Traveller Letters: Australians have abandoned this great destination

Upset over offset

I had two Jetstar fare credits from cancelled flights but was only able to use one of them to offset the cost of a domestic Jetstar booking; the remainder of the flight cost had to be paid by credit card. I would have liked to put the second fare credit towards the cost of the flight but could not find a way on the payment screen to use the second fare credit. I feel that this is unfair as it could not be assumed that I would be taking another flight to use it.
Beverley Hannah, Macleod, Vic

Not making the grade

In response to the letter by John Verhelst (Traveller Letters, March 9), I can understand why he was disappointed to see vacant business class seats on the flight from Sydney to Santiago after requesting an upgrade. The reason for this is that LATAM airlines “buys” seats on Qantas aircraft on these sectors, and due to this agreement, if LATAM doesn’t sell those seats, Qantas is forbidden to use them.
Terry Elliott, Mosman, NSW

Seeing red

My travel plans had to be changed due to a cancellation of a repositioning cruise through the Red Sea this April; with flights already purchased I decided to fill the gap and visit extra countries. I informed Australian Seniors insurance of the change of itinerary and I needed to add two more countries. Thinking it wouldn’t be a drama, I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was told the itinerary couldn’t be changed. I would have to cancel and take out a new policy with the cancellation fee being nearly $700. The policy was $1666; I was floored. I thought the airlines were bad but they’ve got nothing on travel insurance companies.
Dave Cliff, Coopers Gully, NSW

Name games

My first experience of Istanbul (Traveller, March 2) came on an Athena Airlines flight from Athens. Immediately after our landing I expected to hear that we had landed at Ataturk International Airport and the local time is …” Instead what I heard was “Welcome to Constantinople”, and this was October, 2009.
Michael Hayden, Kiama Downs, NSW

Monumental as anything

The “Seven wonders within the Taj Mahal” guide (Traveller, March 9) by Brian Johnston brought back memories of my own visit to the monument and its incredible story. Thirty-two kilometres away from the Taj is Fatehpur Sikri (pictured), a one time Mughal capital and birthplace of Jahangir (father of Taj Mahal creator Shah Jahan). It is worth visiting in any case and also to learn more about the Taj Mahal. We also visited Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, which predates the Taj Mahal and is part of the story. Visitors should see these three amazing UNESCO World Heritage sites. They are great monuments to one of the world’s most enduring love stories.
Martin Artenstein, Camberwell, Vic

Good timing

I just read about the unfortunate experience of your reader Michele Pont (Traveller Letters, March 16) and I believe all is not lost. Exactly the same situation happened to my wife who left her watch in the security basket at Dubai Airport. When back in Sydney we contacted Dubai Airport lost property who were very helpful and after we sent a photo of my wife wearing the watch for identity purposes they agreed they had the watch at their lost property. Luckily we had a friend holidaying in Dubai who after jumping through a few identity hoops managed to collect the watch and return it to us.
Martin Rees, Glebe, NSW

Tip of the week: Whaler of a time

I never thought I’d jump off a boat into the ocean hoping to see a shark, but I did just that. Lord Howe Island is the only place in Australia to see the Galapagos whaler shark – but wait there’s more.

While waiting for these creatures to become curious and swim up from the depths of the ocean, I looked around to discover we were surrounded by fluorescent plankton. It was spellbinding, like tiny aquatic stars, and I found myself reaching out to touch them. But then, the main event soon sobered me up as a school of sharks inquisitively swam my way. Wild.
Roxanne Le Blanc, Croydon Vic

A yack up the back

After five hours’ sleep on a 10-hour return flight to Sydney, I walked to the back of the aircraft. Three flight attendants were happy to chat. I stayed for over half an hour. Just before landing, one of the attendants came and gave me a small gift pack, as a thank you for talking with them. They commented that it broke their long journey, and they enjoyed the conversation. An idea for all air travellers.
Judith Bond, Campbelltown, NSW

Melting moments

I recently travelled throughout the outback, going on a camping adventure. In several national parks where I camped there was no fresh water. As it was midsummer, I also had the challenge of keeping food fresh. Thankfully, I had a car and travelled with an Esky. The solution to both problems was ice. Each time I bought petrol for the car I also purchased ice for the Esky. By day, the ice kept the food fresh and by the following morning I had cold drinking water, which was needed when the temperature hit 40 degrees.
Mark Thomas, Haberfield, NSW

Don’t discount this advice

When purchasing tickets online from third party sites (Tripologist, March 17), be careful to check the fees added before you pay. Compare them with the appropriate Japan Rail site, such as JRWest and JREast, the latter offering return Narita Express airport rail train tickets at a discount with a 14-day validity period. Both sites have good English pages.
David Peters, Warranwood, Vic

Siena and not fry

While spending six months in Europe, we needed a base to shelter from the August heat. On advice we chose Siena, Italy. I enrolled at an Italian language course for foreigners and we were accommodated with an excellent non-English speaking family outside the city. Each weekday morning, while my husband did research for a thesis, I attended a class of about 10 people. After that, my husband and I lunched and then roamed around the city or joined an excursion. It was also the time of the famous Palio, a historic horse race around the Campo – quite dangerous, very
exciting and different from anything we’d seen before. Siena is a walled, car-free city, beautiful and clean with so much history and charm. The month passed far too quickly.
Nola Tucker, Kiama, 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