Christopher Elliott Travel columnist • Profile • E-mail

Sometimes the last resort should be your first choice. That’s what Linda Sesa learned when she found herself stranded in St. Lucia recently.

Sesa, a nurse practitioner from Yardley, Pa., had missed her flight to Charlotte because a US Airways employee mistakenly asked her to stand in the wrong check-in line. The airline refused to pick up the $1,500 tab for a return flight on another carrier, instead offering two $400 vouchers for her inconvenience. “I felt helpless and totally baffled over the entire situation,” she says.

So Sesa did what increasing numbers of travelers are doing today. She took an airline to court. And she won.

No one knows how many travel-related cases are in the courts now. There aren’t any reliable surveys that aggregate actions in local, state and federal court or break out the number of cases that deal with airlines, car rental companies or hotels. But there’s significant anecdotal evidence that a group of disgruntled customers are simply bypassing the normal grievance process and suing.

Before I continue, a disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer, and this column isn’t meant to dispense any legal advice. But I am an expert on complaints — I write the Travel Troubleshooter column that appears on this site — and I’ve advised many travelers as their cases have worked their way through the courts.

Lately, I’ve noticed people’s patience with the traditional complaint process — writing a letter, waiting for a reply, sending a probable appeal — is wearing thin. It’s as if they know they’ll be turned down and think they have a better chance of getting compensated by getting the law involved immediately.

Often, they do. Although the number of wins is just as difficult to find as the number of travel-related cases, my notebook tells me that passengers and hotel guests are doing pretty well in court, thanks very much. Most of the action is happening in a small-claims court, where the costs (and as far as the companies are concerned, the stakes) are relatively low. You don’t need an attorney, and you often win by default because the other side doesn’t show up.

Here are five times when you should consider skipping the complaints process and going straight to court:

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When they’re playing games
Sesa’s problem is a good example of a travel company monkeying around with a customer. It repeatedly acknowledged its error and sent her a form letter that claimed “customer satisfaction is our main focus,” but then repeatedly disappointed her by refusing to pay for a new ticket back home. Sesa didn’t like the games, so she took US Airways to small claims court. Apparently, the airline thought that was all part of the game. “No one from US Airways showed up,” she remembers. “The judge asked me what happened, I told her, she was appalled, and I won by default.” Game over.

When they’ve broken a contract
In 1987, Mostyn Lloyd and his wife paid $250 each for a Hilton Senior HHonors lifetime membership. The card entitled them to room and meal discounts, as well as other perks. Hilton recently informed the couple that it was canceling the senior program. “I consider that a breach of contract,” he says. Hilton argues that its terms allow it to cancel the program anytime. (I contacted the hotel chain, and a spokeswoman told me she’s looking into the matter.) Lloyd says that argument makes no sense, and that the clause Hilton has invoked only applies to members of the program, not to the program itself. Maybe that’s something for a judge to decide.

When they’re being dishonest
I. Milton Karabell, a travel agent from Philadelphia, told me the following story: A few years ago, one of his clients booked a package that ended up not being quite what he expected. “After his return, we concluded that the ad for the package was false and misleading, and that he had costs he shouldn’t have incurred,” he remembers. Karabell told his client to go to small claims court, where, he remembers, the tour operator’s lawyers “arrived with checkbooks in hand.” Sometimes, it’s pointless to argue with a company about a claim it may or may not have made. Sometimes, the best place to settle an argument like this is in a court of law.

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