The fine art of complaining

Your airline lost your luggage. Your car rental company ran out of sedans and handed you the keys to a gas-guzzling van. Your hotel can't find your reservation, and you're homeless on vacation. What now?

I've been mediating travel disputes my entire career, and I know what to do. I'm National Geographic Traveler's ombudsman, and I write the Travel Troubleshooter column every week ( www.csr.elliott.org). When vacations head south, I get the call.

Over the years, I've developed a few insider tricks for fixing a derailed trip: whom to write, what to say and where to go when no one listens. But if I had to distill everything into one simple rule, it would be: The sooner you speak up, the better your chances of getting what you deserve.

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