Bev Walters - Travel Bird

07/02/2023

Plenty of interesting exhibitors showcasing destinations within Japan. Hotels, sightseeing and regional tourism boards.

Different seasons, for different reasons - it's hard to get enough of this brilliant destination.

30/12/2022

This is the Jetstar check-in queue at Osaka, filmed at two-and-a-half hours prior to departure.

2 Jetstar staff checking in an entire aircraft, + 1 staffmember on the so-called "service.desk".

Return flight was delayed by 3 hours, then 8 hours, then cancelled altogether and rescheduled for 24 hours later.

Forward flight had also been cancelled, after sitting on the tarmac for 2 hours with passengers and baggage fully loaded for departure.

"How is this airline still permitted to hold an international airline licence?" is my question.

14/12/2022

My last trip to Japan was May 2019. We were within a week of departing Australia for Japan in 2020 when the international borders closed,.

So what has changed since Covid?

Nothing, nothing and everything.

Nothing has changed - the Japanese are still unfailingly polite and helpful where-ever possible. Never once have I sensed any frustration from them that I visit their country with no understanding of the Japanese language, other than please and thank you. They remain a remarkably kind and considerate people.

Nothing has changed - the FOOD is still the best! Our first ramen of the trip was a randomly-selected first-floor restaurant in Dotonbori (Osaka) where menu selections were made and paid via vending machine and then delivered to the table.

The ramen just tastes different in Japan. I spent a year after my last trip to Japan searching Brisbane for the same taste and gave up. Yet the very first ramen back in Japan and there it was - the ultimate in hot, salty, savoury, umami comfort food.

Surprisingly, another food the Japanese do extremely well is cake. Chiffon cakes as light as air, served with fluffy cream or creamy custards.

What hasn’t changed is that you can still dine like a king on a pauper’s budget using food available through humble 7-11’s or Family Marts. Full Japanese-style meals take 90 seconds in the microwave. Corn cobs, salads, sushi, udon noodles, ramen, Korean meatballs, all sorts of desserts and drinks. Alcohol is insanely cheap and also sold in the corner stores. After a long day sightseeing when you couldn’t be bothered dining in a restaurant, you can feed a family of four for around A$35 (dinner, drinks and dessert). The question is whether a white bread sandwich with mandarin segments and whipped cream counts as dinner, or dessert.

What HAS changed in Japan however, is the formerly wonderful Hyperdia app. Since 2008 this app was used by non-Japanese speaking tourists to help them get around Japan. Unfortunately, since April 2022 Hyperdia’s functionality has been reduced to rubble and now only shows basic routes but no platform numbers or specific timetables.

The result of the demise of Hyperdia is that getting around in Japan has gone from being a complete breeze to being a MAJORLY confusing, frustrating pain in the neck.

Tonight we abandoned a trip to teamlab Osaka because the destination rail station one app gave us turned out to be over an hours walk from the Botanic Gardens. Trying to figure out how to get back on course involved huddling on a freezing cold platform in the middle of nowhere trying to google an alternative app that wasn’t in Japanese.

Suddenly it just didn’t feel like fun anymore, so we decided to retreat back to the warmth of our apartment, re-group and try again another day.

11/12/2022

Boarded the flight to Japan.

Two hours after expected departure time, we are still sitting on the tarmac.

Then the announcement. "Come back tomorrow. We try again tomorrow."

The third world airline that is Jetstar.

16/11/2022

Advance Notice of the Princess Cruises Black Friday Sale.

Bookings open 24 November.

28/09/2022

It's time for an AIR PASSENGER BILL OF RIGHTS in this country!

Forward flight:

WAS 13 hrs, 35 mins.
NOW RESCHEDULED to 22 hrs, 20 mins.

Return flight:

WAS: 13 hrs, 35 mins.
NOW RESCHEDULED to 18 hrs, 30 mins.

Trip duration:

WAS: 18 nights
NOW: 16 nights

Jetstar's response regarding any pre-paid, non-refundable accommodation which had been booked in Japan for the original dates?

"Too bad so sad".

Jetstar's response regarding the expense of overnight accommodation in Cairns that is now required?

"Not our problem".

In Australia, travellers just have to lump reschedules and flight disruptions (no matter how unreasonable or unfair the reschedule), OR if travel hasn't commenced, they have the option to have the tickets refunded.

Refunded? How is THAT fair ???

When a customer books 11 months prior to travel (which they will often do if they know they are travelling during peak period), the airline has had use of their funds for that entire time. The airline can change the flights to be completely unworkable and the airline's only obligation is to refund the original fare, in which case the passenger is left with no seats and the airline can resell those seats back into the market at the going (much higher) market rate.

How is THAT a fair option for the customer???

The customer cannot go back in time and purchase equivalently-priced tickets with another airline. The customer has to purchase alternative tickets at short-notice peak-season pricing (if there are even seats left to purchase).

Jetstar says: "You can't change the booking to get an 18-night stay, there are no seats left if you want to come home later."

Yet the website shows there ARE seats left. They are just being sold for a lot more money than the original fare, as it is now 10 weeks prior to departure.

Airlines do this simply because they CAN. There are zero consequences for airlines that do this.

It's time to put a stop to it.

10/08/2022

Check this out!! An 11 story slide in the middle of the ship.
Powered by LNG - one of the cleanest marine fuels.

Due to launch in December 2022, bookings are now open.

Discover the new era in ship design with the revolutionary MSC World Europa! The first LNG-powered vessel in MSC Cruises’ fleet and the most environmentally ...

27/01/2021

If you have funds sitting in VELOCITY GLOBAL WALLET, a reminder that Velocity's association with Global Wallet will cease, effective 1 February.

You should have already been emailed details, - check your email box. If doing a search, the email would have originated from :

[email protected]

26/06/2020

I just spent two hours on hold to Qantas to find out why the refund authorisation code from their latest COVID commercial policy was rejected.

So get this - Qantas told me I need to provide PROOF from the Australian Government that the clients were not permitted to travel due to COVID before a refund on my clients tickets would be considered.

In this entire 3 month long tunnel-of-hell of rolling cancellations, changing commercial policies, and refunds - I haven't broken.

But that example of first-rate-mongrel behaviour made me come pretty darn close.

Thank heavens tomorrow is Saturday!

24/03/2020

I'm going to leave this one right here.

While airlines and online travel agencies are telling customers don’t call us, we can’t handle the volume of calls, and in some cases disconnecting callers after hours on hold, consumers who use traditional travel agents are not only getting advice.

13/03/2020

Travel Agent's Special after the week we've just had!!

Sorry, I just had to!