This was published 9 years ago
Traveller letters: Bali airport immigration queues can be skipped, for a price
QUEUE TO BALI
I agree with Stephen James (Traveller, December 13-14) about the immigration process at Denpasar, Bali Airport. Earlier this year we were approached shortly after landing, by a uniformed airport official who asked us if we would like to be "fast-tracked" through immigration. We had a look at the queue to get through immigration and decided to accept his offer. He took us to a nearby desk, where we paid our normal visa fee plus $25 per passport (there were four of us) and then we were escorted through to the other side to wait. We waited around 10 minutes for our passports to be returned via another person with the required stamps. The original contact put the cash straight into his pocket. These people are obviously sharing the proceeds of this system between themselves. They are in full view of the airport authorities. How is this allowed to happen?
Yvonne Hunt
MAKING A MEAL OF IT ONE
Reduce, reuse, recycle: that exhortation is increasingly, albeit slowly, being adopted by airlines and airport authorities (Traveller, December 13-14). There is another fix that is much easier to implement: make snacks and meals more attractive, even at the tail-end of the plane. Tonnes of cabin food waste currently comes from largely unfinished or untouched airline meals of dubious palatability and pronounced blandness. Donation for human consumption, conversion to biofuel or animal feed are forbidden due to a destination's quarantine regulations. Most of these meals have to be incinerated. If airlines served tastier offerings, passengers would eat these snacks and meals willingly and heartily, thereby avoiding the creation of food waste in the first place. We'd be a more satisfied lot and be likely to use the same airline again.
Joseph Y S Ting
MAKING A MEAL OF IT TWO
I am at a loss to understand why Steve Meacham (Traveller, December 13-14) regards being served aircraft meals 45 minutes early as an advantage. It only means extra time waiting for the dregs to be cleared away, imprisoned in one's seat unable to use the tray table for anything else.
Graham Meale
EQUINE EXCELLENCE
High praise to the team at Mountain Valley Trail Rides (Merrijig Victoria). Fun weekends had horse riding and camping. Very well looked after with delious meals and sure-footed mounts.
Jeff Philip
AIRS AND GRACES
Amy Northey (Traveller, December 13-14) discussed being a "senior contributor" with TripAdvisor. I am as well and I do find the reviews very helpful. You may find one or two suspect but usually these reviewers have not made many reviews. With Airbnb I have stayed in Airbnb accommodation six times in Australia and found all properties and owners to be exceptional. A word on Airbnb reviews: you are only invited to review a property after you have booked, paid and stayed at the accommodation so I cannot see how these reviews would be false. Airbnb has a great website and does a great service for owners struggling with today's cost of living and people like me who do not wish to pay for a flash hotel.
James Anderson
AIRS AND GRACES TWO
We acknowledge that in dealing with Airbnb hosts, they are amateurs in the hospitality game. This is Airbnb's strength but also its inherent weakness. In a recent four-month trip around the US, my wife and I organised seven Airbnb stays and the rest hotels. Four were exceptional, two OK and one went awry. After piercing the support firewall, Airbnb was excellent in reinstating an alternative. It always pays to do a bedbug check (google) wherever you stay; there is even a hotel bedbug register for your information. Hindsight says, good communications with host ensures good stay.
Charles Becket
TAKE A SEAT
Heather D'Cruz (Traveller, December 13-14) is absolutely correct. Selecting a seat at the time of booking is the ideal. Sometimes, however, this is not possible, as was the case when I travelled several weeks ago. To set the record straight, absolutely no fellow passengers were "turfed" from their selected seats. In the first instance, it was a customer no-show and in the second a computer glitch that would not allow me to select an unoccupied seat. Qantas staff were able to override this and, yes, they did make me "happy" but not at the expense of another traveller.
Marcia Phillips
LETTER OF THE WEEK
On a trip from London to the Lake District last May, my return Virgin train was delayed 85 minutes due to the attempted theft of cable near Euston. Although the delay wasn't Virgin's fault, they offered passengers a single-fare refund as a voucher for future travel. As I don't live in the UK, I called customer service hoping for a cash refund instead. Dan said it would be no problem, and the next morning mailed me a cheque for my £32 fare, plus £10 for any currency exchange loss. The cheque duly arrived and when I wrote to thank him, Dan replied that it was his pleasure and he hoped I'd be on another Virgin train soon. I told him my delayed trip had been to see a 102-year-old relative, and if he was still with us in October I would certainly be on another Virgin train. Dan replied that visiting a 102-year-old relative is special and he was going to make it extra special – by giving me a complimentary First Class return ticket for the purpose. Customer service doesn't get any better than that.
Tanya Tintner
WE WELCOME YOUR TRAVEL-RELATED OPINIONS AND EXPERIENCES
The writer of the letter judged the best of the week will receive a LUXE travel guides box set, valued at $60, including savvy, pocket-sized guides for destinations including Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, London and New York. See luxecityguides.com for more details. 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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