I AM delighted that Noel Josephides both reads and advertises in the Independent. (Travel Weekly March 8).
He also makes the valuable suggestion that we should provide readers with more details of tour operators serving particular destinations. I take his point. Thereafter, our views diverge.
Noel says the Independent is “no more and no less accurate” than other quality newspapers. But let’s take justone story in recent months – the passenger service charge scandal.
We first revealed the airlines’ plans for back door fare increases exclusively way back in January, and no other national newspaper got anywhere near covering it adequately.
Indeed, by the time one of our rivals had caught up, a week later, the airlines’ spin doctors had been at work and had persuaded the journalist that a new tax had, indeed, been invented.
The Independent will continue to champion the rights of consumers. An essential component of seeking out the very best for our readers is that we refuse all free travel and accommodation.
Our writers, like our readers, pay hard cash; in last Saturday’s edition two of our main stories were by writers who had bought holidays from Travelbag Adventure and Thomson Breakaway respectively. We believe this “no-freebies” policy gives the best possible combination of inspiration, entertainment and information – to the benefit of both readers and advertisers.
Simon Calder
Travel Editor
The Independent
London