# Elliott Confidential

> The newsletter the travel industry doesn't want you to read.

This file provides information about Elliott Confidential to help large language models understand and reference this publication's content.

## Posts
- [Guilty until proven innocent? You are if you rent a car.](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/guilty-until-proven-innocent-you-are-if-you-rent-a-car): Damage fees are becoming more common and arbitrary. Here’s how to repair the problem.
- [How a French château became a modern art spa — minus the clichés](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/how-a-french-chateau-became-a-modern-art-spa-minus-the-cliches): The owners of the Château de Candes set out to build something nobody would mistake for a castle hotel
- [StubHub told me to sell my Lady Gaga tickets elsewhere, then they charged me for it](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/stubhub-told-me-to-sell-my-lady-gaga-tickets-elsewhere-then-they-charged-me-for-it): Tony Rogozinski was told his listing was canceled. StubHub sold the tickets anyway and billed him $864.
- [Hells bells! How did these AC/DC tickets go from front stage to the worst seats in the house?](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/hells-bells-how-did-these-ac-dc-tickets-go-from-front-stage-to-the-worst-seats-in-the-house): A flipped seating map cost him $506, but StubHub said his tickets were fine
- [Try these new strategies for preventing luggage loss](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/try-these-new-strategies-for-preventing-luggage-loss): Your tracker knows where your bag is, but your airline may not
- [Resort fees have been “dead” for a year. Did anyone notice?](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/resort-fees-have-been-dead-for-a-year-did-anyone-notice): For some hotel guests, these annoying extras are still on the folio. Here’s what changed — and what didn’t
- [Rising hotel taxes need better disclosure. Here’s the fix.](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/rising-hotel-taxes-need-better-disclosure-heres-the-fix): You can’t negotiate a hotel tax. Shouldn’t you at least be able to know what it pays for?
- [Your hotel room isn’t guaranteed. Here’s the fine print they’re hoping you won’t read.](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/your-hotel-room-isnt-guaranteed-heres-the-fine-print-theyre-hoping-you-wont-read): Room type has been repackaged as a loyalty perk, and your confirmation is closer to a preference form
- [Help! My $1,866 Lenovo Yoga is an expensive paperweight](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/help-my-1866-lenovo-yoga-is-an-expensive-paperweight): Five repair attempts, six ticket numbers and a laptop that runs at 134 degrees
- [Help! Swiss bumped us to the back of the plane, and now our refund is gone](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/help-swiss-bumped-us-to-the-back-of-the-plane-and-now-our-refund-is-gone): The airline said it had already handed them a cash card in Zurich. It hadn't.
- [Experian said his credit was unfrozen. So why couldn’t he buy a car?](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/experian-said-his-credit-was-unfrozen-so-why-couldn-t-he-buy-a-car): Two certified letters, three months of calls — and a supervisor who didn't work there
- [Travelers are facing more entry and exit fees than ever. Here’s what you need to know.](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/travelers-are-facing-more-entry-and-exit-fees-than-ever): Governments have figured out that the border is the perfect place to collect your money
- [These 7 phrases will doom your consumer complaint](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/these-7-phrases-will-doom-your-consumer-complaint): Here’s what each one costs you — and what to write instead
- [Honest pricing works in travel. Just ask Airbnb.](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/honest-pricing-works-in-travel-just-ask-airbnb): Airlines say the full price would confuse you. Airbnb did it and here's what happened.
- [How to create a greener adventure capital for travelers](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/how-to-create-a-greener-adventure-capital-for-travelers): A dispatch from New Zealand, where Queenstown's jet boats have to go electric, but the prototype is a ton overweight
- [My GE washer is a heavy metal drummer, but I didn’t buy tickets to the show](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/my-ge-washer-is-a-heavy-metal-drummer-but-i-didnt-buy-tickets-to-the-show): After five technician visits and 10 phone calls, GE says the machine works fine
- [My tour operator promised a price lock — and then broke it](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/my-tour-operator-promised-a-price-lock-and-then-broke-it): A $670 invoice turned up 10 months after Michael Hughes paid in full to lock his tour price.
- [When your Daryl Hall concert is canceled but the refund is out of touch](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/when-your-daryl-hall-concert-is-canceled-but-the-refund-is-out-of-touch): StubHub promised to escalate his $489 refund. Six calls later, it still hadn't arrived.
- [Is it worth paying extra for a “risk-free” vacation?](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/is-it-worth-paying-extra-for-a-risk-free-vacation): Celia Dunlap paid $805 for a policy that didn’t cover her canceled trip
- [Have we forgotten the lessons of 9/11?](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/have-we-forgotten-the-lessons-of-9-11): Gateside by TSA PreCheck lets visitors without tickets past the checkpoint at 13 airports. But is that a good idea?
- [Pace the frontier? In travel, AI is already making our lives miserable](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/pace-the-frontier-in-travel-ai-is-already-making-our-lives-miserable): An algorithm already sets your fare and decides who gets rebooked first.
- [Her flights vanished in Nepal. Her travel insurance called it a protest.](https://www.elliottconfidential.com/p/her-flights-vanished-in-nepal-her-travel-insurance-called-it-a-protest): The policy covered terrorism. Civil unrest was on the exclusions list.