Every consumer problem in this newsletter started the same way—with a reader who couldn’t get a company to answer. Today’s Avis case is no exception.

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🛒 Hello from the bulk shopping capital of the world — The weather has turned a little cooler here in Seoul, and we spent yesterday in Gangseo-gu, exploring the aisles of a warehouse store called Trader that looks a lot like Costco. Koreans sure like to buy things in bulk. The pitch is the same as it is everywhere, which is that the more you take, the less you pay.

Our featured article runs that promise backward. One of our readers is a medic who works offshore in the North Sea. A family emergency cut her rental in Spain short, she used the car for fewer days than she booked—and the bill nearly doubled. Yikes. The A-Team didn’t like that at all!

Over on Backchannel, a reader asked what TSA Gold+ is after seeing that the screeners’ union is suing to stop it. The thread drew a question I hear a lot lately, which is whether any of this is something you sign up for. I’ll have the answer.

In Members Only, I look at ETIAS, the European travel authorization that still has no start date. Nobody can sell you one right now, and the sites offering to process your application are after your money and your passport data. I’ll have all the details over the wall. —Christopher Elliott

Catch up on the latest stories from the Elliott Report

Avis charged her for returning a car early. Then things got complicated
A medic working in the North Sea cut a rental in Spain short after a family emergency, and the bill nearly doubled. Avis called the extra charge an error, refunded most of it and kept about $130.

How to get a refund when your luxury hotel stay goes to the dogs
A Westin resort on Hilton Head Island caps pets at 40 pounds, two to a room, and then let shepherds and pointers ride the elevators. A Lifetime Titanium member wrote to the general manager and got silence.

Travel is lonelier than ever. Here’s why, and what to do about it.
Kiosks, QR codes and noise-canceling headphones removed nearly every point of human contact from a trip. Group travel is down 9 percent since 2020, and the average trip now carries fewer than two people.

Since when does an airline change your itinerary without asking?
A Washington Post columnist found his American Airlines itinerary rewritten, and he hadn’t asked for the change. The software behind it has been running since 2023 and now covers six hubs.

Every customer should have the right to reach a human
A PayPal chatbot offered a reader a live agent four times and never connected her. States now require a person to sign off when an algorithm denies your health care, but nothing covers your money.

Why a hurricane that misses you can still ruin your vacation, and what to do about it
A storm a thousand miles away can ground your flight, and a resort that reopens too fast can hide mold and rotted decking. Insurers stop covering a storm the moment it gets a name.

My Alfa Romeo’s dashboard is falling apart and the warranty won’t cover it
A 2019 Stelvio with a dashboard pulling away from the air vents, and a service contract that covers interior surfaces damaged by wear and tear. Mopar denied the claim, citing an exclusion list that appears nowhere in the policy.

What is TSA Gold+? Plus, your comments on the resort that ignored its own pet policy.

Over on Backchannel, Eric Schwelke asked what TSA Gold+ is, after reading that the screeners’ union is suing over it. Linda Leeson had the short version: it isn’t new screening, it’s private contractors taking over from federal officers at airports that opt in. I filled in the rest. Gold+ isn’t PreCheck, there’s nothing to sign up for, and Tampa, Charleston and Des Moines are first in line. What changes when a contractor runs your checkpoint?

How to get a refund when your luxury hotel stay goes to the dogs brought readers out. Several asked why anyone with a dog allergy would book a pet-friendly resort at all, and TMarin said a hotel breaking its own rules still didn’t add up to a full refund. Seattle Guy moved the argument to the law, where a service animal is whatever its owner says it is and the hotel has no good move. Whose side are you on?