Made any travel mistakes lately?

[Mattg]

I wanted to use the Panama City metro today.

Went into the train station and attempted to buy a rechargeable public transport card from the machine. The card cost $2 (this is in USD, the currency used here) but the machine wouldn't take credit cards, only cash. All I had was a $20 note, so I inserted this with the assumption (based on the message on the screen) that either I'd get change or that the change would be loaded as value onto the card.

The machine dispensed a card and no change.

I then tried to use it to tap onto the metro - didn't work as the card apparently has no value. (Hmm, so where did my $18 go?)

I didn't have any cash left at this point. I left the station and found an ATM to get more cash, so that I could load money onto the card.

Eventually returned to the station, loaded money onto the card and got through the ticket barrier. On the other side of the barrier is a sign that you can now tap on at metro stations using a credit card.

The fare was 35 cents.

 

[JohnK]

Not really a travel mistake but a reminder that airfares can change quickly.

A few months back I was looking at SQ airfares to Thailand for 3 of us at Christmas. We'll go Chiang Mai first and return from Chiang Mai. Airfares looked good and I was surprised at how good they looked.

Checked again a few days ago and airfares have increased $200-$300 per person. I don't think the airfares I saw were sale airfares. How would the cheap airfares go that quick? It's definitely not the demand in Thailand as tourism is really struggling there. Airlines see increase in demand for airfares and increase them more?

We did want to travel Christmas Day but looks like New Years Eve is the only cheap date now. I guess that's OK as Brisbane schools resume Tue 28/Jan/25 but not really ready to book yet and I suspect airfares will increase again.

Where is the demand for SQ flights at Christmas?

 

[burmans]

My experience is that 99.9% of the time fares only go up for Christmas!

 

[Must...Fly!]

Not really a travel mistake but a reminder that airfares can change quickly.

A few months back I was looking at SQ airfares to Thailand for 3 of us at Christmas. We'll go Chiang Mai first and return from Chiang Mai. Airfares looked good and I was surprised at how good they looked.

Checked again a few days ago and airfares have increased $200-$300 per person. I don't think the airfares I saw were sale airfares. How would the cheap airfares go that quick? It's definitely not the demand in Thailand as tourism is really struggling there. Airlines see increase in demand for airfares and increase them more?

We did want to travel Christmas Day but looks like New Years Eve is the only cheap date now. I guess that's OK as Brisbane schools resume Tue 28/Jan/25 but not really ready to book yet and I suspect airfares will increase again.

Where is the demand for SQ flights at Christmas?

Well they will always charge what they believe the market will pay. But the demand is likely effected by demand for SIN-AU traffic which has plenty more destinations to serve than Thailand of course.

 

[Cossie]

Nothing major, been looking forward to going to my favourite restaurant in Christchurch, Rangoon Ruby, checked everything before hand, times etc, to make sure it was open.
Got to the door and sign said: Due to staff shortages, we will be closed Sunday and Monday nights from April the 1st…….
Guess the April Fools joke is on me.
Went a few doors down for a very mediocre seafood pad thai.

 

[SomeRando]

Missed my train from Taipei to Hualien today because there was apparently a late platform change that I didn't notice because I was too busy buying one of the delicious TRA bento boxes. No big deal as I bought a five day rail pass so I could catch the next train.

Worked out well as while I was at the beach I was standing right under the flight path as half a dozen F-16s took off. If I had have caught my original train I would have missed out on a really cool experience.

 

[Flashback]

Didn't force the issue on getting the paperwork from Europcar (my least fav. car rental provider..... which they proved again, was for good reason!) when I picked up the car in Eswatini on the weekend. Got the e-mail invoice yesterday and it had 2x charges for additional insurance. Ummmmmmmm, nope, you never asked me about that - if you did I'd tell you what I always tell you, I don't need it as I have my own annual policy. Let's see if customer service responds. Only £10, but it's the principle.

 

[VPS]

Missed my train from Taipei to Hualien today because there was apparently a late platform change that I didn't notice because I was too busy buying one of the delicious TRA bento boxes. No big deal as I bought a five day rail pass so I could catch the next train.

Worked out well as while I was at the beach I was standing right under the flight path as half a dozen F-16s took off. If I had have caught my original train I would have missed out on a really cool experience.

Welcome to AFF and your first post

 

[JessicaTam]

I stayed in an Ibis Budget this week.

 

[Cossie]

I got a request to review my booking at an Accor place in Christchurch for last Monday. I was in Christchurch but didn't stay at that hotel. Checked my Accor account, yep a room was booked and my amex was debited the amount for the room.
I remember looking for places to stay, but I honestly don't remember booking that hotel.....
Fortunately it's not a huge amount, $113 NZ, so I can live with that.
I'm concerned I didn't get any emails reminding me that I had that booking coming up as this is what usually happens, and as I now go for the option to cancel, I'm happy to pay extra so that I can cancel.
Guess it contributes to my overall situation at Accor. Also it's not the silliest thing I've done.......

 

[CaptJCool]

Is it silly to book a flight to Cairo from Italy with RJ?
Long stopover in Amman

Or should I ignore all the travel warnings ?

 

[sudoer]

Is it silly to book a flight to Cairo from Italy with RJ?
Long stopover in Amman

Or should I ignore all the travel warnings ?

Amman is way too close for my liking. Not worth the risk, especially when you're backtracking from Cairo...

 

[p--and--t]

Is it silly to book a flight to Cairo from Italy with RJ?
Long stopover in Amman

Or should I ignore all the travel warnings ?

No date specified so no idea if you talking about tomorrow or middle of next year

 

[CaptJCool]

No date specified so no idea if you talking about tomorrow or middle of next year

Sorry

15-20 June

 

[I love to travel]

Sorry

15-20 June

TBH I am not sure that the date matters. Just avoid. MH 17 shows how it can go wrong,

 

[p--and--t]

Sorry

15-20 June

Might take more than a month or two to settle down. I'd probably avoid for 4-6 months

I did (tour) CAI - AMM (tour) AMM - DOH - HKT last year. Enjoyed brief tour of Jordan. Nicer than Egypt but less to see.

 

[pagingjoan]

Have travelled in both Jordan and Egypt, although on separate trips.
Both amazing, but not sure if I would venture there at the moment.
And, if I had to choose, I would return to Jordan, for the local culture, having seen and been enthralled by the wonders of Egypt but not needing to repeat the experience.
With your "long stop over", can you do any touring in Amman?
Or could you simply enjoy Jordan and save Egypt for another time?

 

[CaptJCool]

Have travelled in both Jordan and Egypt, although on separate trips.
Both amazing, but not sure if I would venture there at the moment.
And, if I had to choose, I would return to Jordan, for the local culture, having seen and been enthralled by the wonders of Egypt but not needing to repeat the experience.
With your "long stop over", can you do any touring in Amman?
Or could you simply enjoy Jordan and save Egypt for another time?

Thanks for the info

To get into Amman, flights scoot over Israel …
Long is late night to sometime the next day so it’s not great to be roaming around in gone early hours … so fortune has a flight change pushed my way so I can likely cancel penalty free ( it’s 6,000 points to do it myself)

Im figuring this kind of thing happens a bit so Probably need see if QF “do the right thing” should I not accept changes
The info is as clear as mud


Which button to pick ??
And it’s a classic reward J

 

[sudoer]

To get into Amman, flights scoot over Israel …

I was curious about the flight path earlier - it looks like they avoid flying over Israel, although they do cut it close.

Which button to pick ??

I usually call to make sure I'm not charged the cancellation fee in this scenario. Easier to make sure it doesn't happening at the beginning than try to get it rectified when it's incorrectly charged.

 

[justinbrett]

At HKG, buying a tourist octopus card to get on the train. I then found out you can only top up with cash, and the deposit is non refundable.

I found out while on the train to the city you can download the tourist octopus app, load with credit card and you can top up as required. You can then get a refund when you leave.

I binned my physical card after the first train trip (you couldn’t top up extra at the airport so didn’t even have enough value to get on the tram) and switched to the app version.

Definitely recommend just using the app.