent A Car. She is not a frequent traveler so she called me at the rental car counter that day to ask me if she should accept their insurance coverage charges that they were trying to add to the contract. Since our current auto insurance policy covered rental cars, I told her not to accept their charges.

I made a reservation at a Fairfield Inn in Philadelphia earlier this year. I prepaid for two nights and received a confirmation.

I prepaid for a room at the Ace Hotel New York through a site called Jetsetter.com recently. I had stayed at Ace Hotel in Palm Springs a year ago with a group, and had been thoroughly impressed with my stay.

I was supposed to be going on a cruise for my honeymoon. Then my fiancé – make that my former fiancé – walked out on me. I came home to the house that we owned together to find all of his stuff gone and a letter not explaining anything except that he didn't want to get married.

My partner and I have recently returned from a six-day vacation at Barcelo Puerto Vallarta in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. While we were there, many guests were afflicted by a serious illness. We began hearing about it soon after our arrival and within two days, we were both violently ill.

I recently rented a car through Enterprise at Chicago's Midway Airport. I was taken to a vehicle that had a damaged fender. I called this situation to the attention of the rental attendant and he said, "No worries, I'll just note it on the contract."

My husband and I were planning a weekend trip to New York to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. I have mobility problems and we always book a hotel as close as possible to Broadway in the theater district.

My wife and I recently rented a minivan from Enterprise. Before signing the contract, an Enterprise representative and I looked around the vehicle for damage. We noticed some damage on the bumper in the rear of the vehicle and noted it on the contract.

I rented a car from National for a family trip to Houston recently. The rental was uneventful. But a month later, I received a letter saying that the car had been returned with about $2,000 worth of damage, which included needing to replace a front bumper and a headlight.

I recently booked a flight on Expedia from Dallas to Midland, Texas, with my wife. She died before we could make the trip. I canceled her ticket and applied for a refund through Expedia, the online agency through which I had booked the ticket. I furnished all the requested documentation, including the death certificate.

My wife and I planned a trip to Antigua this summer, purchased through Expedia in December.

I hope you can help me with a problem I'm experiencing.

I was recently looking for a hotel for three nights in Rosemont, Ill. Hotwire soon started sending me emails about "lower hotel rates" in Rosemont.