Author - The Durango Herald

Reservations about your hotel reservations

When it comes to booking a hotel online, what you see isn’t always what you get. Christina Daves knows. On several occasions, she’s shopped for a hotel room online and then clicke...

DATE: Jun 6, 2015 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

Dumped by your travel company: What to do?

Barry Shiller’s vacation rental owner got a better offer just before he checked in. And suddenly, his family had no place to stay for their theme park vacation this spring. He’d b...

DATE: May 30, 2015 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

Before taking a picture on a plane, read this

Next time you’re tempted to take a snapshot of an interesting cloud formation or your seatmate sprawling into your personal space on a plane, remember Arash Shirazi and Steven Leslie. ...

DATE: May 16, 2015 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

Travelers find new ways to do good

After hundreds of business trips and a vacation or two, Clement Quintyne’s Briggs & Riley Rollaboard was ready for the recycler. The wheels were worn and the outside was frayed. H...

DATE: May 2, 2015 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

Airline denies injured woman her Skycouch

Susan Crookall books an Air New Zealand Skycouch – three seats across in economy class – for the marathon flight from San Francisco to Auckland, New Zealand. When she doesn’t get it, she wan...

DATE: Apr 4, 2015 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

Are airlines about to charge more for kids?

If your blood pressure spikes when you think about the words “kids” and “plane” in the same sentence, as you just did (sorry about that), then this story may have a calming effect. ...

DATE: Mar 28, 2015 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

New devices may end woes of lost luggage

Lost luggage may soon become as rare as lost airline tickets – or, at least, you’d think so when you talk to someone like Randal Collins. Collins, a flight attendant based in Chic...

DATE: Mar 14, 2015 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

Three words you don’t have to settle for

The excuse had a familiar ring to it. Craig Zimmett’s daughter, Alissa, was supposed to fly from Miami to Gainesville, Florida, but she didn’t. Instead, her commuter flight took a...

DATE: Feb 28, 2015 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

No easy fix to rental-car breakdowns

A car rental should be the least dramatic part of your vacation. You pick up the vehicle, you drive it, you return it to the airport. All done. Unless you’re John Themelis. When h...

DATE: Feb 14, 2015 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

Cheap seats get makeover: Is it good news?

The lowly economy-class section is getting an upgrade in 2015. Or a downgrade, depending on your point of view. At least two airlines are unveiling new coach class sections this s...

DATE: Jan 31, 2015 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

Travel in 2015: What to expect on the road

It’s the time of year when everyone churns out their annual predictions, quoting the same experts on 2015’s travel trends. Or, if they’ve been doing this long enough, they just cite themselv...

DATE: Jan 17, 2015 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

Why do hotels place ‘holds’ on customers’ credit cards?

It’s like an episode of “Unsolved Mysteries” that plays itself endlessly for travelers. It happened to Judith Searcy when she stayed at the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront i...

DATE: Jan 3, 2015 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter