This issue's Members Only section has details on New York's car rental sting and what it means for you. It's just one of the premium benefits you get with Elliott Confidential PRO, through Labor Day for $59.50/year (about $1 a week, down from $85):

Don't take my word for it. "I was trapped in an endless loop of buck-passing between United Airlines and Turkish Airlines," Bethanne writes. Our advice helped her get a fast refund. You can get unlimited access to that same information for 30 percent off.

Offer ends Monday, Sept. 7.

💳 No, I haven't gone soft. A few months ago I argued that surveillance pricing shouldn't be banned. Several of you wrote to say I was wrong. Last week the FTC agreed with my solution, which was kinda weird.

Our featured commentary looks at a government proposal that would make sellers admit when your personal data set the price you're seeing. But the agency's hidden-fee rule still leaves a gap you could drive a rental car through. I'll explain.

One of our readers brought a question to Backchannel about a Delta schedule change that moved him to a later flight. I'll have his answer. Send me your questions now.

Also, New York City sent inspectors to 62 car rental counters this week. In our Members Only section, I'll tell you what they found. Plus, part one of my series on wellness in Seoul. — Christopher Elliott

Catch up on the latest stories from the Elliott Report

The price on your screen is fiction
The Federal Trade Commission wants sellers to disclose when personal data set the price they're offering you. Its hidden-fee rule already covers concert tickets and hotel rooms, and it leaves out car rentals and restaurants.

Can you turn tourists into conservationists? How one tour operator is trying to close the “say-do” gap
RealNZ raised $270,000 for predator control and replaced invasive pines with about 30,000 native trees across the lake from Queenstown. Its chief executive says the hard part is getting visitors to care once they start comparing prices.

The Bruno Mars ticket glitch that only affected fans with disabilities
A Chicago reader filtered Ticketmaster for ADA seating and watched every seat he selected come back unavailable. The next day the same seats were available through resellers, at a markup.

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.

Does Delta owes me a refund after a one-minute schedule change?

On Backchannel, one of our readers got an email from Delta moving him and his wife to a later flight. His original flight was still there, departing one minute later than booked, and the extra-legroom seats he'd paid for were gone by the time he checked. He bought first class to stay on the flight he'd chosen. I explain why a one-minute change falls outside the rules that would normally help him, why he should ask anyway and why the clock on that request is shorter than he thinks.