Is a package deal the best bet for my trip to China?

Q I am thinking about going to China next year. Is it better to go on a package holiday or to try and organise it yourself?

Name supplied

A With one caveat – which I shall explain in a moment – I strongly suggest you book a package. China is a vast and complicated country, and the logistics of an independent journey can be daunting. You will also need a Chinese visa. To procure this precious permit, you require an “invitation letter”. A tour operator (holiday company) that sells you a tour will routinely issue one. In contrast, organising such a letter for an independent trip is likely to prove tricky.

Plenty of travel firms will take you to the People’s Republic. I recommend China specialists because they have the greatest depth of expertise.

I have travelled with The Dragon Trip, which I like because it is a close approximation to “proper” backpacking – often using public transport, but with the luxury of someone else sorting out the detailed logistics. Note the firm’s advice that its trips are “never going to be for the faint of heart – but if you like your world travels with a healthy dose of excitement, an active group tour might be the perfect call for you”.

Also highly rated for China, and much more mainstream: the very experienced Wendy Wu Tours, whose backyard is the People’s Republic. They handily include the visa in the headline price.

That caveat? If you merely want a taste of China and are happy to concentrate on a single city, then you can dodge all the visa complexity and expense. Fly from one foreign country (eg the UK) to a Chinese city, with an onward flight to a different foreign country (eg Thailand, Australia or even Hong Kong), and you can avail of the 144-hour visa-free transit. This six-day red-tape remover applies to both Beijing and Shanghai, which are the two cities I recommend.

You could even visit them both by, for example, booking London-Shanghai-Hong Kong outbound and Hong Kong-Beijing-London inbound – with a six-day stay in each.

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Q We are flying from Edinburgh via Doha to Thailand for Christmas on Qatar Airways, in business class. It appears that each leg involves a different aircraft type: Boeing 787, Airbus A380, Boeing 777 and Airbus A330. We’ve heard great things about the “Qsuite” on Qatar Airways but can’t tell if we will be able to experience it. Can you help?

Name supplied

A The Qsuite has been widely described as the best business class in aviation. Qatar Airways was awarded the Skytrax business-class prize for the Qsuite earlier this year. Key features include a door, providing extra privacy – and the opportunity when travelling in company “to transform your space into a social area, allowing you to work, dine or socialise at 40,000ft”.

I have not experienced it, due to being in the cheap seats (and on a recent Gatwick-Doha-Kathmandu, the economy cabin on a pair of Boeing 787s was definitely showing its age). But I do know the Qsuite is restricted to specific aircraft types. It is fitted to most Qatar Airways Boeing 777s and most Airbus A350s. In addition, Qsuites are installed on Boeing 787-9s, the later and larger version of the “Dreamliner”.

On your journey out, I am afraid that the older 787-8 is used, and the Airbus A380 “SuperJumbo” for your onward flight to Bangkok does not have Qsuites, either. Coming back, you may benefit from a Qsuite on the Bangkok-Doha leg, but not all 777s have it fitted. I asked Rhys Jones, aviation writer for the frequent-flyer website Head for Points, and he said: “Seat selection in Manage My Booking should indicate when Qsuite is available.”

In addition, he confirmed that the A330 for the final Doha-Edinburgh leg would not have a Qsuite. He said you can expect “the very open and non-private Super Diamond seat”, but stressed: “It’s comfortable.” In addition, you will get superb food and drink, good inflight entertainment, and a fancy amenity kit.

Finally, aircraft switches can happen frequently – and while Qatar Airways warns that “Qsuite may be unavailable for operational reasons due to aircraft change”, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that one of your flights could see a short-notice change meaning you will find yourself with a Qsuite anyway.

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Q What is your favourite and least favourite American state?

Holly E

A Thank you for a great question that I have not contemplated before. I will answer the last part first, but will slightly modify the question to read: “Which US state have you least enjoyed?” Without a doubt, it is Delaware – which I believe is usually delightful. But on the only occasion I spent significant time there, one January, I endured a biblical deluge of constant rain and snow in the capital, Dover.

Now for happier times. A few states that don’t quite make the top three deserve a mention. New York State beyond the eponymous city is fascinating from the tip of Long Island to Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Earlier this year I spent time in Vermont, an understated New England joy. Washington State, especially the wild east, is a beauty. And for sheer good looks, I rate Utah above Alaska, Arizona, Colorado and all the rest, with Bryce Canyon the standout natural wonder.

Florida is challenged in terms of mountain scenery, but the Sunshine State makes the top three thanks to more than great weather. Florida has a long and intriguing history, plus a rich ethnic mix, and, above all, the world’s most successful fun industry.

Texas strikes me as having the same relationship to the rest of the US as Sicily does to mainland Italy: it has an intense and intoxicating concentration of the national characteristics. America’s achievements are epitomised at Space Center Houston, and just an hour away you can relax in the historic Gulf Coast port and beach resort of Galveston.

Completing the top trio: well, if I could visit only one American state for the rest of my days, it would have to be California. Beaches, cities, culture and cuisine make the Pacific coastline a path of miracles. Yet there is so much more inland: Joshua Tree national park, Death Valley, Yosemite and Lake Tahoe. And to complete the enticement: the Golden State is superb driving territory. Besides State Route 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, my favourite stretch of Route 66 is in California: over the mountains between Victorville and San Bernardino.

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Q My wife and I are off next week on a cruise to Sydney. We needed an Australian visa. Somehow, and foolishly, I was diverted to the “iVisa” website rather than the official site. I had got too far along the way, including paying about £50, before I realised. However, iVisa duly disgorged two Australia visas, valid for a year, and they look fine to me.

Being a habitual worrier, though, I keep wondering if they are pukka. It would be dreadful if we were denied entry. Can you advise?

Richard T

A “We make travelling easy for everyone,” asserts iVisa. It is a company with offices in Peru, Spain, the US and India, and would not be my top recommendation for a British traveller wanting a visa for Australia. “We enable travellers to process visas from a computer, smartphone or tablet,” says iVisa. Well, so does the Australian Department of Home Affairs.

The permit needed by the vast majority of British travellers to Australia (as well as those from the European Union and wider Schengen Area) is a free eVisitor visa. This is also known, catchily, as Subclass 651. The main exclusion from obtaining one is having a criminal conviction (in any country, and regardless of its being “spent”).

Assuming you have led a blameless life, the straightforward approach is to apply direct to the Australian government: just tap in “eVisitor” and “651” and your search engine should take you to the right online page. I have just, as a test, applied for an eVisitor visa. Even using dodgy wifi (I am currently on a plane from New York to Kansas City), the application process took only 15 minutes. I was issued with the visa in two minutes flat.

But as countless travellers have found to their cost, the internet is full of companies that extract a fee for “helping” people to obtain a visa – even though a direct application is straightforward and either free or cheap. My hope is that iVisa has at least supplied you with the correct permit. That should be a PDF attachment titled “IMMI Grant Notification”, with your personal details and a 12-digit Visa grant number. If you have one, relax; if not, apply direct to the Australian authorities for a fresh (and free) eVisitor visa.

Email your questions to s@hols.tv or tweet @SimonCalder