Traveller Letters: There’s one reason I’ll keep flying Qantas
Bouncing back
A Qantas, economy-class, Sydney to London flight via Singapore early last month was confirmation enough for me that the airline is back on its game. Check-in ground staff at Mascot and Heathrow enabled my concerns to be addressed immediately, the flight itself was unremarkable, the toilets and aisles were constantly cleaned, the Qantas cabin crew were ever-excellent, luggage arrived, and the in-flight entertainment was operational.
Qantas’ staff are the reason one reader will keep travelling with the Flying Kangaroo.Credit: Getty Images
While in-flight dining can be improved, I cannot fault the attentiveness of the cabin crew. It is their kindness and generous spirit that is the reason why I will travel Qantas again and again.
Debra Philllips, Wollstonecraft, NSW
… or maybe not
Many brickbats have been flung at Qantas over the past few years and unfortunately, here’s another. Some weeks ago the Virgin terminal at Sydney Airport was in meltdown after violent storms the night before. This meant I was unable to get to Melbourne as planned that morning, and had to rebook on Qantas, which was making merry hay, as the price of a one-way flight to Melbourne would have bought a return flight to Singapore. Only the supreme importance of this trip forced my hand, and credit card, but the extortionate price-gouging by Qantas means their short-term gain has resulted in the loss of my custom forever. Virgin refunded the original flight fare within 10 days, and I travelled back with them several days later, without a problem. The staff on that flight were exceptional and I support them in their endeavours for a better award.
Marie Dreux, Dulwich Hill, NSW
Jet star
Top marks to Jetstar for the best flight ever from Rarotonga to Sydney on Tuesday, December 12. A highlight was finding Jetstar’s youngest female pilot, Michaela Ripa, flying us across the Pacific in the new Airbus A321neo. The often-rough flight was smooth as glass with excellent cabin service – thanks to Ripa and the team. And a big surprise at Sydney Airport – we were through immigration, customs and collected the bags within 30 minutes. This new direct flight to the beautiful Cook Islands is highly recommended.
Pamela Steele Sherpa, Campbell, ACT
Letter of the week: Profit in Los
Underrated? Los Feliz with Griffith Observatory and park and the Los Angeles City Skyline.Credit: iStock
I was surprised to see Los Angeles in the overrated section in your “Underrated and overrated” story. There is more to LA than just Hollywood, Venice Beach, and theme parks. Silverlake, Los Feliz (pictured above), Santa Monica, K-town, WeHo and Downtown are just some of many character-filled districts. There is great food, shopping, hiking, museums, bookstores and interesting architecture, not to mention Korean bathhouses, patio bars and a vibrant arts scene. Even the public transport is not too bad if you stay in the right place. One needs to scratch the surface and do some exploring to get the most out of it.
Scott Humphries, Curtin, ACT
Gratuities advice
In your recent story (Traveller, January 3), tipping in the US was listed as one of the items in the overrated hall of infamy. While the US may be one of the world’s wealthiest nations, the minimum wage-employees making your coffee (the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour) are most certainly not. In a country with one of the world’s largest gaps in wealth distribution – the lowest 50 per cent of earners only own 2.5 per cent of the total wealth – tipping isn’t a matter of “culture”, but of being able to earn a living wage. As the article says elsewhere about tipping, “If you can afford overseas travel, you can afford to tip …” Inequality isn’t a phenomenon limited to developing countries.
Jaime McSkimming, La Perouse, NSW
No picnic
Oh, the Paris picnic (Traveller, December 16)! The meticulous planning, the location, the food and the weather – none can guarantee a successful picnic. Mother nature, you see, adds another element – the pesky European wasp. After our atmospheric picnic lunch was destroyed by wasps (and the lawn-mowing brigade) our evening wander along the Seine provided confirmation and entertainment that this insect is indeed a party pooper. Picnickers beware.
Lea Collins, Coffs Harbour, NSW
Venice Vice
A Venice-set police drama offers great scenery.Credit: iStock
In reference to Lee Tulloch’s lovely story on Venice (Traveller, December 2), I’m reminded of a 2022 Italian crime drama set in Venice – Non mi liascare (Don’t Leave Me), which follows an investigation set in that beautiful city. If you don’t watch it for the story or acting, watch it for the magnificent cinematography and scenery of many different places around Venice. The camera work is stunning, as many scenes depict a Venice free of tourists, as the police race along canals and around islands in speed boats pursuing bad guys. Many of the places are named, with a huge subtitle for each changing location, so you can look up information on them. It’s a beautiful bit of viewing; highly recommended for the fans of all things Italian.
Margot Pope, Lewisham, NSW
Golden grate
I recently flew through San Francisco airport, using it as a transfer point on my way from Melbourne to other North American destinations. Most of my flights normally route me through LAX in Los Angeles for such transfers, so I looked forward to SFO for some variety. I got the variety, but at woeful service. Landing at 8am in SFO, we then endured 90 minutes standing in line to pass immigration with only five immigration cubicles working and other flights also arriving. Once through that, we had to endure another long queue to get through security for our next flight. We arrived at SFO with two and a half hours to make our next flight and all of that was consumed in queues. We made our next flight with 15 minutes to spare. Atrocious service, hopefully never to be repeated.
Tim Norman, Port Melbourne, VIC
Tip of the week: Tomb rater
The tomb of St Thomas in Chennai.Credit: iStock
Brian Johnston’s “Spotlight on Chennai” (Traveller Newsletter, December 20) guide stirred a memory. One of the more fascinating places to see just out of Chennai is the Tomb of St Thomas the Apostle, in the wonderful St Thomas Cathedral, visited by saints and popes in days gone by. It must have been a long, long hike for Thomas, all the way from Jerusalem.
John B. Quinn, Avoca, Vic
Crown of thorns
A staycation for hubby’s birthday at Crown Towers Sydney was exorbitantly expensive but it was a treat we wanted to give ourselves. But after attempting to charge us twice for the room, bathroom taps we could not turn on or off without difficulty, blinds that were broken, no convenient power points that we could find, non-existent service poolside, no complimentary biscuits in the room to go with our tea and no response to our comments, we will not return. Good points? The breakfast buffet was exceptional.
Michele Sharp, Queens Park, NSW
Stuff ’em
Having booked accommodation online using an agency, we were shocked two weeks after we left the unit to receive a bill for $350 to repair a cushion we’d supposedly damaged. Given the opportunity to appeal, we stated that we had not damaged it, that the owner reported it two weeks after we vacated the unit. We were unsuccessful in the appeal, as we could not provide any photos of not having done any damage. From now on we will take photos on arrival of any damage and general photos of the state of the units.
Heather Crawford, Ettalong Beach, NSW
Nordic and nice
In agreeing with the points made by Maree Harrison in her review of her Iceland road trip (Traveller Letters, December 9), I would also like to recommend the Iceland-based Nordic Visitor, the Scandinavia specialist travel company which perfectly organised our 10-day self-drive holiday. Its website has up-to-date travel and safety advice and we dealt with a single travel agent who always kept us informed.
Judi Rosevear, Wantirna, Vic
Get riel
I loved my recent trip to Cambodia but the currency situation has changed a lot since my last visit 15 years ago. Two decades ago it was all about the US dollar and no one would accept the local currency, the Cambodian riel. These days however, the government is promoting a “de-dollarisation” policy, which means that $US1 and $US5 notes are rarely seen or accepted and ATMs only provide $US100 notes (which no one will accept or change). The solution? Use riels exclusively. ATMs now issue the local currency and everyone accepts it.
Georgie Foster, Thornbury, Vic
Out(raged) of Africa
Kenya is beautiful, but beware short connections out of the country.Credit: iStock
We had a recent Kenya Airways direct flight from Kilimanjaro to Nairobi. We’d planned a 90-minute turn around in Nairobi for our Emirates connection to Dubai and then home. After boarding in Kilimanjaro, we were informed we were travelling via Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, instead of direct to Nairobi. This reroute added an hour and half to the original one-hour flight. As a result, we missed our flight from Nairobi and were stranded in a near empty airport at close to midnight. Kenya Airlines’ response was essentially “suck it up”, taking no responsibility as it was a “separate ticket”. We are still attempting to get compensation from our Chubb travel insurance. Beware of a short turn-around and non-affiliations between airlines.
Warrick Hannon, Blue Bay, NSW
Snap decisions
Don’t get caught out by AirBnB listings which can make an apartment look bigger than it actually is by virtue of creative photography. Play it safe by always asking for a floor plan before booking. Then you will be able to ascertain if it really is as big or small as the photographs suggest.
Warwick Harty, Maroubra, NSW
The Letter of the Week writer wins three Hardie Grant travel books. See hardiegrant.com
The Tip of the Week writer wins a set of three Lonely Planet travel books. See shop.lonelyplanet.com
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