This was published 2 years ago
Traveller Letters: Nearly six hours on hold? Not good enough, Qantas
Readers are complaining of long wait times when calling Qantas.Credit: iStock
WAITING GAME
These are tough times for airlines, but in preparation recently for several flights, and unable to find any way to arrange disability assistance on the Qantas website, I rang the advertised number. Nearly six hours later, and with a hasty plug-in of my phone to keep it going, my call was answered. Yes, they could help at the airport. Then, several weeks later my sister rang to change a flight, since she couldn't find where to do it online, and she waited nearly five hours for an answer. Qantas, your response times and your website just aren't good enough.
Mary Grant, Balmain, NSW
LETTER OF THE WEEK
QUAIL EGG-ON
One other New Zealand island worth visiting (Traveller, June 26), particularly with children, is Quail Island, 20 minutes from Christchurch in Lyttelton Harbour. Four ferries a day in summer take you to this 80 hectare uninhabited paradise with a lovely swimming beach and easy three hour perimeter walk to see the ships' graveyard and memorials to Spanish flu and leprosy patients who were quarantined there. The explorers Scott and Shackleton trained their dogs and ponies for the Antarctic and Byrd quarantined his dogs there on return. It's also pest-free and has a rich Maori history.
Heather Robinson, Maclean, NSW
NO EXCUSES
I totally agree with Michael Gebicki's article. Travelling in Australia is expensive and please don't excuse high prices by claiming that we have high wages. Wages in Switzerland and Scandinavian countries are much higher than here in Australia. We love Switzerland and pre-COVID stayed in the small car-free village of Wengen perched on a ledge overlooking the spectacular Lauterbrunnen valley. A week in Wengen using Swiss Rail and staying at a good hotel can be less expensive than a trip on the Ghan, a week in the Kimberleys in Western Australia, or even a few days in Broome. You figure it out. It certainly has nothing to do with our wage system, so don't be fooled by that argument.
Lance Sterling, Nunawading, VIC
DON'T GO WITH THE FLOW
In our recent travels in regional NSW, my husband and I noticed a lack of water-saving showers in various places we stayed. In one particular town, badly affected by the recent drought, we stayed in a recently built holiday apartment where the shower head was the size of a dinner plate.
Barbara Ryan, Caringbah South, NSW
MODERNA LIVING
I had to smile when I read Allan Gibson's letter (Traveller Letters, June 26) about his yellow "International Certificate of Vaccination". When I arrived for my first COVID-19 vaccination at the Viennese Health Office, I proudly offered the yellow card stamped in 1975 before I left Australia. The Viennese nurse laughed at a document issued before her birth and issued me with a replacement yellow card, now stamped with both of my Moderna vaccinations. Interestingly, neither the NSW Health official, who grilled me on arrival at the airport here on my return to Australia, nor the hotel nurse enquiring after my well being were instructed to ask about my vaccination status. In fact, the question had been deleted from the questionnaire. Would not those lucky enough to be able to arrive back be a good source of information or does the government not wish to know how other countries vaccinate?
Merran Loewenthal, Vienna, Austria
MERRY MALADIES
Like Alan Gibson I have a small yellow booklet from the Bank of NSW, starting in 1970 with vaccinations for smallpox, yellow fever, typhoid and cholera. It is well travelled – in 1973 to US, UK and Europe for six months, followed by five months overland from London to South Africa in 1976 and many shorter trips. I still use the latest yellow booklet and take it with me on all overseas trips. It contains all vaccinations as well as flu shots and my first COVID shot. On July 9 it will record my second COVID shot.
Carol Bush, Port Macquarie, NSW
STATE VERSUS STATE
A bit more specific detail from Ken Darvall (Traveller Letters, June 26) would have been appreciated. For instance, what was his quarantine hotel in Sydney and what was so bad about it? Conversely, what was his hotel in Brisbane and what was so good about it? In order to compare quarantine facilities I would be interested to know. But we're led to believe you can't pick and choose hotels anyway? Comments like "I never want to visit NSW again" only add to the current climate of interstate antagonism which is not needed in these difficult times. We are one country.
Charles Robinson, Modanville, NSW
How did Ken Darvall manage to leave the country during COVID-19 in order to be able to enjoy his Brisbane quarantine experience on his return? I'm sure other people keen to leave Australia would like to know. To say nothing of the many Australians still stuck overseas who might like to know how Ken managed to return in the first place.
Kirsten Walla, Vaucluse, NSW
Rather than moaning about hotel quarantine in NSW, Ken Darvall might like to take the time to thank the NSW government for the disproportionate share of returning Australians, including Queenslanders, it has taken.
Michael Hayen, Kingston Beach, TAS
DOWN ON OUR LOCK
It is indeed good news that bookings for domestic tourist attractions are going gangbusters, as Michael Gebicki writes. However, many bookings must be turning into last-minute vacancies as would-be tourists are caught in another COVID lockdown or border closure. Even last week, I doubt domestic travel operators felt the sun was shining as brightly as this article suggests.
Helene Juliff, Ashburton, VIC
EDITOR'S NOTE The pandemic is a fast-moving phenomenon with the article in question written before the latest outbreak of lockdowns.
GOOD CALL
Sadly, I had to contact NSW TrainLink this morning to advise that our 16 hour-long free senior train ride to Broken Hill and back had to be cancelled due to the COVID lockdown. The assistant on the other end was a delight. She cheerfully told me our options for future excursions into the wild unknown, agreed that times were tough and left me with such a caring message of goodwill, I am only sorry I did not catch her name. NSW Transport should be proud of such a professional employee aware of how to deal positively with clients during the current crisis.
Grada Loria, Glenorie, NSW
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