Traveller Letters: The best airport in the world? I don’t think so (2024)

Hamad no match for Singapore airport

Having just returned to Melbourne via Qatar, I’m unsure how Hamad International Airport in Doha is the world No.1 (according to this year’s World Airport Awards). The new garden isn’t a patch (pun intended) on Singapore’s outdoor and indoor gardens. There were no toilets or drinking taps in the waiting lounge before boarding my flight. You had to get a bus from the arriving flight. The one positive was not needing to go through security immediately after arriving via a flight from Europe.
Stephanie Howell Brunswick, Vic

Letter of the week: Composer regained

My biggest disappointment and greatest joy in Spain lay almost side by side. The deserted, fairytale Alhambra in documentaries proved ridiculously overcrowded so our “priority” tour, jostling numerous others, proved overpriced.

Crushed in spirit, we wandered down Sabika Hill to discover the house of the great composer Manuel de Falla, and had it to ourselves. Preserved exactly as he lived in it during the 1930s, our guide charged us all of €3 ($5) apiece to explore the composer’s modest but magical home with sweeping views over the Andalusian plains all the way to the snow-capped Sierra Nevada. Here’s his piano; there sat his friends the poet Garcia Lorca and classical guitarist Andre Segovia. My day was redeemed.
Peter Farmer, Northbridge, WA

Scam warning

A booking.com scam email hit my inbox last week: one of my bookings (hotel name and booking confirmation number quoted) was going to be cancelled unless I acted in the next 12 hours, “clicking on the link provided”. Fortunately, I was alert to the scam through media reports. A phone call to the hotel in Italy confirmed my booking was secure – the email was a scam. But it remained online within my booking.com bookings. Reporting this to booking.com was a circular “take you nowhere” experience with so-called “help” links and finally a consultant who heard me out, reassured me, then cut me off. I’ll be booking direct with hotels in future.
Lynette Moore, Brunswick East, Vic

Pass the tissues

I, too, will weep when my passport needs to be replaced (Traveller, May 9 ). But I weep not because of the memories of visas and stamps, but because of the $501 I will have to pay as an overseas Australian for a new passport ($346 for the passport and $155 for the ridiculous overseas fee, and that excludes any urgent processing fee that I might have to pay). Consider that Singaporeans pay $S70 ($78) for a passport with the same validity period and my tears are real.
Nick Inatey, Singapore

Bonza’s pointless credit

I received an email advising our flight to the Gold Coast from Melbourne in July has been cancelled and the total value has been credited. We are heading to the world Down Syndrome conference and will need to fly on a different carrier, requiring a refund to rebook. I have spent days trying to contact Bonza on their live chat, there has been no response. An absolute disgrace, taking your money for a service not provided, then disappearing into thin air.
Janine Maydom, Black Rock, Vic
Editor’s note: Qantas and Jetstar have advised that customers affected by the Bonza collapse can fly at no cost, where seats are available, on the six overlapping routes or another close alternative.

Together in travel

Yes, Brian Johnston escorted journeys free you up to enjoy experiences, but we’ve also found that we’re more likely to try activities and experiences that we otherwise wouldn’t (Traveller, May 11). We often mix independent travel and escorted journeys in off-the-beaten track destinations. Small groups of less than 14 seem to work well – it’s pot luck as to who you end up travelling with, but I’ve made life-long friends with people I’ve met on escorted tours. It’s the love of travelling that binds us. You just need to embrace the unknown and go with the flow.
Vicki Copping, Oatley, NSW

More sliding doors

It’s good news that Lufthansa Airline is going to introduce business class cabins with privacy doors (Traveller, April 30). Emirates have been running this service for almost a decade in first class. Qatar airways have introduced the facility (Qsuites) to their business class passengers on certain routes, including Melbourne and Sydney-Doha routes. Both are really comfortable and the service is exceptional.
Sriyani Pereram, Southbank, Vic

Mission accomplished

Krish Krishnaswamy (Traveller Letters, May 4) asks why drivers took photos when they dropped them off at the hotel in Bali. The answer is simple – evidence of having completed their job. I had the same thing happen in Singapore. The drivers presumably send the photos to their employer to prove they successfully delivered guests to the required destination. Our driver actually took a pre-trip group photo to prove he had picked up the correct number of guests.
Karen Woodman, Brisbane, Qld

Tip fo the week: Traverse again

I loved David Whitley’s US hotspots Australians don’t know about (Traveller, February 23). One that didn’t make the list but easily could have is Traverse City, Michigan. Located on the north-east edge of Lake Michigan, closer to Canada than Detroit, Traverse City is a cultural hub surrounded by art galleries, wineries, microbreweries and a beautiful historic art-house theatre. There are hiking trails aplenty at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park and water sports courtesy of the lake. We visited in winter and enjoyed downhill skiing nearby, but we’re assured it’s a beautiful destination in any season, something we’re very keen to experience.
Peter Denovan, Kew East, Vic

It will be all white

I, too, had the same problem with my Chinese visa application (Traveller Letters, May 5) in which my passport photo did not have the required level of whiteness. It was solved using an app called Photo AiD which you can download on your phone. Photos for visas using the app cost less than the post office and you can edit your photo to remove the tinted background.

For the employment issue. I am also retired and just filled in all the required fields with the word “retired” which the form accepted. This was also accepted at the Chinese Visa Application Service Centre in St Kilda Road, Melbourne.

One other tip for China is that it is virtually cashless right now, so it pays to set up your WeChat and AliPay apps before you get there. Also don’t forget your VPN otherwise you won’t be able to access WhatsApp or Google.
Cheryl Miller, Carlton, Vic

Swedish day out

We are currently travelling in Scandinavia and have been following the recommendations of Brian Johnston (Traveller Newsletter, Febraury 28) taking ourselves from Stockholm to Sigtuna to see this wonderful, historic town. It was an easy train trip of about 40 minutes from Stockholm central train station to Marsta on the commuter line, at a cost of about $7 each, return for seniors. This connected to the local bus number 570, which took about 20 minutes to get to Sigtuna town centre for about $15. Once there, we had a wonderful walk around the 10th-century town, looking at the ruins and history as well as the beautiful lake. The only thing was, because it was a Monday, the Viking museum was shut, but we still enjoyed the trip immensely. The public transport cost was about $44 each; the trains go every 30 minutes and the buses about the same. There were also gorgeous shops to look at and a great selection of cafes for a coffee or lunch. We thoroughly recommend a visit.
Kim Popplewell, Church Point, NSW

The good ol’ days

I went through some old 45mm slides (yep, that ancient) the other day which reminded me of our best of times for European touring. We were able to view the Mona Lisa without being shoved on by the next group; could see St Mark’s Square in Venice without having to pay a fee or being trampled to death by hordes off cruise liners; had no fear of being fined for entering a Low Emission Zone; and could usually find a park near an ancient monument without some officious person ordering us on. The only concern was ensuring we got the correct guilder, lira, peseta or franc from our American Express travellers cheques.
John B Quinn, Avoca, 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

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