No better than taxis: A ride-share driver scammed us on an airport trip

Ride scare

From once being a better alternative to taxis, it now seems ride-share companies are also trying it on. Late on a Sunday my wife used DiDi to the airport in Brisbane and home in Sydney at the other end and both times the drivers refused to take her the shortest preferred way. One wanted to turn a 20-minute trip into an hour and the other refused to not use toll roads, despite their being a clear toll-free option with no traffic. Both were belligerent and in the second case, outright refused her request, leaving her with no option but to lump it, extra toll charges and all. With recent changes to how ride-share trips are charged, drivers can earn more with these tricks, particularly if the traveller isn’t paying attention. If this continues, the much-maligned cab industry might just be back in the game.
Mark Seymour, Double Bay, NSW

Letter of the week: Wait. There’s more

I enjoyed Brian Johnston’s story about less-obvious places to visit in China. To his recommendations about the city of Nanjing, I would add the Nanjing Massacre Memorial and Museum, a sobering reminder of the horrors of war, but very much worth a visit. Also, it’s worth calling in at Yangzhou, between Nanjing and Shanghai. It benefited from being the home town of Jiang Zemin, a former president of the People’s Republic, and is along the Grand Canal near where the canal meets the Yangtze River.
Neil MacLean, Hamilton, Vic

Scan pan

Your reader, Chris Birrell, unfortunately is not alone (Traveller Letters, June 6). My wife and I arrived in Frankfurt, Germany, after an on-time flight from Canada and wanted to transfer to a shorter flight within Europe with more than the minimum recommended time in transit. Although we had spent 14 hours on a plane after going through North American security, we were all required to go through security again before entering the airport. That would not have been a problem if all the six or so scanners available had been working. But because only two were staffed and the queue from our plane and other flights was long and time-consuming, we missed our onwards flight. We then waited hours for the next flight to our final European destination. It is easy for us to advise to never transfer in Frankfurt or to not trust airport transfer times, and both points are valid, but we also need to remember that airlines and airports do not care about passengers. All of their “services” need to be taken with absolute distrust and cynicism until they prove otherwise.
Howard Clark, Ryde, NSW

Friends indeed

Yes, Stephen Doyle, it doesn’t take long on a small-group tour for a lasting friendship to be established between people who were once strangers (Traveller Letters, June 6). It was late 1970, and we headed out of Launceston on the first part of the journey, striking up an acquaintance with two young women who were on tour. We lost contact with one, however, over the past 55 years our friendship with Fran and her husband Paul has endured. Both couples have moved around, and we now find ourselves living in adjoining suburbs.
Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook, NSW

Group therapy

Stephen Doyle’s letter had me nodding my head. I recently went on a tour of Turkey where the travel group (Fez Travel) ran the tour with only two travellers. While my friend and I enjoyed an essentially private and tailor-made tour, I really missed the banter and friendships that develop in small-group tours. On a tour in Iceland a few years ago, I met a lovely person who shared so many of my interests. We discovered we were born on the same day. Our friendship has continued, and I now refer to her as my American twin.
Linda Page, Baulkham Hills, NSW

User pays

We recently travelled with Virgin Australia from Perth to Brisbane. While using the check-in kiosk we were offered a guarantee of overhead storage space, for a fee, of course. Virgin already charges for snacks on this more than five-hour flight. What’s next? A fee for air-conditioning? Seat cushions?
Richard Ambler, Mount Gravatt East, Qld

Editor’s note: We put this to Virgin Australia who said the airline has no policy to charge a fee for guaranteed overhead storage space. However, Virgin suggested our reader may have been offered to purchase an upgrade to “Economy X” class at the kiosk, which includes “preferred overhead locker space”, along with priority boarding and extra legroom.

One’s company

Chris Hooper (Traveller Letters, June 6) and I would probably make ideal travelling companions, given I also prefer to go it alone. Oh, wait … that’s probably not going to work, is it?
Ross Duncan, Potts Point, NSW

Make a move

As someone who considers a 20-minute nap on a long-haul flight a good night’s sleep, I’m with Lee Tulloch. I always have an aisle seat and get up every two hours to move around and stretch. I do get a bit envious of those who can sleep for hours, but then I think how stiff they are likely to be upon waking up, and I feel better. Dodging outstretched feet, blankets and other detritus in the aisle is just an obstacle course to be endured and conquered, especially in the near darkness of the cabin.
Marie Nash, Balwyn, Vic

Don’t look down

In reference to the letter by Jae Sconce (Traveller Letters, May 2) about the drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles along the Pacific Coast Highway. I can confirm it is amazing scenery, and a beautiful drive. However, as we did the drive from north to south it did mean that we were on the lane adjacent to the ocean. That meant a terrifying drive on the “wrong” side of the road, regularly against a steep drop and short guardrails, peak anxiety that we were moments from disaster. As much as I wanted to enjoy it, for me, it was a terror-filled experience. I was so pleased to get to the elephant seals because it was there the road turned inland.
Jo Lees, Rockdale, NSW

Exceptional is exceptional

As my family and I prepare to return to the Peloponnese, my mother’s birthplace and in celebration of her 85th birthday, I feel compelled to share my highest recommendation for those considering exploring this hidden gem, as beautifully highlighted by Lee Tulloch in her story. In September 2024, we travelled throughout the Peloponnese with Exceptional Tours Greece. We experienced a truly bespoke itinerary in the company of a highly professional and knowledgeable local tour operator who went above and beyond our expectations, from securing the best table at an already fully booked seafood restaurant in Limeni, to arranging flowers and even the local priest on the day we paid our respects to my grandparents in a remote mountain-top village in Messinia. We look forward to travelling again with Exceptional Tours Greece, revisiting the stunning Peloponnese, but this time also including the spectacular Saronic Islands, so easily accessible from the Peloponnesian coast and without the crowds of the higher profile Greek islands.
Freda Vosdoganis, Beecroft, NSW

Drake’s progress

We stayed at Belfast’s Europa Hotel in all its splendour. We were told it was the target of frequent bombings because it was the favourite hotel of visiting dignitaries and former US presidents. As a result of our stay, we are the proud owners of an upmarket rubber ducky with a top hat with “Europa” displayed on the hat band and wearing a black bow tie. It makes for a stylish bathroom decoration.
Judith English, Hornsby Heights, NSW

Tip of the week: God bless America

We recently returned from a Cosmos 24-day Trans-American Adventure tour starting in New York City and ending in Los Angeles. The tour included amazing places – big cities and small towns, along with beautiful mountains, like Mount Rushmore in South Dakota and also Niagara Falls in New York State. The five national parks we visited were stunning – it even snowed one night at Bryce Canyon, Utah, which intrigued a fellow traveller from Western Australia. This tour exceeded our expectations with both the leader and coach driver exceptional. We found the American people to be friendly and helpful and interested to know more about Australia. Our entry into the US was uneventful, despite hearing stories of the opposite.
Beth Reid, Wollongong, NSW

Where oh where

I’m just back from a terrific tour of Romania and a trip up the Danube with AMAWaterways. Highly recommended. But my baggage being delayed on three occasions in less than four weeks was depressing (different reasons each time). Is this a record? At least Apple tags put my mind at ease while waiting.
Angela Cook, Parkside, SA

Bad taste

Belinda Jackson’s “Safari two ways” story was interesting and informative. However, to conclude in a preachy manner about it being our role to protect what we now love (presumably wildlife and nature) after having eaten zebra steaks for dinner is ironic and laughable. Safaris are intended to foster our love for nature and wildlife, not make us want to eat the latter.
Kathy George, Indooroopilly, Qld

Spice race

Accommodation with a kitchen is also great for longer stays overseas (Traveller Letters, June 6) when one hankers for the type and variety of Asian food we are fortunate to have here in Australia. During a seven-week winter stay in Berlin last year I could get all the sauces, oils, noodles and fresh ingredients I needed from the many Asian supermarkets across the city. So when I couldn’t face another schnitzel or schweinshaxe, and I wanted a stir-fry, noodle soup, pho, congee or curry with my preferred mix and amount (that is, lots) of ginger, coriander, makrut (kaffir) leaves, galangal, chilli, lemongrass, pak choy or snake beans and so on, I was set. I had my favourite recipes on my phone (thank you, Adam Liaw, Good Food’s frequent contributor) and those shops often had cheap utensils too if the kitchen lacked anything.
Jenifer McAdam, Sydney, NSW

On speck

A warning to travellers renting a car at Chiang Mai Airport to beware of the asphalt scam. We hired a car from Budget earlier this year, with zero excess. Upon return, a speck of asphalt mysteriously appeared on the passenger side door, despite the fact that we had not driven over any recently laid asphalt and the door was clean when we refuelled three minutes earlier and 500 metres away. At the office they insisted that a cleaning fee should be paid, despite the zero excess. It was only after several minutes of vociferous argument and threats to call the police that the staff relented. I do not know if other companies there also try to pull this scam.
Ben Adler, Mount Waverley, Vic

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.

It feels like summer. The dog leaps onto the back seat, eager for the drive to Walkerville, South Gippsland in Victoria, where I share an old holiday cottage with three others. A two-hour trip will lift my mood and quieten a flurry of thoughts. I savour this knowledge. On the open road, familiar sights – pelicans at Tooradin inlet, a donut van at Swamp Lookout, a deer farm selling cuckoo clocks. But it’s a blaze of blue water from the hills before Kilcunda that makes my heart soar. I stop for a cuppa at the Killy Cafe, while the dog stretches out on warm concrete. On to Wonthaggi for supplies, fly past Inverloch, round the bend at Tarwin Lower before a final stretch on the Walkerville road, driving slowly now as I check for wildlife. The house is hidden behind a thick bank of ti tree which creaks its welcome. I park near the old Hills Hoist, unload the boot, fill the bird feeder and grab a book. The dog snatches his lead and flops on the grass. Another layer peels away. Life is simple here. I watch rosellas scatter their food, listen to the wind gusting over nearby farmlands and bask in the luxury of having nothing to do. From my chair on the verandah, even the concrete water tank and sagging clothesline look good. Clouds thicken and heavy drops fall. My shared place is truly a house for all seasons.
Jane McMillan, Frankston South, Vic

My first run around Lake Wendouree, Ballarat, was in 1975. I was 15, red haired and pale skinned but with the ability to run without becoming breathless. Before streaming and ear buds I ran with only my thoughts every Saturday morning at 7am. By 7.45 I was back in bed, emerging a few hours later as per normal teenage hours. Fifty-one years later I have long left Ballarat, but continued running at various venues in Melbourne depending on where I lived. Princes Park while at university, the Tan while in Fitzroy and now the Anniversary trail in Kew. Ageing parents necessitate frequent visits to Ballarat these days and I pack my running gear on these trips. The smell of malt from the brewery has gone and flood mitigation means I don’t have to slop my way through Fairyland by the lake every winter. However, the gravel track, the gardens, the swans (and their poo) are reminders of those sleety mornings 50 years ago. Best of all, it’s a round flat course so there’s always the water to look at and for at least half the run, a tailwind.
Luke Moloney, Deepdene, 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