☀️ Hello from the tail end of summer — The weather is finally cooling off here in Seoul, and I'm seeing more people in the coffee shops. Nobody orders a pumpkin spice latte the way they do back in the States. But they’re really into co-fermented coffee, where the beans ferment with fruit, yeast or spices before roasting, so the cup tastes like strawberry or lychee. My favorite is a coconut co-fermented Colombian coffee.

Today’s featured article is about a reader who needed accessible seating for Bruno Mars at Soldier Field. Ticketmaster's map showed the ADA seats. Every one he clicked came back unavailable, and the next day the same seats were on the resale market at a markup. The A-Team took one look at that and got to work.

Over on Backchannel, Debbie Winsett asked a question that no airline seems willing to touch: Why isn't there a single pet-free flight in the United States? She keeps animals herself and still spends every flight managing an allergy. I'll have the answer.

In Members Only, the postcard promising you a free cruise is making the rounds again, and this one arrives with an email that looks like it came from your cruise line. Answering it can cost you thousands. I'll have all the details over the wall. — Christopher Elliott

Catch up on the latest stories from the Elliott Report

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.

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.

Pet-free flights and a lively discussion about extra car rental charges

Over on Backchannel, Debbie Winsett asked why no U.S. airline offers a pet-free flight. She keeps animals herself and still spends every flight managing an allergy. It’s the problem one of our readers at a Hilton Head resort ran into earlier this week, where a written pet policy existed and nobody enforced it. Connie Giesler wasn’t convinced, and said she’d rather see an airline move an allergic passenger to a later flight at no charge than hold seats empty. Should any flight be pet-free?

Our story on Avis charging extra for returning a car early got you talking, too. Most of you couldn’t see why an early return should cost more. Dee Eagle said a rental company that gets its car back ahead of schedule has a car it can rent again, which ought to be a win for both sides. Jason Hanna went the other way, added up the charges and figured Avis had already refunded what it owed. Others said every contract they’ve signed lists an hourly, a daily and a weekly rate, with no penalty for turning in the keys early. Should returning a car early cost you money?