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This year alone, our advocacy team has logged 9,404 cases — up 29% from a year ago. That's a lot of lost suitcases, exploding appliances and missing refunds.
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The fare you see and the fare you pay parted ways a long time ago. (Illustration by Dustin Elliott)
💰 Airbnb tried a little honesty — Airlines have a stock answer whenever someone proposes quoting a fare with the bag and the seat included. It would confuse travelers, they say, and drive prices up for everyone. But that may not be true. Here’s why.
On Backchannel, Maureen McCarthy came home from Shannon, Ireland, with a seven-inch gash in her suitcase and an airline that kept asking for a number nobody ever gave her. Our advocacy team tries to help.
For Members Only: Our advocacy team logged every complaint that came in over the past 12 months, and one company is the clear winner. Which companies are you complaining about most? Also, check out my Forbes exclusive story about a German tourist attraction that runs on wind and firewood. — Christopher Elliott
FEATURED ARTICLE
Honest pricing works in travel. Just ask Airbnb.
Carriers argue that a fare showing the bag and the seat up front would confuse travelers and raise prices for everyone. Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com moved to all-in pricing in April 2025, weeks ahead of a federal rule, and Airbnb has posted some of its strongest quarters since. The Transportation Department is now weighing a proposal that would let airlines break the fare back into pieces. So who's right about showing the whole price?
FORBES EXCLUSIVE
This German tourist attraction runs on wind and firewood
Freiamt, a village in Germany’s Black Forest, built its energy system for reasons that had nothing to do with saving the planet. Now travelers book tours to see it. Here’s what I discovered last week.
OUR UNDERWRITER
Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection covers consumers and their travel dreams, backed by Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company's financial strength and security. Choose travel insurance designed specifically to your trip and travelers, plus the fastest claims payments in the travel insurance industry. Get more information at Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection.
📌 Here’s what you missed this week
Catch up on the latest stories from the Elliott Report
Honest pricing works in travel. Just ask Airbnb.
U.S. airlines collected $2.1 billion in checked bag fees in the second quarter alone, and the industry says a fare that includes the bag and the seat would confuse travelers and push prices up. Airbnb moved to all-in pricing in April 2025 and its revenue rose 17% last quarter.
How Queenstown, New Zealand, is creating a greener adventure capital
Shotover Jet has built a prototype electric jet boat and can’t get it light enough to deliver the 360-degree spins its customers pay for. Charging a fleet would draw a megawatt on a river that floods up to 16 times a year, and the Ngāi Tahu iwi that owns the operation has told it to move off fossil fuel anyway.
My GE washer is a heavy metal drummer, but I didn’t buy tickets to the show
Six months after installation, a $1,856 GE Spacemaker washer still bangs into the walls of Laura Bartholomew’s Ventura, Calif., laundry room on every spin cycle. Five technicians ran controlled tests with no water or with four matching towels, reported the machine was working properly, and GE closed her case.
My tour operator promised a price lock — and then broke it
Michael Hughes prepaid a Spain and Portugal tour 10 months early under Overseas Adventure Travel’s Good Buy program, which advertises protection from cost increases. After Air France canceled his flight, OAT billed him $670 more and gave him two conflicting explanations for the charge.
When your Daryl Hall concert is canceled but the refund is out of touch
Robert Logan paid $489 for a pair of StubHub tickets to a Daryl Hall show in Denver, and after Hall canceled it he called six times and got the same promise to escalate the refund in four or five days. His bank turned him down too, saying the Fair Credit Billing Act’s 60-day window had closed because he bought the tickets in June.
Is it worth paying extra for a “risk-free” vacation?
Celia Dunlap paid $805 for travel insurance before a 40-day Southeast Asia tour, and when the operator cut the trip to 10 days the policy didn’t cover her cancellation, leaving her with a nonrefundable $4,500 ticket. The Atlantic hasn’t produced a hurricane all season, and Caribbean bookings through one insurance marketplace are running 21% ahead of last year anyway.
Have we forgotten the lessons of 9/11?
Gateside by TSA PreCheck lets vetted travelers without tickets clear the checkpoint at 13 airports, and it arrives alongside the end of the shoe rule and a review of the liquids limit. A 2019 GAO audit found that none of nine vulnerabilities identified through covert testing had been formally resolved.
OUR UNDERWRITER
Cavalry Elite Travel Insurance takes the worry out of travel by providing 24/7 access to medical and security professionals combined with the best medical evacuation and security extraction services. Cavalry gets you home safely when you need it most. Learn more at Cavalrytravelinsurance.com
💬 What you’re saying on Backchannel
Come on, Aer Lingus. You can do better!
Maureen McCarthy unpacked her suitcase two days after flying home from Shannon on Aer Lingus and found a seven-inch gash in the outside pocket and dark oil stains across the top. She spent close to two hours filling out the airline’s online claim form, which would not submit, then traded emails for months with a customer service team that wanted a baggage-hall reference number nobody had ever given her. Is there anything left to try once the airline closes the file? Here’s our team’s advice on Backchannel.
OUR UNDERWRITER
EMBARK Beyond is a luxury travel advisory dedicated to creating thoughtfully designed experiences that go beyond a destination. Focused first on client needs, we have built (and continue to build!) relationships with the world's most sought-after lifestyle and fashion brands to open the world - beyond imagination - to our clients. Find out more at EMBARK Beyond.
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