17 hours ago
3
Each week Traveller publishes a selection of rants, raves and travel tips from our readers. See below on how you can contribute.
September 13, 2025 — 7:18am
Shower with disapproval
Qatar Airways’ lounges, as featured in your report (Traveller, August 30), are hardly next-level. We used to travel about once a year with Qatar (named world’s best airline for the ninth time at this year’s Skytrax World Airline Awards), as it flies direct to destinations in Europe that we visit.
The lounge at Doha, while large and seemingly impressive, is not traveller-friendly. The seats in the lounge are uncomfortable so we sat in the business centre which has a small lounge with better chairs. While my husband was treated respectfully in queuing for the male showers, being notified when one was free, the opposite was true for me. I did write to complain, hoping that they might improve things for future travellers, but got a complete brush-off from the (male) customer service person.
Erica Smith, Newington, Vic
Letter of the week: Heaven and Helsinki
Like Lee Tulloch (Traveller, August 23) I had a 10-hour layover in Helsinki, Finland. With a plan in place I quickly moved through customs, boarded the fast train into Helsinki, then a tram out to the fabulous Loyly Spa on the Baltic Sea. For two relaxing hours for €26 ($46), I moved between modern smoke and traditional wood-heated saunas with quick dips in the Baltic Sea – exhilarating when only four degrees outside in October. Finishing the evening with a superb fish soup made with farmed rainbow trout and a glass of white wine, I returned to the airport ready to continue my journey. A fabulous use of my layover time.
Narelle Campbell, Yowie Bay, NSW
Smalls point
As veterans of a few holidays with our new countrymen, we remain fascinated that Australians love to spend time in laundromats when on holiday (“Clean living”, Traveller Letters, August 30), rather than enjoying every moment of the country they are in. We note with a smile that they refuse to incur hotel laundry costs (which we build into our budget), but maintain an obsession with locating a laundromat immediately upon arrival or washing “smalls” in the hotel sink and drying them around the room like a YMCA. It has and always will be a mystery to us.
Victoria Watts, Tarragindi, Qld
Boogie flights
I have been to Bali numerous times and have never paid extra for my boogie board (Traveller Letters, August 30). But at check-in in Brisbane we were stunned to discover an extra $170 charged for my board. My wife, who booked online, acknowledges she didn’t read the fine print, but my beef is the extortionate extra-bag charge – more than 10 per cent of the fare. The part that hurts is that the combined weight of my board and luggage is still under the allowable weight. I also don’t take carry-on and I weigh 62 kilograms. Always read the fine print.
David Michael, Safety Beach, Vic
Waiting there for you
We read the Savvy Traveller advice about travelling to Africa (Traveller, August 30) in our hotel room in Windhoek, Namibia, and can only concur with your writer Sue Williams that Africa is well worth a visit. We’d previously travelled through South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar and Zimbabwe and, on this trip, into Madagascar and Namibia. The scenery is spectacular, the animals are amazing and people are friendly. All it takes is a little planning to make an unforgettable holiday. The only downside we have encountered was the state of the unsealed roads – be prepared for a bumpy ride.
Llewellyn Dickeson, Culburra Beach, NSW
Be prepared
In response to Ian MacDonald (Traveller Letters, August 30) about Jetstar and lost luggage, I have flown Jetstar dozens of times, as well as many other airlines, including Finnair this year, during baggage-handler strikes. Knock on wood, I have always had my luggage arrive with my flight. But I also always pack at least one change of clothes and all medications and essential electronics into my carry-on, just in case. It is just common sense, especially internationally when carry-on weight limits are generally higher. I believe in being fair to hardworking people and companies who generally get it right.
Nancy Johnson, Newport, NSW
Krona of thorns
Further to the suggestion for handling scamming taxi drivers (Traveller Letters, August 30), on my arrival in Sweden’s Stockholm Central Station, we took a taxi 2.6 kilometres to our hotel. The driver had no meter, despite saying he did and, by obscuring the credit-card machine, charged me SEK811 ($132) for a SEK130 ($20) trip. After I worked out what he had done, he was long gone, but I challenged the payment through my Wise card and was credited with the excess. I agree with your “Talking Turkey” reader about not letting scammers get away with it – that helps protect honest drivers and future visitors.
Peter Riordan, Jolimont, Vic
Turkeys everywhere
It’s not only Turkey where travellers are scammed. After the engine of our Broome-to-Melbourne flight ingested some plastic on the runway, we were happy to wait until the engineer flew in to check it. We were sent to Perth and Qantas generously gave us Cabcharge dockets to a comfortable hotel. The charge to the hotel was more than $70. Returning to fly, we were charged about $50, with that trip taking half the time.
Carol Griffiths, Doncaster Vic
No support
In Michael Gebicki’s article on eSIMs (Traveller, August 25), he recommends the SimOptions, My Europe eSIM through Bouygues Telecom from France. I recently purchased this eSIM for travel in Ireland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, and it was a disaster. While the data worked fine, I could not make any calls in any country I visited. On one occasion I received a call in Ireland but after that, nothing. It was an expensive eSIM for data only but even more frustrating was the lack of customer service and support provided. Bouygues Telecom only have support in French and SimOptions, who are contracted to sell the eSIM don’t care at all and can only be contacted through a chat option with a poor response. Read the massive number of negative reviews and look for something else.
Mark Berg, Caringbah South, NSW
Tip of the week: Rapids response
How could you omit South America’s wonderful Iguazu Falls from your water wonders story (Traveller, September 5)? Viewed from Argentina and Brazil, they consist of 275 separate cataracts, across a span of 34 kilometres. Iguazu Falls are wider than Victoria Falls and higher than Niagara Falls and far more dramatic. To view the upper circuit, you catch the Cataratas station rail car, then walk along a catwalk over the river, leading to the spectacular cataracts, with their thundering water. The lower circuit and another walk along the catwalks leads to Devil’s Gorge and Devil’s Throat. We saw a toucan, colourful butterflies and birds, along with several coatis (a member of the raccoon family). We were warned that they may attack when looking for food, so be careful. Two nights are required to see all the Iguazu Falls has to offer. They’re one of the most spectacular wonders of nature I have seen.
Margaret Flynn, Carrum, Vic
Memory (passport) lane
Ben Groundwater’s column about passports being akin to passing friends (Traveller, August 20) brought back memories of a couple of young newlyweds off to Europe 55 years ago, to travel and work for a year, with big suitcases in tow. Many other destinations followed including Africa, Asia and our Pacific neighbours. While we’ve had a few since then, we committed our original passport numbers to memory, and, my, how the images have changed.
P.J. Prideaux, Skennars Head, NSW
Truckie day
Yes, Barbara Ryan (Traveller Letters, September 6) size does matter. I also booked a standard small car from Hertz in Memphis, US, for my drive on Highway 61 to New Orleans. On arrival, all they had were two trucks. Not SUVs, but humungous RAM Bighorns (the same as a Ford F150). Not happy, but I had no choice. I literally had to keep on truckin’.
Keith Gove, Hawthorn, Vic
Station of the cross
Tour leaders are not always right. On a recent visit to Rome, we were catching a train to our next destination. Our tour leader led us from the hotel on the short walk to the station, but turned left instead of right. I pointed out we were going the wrong way. She waved her phone, saying she was following her GPS. I insisted she turn around, as the station was in clear view. She grudgingly conceded, and we changed direction. It turned out she was following a GPS for cars, which would have taken us on a long, one-way diversion.
Vincent Burke, Adelaide, SA
Buckets list
In response to your invitation to nominate the best motel stays in Australia (Traveller Letters, September 6), we recently stayed at the Heritage Motor Inn at Corowa, NSW. It definitely goes above and beyond. We were in a renovated superior room which was spacious and came with a substantial, well-supplied kitchenette. The room was spotless. The motel had buckets and squeegees shared between rooms on the verandah, meaning after a long road trip your windscreen could be cleaned. There was a guest laundry, with full-sized fridges for guest use. The grounds were immaculate with many tables and chairs to use. We’ve stayed at many motels over the years and this was the best we’ve seen.
Michelle Ladkins, Russell Lea, NSW
Power trip
On a recent road trip up the west coast of Australia I stayed in many motels, but only one had an easily accessible powerpoint beside the bed for phone charging. In others, I resorted to pulling the bed out from the wall or crawling under desks. Why is this basic need so hard to provide?
Hilary Johnson, Northcote, Vic
Editor’s note: Ben Groundwater, in his column this week, agrees with you. Not just for motels, but five-star hotels too.
Take the cake
When travelling, we reuse the hotel soap from the first hotel we stay in, and it usually lasts three weeks, one cake of soap versus 20 if a new one is used at each hotel. We read about the loss of jungles to palm oil plantations from which the soap is made and try to do our bit to reduce the usage and waste.
Stuart Ewing, Chatswood, 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
Sign up for the Traveller newsletter
The latest travel news, tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox. Sign up now.
