Inbox LE T T E RS & FO R U M Readers share first-hand knowledge, experiences and ideas
PASSPORT PROBLEMS As a cabin crew member with a major airline flying between Europe and the US, I’ve noticed a lot of travellers have passport issues. Make sure your passport has at least six months validity before booking travel. Don’t count on the gate or ticket agent of the airline to verify it for you. I’ve also found passports in airline and airport bathrooms, while seats onboard are notorious for eating everything from ear buds to passports. A passenger once placed his passport on the seat while putting his bags away during boarding. Needless to say, a slight move and jolt, voilà – your passport is gone. There are pickpockets and thieves about everywhere, even on aeroplanes. On a flight to China,
a young woman put her passport in a Starbucks bag and inadvertently gave it to us for final trash pick-up. She approached us as we were walking to customs to tell us we threw out her passport. Needless to say, we sent her back to the plane with the agent to dig through the trash. We also had a passenger leave his passport in the seatback pocket. Pay attention to all your belongings before leaving the aircraft. The more attentive you are, the less stress you’ll have on your business trip or vacation. Byron Sutherland, New Hampshire
08 BUSINESS TRAVELLER S T A R LE T T E R
Praise where praise is due
I read about Jeffrey Carswell’s poor experience with Lufthansa and KLM regarding seat selection
refunds in November’s Inbox page. By contrast, we had
a stellar experience with Emirates a few weeks ago returning from Cape Town to Dublin via Dubai. We booked and paid for a pair of seats at the back of the aircraft for each leg. However, a disastrous assisted transfer through DXB on our outbound journey had me very worried for our return leg as we had just 90 minutes between flights. I emailed my travel agent to ask her Emirates account manager for help. Emirates switched our seats from Row 47 to Row 17
and were waiting for us when we disembarked. We were over at our gate within 20 minutes and received a refund from Emirates for those seats within a week. A fantastic customer experience!
Aoife Ryan, Wicklow
CUT THE QUEUE Land, grab the bag, get the car. Simple, right? Well, my recent experience with Avis at Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) shattered that illusion. Picture this: I arrive at the counter, weary from a long flight, only to find a line that could rival a theme park on a holiday weekend. Apparently, rental cars at Avis are now an endangered species – a two-hour wait for a vehicle. And I was one of the lucky ones, thanks to my President’s Club status. The average Joe? Still waiting. Oh, did I mention I was
travelling with an 18-month- old? Two hours of pacifying a toddler in a crowded rental office isn’t exactly how I pictured starting my trip. Now, here’s the kicker:
while 100 of us waited, baffled by the shortage of cars in real life, Avis was still happily taking reservations online. You could book a car for DFW at that very moment! Magic, I guess. Maybe it was renting out imaginary cars by then. After a fruitless
STAR PRIZE
This month’s Star Letter writer will receive a Business Traveller-branded Timothy Spirit carry-on case. For your chance to win, email
editorial@businesstraveller.com and include your full postal address and phone number. We reserve the right to edit letters.
discussion with customer service (surprise!), I took to Twitter, where I found similar horror stories. Avis, where “We Try Harder” has morphed into “We Try... Eventually”. So, fellow travellers,
beware. If you’re renting from Avis, pack some snacks and a lot of patience. And if you’re travelling with a toddler? Well, good luck! Andrew Grosset, Chertsey
DECEMBER 2024/JANUARY 2025
IMAGES
PHOTOLIBRARY.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
