Q My sister-in-law recently had a direct flight from Perth to London cancelled two days before flying. The next direct flight was two days later. Qantas have told her they don’t do compensation for cancelled flights and that she should apply for compensation through travel insurance. Is that true?
Pete P
A Well, where to begin? I imagine it was infuriating for your sister-in-law. Perth to Heathrow on flight QF9 is the only nonstop link between Australia and the UK. Passengers pay a premium for getting from the Western Australian capital to London in a single overnight flight.
Passengers travelling in the opposite direction, on QF10 from Heathrow to Perth, may well have been entitled to £520 in cash compensation each. Under European air passengers’ rights rules, which apply to all airlines flying from the UK or EU, travellers hit by short-notice cancellations are due compensation unless the carrier can demonstrate “extraordinary circumstances” were responsible.
They are also entitled to be flown as soon as possible on any airline that can get them to their destination – which, for example, might involve Qantas paying Singapore Airlines or Emirates to carry passengers via their hubs to Perth. The Australian carrier is also obliged to pay for hotels and meals until the travellers can get on their way.
The obligations also apply to UK and European airlines flying from anywhere in the world – such as British Airways from Sydney via Singapore to Heathrow. But as a non-European airline, Qantas is not bound by the passenger rights rules when flying from its home country.
As your sister-in-law found out, consumer law in Australia (in common with many other countries) gives few rights to passengers. It seems to me that Europe’s rules are rather too generous while those of other nations are inadequate. Let us hope that some kind of global framework of consumer care can be agreed upon. Meanwhile, the suggestion she could claim compensation from travel insurance is fanciful – in some circumstances, she might get recompense for hotels and other expenses while she waited to fly home.
Q I am going to Barbados next week. The customs form is confusing me. There is a question about whether I am bringing pharmaceuticals. Is that relating to any medication I am taking, or is it for people importing commercial quantities of drugs?
Terry M
A I have replicated your online journey (regrettably not the actual journey to the Caribbean), by completing the Barbados Immigration and Customs Travel Form. You need to do this in the 72 hours prior to your arrival in Barbados. Most of the questions are fairly standard: name, email address, passport details (you must upload a scan of the photo page of the travel document), plus some dealing with Covid.
You will look in vain for “Tourism” as your motive for travelling – instead enter “Pleasure/Holiday/Vacation”. Then you get on to the Customs part of the form – which begins by asking: “How many pieces of checked and hand luggage is the travel party bringing into Barbados?”
The subsequent yes/no questions are mostly straightforward, assuming you are not planning to bring fruit, live animals, narcotics or weapons. The one tricky issue, as you raise, is “Bringing pharmaceuticals?”
That covers a wide range of possibilities, from over-the-counter painkillers such as paracetamol and aspirin to prescribed medication for blood pressure or mental health. Strictly speaking, the correct answer is “Yes”: all of these are pharmaceuticals.
In practice, though, I would be surprised if the authorities have such personal medicaments in mind. In your position I would tick “No” – and I bet that is the choice of a large majority of arrivals who have medications with them. Just in case of the unlikely event that you are challenged on arrival, do ensure that all pills are in their original packaging.
I think it most unlikely you will even be asked: one reason the authorities in Barbados ask for the online document is to allow arrivals to be waved through with nothing more than a smile.
Q I saw that you commented on the Which? survey about hotel chains and defended the Britannia hotel chain. Assuming you use chain hotels, which is your favourite and least favourite chain – and why?
Chris R
A Readers of Which? magazine do not, in my experience, comprise a perfect reflection of society. They tend to be consumers who are more, if I may, Waitrose than Aldi. The annual Which? airline survey, for example, shows they are not particularly well-disposed towards Ryanair despite it being Europe’s biggest budget airline, the world’s safest carrier and often the lowest-cost provider.
The hotel survey is an annual assessment of hotel chains “taking into account overall satisfaction and likeliness to recommend”. Among nearly 5,000 Which? readers, Premier Inn is at the top, ahead of Sofitel and Crowne Plaza. In its customary position at the foot of the table, for a 10th straight year, is Britannia. From my experience, there is plenty of room for improvement at the chain’s properties. But the basics of clean and safe rooms are respected.
I think Britannia deserves some credit for two commendable aspects: the outstanding properties in its stable, particularly the Adelphi in Liverpool and the Scarborough Grand, as well as extraordinary good value. Last night three people could have stayed in a family at the spectacular Scarborough Grand for a grand total of £35. In travel it’s good to have a choice, and – if I may – the 173 Which? readers who rated Britannia so poorly might want to choose somewhere else next time.
Like the 1,659 Which? readers in the survey, I rate Premier Inn highly. The chain does the basics well and maintains consistently high standards. I find Hampton by Hilton, Holiday Inn Express, Ibis and Travelodge also excellent. Apex and easyHotel are smaller chains and I do not use them so frequently, but my experiences have all been good. Evidently, I am easily pleased – but I think overall the UK consumer has an excellent and competitive range of options.
Q It seems the World Cup is causing a real headache for transit customers on Qatar Airways who are not going to watch the football. It’s not possible to leave Doha airport unless you have a Hayya Card – and to have this you need to have World Cup tickets, which seem extremely rare.
Qatar Airways sold me a flight well before the tournament with a 15-hour layover in Doha, arriving at 5pm and leaving at 8am the next morning. Since we have friends in Qatar it all sounded rather civilised. We would meet them for dinner, stay in one of the reasonably priced hotels (ahead of the football), and check in for the morning flight. But instead, it turns out that we will be stuck at the airport for 15 hours.
The transit hotel in the airport costs £200. Do you have any solution?
Humphrey W
A I feel your pain – because I am in a similar position. With multiple flights to British airports at various times of the day, booking an Asia-UK trip on Qatar Airways is generally a good plan. I was planning the opposite to you, ie arriving first thing in the morning from Singapore and leaving mid-afternoon. I know from experience that it allows a fulfilling few hours in Doha, followed by a relaxed journey back to the airport when the heat really starts to rise.
Unfortunately for us, the Qatari authorities decided that they had enough of a challenge on their plate managing all the football-related visitors during the tournament between 20 November and 18 December. Mere tourists like you and I cannot come in (though I am still periodically trying to find a ticket for a random match to allow me to qualify for a Hayya card). It’s an effective way to annoy travellers and make them consider other Middle Eastern hubs.
Belatedly, the authorities have realised that after the group stage is over (last matches 2 December) a huge number of fans and hangers-on such as the press will immediately leave the country, with no one to replace them. A few days ago the tournament organisers suddenly decided that “non-ticketed fans with a Hayya Card will be allowed to enter Qatar after the completion of the group stage on 2 December”.
For those of us travelling in November, there is one more slim possibility: asking on arrival. I will happily troop up to passport control, clutching my boarding pass for later that day, and hope for the best. It almost certainly won’t work, but as with football: all we can do is dream.
Email your question to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder
