A General Travel Blog

Seal Island near Cape Town, South Africa

I have written many travel blogs that are country specific and I’m due to do a few more. On recent trips, I found things recurring and I realised they had happened on previous trips also. Let’s face it — there are many issues that travelers can encounter regardless of the destination. I’m talking about things that, in my opinion are unnecessary, bureaucratic, poorly organised and either slow down or take from the enjoyment of travel. So here’s my ‘take’ on these and hopefully people in the business will take heed and make the necessary changes.

1. Why do Immigration checks take so long and, in fact, why are they undertaken at all when you are leaving a country? If a country requires a visa to visit or is taking precaution against illegal immigration, it’s fine to have an immigration check on the way in to the country but when you are leaving, who cares? You’re gone — you’re no threat, so why the huge cost in terms of staffing and the delays caused to passengers and airlines? I remember I first encountered this is Russia many years ago, when it was still the old Soviet Union. I fully understood why they had exit checks in those days because they were as much about discouraging their own people from leaving the country as checking on foreigners. But those days are gone so why persist with the old system? The Canadians have got it right — they check you on the way in only. To be fair, so has Ireland, the UK and most other countries. The US have got it partially right — at land borders they only check you on the way in. Yet at airports they check both way — inconsistent? You bet. France introduced passport exit checks at airports some years ago and have persisted with them. No one seems to know why. Yet at land borders with France, you simply drive across and there is no check whatsoever, either entering or leaving.

   
   

2. Now here is one that I’m sure every person who has ever made up a room in a hotel will agree with. Why does every hotel in the world insist on tucking the sheets/blankets/duvet under the mattress? It’s mind blowing. Most of them do it in such a way that it requires physical force to gain entry to the bed. The first thing I and everyone I know does is to pull the thing out again in order to get into bed. So, think about it, imagine the millions of people, mostly women, who every day have to do this excruciating task of pushing the clothes under the blankets/duvet only for their work to be cancelled immediately the guest enters the bedroom. It’s totally pointless and often back-breaking labour. I have noticed that some (very few) hotels have discontinued the process and merely leave the covered duvet neatly on top of the bed. It looks exactly the same to me and surely saves enormous time and labour. So, hotel owners — please free your chamber maids from this totally pointless and ridiculous task and you’ll have happier staff and contented customers, who don’t have to fight with the bedclothes to get a decent night’s sleep.

   
   

3. On most of my trips I hire a car and try to see as much of a country as possible. But beware — please only use reputable car hire companies and try to make everything clear before you hand over your credit card. Those familiar with car hire companies will know that all charge a flat fee for the period of hire. This includes insurance as it has to, by law. However, all companies operate a system of what they call ‘extra insurance.’ This is called CDW or ‘collision damage waiver.’ It is usually a daily charge and can actually amount to more than the cost of the rental. If you choose to pay it, you won’t be liable for any damage to the car, but if, like me, you don’t, the car rental company will put a ‘hold’ on an amount on your credit card. This can be up to E1,500 so when faced with this, many people baulk and pay the CDW. Their car rental then ends up costing more than twice what they anticipated. I can understand why people do this because if they don’t, most of the rental companies will carry out a microscopic examination of the car on its return. If you are careful and don’t scratch the car in any way, you will be fine and the ‘hold’ will be taken off your credit card immediately. But beware the unscrupulous operators who will try to ‘invent’ reasons to charge you extra. Some companies may tell you the car is fine but will then charge your credit card a few days or weeks or even a month later. I have had all this happen me at various times over the years. On the majority of occasions I have recovered the amounts through the credit card company but it is a difficult and time consuming process. For example, I have been charged for:

   1. a. Alleged damage to the car ‘discovered’ after I had left the country.

   2. b. Imaginary speeding fines.

   3. c. Imaginary road tolls.

   4. d. A dirty car.

   5. e. Fees for crossing a border (within the EU).

   6. f. Refueling fees despite returning the car full.

   I don’t want to frighten people or discourage them from hiring a car because in my experience it is the best way to see the country you are visiting. But beware who you are booking with and read all the terms and conditions in advance. One final point — if you do choose to take the CDW, do it at the car hire desk in the airport. Don’t do it with the agency you book through because the car hire company will tell you it doesn’t apply with them. In other words, you will have to go through a lengthy process with the agency to recover whatever costs you incurred with the car rental company for damages.

   
   

4. OK, time for a personal distaste. Many people will have no problem with this but it’s a bugbear with me. You enter a restaurant and they have no menu. Instead, they ask you to use your phone to scan a QR code. This is fine if it works as it gets around language difficulties and often includes photos of the dishes on offer. But there’s the rub — most of the time I find it doesn’t work, similar to wifi in many places. Small cafes and restaurants install the system but can’t afford an IT person to fix problems so customers are often left frustrated. Give me a menu I can read please. :)

   
   

5. Another bugbear — showers in hotel rooms. There appears to be numerous different types of showers on the market and you could need a degree in plumbing to operate some of them. I favour a regular unit with a hand held shower hose but it can be rare these days. I have left numerous expletives in hotel rooms due to an inability to operate complex shower systems. If the water pressure of the hot and cold supplies are not equal (and they rarely are), then you can end up either burning your head or freezing other parts of you. So please, hotel operators — if you have a shower which is a little more complex than just a straightforward two taps, please leave an instruction leaflet in the bathroom or on the wall of the shower. You will have many very grateful guests.

   
   

6. Now, for something that mainly pertains to motorway stops, service stations and airports or other travel infrastructure like bus and rail stations. Why, oh why, is it necessary to close toilets for cleaning? As we all know, when you gotta go, you gotta go. Having to wait ten to fifteen minutes for the toilets to be reopened is a purgatory that should not be visited on anyone. By all means close a section of the toilets, clean them and move on to the next one but surely it’s not necessary to close them all? I’m sure travelers everywhere will thank me.

   
   

7. Speaking of motorway services or rest stops, a small complaint about the USA. As far as I have experienced, every country in the world has motorways and all have well designed service stops selling fuel, food and often all manner of other things. Except the US. There, you have to leave the motorway (highway). To be fair, the services available are all well signposted but none indicate how far you have to travel to avail of them. This can vary between half a mile to up to five miles. If you are on a tight schedule, it’s frustrating to pull off for gas or food and then have to drive a considerable distance to get it. So please guys, join the rest of the world and put the services on the highways. There is an abundance of space.

   
   

8. Finally, damage deposits in hotels — this is something I mainly encountered in Canada. Does no one trust anyone any more? Possibly not; but when you are paying up front for your hotel and in my experience ninety nine per cent of hotels require payment in advance, it is a bit much to also be asked for a damage deposit. Many hotels require payment when making the booking. This happened to me and then, two days into my stay, I was asked for the deposit. It was returned at the end of my stay but it’s not a good way to treat a customer.

   
   

I can think of other travel ‘bugs’ but here’s a better idea. I’m sure everyone has their own so give me feedback. What bugs you when you travel? Let me know; we’ll compile a separate blog and put it out there. Let’s start a campaign among travel bloggers for change. In the meantime, enjoy your trips.