Q Airbnb closed my account. Am I locked out forever?

flew for — didn’t at the time. I remember the flight attendant gave us flower leis and let me help them by picking up the trash from the other passengers. We stayed in these condos that were right by the beach.

Q: What’s the most important thing you’ve learned from your travels?

A: To eat where the locals eat and do what the locals do. That’s the only way to have an authentic experience. That and (pack with) travel cubes.

Q: Where are your favorite weekend getaways?

A: We used to take trips down to Utopia, Texas, when I was a kid. We’d camp near the Sabinal River with the huge cypress trees. We’d find the parts of the river with dinosaur footprints and float over the little dams like we were white-water rafting. Unfortunately, a tornado tore up the campground years ago and we haven’t been back since.

Q: Where is the most romantic destination?

A: Spain. Barcelona and Granada are incredible.

Q: If you’ve ever gone away for the holidays, which was the best trip?

A: One year we did Christmas in South Carolina, because my dad wasn’t able to get it off work. The layover was in Charleston. Everything was closed and it was colder than expected, but we walked around the town and stayed at a very nice hotel and I had lamb chops and cheese grits for the first time. It was more about being together, than the destination. All other times we’ve been at my folks’ home or in Terlingua (Texas) for the holidays.

Q: Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?

A: Senegal or Nigeria, South Africa, Morocco. I’d also love to go to places in South America. I wish I could be like Anthony Bourdain and travel everywhere eating and drinking in the culture. There really isn’t a place I would not want to experience, except I don’t exactly blend in. I am painfully aware that I look like an American, but if I was given the opportunity, I would want to go somewhere that didn’t needlessly put my life in danger.

For more from the reporter, visit www.jaehakim.com.

A: You’re kidding, right? I thought we had dealt with the last “Airbnb closed my account” case a few weeks ago. But no.

Here’s the thing: Airbnb, like any other business, can close your account if you’ve violated its terms. It would be helpful if the company told you which terms you violated, but it said nothing. That’s really frustrating, and it’s not a responsible way to handle an account closure.

Airbnb can close your account if you’ve “materially breached” its terms. What’s a material breach? It can include violating its payment terms, policies or standards or applicable laws, regulations or third party rights. Airbnb may also cut you loose to protect the personal safety or property of Airbnb, its members or third parties.

The notice you received from Airbnb is a standard termination notice. But it’s

I tried to book a vacation rental through Airbnb while we were traveling in Spain. I received a notification that my Airbnb account had been closed.

I emailed Airbnb to find out why. In response, Airbnb said it “regretted” informing me that it would be unable to support my account. It said it had exercised its discretion under its terms of service to disable my account.

I don’t know why my account has been closed. I last rented a property through Airbnb in Switzerland in 2018. I received a very positive review from the owner after the stay. I’m dumbfounded.

I also had my attorney mail a letter to Airbnb in an effort to understand why this occurred. To date, he has not received a reply. Can you help me get my Airbnb account reopened?

— Laurel Moad, St. Charles, Illinois so vague that you might never know why the rental site made its decision to close your account.

I’ve received a lot of these cases, including from Anthony Klockenbrink, Chiaka Aribeana and Robert Jackson, which I covered in this column.

Airbnb should have given you a quick and frank answer about your suspension and offered a way to fix it. You could have appealed your case to an executive at Airbnb. I list the names, numbers and email addresses of Airbnb’s customer service managers on my consumer advocacy site at www.elliott.org/ company-contacts/airbnb/.

Beyond that, I think Airbnb needs to stop closing accounts without being prepared to offer a reason for the banning. I support a company’s right to close the account of an abusive customer. But you were an model renter. You shouldn’t be on anyone’s blacklist, especially Airbnb’s.

I can only speculate that the company has automated some of its systems to flag suspicious accounts and ban them. The algorithm may need some adjustment if it’s flagging people like you. It always helps to have a human involved in delicate matters like closing customer accounts. So Airbnb, if you’re reading this — free advice!

I contacted Airbnb on your behalf. You received an email from Airbnb that it reactivated your account. No explanation as to why. I’m not surprised.

Christopher Elliott is the chief advocacy officer of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers resolve their problems. Contact him at elliott.org/help or chris@elliott.org.

ERYN BROOKE PHOTO