‘Meals on our £1,128 Amtrak train journey were doughnuts and pizza'

✉ In March, my partner and I took the Amtrak Empire Builder train between Seattle and Chicago, a beautiful two-night slow crawl across the northernmost US states. We'd spent £1,128 on a private room in one of the sleeping cars, plus sit-down meals prepared on board. The train left Seattle two hours late and while we were waiting in the station an employee was (with no announcement) handing out polystyrene boxes of burritos. We were told it was dinner and full service would start the next morning, but it didn't because it turned out the chef never boarded the train.
Breakfast was doughnuts and cereal bars; lunch was two slices of Pizza Hut pizza that had been delivered to the train. Dinner was a small Subway sandwich — and so it continued. On our return to the UK, I wrote to Amtrak customer services to ask for compensation for the missed meal service and inconvenience of not having food we wanted to eat for two and a half days. I was offered a £223 voucher for future travel as a 'token of regret' for my disappointment but this is useless because I won't be returning to the US anytime soon. Can you help me get a partial refund of the ticket price? Paul Ockelford
'Indulge in an exclusive onboard dining experience crafted to bring you back to the golden age of train travel,' says Amtrak. But instead of feasting on tempura prawns and Atlantic salmon with red quinoa, you were palmed off with the most basic fast food. A voucher for future travel just didn't cut it — does it ever? — and after I sent Amtrak details of your miserable food experience it quickly apologised and refunded you the £223 in cash.
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✉ We're planning a road trip around France by car next year. One option we have is to fly into a French airport and drive from there. When you are booking your flight you are taken to a page to give you an option to hire a car, which seems easy. However, is this the best way to hire a car, or should we book directly with a hire company from the airport? Are there any hidden extras by doing it either way? Could you advise?Nigel Coulson
It's certainly easy to book your car at the same time as your flight and if you do it counts as a package, which gives you Atol protection. But should anything go wrong with the hire, you can't depend on the airline to intervene on your behalf (I've had plenty of complaints from readers who've been dismayed to discover this). Alternatively, booking directly can also leave you at the mercy of rental companies with their myriad ruses to bump up the bill or unreasonable damage demands. Instead, I'd recommend using a reputable broker who could get you the right deal and offer help to resolve any problems. Zest (zestcarrental.com) and Auto Europe (autoeurope.com) were the two highest rated brokers in a recent survey by the consumer group Which?.
✉ My wife and I will celebrate 25 years of marriage in July 2026 and we'd like to go away for a week to celebrate. We want some luxury but not anywhere so grand so we feel out of place; while temperatures of up to 30C, a pool or beach, things of interest nearby, a meal plan or easy access to local restaurants are also must-haves. Our budget is up to £5,000 for the week. Any ideas?Ed Gayton
For a milestone July anniversary, Villa Paola near Tropea on Italy's southern tip is the perfect romantic retreat. It's an adults-only, 12-room boutique hotel converted from a 16th-century Franciscan convent perched above the Tyrrhenian Sea, with fabulous sunsets, friendly service and great food. After breakfast in the dreamily tranquil garden, filled with scented herbs and lemon trees, you can choose between a dip in the infinity pool or a jaunt to nearby Tropea, with its gorgeous clifftop old town and great beaches. The weather should be a beautifully warm 28-30C. There's fine dining in the hotel's Michelin-listed restaurant and local ingredients include Tropea red onions, picked from the garden the monks once tended; you'll discover a brilliant food scene too. B&B doubles start at £285 per night (villapaolatropea.it). Fly from Stansted to Lamezia Terme with Ryanair or with Tui from Gatwick. It's about an hour from the airport to Tropea.
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✉ My gay best friend and I, both in our forties, go away every year for a week of sun and lounging by the pool. We want our own rooms (and bathrooms) but of course most hotels are designed to sleep two to a room. Last year we found the perfect solution at the Rixos in Gocek in Turkey: a 'friends room' with our own beds and bathrooms but a sliding door and are hoping for something similar in Greece. We have a budget of about £8,000 between us for a trip in early September. Any ideas?Lisa Townsend
That Rixos Gocek 'friends room' set-up is pretty unusual. If you're looking for a separate but connected space, try Domes Aulus Zante, a stylish adults-only all-inclusive with particularly good food. Its Grand Tropical Zen suites include two separate bedrooms and bathrooms with a shared living space and a balcony. A week in September would cost £4,050 (domesresorts.com). The Lindos Grand Resort & Spa on Rhodes is another sleek, adults-only resort with great food (in its seven restaurants) and has cracking views across Vlycha Bay. Book connecting junior suites with terraces, which start at £448 a night for half-board in September (lindosgrand.com).
✉ My wife and I are travelling by train to Frankfurt from London St Pancras on September 17, returning on October 1. My passport was valid from July 10, 2016, and expires on July 10, 2026. Will it be valid for this trip? Alan Williams
Understandably, you're concerned about the validity of your passport because you're one of the many who had extra months added when you renewed it early (this practice ended in 2018). But you don't have to worry. Yours meets the requirements for entry to Europe: it will be less than ten years old when you enter France and there's at least three months' validity left on the day you return. At St Pancras, passports are only inspected by British and French border forces and there's no chance of a hapless Eurostar employee misinterpreting the rules and stopping you from boarding the train; unfortunately, as I've highlighted in previous columns, there are still airline employees who are causing havoc at the gate by refusing to let passengers board because they still aren't up to speed on the post-Brexit entry requirements.
• How many months do I need on my passport to travel?
Other readers who need to check their passports can use Tui's validity checker (tui.co.uk/passport-checker). It's also essential to check that your passport doesn't have tears or water damage that affect readability of the data page because these could scupper your trip abroad.
Have you got a holiday dilemma? Email traveldoctor@thetimes.co.uk

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