Elliott Report

in this commentary Wellington, New Zealand’s capital, is trying to become the world’s first zero-waste capital, and it is doing it in a way most visitors never notice. From a kitchen that turns food bound for the landfill into three-course meals to hotels that have quietly swapped single-use plastics for refills, the city has become a living laboratory for sustainable travel.

in this case Michael Damarino and his wife booked refundable American Airlines tickets through Expedia from Boston to Tucson via Phoenix. A 90-minute delay in Phoenix, tied to a sick first officer and a baggage weight problem, made them miss their connection. With no later flights available, they rented a car and drove the final 100 miles to Tucson. That choice, made to save their vacation, quietly turned them into a “no-show” for the last leg in the airline’s system.

in this case Steve Miller booked a Minneapolis-to-Dublin roundtrip for himself and his wife through Orbitz for $1,626. After Aer Lingus canceled one segment, Orbitz rebooked them, confirmed the new itinerary in My Trips, and the Aer Lingus app showed them booked. They had every reason to believe they were set. They were not. British Airways struggled to check them in during their London stopover but got them to Dublin.

in this case Saurabh Kumar’s passport lists his full name in the given-name field and leaves the surname blank, common in parts of the world, but a problem for airline systems that demand a last name. Booking on Expedia, he split it into a first and last name to get past the form. He had done the same thing before and flown without trouble.

in this case Steve Sphar reserved a compact car from Europcar in Granada, Spain. The company had run out of vehicles, so it handed him an SUV and said he could swap it for his reserved model the next day. When he made that swap, Europcar hit him with a $423 “customer choice” fee, a charge that looks like a clever twist on the classic rental-counter upsell. He contacted the company to reverse it, and it refused.

in this commentary A viral report warned that the TSA’s newer 3D scanners have smaller entry tunnels than the old X-ray machines, and that an oversized carry-on might not fit, potentially sending travelers back to the counter to check a bag. The anger was immediate: the government as the airlines’ baggage enforcer. This commentary calls that a textbook case of decoy outrage, a fake scandal that soaks up the anger a real one deserves.

The next time you hand over your passport at a border crossing, it might hand back a political statement. The State Department this week began issuing a limited-edition commemorative passport to mark America’s 250th anniversary, and it looks like no U.S. passport before it. The inside cover features President Donald Trump’s portrait set against the text of the Declaration of Independence, alongside his signature. The commemorative passport is a fully valid travel document.

in this commentary When a renter picked up an Audi in Tampa, the lot already had at least four cameras recording the car as it left the gate, and an attendant told him he did not need to take his own photos. He took them anyway, then wondered whether that was still necessary. Car rental companies are rolling out AI-powered imaging systems that photograph a vehicle before and after each rental to flag new damage.

in this case Lina Mahmoud’s $687 Michael Kors order never arrived. UPS investigated, declared the package lost, and put in writing that the refund should come from the shipper, Michael Kors. Michael Kors refused anyway, pointing to a proof-of-delivery photo that, by her account, does not clearly show her package at all. She was told the claim was denied and that this was the final answer, and says agents began disconnecting her live chats when she pressed the issue.

A traveler booked a two-queen room through Booking.com and got full beds and a filthy room. What a booking site owes when the room is not as advertised.