Our airline gave us less than an hour to make our connection. We missed it

Each week Traveller publishes a selection of rants, raves and travel tips from our readers. See below on how you can contribute.

On a recent United Airlines flight from Canada to Sydney transferring at San Francisco, we were allocated a connecting time of 49 minutes. Consequently, we missed our long-haul flight to Sydney. The airline staff told us to find our own accommodation for the night and apply for a refund when we got home. I had contacted the airline and travel company before our holiday and was told that the transfer time was adequate. My question to airlines and travel companies is, why are travellers given inadequate connection times when delays in the initial flights are common, thus leaving passengers (many of them elderly) stranded in a foreign city late at night?Chris Birrell, Mona Vale, NSW

Editor’s note: Our resident Tripologist, Michael Gebicki, recommends a minimum connection time of 60 minutes for a domestic flight and 90 for an international one. An airline allowing just 49 minutes for an international flight seems highly optimistic.

As a regular traveller and one who particularly likes small-group tours, I found myself wondering about what I have enjoyed the most about such tours. The thrill of visiting new countries and cities for the first time is certainly paramount, but also is sharing and enjoying these new experiences with my fellow travellers. From my experience, it does not take long for a genuine camaraderie to develop over the two or three weeks of a tour, and it is not uncommon for genuine friendships to develop, as well – some of which continue long after the tour has ended. It is a shame that this aspect of travel rarely seems to rate a mention in travel documentaries, or for that matter, in Traveller Letters. Where else does one have such a unique opportunity to interact socially with 50 or so people from all over the world, and to do so over a number of weeks?Stephen Doyle, Hepburn Springs, Vic

I read Michael Gebicki’s article on Europe’s new Entry/Exit Sydney (ESS) and would like to add that we recently entered the European Union through Rome’s minor airport at Ciampino. Like Fiumicino, most of the kiosks were roped off, and we had to use the remaining ones. The fingerprint failure rate was high, me included, and I was sent to a long queue at the desk where I was eventually stamped in. This caused problems leaving the EU in Sweden as my entry was not properly recorded, and I had to produce dates and airline-ticket vouchers to show where I had entered. My husband had no problems and breezed through – so when it wo