Traveller Letters: Booking direct better? Not after our luggage was stolen

Letter of the week: Sorry tale

A tour from Perth to Broome (pictured) started badly for one reader after her husband’s luggage was stolen.Credit: iStock

We recently took a trip from Perth to Broome with a well-known travel company. We’d booked directly with the company believing there was no point using an agent. Wrong. On the first day of the tour, my husband’s luggage went missing. The driver admitted he hadn’t locked the compartment. We were given 40 minutes to buy replacement clothes, toiletries and medication. There was nowhere in the next 12 days, covering 3000 kilometres, to buy anything else. Clearly this impacted significantly on our enjoyment of the tour. It took four days before we were contacted by someone from the company. No apology, sympathy or support was offered.

Over the next four weeks, the company’s administration haggled over insurance, its terms and conditions and refund policy. Eventually we received an apology, a refund for items stolen and a paltry compensation. After speaking to friends in the travel industry, I was told they would have resolved the problem faster and more smoothly by dealing directly with their contacts in the company. My advice? Even if it costs a little more, go through an agent.
Manuela Epstein, Pyrmont, NSW

Nobody’s perfect

We just returned from a six-week US road trip from Nashville to Dallas, booking our accommodation as we went, both direct and with online bookers. Wanting to avoid a nasty seven-hour drive from New Orleans to Galveston, we decided last minute on an overnight stop in Lafayette, Louisiana – just a three-hour drive. Except, I realised I booked a hotel in Lafayette, Indiana – 12 hours away, Straight onto the link for customer relations and I cancelled that room night, admitting my error. It was immediately declined as non-refundable, so imagine my surprise when later in the day I received an email with a form to complete explaining what had happened. Within an hour we received a return email advising they were going to provide a full refund and it hit my card 48 hours later. Kudos to the Drury Hotels and Suites chain. (PS: I should also mention I’m a travel agent – it happens to us, too.)
Steve Mulally, Mollymook, NSW

Cutting it fine

I have been a travel consultant for more than 30 years and never heard of the 90-minute rule for connecting flights (Traveller, October 12). Most airlines and airports use MCTs (minimum connecting times) with the time usually allocated according to how long it takes to get passengers and their bags from one airline or aircraft to another. The MCT varies between airports and involves many factors, including domestic to international or vice versa, airlines and aircraft type, gates used and ground transfers (such as London Heathrow to London Gatwick). The MCT at Melbourne airport is 45 minutes international to international but Sydney is one hour. Los Angeles is two hours while Heathrow is 90 minutes. The absolute minimum between Gatwick and Heathrow is three hours. I feel that the Sydney MCT is way too short, so I allow two hours.
Colin Hood, Carlton North, Vic

Great Scott

Michael Gebicki’s column, “Don’t cut it too fine to make an onward flight” (Traveller, October 12) reminded me of transiting through Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport. I was repeatedly assured by the travel agent that there was plenty of time to change terminals to fly back to Australia. In Madrid, I found that I had to run the full length of the airport and take the airport shuttle to another suburb to reach my international terminal. I then needed to pass through security and take a train and another bus! I made the flight just before the doors closed. My bag did not and took three days to return to Sydney. I now have a new travel agent called Scott who is fantastic and is knowledgeable about each airport, making travel more relaxed.
Linda Page, Baulkham Hills, NSW

Deal me out

Qantas’ “global deal”, at the time of writing, spruiks discounted business class Melbourne to Tokyo return flights priced at $5910. Hurry. Or you could book with Cathay Pacific, as we did, for the same period, and get business return flights for $4276. Get real, Qantas.
Claire Jones, Canterbury, Vic

No mercy

My wife and I were saddened to see Traveller recommending the Faroe Islands in its cover story on “coolcations” (Traveller, October 12). For those unaware, Faroe Islanders continue to carry out the brutal Grindadrap, or “Grind”. This centuries-old practice involves herding entire pods of dolphins and whales into shallow bays where they are mercilessly killed. This September, the screams of the dolphins filled the air as young calves were cut down alongside their mothers. The Grind was historically a matter of survival for the Faroese. Today it is an unnecessary and barbaric relic of the past.
Paul Jones, Gerringong, NSW

Coolcations not cool

The answer to record-breaking heat is not to jump in a plane and go somewhere cooler at a cooler time of the year, as per your cover story (Traveller, October 12). Doing so is not a “trend” or a “marketing opportunity”. Doing so is partly why so much of the planet is unbearable for so many people and other life forms. And please don’t respond to this letter by referencing carbon offset schemes, like you did when another reader wrote to you about climate breakdown (although I’m glad you published that letter). Reputable research demonstrates these schemes do not work.
Danni Moore, Castlemaine, Vic

LA not lax

Taking a stroll in Los Angeles.Credit: iStock

Two weeks ago my wife and I flew from Sydney to Los Angeles with a two-hour stopover before catching a domestic flight to Honolulu. I was worried two hours would be insufficient to tackle the immigration process but to my delight we got through in one hour and 24 minutes. Ironically, waiting for our bags to appear on the carousel took the most time by far. Well done, LAX.
Richard Leader, Baulkham Hills, NSW

Tip of the week: Our reign in Spain

The grand Cathedral of Cadiz in Old Town.Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

I couldn’t agree more with Ben Groundwater’s recent story on Spain (Traveller on Sunday, September 29). Now retired, we realised we wanted to spend an extended period in another country and Spain, in particular the Andalusia region, fitted well as we had been there a number of times. We leased an apartment within the old town of Cadiz (pictured) overlooking Plaza de San Francisco for several months in 2023-24. We spent our time enjoying all on offer – the culture, food and festivals – seeking out museums and places of interest. Using local transport we were able to travel across the region visiting Seville, Ronda and Jerez de la Frontera, staying in small family-run hotels. The experience was rewarding and memorable and has changed what we will look for when travelling.
Glenn Earl-Peacock, Mosman, NSW

Walk on the Wilde side

I have just arrived home from New York and I must share the most whimsical place I found. It is the Oscar Wilde Bar at 45 West 27 Street, New York where you’ll be greeted by a life-size statue of the poet and playwright with his hand out for someone to place a beer in it. This is a magical and whimsical bar with 26 antique clocks set to 1.50, the time of Oscar Wilde’s death. The walls are filled with old pictures with a script from Oscar on a light projection that changes every 30 seconds above the bar. There’s an Irish writers’ wall, with the eclectic decor including a Gothic lamp and unique art and other treasures. As I sat at New York’s longest bar sipping my drink, I almost felt transported back to the late 1800s.
Barbara Audas, Black Rock, Vic

Tim Tam diplomacy

Ross Duncan is mistaken (Traveller Letters, October 13) as DFAT [Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade] does a great job, often unrecognised, in assisting Australian overseas travellers without the clumsy trip registration system. When informed of my hospitalisation in Polynesia, the local consul-general was promptly informed. She immediately contacted the doctors treating me, offered assistance and turned up the next morning with Tim Tams. Throughout my stay, her team was there for me. Well done DFAT.
Maureen Lysaght, Terrey Hills, NSW

Road warriors

Key West and its docks.Credit: iStock

Your “Two for the road” story (Traveller on Sunday, October 6) brought back memories of a trip that my now wife and I once enjoyed. Having known each other for three months, we flew, via Hawaii, to Los Angeles, took three weeks to purchase a vehicle for our road trip. Then, Fodor guide in hand, we headed south to Mexico, west to Key West (pictured), north to Quebec and east to Seattle before completing the loop to LA, whilst taking in all the must-sees en route. Memorably, we lived for a week on a remote island in northern Maine with a lobster fisherman we met at a Mexican restaurant in Maui. Some 22,000 thousand miles later, with unforgettable memories, we arrived back in LA. We managed to sell our car for enough to fund a Tahitian holiday on the return journey to Australia.
Maurie Shakespeare, Wonga Park, Vic

No flex appeal

The Europe-based Carflexi.com, which pops up quickly online when searching for car hire, deducted $300 from my card and claimed it was for insurance excess when I had carefully avoided ticking that box with their T&Cs clearly stating that it wasn’t covered. It took a year through my card provider to recover the money as an unauthorised charge. A Google search of Carflexi.com reveals a history of similar behaviour.
Alan Haselden, Castle Hill, 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