Travel Troubleshooter

We booked a 10-day vacation package in Cancún, Mexico, through Hotels.com that included airfare, hotel and a rental car. Taxes were included in the price of the rental car.

I recently booked a hotel room for a three-night stay at the DoubleTree Beach Resort by Hilton Hotel Tampa Bay – North Redington Beach through Expedia. I opted to pay the higher rate of $239 a night to guarantee a beachfront room. The lower rate of $199 was refundable but would not guarantee the ocean-view room.

My husband and I recently flew from Mexico City to Fiji for our honeymoon. One leg of our flight between Los Angeles and Fiji was canceled by United Airlines. We booked tickets on a different airline for that portion of our trip.

I recently booked an American Airlines flight on CheapOAir.com to the Virgin Islands to attend my brother's wedding.

I'd like to share my recent Budget Car Rental experience with you. It has me committed to never doing business with Budget again.

My 16-year-old son and I have had our US Airways miles taken away from us. He had 27,893 miles and I had 829 miles. They expired a few days ago.

My husband and I recently rented a car via AutoEurope for a trip to Germany and the Czech Republic. We received a prepaid voucher for a rental from Hertz.

We had to cancel a cruise recently because my husband needed to have surgery. I called American Airlines to cancel the flight and was told that the tickets would be good for one year from the day they were purchased.

We booked a cruise to Alaska on Norwegian Cruise Line last summer. NCL notified us that we would be sailing a day after our scheduled departure because it had to fix a propeller on the ship. This meant the ship would not stop in Juneau for an originally scheduled excursion.

I hope you can help me with a Hotwire Hotel reservation. I recently booked a three-star "Las Vegas Strip – South Area Hotel" on Hotwire. I got a room at Hooters Casino Hotel for $47 per night, plus taxes and fees.

I'm having a problem with Dollar Rent A Car. When I picked up my car at Southwest Florida International Airport, they did not inspect the car with me, but told me to just go "pick one out."

My wife and I traveled to Las Vegas for a trade show. I decided to use my credit card points to cover my car rental through Dollar Rent A Car.

I've read your columns frequently for several years and always wondered if I'd ever need your help.

Maybe you can help me with this little dilemma. I booked a trip for my nephew to Reno, through Expedia. I made the reservation by phone. The trip went well, but I was promised a $50 gas card.

We recently booked a one-way ticket from Los Angeles to San Francisco on Virgin America to get us home after our trip from Tahiti. But about a month later, our travel agent informed us that our return flight from Tahiti to Los Angeles had been canceled.

A few months ago I bought tickets to Lilongwe, Malawi, for church missionary work through a full- service travel agency. I had two sets of round-trip tickets: one from San Francisco to Cairo by way of Paris on Delta Air Lines and Air France/KLM, and one from Cairo to Lilongwe by way of Nairobi on Kenya Airways. Kenya Airways, Delta and Air France/KLM are all alliance partners.

I traveled to Europe on a codeshare flight between Delta Air Lines and KLM. Before I left the United States, I carefully checked the size and weight restrictions for my two bags on both the Delta and KLM websites, because I'm an artist and I needed to take rolls of paper with me. I made sure my bags complied.

Last year, my husband and I bought round-trip tickets to fly from Pittsburgh to Houston on United Airlines.

I'm having a problem with a car rental, and I'm hoping you can help. I rented a car from National Car Rental in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. I did not take photos of the car at pick up or drop off. When I picked up the car, I did a visual inspection and noted a scratch on the rear left bumper. An attendant indicated it was "noted in the computer." When I returned the car, the attendant noted a scratch on the front passenger side, on the lower bumper. I questioned being responsible for the scratch. Given its location, it could have been easily missed when I picked up the car.

I rented a car through Auto Europe. During my rental, the car didn't work properly. The vehicle wouldn't move when I pressed on the accelerator, and it felt dangerous to drive. I called the company from my hotel and asked for another car.

My wife used her Delta frequent-flier miles for a trip to Manchester, England, to visit her mother. She bought trip insurance through Allianz. Two days before she was supposed to return, she called me to let me know she had been taken to the hospital with severe stomach pain.

We are having trouble with a claim we made on our Allianz travel insurance we bought for our recent trip to Portugal with Vantage Deluxe Travel.

We rented a car from Hertz in Ireland and had a flat tire. After a lengthy dispute between Hertz and our credit card company, we're getting letters from a collection agency. I hope you can help me.

I recently tried to book a four-star hotel in New York through Expedia's unpublished rates section, which doesn't reveal the name of the hotel until you pay for it. The hotel we ended up with was DoubleTree by Hilton New York Chelsea, which is listed as only a three-star hotel on other popular websites. I understood before calling that Expedia has a no-cancellation policy on the unpublished hotel rates, but I figured if I called right away I might be lucky enough to get it canceled.

I'm hoping you can help, because I'm stuck in limbo with my request for a refund on a $950 nonrefundable ticket to Maui on American Airlines.

I thought I would try to see if you could resolve a problem we had with Hotels.com. My husband searched for hotels in the Wisconsin Dells with indoor water parks. My son, who is in college, was bringing home his other ROTC cadets to see Chicago and go to the Dells during their spring break.

I stayed at the Wingate by Wyndham Charlotte Airport, and on the first night, I was having some cellphone problems. Knowing that other Wyndham properties offer free long distance, I decided to look in the hotel services book provided in the room.

I'm having a problem with a refund for American Airlines tickets I booked through CheapOair.com.

I recently booked a retreat to Costa Rica through a yoga studio in New York. Just before I was supposed to leave, I was admitted to the emergency room and had to cancel my trip.

At the tail end of a trip last year to Southeast Asia, I had a pair of tickets on Cebu Pacific Airways from Singapore to Manila, and then from Manila to Osaka, to connect with my overseas flight back to the United States. I bought the tickets separately because Cebu only does point-to-point ticketing.

I need your help with a missing camera. I flew from Boston to Minneapolis on US Airways. When I boarded the flight in Boston, the overhead bins were full. A flight attendant told me I would have to gate-check my carry-on bag.

I rented a car from Hertz in Miami a few months ago. Before returning it, I filled it up with gas. When I turned the car in, I double-checked the fuel gauge, made sure my receipt reflected that the car had been returned full, and, thinking I had myself covered, flew home.

Travelzoo ran this deal a few weeks ago that offered two nights in Palm Springs, including dinner for two.

I booked a stay in Ocean City, Md., through Hotels.com. I arrived to find the place closed for the season. All numbers I was able to find for the hotel either rang forever or had a voice mail saying the hotel was closed.

My wife and I were returning from a tour of India, and due to weather in London, our flight was canceled by British Airways. We were able to make alternate arrangements with Air India for a direct flight to the United States since British Airways did not resume flights for three days.

Please help me with a bogus damage charge by Alamo. We picked up our car in Kona, Hawaii, at dusk and saw numerous small dents and dings and scratches on the vehicle. We couldn't find a form to report the damage.

I booked a trip a few weeks back to Regent Palms in the Turks and Caicos through www.sniqueaway.com. It didn't allow for any refunds or changes. The booking appears to be made through a company called Classic Vacations.

I tried to make a hotel reservation in London, Ontario, Canada through Priceline. The site displayed three tabs. The first two tabs displayed the correct city, but when I switched to the "best deal" tab it automatically switched to London, U.K.

I booked a ticket on United Airlines through Cheaptickets.com from Washington to Colorado Springs, Colo., recently. My reservation even appeared on the United Airlines website (I'm an elite-level customer on United).

I am having a problem with Virgin Atlantic Airways over a refund for two tickets I purchased last year. My husband and I planned to travel to England in August, but he had a serious stroke and his doctor advised him not to travel for at least six months.

My husband and I were scheduled to take a Spirit Airlines flight from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to San Jose, Costa Rica.

My wife and daughter recently rented a car through Hertz in London. They purchased the Super Coverage insurance so there would be no hassle with any potential damage.

My family of four flew from Chicago to Salt Lake City on American Airlines during spring break. About a half-hour into our outbound flight, we were told that the landing gear did not come up and that we had to return to O'Hare International Airport.

I was scheduled to attend a veterinary dental seminar in Colorado a few months ago. Somehow, I accidentally booked a room at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites Colorado Springs for an entire month – Feb. 16 through March 16 – and I didn't realize the mistake until the day before my departure.

I'm writing on behalf of two friends who booked a trip of a lifetime to Italy recently. They also purchased trip insurance through Access America. A couple of days after paying for the insurance, they found out that the husband had to have hip replacement surgery. It was a situation that became serious within a couple of days.

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.