Traveller letters: Escape Bali bogans at this secret Balinese paradise

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This was published 6 years ago

Traveller letters: Escape Bali bogans at this secret Balinese paradise

Secret Bali.

Secret Bali.Credit: iStock

UNTOUCHED BALI

Like Craig Tansley (Traveller, April 8) I, too, was looking to escape the hedonism of south Bali and head for the hills. I found my nirvana in East Bali in a little seaside village called Jasri. Stunning landscapes, traditional villages, cows grazing serenely beside the road, beautiful women with their heads piled high with colourful offerings on their way to the temple – this is the real Bali – the Bali I first fell in love with nearly 40 years ago.

Jann Burmester, Byron Bay, NSW

Inflight lobster meal in the 1970s - Singapore Airlines.

Inflight lobster meal in the 1970s - Singapore Airlines.

LETTER OF THE WEEK

I know there are a lot of complaints about insurance and this is another one, but with a handy direct comparison. We went on a family ski trip to the United States in January with our adult children and their partners.

To make sure our adult son had travel insurance, I bought a policy for him with Covermore. His girlfriend bought travel insurance with QBE.

They were due to fly out of Hayden airport to join their flight out of Los Angeles. I had been carefully watching the weather in the belief that weather events are not covered by travel insurance. We were prepared to make other arrangements should the weather deteriorate.

Our son and his girlfriend arrived at Hayden airport on a lovely winter's day and were loaded on to the plane. They were offloaded when there was a hydrolic problem and reloaded only to be offloaded again. The airline, United, put them all up in a hotel for the night and issued meal vouchers, no problem there and the flight eventually went out the next day, 20 hours late.

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However because the Qantas flight out of Los Angeles was missed they were forced to buy new tickets which I thought would be covered by the travel insurance. No deal for our son. It was pointed out to us by Covermore that they specifically exclude flight delay due to engine trouble, but apparently do cover flight delay due to weather. I am not sure how it is possible to mitigate for engine trouble.

Our son's girlfriend claimed from QBE and was refunded all but the excess.

Patricia Croxson, Mosman, NSW

FLYING HIGH

Your article about the 50th anniversary of Singapore Airlines flying to Australia (Traveller, April 1-2) brought back happy memories. In 1976 as 20-somethings, we embarked on our first overseas trip flying with Singapore Airlines beginning a love of travel which has lasted into our 60s. And we still fly with SIA and their service remains at the same high standard we experienced on that first trip. Our first flight to London from Melbourne landed in Sydney, Singapore, Bangkok, Bahrain, Rome and Frankfurt before finally arriving in London. What a marathon journey. Thank goodness we can now travel there with only one stop.

Brenda Hateley, Mulgrave, Victoria

CHECK THE PAPERWORK

I recently cancelled my Qantas hotel booking and was due for a full refund. However I did not receive any refund of the booking and only discovered this more than a month later when I checked my credit card statement. When I called the call centre, I was informed that there had been an error in processing my booking so it had not been refunded. Had I not checked my credit card statements I might not have realised the mistake and might have been out of pocket by $630.

Caitlin Lim, Sylvania Waters, NSW

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT

Travelling to Europe late last year on an Emirates A380, I had the bad luck of an entertainment unit that failed four hours into the Melbourne-Changi-Dubai leg. It was no huge problem; the flight attendants were apologetic and made repeated attempts to fix the issue. You can imagine my disbelief when, two weeks later at Prague, I boarded the very same aircraft (I even checked the registration) at the very same seat – with a still broken entertainment unit. I wrote to Emirates, who offered me 40,000 Skywards points, which I can at least redeem on Qantas domestic flights – but not until next year when I turn 18. What are the chances?

Peter Thomas, Sunshine, VIC

WHERE'S THE CASH?

A Jetstar flight from Melbourne to Hawaii on March 5 at 4.35pm was delayed until 7am the next morning, my son and daughter-in-law from Ballarat had to stay overnight at a hotel. Jetstar promised accommodation and meal reimbursement to the value of $180 each. When making the claim the couple were told that they would receive $100 each as Jetstar flight vouchers. Emails to Jetstar requesting cash, not vouchers, has had no effect so far. Allianz Insurance will not reimburse them for their extra costs in Hawaii due to the delay in Melbourne. It was a bad experience for a holiday they saved three years for.

Susan Featherstone, Buninyong, Vic

WARM WELCOME

Thank you, Rob Whiting, (Traveller letters, April 1-2) for redressing some of the one-sided stories written about our American cousins. Coincidentally, we visited with two young boys and all our experiences were magic. We flew to Chicago, hired a car and drove around the Great Lakes. On our first evening we tried to check in to a motel, but it was full due to a big fishing tournament. The guy on the desk said "no problem, you'll have to drive another 100 miles as everything is booked around here, but I'll call ahead to a buddy and make sure you get a room for the night – take care, Aussies!"

Peter Reynolds, Gilmore, ACT

PEAK WHINE

Having been a global traveller for many years, and a reader of Traveller Letters for almost as long, I have read infinitely about crying kids, mediocre meals, overweight overhead luggage and customs queues. Have we now, perhaps, reached peak complaint?

David Harkness, Switzerland


SEND US YOUR TRAVEL-RELATED OPINIONS AND EXPERIENCES

Letters may be edited for space, legal or other reasons. Preference will be given to letters of 50-100 words or less. Email us at travellerletters@fairfaxmedia.com.au and, importantly, include your name, address and phone number.

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