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💋 Hello from sensuous Seoul — The boys and I spent yesterday at Beautiful Life Seoul, a beauty expo about the size of a regional airport, and we came home with a tote bag of samples and a working knowledge of the 10-step skincare routine. I can now explain the difference between an essence and a serum (which nobody in my family asked for). Somewhere in there is a story about wellness in Korea, and I can’t wait to tell it.

Today’s featured article goes the other way. One of our readers made it from the curb to her seat without saying a word to another person, and a psychology professor says we’re losing the ability to do it any other way.

The Backchannel thread on river cruises with no river was a must-read yesterday. And our Sunday’s story about airlines rewriting your itinerary without asking, left readers in two camps, but it sure was an interesting debate.

Today in Members Only: a House discussion draft would seal the consumer complaint narratives that about 5 million people a year file, and narrow what counts as harm. I’ll have all the details over the wall. Upgrade your subscription to read it. —Christopher Elliott

Catch up on the latest stories from the Elliott Report

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.

Help! Delta downgraded us and refused to pay for a place to sleep
Two passengers over 75 missed their connection in Atlanta and rented a nap room in the terminal on an agent’s advice. Delta denied the reimbursement, then downgraded the Comfort+ seats they had paid for.

Avis said she smoked in her rental car, but she had an alibi
A $450 deep cleaning fee for smoke damage, backed by photos of what looked like water spots. Both women in the car are breast cancer survivors, and neither smokes.

A river cruise with no river, and a flight rewritten while you’re still in the air

A reader in Backchannel has a warning about European river cruises getting turned into motorcoach tours. She’s right. The Danube is too shallow to float a ship in places, and rather than cancel, the lines are rewriting itineraries and offering a refund window that closes almost at the pier. I explained what the ticket contract permits, why standard trip insurance won't cover a trip that's merely different from the one you bought, and what to ask your cruise line if you're sailing this fall. Read the thread in the Backchannel

Since when does an airline change your itinerary without asking? drew a lot of comments on Sunday, and readers landed in two camps. George Kenna paid an extra $179 a seat for exit rows on Delta, then lost the seat map to an aircraft swap and found out by accident. Heather Dolstra has watched enough missed connections to be grateful for the automatic rebooking, and she notes that a passenger at 35,000 feet with no signal can’t weigh in anyway. A third reader wanted both: get me there, don’t lose my bag, and tell me what the software did to my ticket and why. Would you want the airline to ask first?