Christopher Elliott
@elliottdotorg.bsky.social
Author, journalist and consumer advocate. Founder of Elliott Advocacy. I'm here to help. Email chris@elliott.org
Bavaria had a record 41 million guest arrivals in 2025. Now it wants you to come for the cheese. I followed an organic food trail through the Allgäu to a mountain hut that still has no grid power. www.forbes.com/sites/christ... #SustainableTravel #Bavaria
How Bavaria Is Reshaping Sustainable Travel One Bite At A Time
From Legau’s organic pilgrimage to an Alpine cheese hut with no electricity, the Allgäu region is turning sustainable food into a reason to visit.
forbes.com
The Transportation Department has forgiven nearly $28 million in airline fines since December. Europe, Britain, Canada, Australia and India spent the year expanding passenger rights. Here’s how the U.S. compares. www.elliott.org/blog/the-res... #PassengerRights #AirTravel
The rest of the world is protecting air travelers. Why isn't the U.S.?
As other countries strengthen air passenger rights, the Transportation Department is dismantling its rules and forgiving airline fines.
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Delta now charges $150 each way to bring a dog into the cabin. A European court says your pet counts as baggage. And I’ve never once heard a dog ask to go on vacation. www.elliott.org/forum/no-you... #Travel #Pets
No, your pet doesn't want to go on vacation with you
The travel industry will gladly take your money to bring an animal along. But it's almost always a bad idea.
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Paying five-star prices doesn’t buy you five-star security. Security pros say guests drop their guard the minute they check in, and hotel thieves count on it. www.elliott.org/safe-travels... #travelsafety #hotels
Is your hotel room safe? The mistake you’re making right now
A cracked balcony door, a cloned key card, a stranger from the bar: security pros reveal the hotel-room habits that leave you exposed, and how to fix them.
elliott.org
HP’s tech support sold a reader a $40 warranty he didn’t need. Wrong kind, too. Then HP sent his refund to a bank he doesn’t use and called the case closed. www.elliott.org/problem-solv... #CustomerService #ConsumerRights
HP sold me the wrong warranty—and then sent my refund to the wrong bank
A customer got sold the wrong warranty, then watched his refund land in a bank account he does not use. How he finally got his $40 back from HP.
elliott.org
Priceline canceled a reader’s two hotel rooms without asking. Rebooking cost him $360 more. An agent admitted the error. The company still wouldn’t pay. www.elliott.org/the-troubles... #Priceline #Travel
Priceline canceled my reservation and left me with a $360 bill
Canceled without consent, then charged $360 more to rebook the same two hotel rooms. The company admitted its error. How the refund was finally won.
elliott.org
A paying Microsoft customer of 20 years got locked out by a bot. His payment history wasn’t enough to get him back in. www.elliott.org/advocacy/hel... #Microsoft #CustomerService
Help! Microsoft locked my account and won't let me back in!
A paying Microsoft customer of 20 years was locked out by a bot, his banking and visa papers trapped inside. How to appeal a lockout and avoid the next one.
elliott.org
Jacket season turns the middle seat into a contact sport. Etiquette experts weighed in on who owns the armrests. www.elliott.org/on-travel/su... #airtravel #traveltips
Surviving the middle seat: A field guide to aviation's worst conflict
The middle seat is a contact sport, and winter coats make it worse. Armrest rules, the ultimate gear kit, and the app that gets you out of it entirely.
elliott.org
Your hotel confirmation says king room, low floor. Unless you have elite status, the hotel may treat that as a request. www.forbes.com/sites/christ... #Travel #Hotels
Hotels Now Treat Your Room Type As A Perk. Here’s How To Protect Yourself.
Hotels are holding guaranteed room types for elite loyalty members. Everyone else gets “subject to availability,” even after paying for a specific room.
forbes.com
A Bavarian dairy farm couldn’t support a family on milk. So the owners hung tree houses in 180-year-old beeches and added solar. www.forbes.com/sites/christ... #SustainableTravel #Bavaria
These Bavarian Hotels Want You To Sleep Sustainably
A tree house, a Renaissance castle and a farm museum in Bavaria’s Allgäu region believe keeping something alive is the greenest thing you can do with it
forbes.com
Hertz’s AI scanner flagged 11 dents. The bill: $4,567, with $497 for loss of use. Hertz’s own estimate lists zero days of repair. Renters need rules of evidence. www.elliott.org/blog/guilty-... #CarRental #ConsumerRights
Guilty until proven innocent? You are if you rent a car.
Damage fees are becoming more common and arbitrary. Here's how to repair the problem.
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A Loire Valley château turned wellness resort put its spa in caves once used to dry prunes. The general manager is a former fire juggler. Here’s how the Château de Candes is trying to dodge the château cliché. www.elliott.org/destinations... #Travel #France
How a French château became a modern art spa -- minus the clichés
At the Château de Candes in the Loire Valley, a cave spa, 40 resident artists and a former fire-juggler manager add up to an anti-cliché wellness resort.
elliott.org
A StubHub agent said his Lady Gaga listing was handled. It wasn't, and when the tickets sold, StubHub billed him $864. www.elliott.org/problem-solv... #StubHub #ConsumerAdvocacy
StubHub told me to sell my Lady Gaga tickets elsewhere, then they charged me for it
An agent said his ticket listing was handled. It was not, the tickets sold twice, and he was billed $864. Why a verbal all-clear won't protect you.
elliott.org
Holland America confirmed a 10-day cruise was paid in full. Then it called the fare a pricing error and asked for $1,530 more. www.elliott.org/the-troubles... #Cruise
Holland America canceled my cruise because of a pricing error. Can it do that?
A paid-in-full booking didn’t stop the cruise line from canceling and demanding $1,530 more. What does “paid in full” really mean on a cruise?
elliott.org
StubHub's map put his AC/DC seats by the stage. It was flipped. He paid $506 to sit behind it. www.elliott.org/advocacy/hel... #StubHub #ConsumerRights
Hells bells! How did these AC/DC tickets go from front stage to the worst seats in the house
StubHub's seating map showed front-stage seats. It was flipped, and he paid $506 to sit behind the stage. Can a screenshot get his money back?
elliott.org
Virgin Australia scanned my son's bag in Queenstown and Melbourne. Then it vanished. Here's why experts now stack trackers. www.elliott.org/on-travel/tr... #TravelTips #LostLuggage
Triple-stacking and high-low tracking: New strategies for preventing luggage loss
Mishandled bags hit a record low, but trackers and airline scanners still don't sync. Tracker-stacking, high-low, and the phone habits that find a lost bag.
elliott.org
Booking dot com paid Texas $9.5 million over hotel pricing. A year into the FTC's fee rule, resort fees still show up on some folios. www.elliott.org/forum/resort... #ResortFees #JunkFees
Resort fees have been "dead" for a year. Did anyone notice?
For some hotel guests, these annoying extras are still on the folio. Here's what changed — and what didn't
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Germany's Black Forest hasn't had snow over Christmas in four years. I asked a ranger how long its ski lifts have left. www.forbes.com/sites/christ... #Skiing #ClimateChange
In Germany’s Black Forest, Winter Isn’t A Sure Thing Anymore
At Feldberg Nature Reserve, park officials are dealing with some of climate change’s toughest questions this fall. What happens to tourism now?
forbes.com
Some travel "protection plans" sold at checkout can settle claims in credits. Here's how to check your policy's underwriter in five minutes. www.forbes.com/sites/christ... #TravelInsurance
How Do You Know Your Travel Insurance Policy Is Legit?
A policy should name an underwriter you can look up in minutes. Here’s how to verify it, and the warning signs of products that could be impostors.
forbes.com
You can't negotiate a hotel tax. Topeka's rises to 8.5% on Jan. 1, and part of it will fund a downtown ice rink. Your bill will only say "taxes." There's a better way. www.elliott.org/blog/rising-... #Travel #Hotels
Rising hotel taxes need better disclosure. Here's the fix.
You can't negotiate a hotel tax. Shouldn't you at least be able to know what it pays for?
elliott.org
The hotel room you pick and pay for online is often a request. At many chains, guaranteed room type is now an elite perk. I read the fine print. www.elliott.org/safe-travels... #travel #hotels
Your hotel room isn't guaranteed. Here's the fine print they're hoping you won't read.
The hotel room type you pick and pay for is often just a request. Why the guarantee became an elite perk, and how to protect a room that matters most.
elliott.org
Tracey Croisier's $1,866 Lenovo Yoga couldn't last a 10-mile drive on battery. After five repairs, a rep told her to turn it off in the car. www.elliott.org/problem-solv... #Lenovo #ConsumerRights
Help! My $1,866 Lenovo Yoga is an expensive paperweight
A $1,866 Lenovo Yoga died on short drives and ran hot after five repairs. What a warranty owes after repeated failed fixes, and how she got her refund.
elliott.org
Swiss moved a Florida couple from premium economy to economy. Then it said an Easy Cash card at the Zurich airport had covered their refund. They never got a card. www.elliott.org/the-troubles... #travel #airlines
Help! Swiss bumped us to the back of the plane, and now our refund is gone
Swiss downgraded a couple from premium economy, then claimed it had paid them with a cash card they never got. What EC 261 actually owes for a downgrade.
elliott.org
Experian had three business days to lift Robert Boisvert's credit freeze. He waited three months. The only help on offer came with a paid protection plan. www.elliott.org/advocacy/exp... #CreditFreeze
Experian said his credit was unfrozen. So why couldn't he buy a car?
The credit bureau insisted his credit freeze was lifted. His account said otherwise. What the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires — and how to break a bureau standoff.
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Britain's travel permit costs twice what it did at launch. The U.S. ESTA went from $21 to $40.27. Here's what every entry fee costs now. www.elliott.org/on-travel/tr... #Travel #TravelNews
Travelers are facing more entry and exit fees than ever. Here's what you need to know.
New Zealand, the UK, the US and more now charge to enter. What every travel entry fee costs, which ones fund conservation, and how to dodge fake visa sites.
elliott.org
Our advocates read every complaint. Too many arrive already broken, usually by a single word. "I'll sue" is one. Here's what else sinks a case. www.elliott.org/blog/these-7... #ConsumerAdvocacy #CustomerService
These 7 phrases will doom your consumer complaint
Here's what each one costs you — and what to write instead
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Resorts are soft targets, and guests make them softer. Security experts say magnetic stripe key cards at older hotels can be cloned in seconds. www.forbes.com/sites/christ... #TravelSafety #Hotels
Is Your Hotel Room Safe? The Mistake You’re Making Right Now
A wave of resort security amnesia is sweeping through hotels, turning savvy travelers into easy marks. Here’s how to stay safe on your next trip.
forbes.com
Airlines say showing the full fare up front would confuse you and raise prices. Airbnb switched to total pricing in 2025, so I checked what happened next. www.elliott.org/blog/honest-... #Airfare #Travel
Honest pricing works in travel. Just ask Airbnb.
Airlines say showing the full airfare would confuse you and raise prices. Airbnb switched to total-price display and kept growing. The case for honest fares.
elliott.org
Residents of Freiamt, a Black Forest village, raised more than $1 million in eight weeks for their first wind turbines. Now tourists book tours to see them. Saving the planet wasn't the reason. www.forbes.com/sites/christ... #SustainableTravel #BlackForest
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.
forbes.com
Queenstown's jet boats hit nearly 60 mph on gas. The prototype electric one weighs a ton too much to spin the same way. www.elliott.org/destinations... #NewZealand #SustainableTravel
How Queenstown, New Zealand, is creating a greener adventure capital
Queenstown wants to be the green adventure capital. Inside the push to electrify jet boats and bungee jumping, and the weight problem holding it back.
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