Think twice about signing up for a Qantas credit card

Entry denied

During a recent trip to the US, I tried unsuccessfully to link the Qantas lounge invitations associated with my Qantas Platinum credit card to three locations. I could not use it at the Sydney International Terminal as the lounge is being refurbished throughout this year, and the invitation was not valid in Dallas or Los Angeles. Some 10 hours before us boarding our return flight from Dallas to Sydney, we were advised that the flight was delayed and that we would miss our connection in Sydney for an 8.25am flight to Albury. This meant we had a seven-hour wait in Sydney. As soon as I was notified I tried to link my invitation to the Qantas domestic lounge. It initially looked positive but when I put in the time, some 24 hours in advance, my application was rejected.

On arrival in Sydney I tried again and was rejected. I tried once more in person at the domestic lounge and was told to go away as the “computer says no”. People should think twice about paying a large fee to own a Qantas Money Platinum credit card as what they offer, they don’t honour. On contacting Qantas about the problem, the best they could offer was a three-month extension of their invitation, which is totally useless.
Geoff Lindsay, Thurgoona, NSW

Letter of the week: Attention, please

Lee Tulloch is right: our fixation on phones and curated images has drained much of the romance from travel. Over Easter, on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, I saw the same thing — people more intent on perfecting a pose than noticing the landscape they’d come to see. Maybe it’s my nostalgia for the days when we took a single Kodak snap as a quick memento, but it feels as though something essential about travelling has slipped away. In chasing the photo, we’re missing the moment: the sights, smells, tastes, textures, and the human connections that come with travel. Let’s get back to seeing the world through our senses, not through a screen.
Amy Hiller, Kew, Vic

Gulf clubbed

My wife and I bought two business-class return tickets to Singapore with Qantas to depart on April 18 and then two return business-class tickets on from Singapore to Athens with Turkish Airlines. The return was five weeks away. My wife collapsed unexpectedly and was hospitalised, and we were unable to fly on April 18 as scheduled. The travel agent arranged a refund with Qantas, but Turkish Airlines forfeited our tickets. They were unable to accommodate a later outward booking because they were booked out due to the Gulf crisis. When I suggested that at least we could use the return portions I was told that “if you don’t show for the outbound you lose the lot”. Frankly, as Turkish was unable to reschedule our outbound, their ruling was most unethical. Have any other travellers experienced this total loss? The agent told us to take it on the chin and claim insurance, a rather insouciant attitude I thought.
Paul Everingham, Peregian Beach, Qld

Beauty myth

Michael Gebicki analysed in detail and compared the Australian passport to that of Singapore’s. Admittedly, our Australian passport is of enviable quality and beauty, as was noted to me by a Tanzanian immigration official even a few years ago. However, it is unjust enrichment of the government’s coffers if the cost of a passport continues to escalate skywards. In time, it is foreseeable that travel plans for many may be curtailed because a passport, which has only nine and a half years of use, becomes unaffordable. This would be of concern to prospective travellers who have saved a lifetime to embark on a luxury cruise in their retirement and that expensive passport will only be used once.
Susan Chee, Brighton, Vic

Shortened lifespan

Further to the passport rip-off column, the other rip-off is that a passport really only has a nine-and-a-half year life, and not 10 years, due to the recommendation/requirement that passports won’t be accepted if less than six months to expiry. Also, when renewing a passport, why can’t the expiry date for the new passport be 10 years on from the expiry date of the old passport if a new application is made within the life of the existing passport?
Trevor Street, Park Orchards, Vic

Tough luck

Michael Gebicki has a whinge about the cost of an Australian passport. Given the wide pressures on the federal budget and the fact that many Australians treat tax avoidance as a national sport, I have no sympathy.
Brendan Jones, Annandale, NSW

Report it

I read with interest the article on the scam suffered by writer Sue Wallace. We had a similar but less expensive experience at Santiago Airport with either the same scammer or someone copying the same strategy. However, I must have been more alert, so having first offered a debit card with a low balance, I then refused to pass over a second credit card and insisted on paying the $US10 transfer fee to my hotel in cash. I also noted down the car licence plate number. I checked the card immediately at the hotel and, sure enough, there was a fraudulent charge but, unlike Ms Wallace, I did report it to the police at the airport. They were most helpful and sympathetic and appeared to be well aware of these incidents. Their report assisted in getting my card provider in Australia to deny the charge, and I was not out of pocket.
Barry Hampton, Forest Glen, Qld

House rules

As much as I love Sydney’s State Theatre, Canberra’s Shine Dome and Melbourne’s Myer Music Bowl, as author of the book, The House, the dramatic story of the Sydney Opera House and the people who made it, your story on Australia’s greatest buildings showed me there’s daylight between my first (the Opera House), followed by the 50 others in the field you listed, in terms of homegrown buildings worth seeing. Over 10 million people who visit that building at Bennelong Point annually can’t be wrong. Thank you, Jorn Utzon for the idea, and Peter Hall for its completion.
Helen Pitt, Coogee, NSW

Tip of the week: All things Nice

We enjoyed Ben Groundwater’s story about tranquil places around the world. Our own haven of calm is the city of Nice on the French Riviera with its azure skies and sparkling sea. Breathe in in the citrus-scented air as you stroll along Promenade des Anglais, and let the sea lap away your worries. Then explore the old town’s narrow lanes, visit the iconic Negresco Hotel and sip icy rosé at the beach clubs. The view from Castle Hill of the shimmering Mediterranean red-tiled roofs, and the Ligne Rosat hills, is pure magic. Next, sip coffee at a sidewalk cafe or simply people watch. Nice’s charm is infectious. It’s a place to unwind, recharge and soak up la vie en rose.
Rhoda Silber, Manly, NSW

Jarring experience

When my daughter went to check in with Virgin Australia in Melbourne her suitcase was overweight. To lighten the suitcase, she transferred two unopened jars of Vegemite to her carry-on bag. In Brisbane, where she checked in for her flight to Vancouver, the Vegemite was confiscated. Two airports, two sets of rules.
Janet Cronin, Highton, Vic

Nam sham

When travelling to Vietnam my advice is print a paper copy of your e-visa, albeit not an easy process. Even then, when you think you have printed the correct information and you arrive at check-in, there remains the potential to be told, no, this is not the correct paper form. At that point, try not to panic. In my case, the counter assistant managed to sort the problem to allow us to board the flight. But do scrutinise every inch of the information sent for the visa to avoid the stress.
Jan Naughton, Wahroonga, NSW

Editor’s note: Traveller, regrettably, receives a large number of letters regarding problems with the clearly inferior Vietnam visa system. The wife of a Traveller staff member was recently caught out when it was discovered her names had been entered (accidentally?) at Vietnamese immigration in the wrong order on a form. A processing fee to correct it, of course, was required. Vietnam receives a huge number of Australian visitors, and it’s time authorities fix this poor and problematic system.

Birth control

I booked flights via Aunt Betty (part of the Flight Centre group) before my baby was born and was told multiple times by them I could add my baby later. But then, at the last minute, they said I couldn’t do so and tried to make me cancel and rebook at a higher price with them. I spent more than seven hours on the phone on hold and was even told my flight didn’t exist, which was false. I then called Singapore Airlines directly and it fixed everything in three minutes – amazing service. I also paid for “premium” support with Aunt Betty, which was a complete waste of money. Never again.
Jenna Riddle, Leichhardt, NSW

Happy places

Editor’s note: In our series, My Happy Place, where Traveller’s writers reflect on the holiday destinations in Australia and around the world that they cherish the most. We also invite you to submit your happy places. Here’s a selection of your contributions.

A small rural village in Japan, Minakami is my happy place. Soaring mountains, forests, apple orchards and rice fields. The Tone River flows through the village en route to Tokyo and its roar, or murmur in summer, is constant. We built a home on the Tone and owned it for six years before selling when we returned to Sydney, after many years in Tokyo and Minakami.

Each season there built memories. The constant gardening to control weed growth in summer, leaf-changing time bringing persimmons and apples, along with the wild boar who loved to feast on chestnuts dropped from our trees. The first glimpses of snow on the mountains, skiing followed by onsen and digging out the house and car after a huge overnight snow dump. We hiked the trails in spring and autumn, skied them in winter.

One neighbour, an elderly man, would give us weekly reports on our home when we were absent, working in Tokyo. Other locals just enjoyed having foreigners in the village. Everyone loved our dog, Mocha, including the raft guides who would call out her name as they rushed past our house, and the steam train driver who would pull the whistle so she could race, barking, along the tracks for passengers to photograph! My happy place.
Mary Saphin, Pyrmont, NSW

Even though I grew up on the Mornington Peninsula, the minute the plane lands in Hobart, I feel as if I am home. Maybe it’s the strong ancestral pull from William Keep, who arrived in 1830, courtesy of Great Britain, sent down for cattle stealing. All I know is that the people smile, the mountain is a comforting presence and the many lives of the Keep family call me back every year. One day, I will stay.
Karin Saul, Mornington, 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