Traveller Letters: Book with this budget airline at your peril

Easy doesn’t do it

Thirty minutes before my scheduled EasyJet flight from Berlin to Copenhagen last month, I received an email from the airline advising me that my flight had been cancelled. Unwelcome as this news was, I know these things do happen occasionally. EasyJet’s website then advised me to seek an alternative flight through them and if one was not available then accommodation would be provided. No alternative flight was available but no accommodation was offered, and contrary to EasyJet’s website’s claim, there were no “helpful ground staff” to assist either me or any of the other passengers.

One reader had a frustrating experience with European budget carrier Easyjet.Credit: iStock

Thirty-six hours (and €500) later I made it to my destination. I have now lodged, without much hope of success, a compensation claim for those unexpected expenses. The moral of the story however, is book with EasyJet at your peril. When it works, it’s great. When things go wrong however, you are totally on your own.
Matthew Grey, Beaumont, NSW

Without trays

I love air travel but have long resented the time it takes between finishing an inflight meal and having the refuse taken away. Apart from the unpleasantness of having leftover yuck in front of you it effectively locks you into your seat and stops you from using your tray table. Having open, half-eaten foodstuffs in front of us for up to an hour was especially challenging when travelling with small children who invariably needed to use the loo or would spill gloopy leftovers everywhere.

The air sickness bag on a plane can have more than one use.Credit: iStock

However, on a recent flight I witnessed a fellow passenger brilliantly overcome this bugbear. Upon completing her repast she folded up the foil meal tray and neatly placed all of the dirty bits and pieces into the airsickness bag. Placing the bag on the floor under the seat in front of her, she then took out her laptop and continued work oblivious to me, wide-eyed at the brilliance of her simple solution which has henceforth improved the way I now travel.
Jess Wheelahan, Lindfield, NSW

Letter of the week: Peace offering

Iona Abbey, cottages and a fishing boat on a sunny autumn day.Credit: iStock

In response to your story (Traveller, August 10) on the joy of quiet places, my choice is the sacred island of Iona. It’s a small island, with a population of only 125 people, off Scotland’s west coast. You travel there by ferry, with no visitors’ cars allowed. The island was first settled in 563 by St Columba. The 15th-century rose granite abbey has been restored, and its tranquil contemplative atmosphere was a highlight of our visit. As well as that, the island is blessed with natural beauty in its blue waters, sandy beaches, rare wildflowers, many birds and abundant sea life.
Sandra Torpey, Hawthorn, Vic

Get my drift

My quiet place is Turquoise Bay, near Exmouth, Western Australia, with its clear warm waters, (its namesake colour is said to promote clear thinking), and is understandably busy with tourists most of the year. But wade in with your snorkel and mask, drift effortlessly with the current and you’ll feel like you’ve landed or splashed into a scene from Finding Nemo. This turquoise tranquillity is only interrupted by the sound of your snorkel spurting water, followed by an excited gesture as a turtle cruises by or a school of colourful fish dart all around you. Details of when and where to best “drift the current” are available at the information centre nearby.
Roxanne Le Blanc, Croydon, Vic

Singapore sings

I completely agree with Sandie Peleg and Julius Dhanu (Traveller Letters, August 10) on the sub-standard process for incoming travellers to Australia. We arrived at Sydney Airport after a nine-day visit to Singapore, our first overseas trip for five years, a place where almost everything runs to a high standard. Having completed our custom declaration forms, we were expecting a reasonably trouble-free process for returning Australians. We weren’t prepared for the disorganised shemozzle we encountered.

Knowledgeable travellers made a beeline for the limited number of ticket machines, while the rest of us wondered which direction and queue to take. Border Force staff were yelling in a most unfriendly, if not rude, manner. The signage was inadequate, and the process unclear. It must have been worse for those with limited English. The Australians we spoke to shared our embarrassment at the disorganisation and rudeness encountered by foreign visitors. I suggest a trip to Singapore should be mandatory training for all Border Force arrivals staff.
Rod Browne, Gunnedah, NSW

Editor’s note: Our columnist Michael Gebicki has taken a look at this issue and received a huge response from readers. Read more here.

Man, oh Manchester

Julius Dhanu (Traveller Letters, August 10) writes about the immigration at Sydney being poorly handled. Try arriving at Manchester Airport in the UK, its second-biggest airport. The immigration queue was more than 100 metres long when we arrived, with people pushing into the queue from other gates. It took almost an hour to clear immigration. Most of the travellers had an air of resignation and told me this mayhem wasn’t uncommon. Welcome to Manchester indeed. Come back Sydney, all is forgiven I say.
Nick Halkyard, Avalon Beach, NSW

Palma karma

In Victoria, that’s not a “parmi”, it’s a “parma”. Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

How it hurt my eyes to see the words “parmi” and “parmies” (Traveller Letters, August 10). As someone from Greensborough, a suburb of Melbourne, Joanne Thom, surely you’d know that in Victoria your chicken parmigiana is a “parma”.
Damian Gunn, Montmorency, Vic

Road warrior

Hear hear, Joanne Thom. We just drove from Narooma, NSW, to Western Australia and back, a distance of 12,745 kilometres. We experienced whales, the Nullarbor Plain, Wave Rock, the big trees, the Silo Art Trail, the Eyre Peninsula and more, as well as wonderful and not so wonderful accommodation from serviced apartments to dusty “executive chalets” in caravan parks. Road trains were no problem. I played the Nullarbor Links golf course with variable success but great fun. A truly memorable experience and all driving on the left side of the road. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
John Brown, Kianga, NSW

Family feud

My wife and I have been a part of Emirates’ Skywards frequent flyer program for well over 10 years and for the last decade (except for the pandemic) have flown with them each year to Europe and on several occasions with a side trip to Africa. So when they invited us to join the “My Family” Skywards program we thought it was a good idea. Unfortunately, this was not the case. On a number of occasions when trying to use points to upgrade to business class they could not find our points at check-in. Staff were extremely helpful but could do nothing to upgrade us – despite phone calls – and there being plenty of business class seats available.

Further, as individual frequent flyer members, we were able to use points to shop – extremely useful if you were about to lose points. This is not the case with family membership as you can only use the points for flights or Emirates “special events”. So you just lose points. My advice is to stick with their individual frequent flyer program.
Tom Pinkey, Newtown, NSW

Tier drop

Codeshare flights certainly do come with baggage. Recently, I made the big mistake of using a travel agent who was determined to book six flights for me and my partner to Europe and back with Emirates. I wanted to fly Qantas using points, but they convinced us that for an extra $1000 we could fly Emirates without using any points. They failed to explain I would earn no status points. Emirates, it seems, is not a member of Oneworld Alliance but a “bespoke” partner. The result? I lost all previously earned status points and my gold-tier status.
Denise Hunter, North Sydney, NSW

Beggars belief

Carolyn Beasley’s review of Singapore Airlines business class does not reflect our recent experience. Rather than being “offered eye masks, slippers” and “delightfully refreshing amenities” we had to request – even beg – for individual items. The onboard information states these items are available if passengers request them: claiming it’s an attempt to save wastage. Maybe, but does the airline have to be so miserly?
Sally Davis, Malvern East, Vic

Tip of the week: Gorillas in our midst

A majestic silverback, which can be seen in Uganda.Credit: iStock

We’re just back from a three-week family self-drive holiday in Uganda (handy hint: they drive on the left-hand side). We shared the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest with gorillas, watching the silverback preside over his family. We trekked along paths to view the chimpanzees, then watched as they relaxed and groomed each other. We walked with a guide to share the savannah with a family of giraffes and went on a night safari to spot leopards, watching them by a waterhole as they waited for antelope or zebra. We enjoyed the company of a local guide as he spotted and explained to us the many different birds that call Uganda home, including the exclusive shoebill. And we enjoyed the quietly-spoken people of Uganda.
Trish Williams, Camberwell, Vic

Topping up the bucket

Thank you Ben Groundwater, for your anti-bucket list (Traveller, July 17). I agree with all your suggestions but would add: do not travel anywhere at all in the middle of their peak season; or to any country that turns a blind eye to the exploitation of child workers, especially for prostitution, and any country where women cannot leave the house without a male relative and are forced to wear burkas.
Sandra Torpey, Hawthorn, Vic

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