Traveller Letters and Reader Tips: I worked as a 'seat editor' for an airline. Now, no one bothers

REMEMBER WHEN

A one way ticket to Athens solo. A copy of the very reliable Europe on $5 a day. Traveller's cheques and the odd visit to Post Restante. The joy of travelling over 40 years ago when your parents couldn't find you. Frightening and exciting.

Michele Thomas, Mollymook Beach, NSW

FLIGHT CLUBBING

Et tu, Joe Royle (Traveller Letters, February 18). A French business colleague of mine once described the Qantas International Business Class/Qantas Club Lounge in Sydney's international terminal as "diabolique". Business class passengers get ignored in the clamour to enter the lounge by passengers with free passes handed out in various guises by Qantas. No problem with the latter but just have a separate lounge for those actually paying for business class. The lesson for Joe is to book with Air New Zealand on his next business class trip to Auckland and use its lounge. It's light years ahead of the Qantas Lounge, and he would also be eligible for access to the Singapore Airlines lounge (next door) which is even better, if he so wished.

Anthony Owen, Bowral, NSW

EDITOR'S NOTE Since the letter appeared, Qantas has announced a major upgrade of its business class lounge at Sydney International Airport.

SORRY, PET

I booked and paid in full for a seven nights pet-friendly stay near Merimbula, NSW. We were excited to be going there as I have been wanting to explore that part of the south coast for ages. I had suspended our newspaper, packed our bags only to receive a call at 2pm the day before we were going, that the accommodation was not ready for us. How can it happen that a trip is paid for and cancelled by the owner the day before? In the scheme of things, with all the cancellations because of COVID-19, it isn't that bad, but it's still disappointing as no alternate accommodation could be found at such short notice.

Julie Bertoldo, Bilgola Plateau, NSW

SCOT ON

As a passionate Scot I read and watch almost everything Scottish so a few points about your story (Traveller, February 18). The opening spread photo is Buachaille Etive Mor in Glencoe not in the Cairngorms, as the per photo credit and the photo on the spill page of Blair Castle is not Blair Castle. Blair Castle is white and tall.

Colin Hood, Carlton North, Vic

EDITOR'S NOTE Glencoe was referenced in a breakout on the story spread to which our canny reader refers. The other mentioned photo is Glas Allt Shiel lodge, Loch Muick, at Glen Muick.

UNLUCKY BREAK

While skiing in Japan, I had an accident and broke my leg badly. The emergency services and staff were amazing. After emergency surgery the afternoon of the accident the surgeon cleared me to fly home, however only if I could fly with my leg elevated? He issued a medical certificate to confirm this requirement. Three days of trying before we got onto Qantas, then charged an extra $8625 to upgrade to business class, (Return business class flights from $5000). I agreed due to their seeming to be no option, insurance should cover it anyway. An email from Qantas the following day flagged a problem with payment. When I logged onto my bank I found out they had debited $24,125 from my bank accounts in total. This had overdrawn my Visa and almost emptied another account. I rang Qantas again and was told they were "pending payments" (however the money has been taken out of my account) and would be refunded as soon as my ticket was issued? I was issued a ticket that day, but three days later nothing has been refunded.

Kate Mclean, Pacific Palms, NSW

BEAT YOU

An excellent story on sleeper train travel in Europe (Traveller, February 11). Perhaps instead of the weekly airline review column we could have a few train reviews instead?

Jill Disint, Williamstown Vic

EDITOR'S NOTE We can have both as we recently introduced, in recognition of the growing importance and revival of rail travel around the world (except, notably, for Australia) a companion review column to the popular flight reviews. You'll find them here, along with many other features on train travel.

TOP BILLING

As a child of the 1950s the answer to the common quiz question, who was the first person to climb Mount Everest, was Edmund Hillary (Traveller Letters, Feburary 11). I recall that It was only in the 1990s that Tenzing Norgay began to be included along with Hillary.

Myrtle De Souza, Annandale, NSW

TIP OF THE WEEK

Further to L. Hutton's question (Traveller Letters, February 12) Lyon to Bordeaux via Paris may be the quickest route but the alternative could be much more attractive. I would suggest taking a train from Lyon south towards Montpellier and Perpignan, the early part of which follows the valley of the Rhone. This would offer stops at any of Avignon, Nimes, Montpellier and Narbonne, all of which are well worth a visit and would be good for an overnight stay. From Narbonne take the train either direct to Bordeaux or with a change at Toulouse, another city well worth visiting. Much of the route goes through the vineyards of the Languedoc, which produce some impressive wines. Trains are frequent and a choice can be made between TGV and regional services.

Peter Mountford, South Kingsville, Vic

JOCK HORROR

Your reader, Cheryl Lopresti (Traveller Letters, February 18) offered some good advice, especially regarding her "JIC" (just in case) bag and checking ahead regarding the dates of public holidays and festivals. My tip is to photograph everything before you depart: the case; the contents individually; in the case and self with them. A few years ago we arrived home in Perth on an Emirates flight via Dubai but our luggage did not. My luggage arrived three days later but my husband's bag is still out there somewhere. We always travel light and when we claimed for the lost bag and contents we were not pleased to be asked to provide proof of ownership for everything except socks and jocks. This could be in the form of photos or receipts and reimbursement would be for "used" value, not new. Not being able to account for well worn clothes and a well loved shaver and leather belt we were left out of pocket.

Catherine Hall, Kalamunda, WA

BUMPS AHEAD

I am incredulous to read in your story, "Plane frustrating" (Traveller, February 26), that airlines are allowed to bump passengers that have paid for their seat purely because the airlines overbook. And I am just as incredulous that your writer, Michael Gebicki, seems to view this as an acceptable practice. If people have paid for their ticket and for whatever reason don't turn up for their flight, how is the airline disadvantaged? They've already got the money. What if Harry Styles tried that with his teenage fan base? There'd be riots in the streets.

Peter Rodgers, Malvern East, Vic

RAILING AGAINST FLYING

Your "Plane frustrating" story reminded me how train travel is always more serene than stressful air travel. Three years ago , we missed our connection in Chicago for the California Zephyr train due to a three hour delay for track work and the ridiculous right of way given to freight trains. Amtrak was great in putting us and other passengers up in a top riverside hotel with vouchers for both dinner and breakfast and with free transport both ways to and from the hotel. Additionally, the following day, we were allotted the same cabin number on the Zephyr as we originally held. The staff handled it calmly, politely and offered apologies, even though Amtrak was not at fault.

Peter Wotton, Pyrmont, NSW

May I offer my assurance to John Kennedy (Traveller Letters, February 26) that obtaining a visa in Chile is not at all onerous? There is no queue as it's only Australians who are required to obtain a visa on arrival. Just pay $US117 (when I last visited in 2018) at the counter and a visa is immediately issued. Don't bypass Chile as it has much to offer such as the Tatio geysers in the Atacama Desert, the picturesque city of Valparaiso and the spectacular landscapes of the Torres del Paine National Park. The list goes on. I particularly enjoyed travelling through Chilean Patagonia and would not hesitate to do so again.

Susan Chee, Brighton, Vic

HOW TO WRITE TO US

We give preference to letters of 100 words or less and they may be edited for space, legal or other reasons. Please use full sentences, don't use textspeak and don't include attachments. Email us at travellerletters@traveller.com.au and, importantly, include your name, address and phone number.

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