Help for Travel Woes

The Letter to the Editor “Best Ways to Complain” (March 25) and the Travel Insider column ‘Woe Is You? Where Weary Travelers Can Seek Redress” (March 11) raise this question: Why is there such limited recourse for travelers seeking redress?

My wife was injured on a flight to Europe, ending our tour just as it began. It took 11 letters and seven months to be fully reimbursed under the terms of our trip insurance for the land cost of the tour. It took a series of letters and phone calls by us and our travel agent and nine months before our air fare was reimbursed by the airline.

The California Department of Insurance helped move the issue to the insurer’s parent corporation, but it didn’t stop the insurer’s delaying tactics.

California is a major travel market. There is a need at both the state and federal level to review and strengthen the protection of the traveling public.

ROBERT H. BRIDGES

Laguna Niguel