Tabla de contenidos para February 2023 en CHOICE

Q I have just taken ownership of an old dog, and I am noticing that I am now suffering from an internal itchy throat and nose, which I think is because of the dog. I thought an air purifier might be something that will help keep the air cleaner for me. Do you review air purifiers for their ability to remove pet dander and smells? A CHOICE expert Chris Barnes: We can’t include pet dander and odours in our air purifier tests as they’re too hard to simulate, but our general tests for dust and smoke removal should be a good indicator of performance in those respects. Pet dander particles tend to be relatively large (for microscopic particles) and are likely to precipitate out of the air and end up on…

As flight prices skyrocket, car rental may become a more popular option for travelling within Australia. But the pitfalls of hiring a car are much the same as they’ve always been, so take care to steer carefully around the potholes. Fee burn Fees and charges are the sting in the tail with car rental. The scorpion sting is often the collision damage waiver (CDW, sometimes called a loss damage waiver or an excess). All of the companies we reviewed now hire cars with their ‘basic’ CDW. But with the basic CDW, your liability ranges from $4950 to $5500, so you could be hit with a cost equivalent to that of a used car (admittedly not a very good one at today’s used car prices). Faced with that level of risk,…

With more destinations opening up post-COVID restrictions, ‘revenge travel’ is set for a big 2023. But although many people have by now received their money from cancelled trips, some haven’t. So will travel insurance protect ever-increasing holiday costs this time around? Common insurable events Much has changed in travel but some things have stayed the same. Research by Smartraveller, published in the recently updated CHOICE travel insurance guide at smartraveller.gov.au/insurance, found that one in four Australian travellers experienced an insurable event on their last overseas trip. The most common insurable events were: • flight or tour cancelled• flight delayed more than 12 hours• received medical treatment• lost, damaged or stolen luggage• missed a connecting flight• lost, damaged or stolen cash or personal items• forced to cancel trip before departure. Received…

In early 2020, CHOICE began to look at how to provide consumers with more information about the ethical and sustainable nature of the products we review. Our research led us to the Ethical Consumer Group, otherwise known as Shop Ethical, which has been assessing companies on their ethical track record since 2004. The nonprofit organisation gathers assessment information from more than 80 sources, and groups it broadly under the areas of environment, people, animals, and business ethics. A company’s ongoing actions contribute to it being less ethical or more ethical In their own words, Shop Ethical “focuses on the environmental and social record of companies behind common brands, and draws from our extensive database of products, companies and issues.” As Shop Ethical explains on their website, ethical ratings are not…

If you take multiple pills regularly, a pill box could help you store and access your medications easily. Not all medications are suitable for a pill box, though. As a general rule of thumb, don’t use a pill box for: • anything taken “as required”• medications unsuitable for light, air and moisture exposure• any medications that have special-handling instructions. But with the seemingly endless designs available, how do you choose the right pill box for your daily needs? What to look for There are many designs of pill boxes to suit different needs. Here are the main features to consider. DAILY STORAGE Many pill boxes let you store a week’s worth of pills, with compartments labelled from Sunday to Saturday. Some only include one compartment per day, some two a…

Cotton, silk, linen, wool, rayon, lycra – our clothes are made from a huge number of different materials, and just as they have different properties, so too do they have different requirements in the wash. But how do you know what you need to do to take the best care of your new shirt or slacks? The care instructions written on the garment tags will tell you, you just have to learn how to read them. Symbols are used rather than words to convey information irrespective of language When it comes to caring for your clothes, symbols developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) are used rather than words to convey information irrespective of language. The symbols are all based on a handful of basic shapes relating to a…

Long haul home I was not surprised to read that Qantas had earned a 2022 Shonky Award, given my recent experience on returning from a holiday in the UK. Singapore Airlines delivered me to Mascot late on a Friday afternoon in good time to catch a scheduled Qantas direct Sydney to Hobart flight. I received a text on arrival advising the flight was delayed, then another five minutes later saying it was cancelled. The Qantas service desk was struggling but managed to book me on flights via Melbourne the following day. No explanation or apology for the cancellation was given and no assistance offered to find overnight accommodation, and no meal or taxi vouchers supplied. Finding accommodation late on a Friday night before the NRL grand final was another story.…

Prepaid travel money cards are offered by major banks, airlines and foreign exchange retailers. Before travelling overseas, you load money into the card account, locking in the exchange rate for foreign currencies at that time. You can then use the card for purchases and cash withdrawals just like a debit or credit card, usually wherever Visa and Mastercard are accepted. You can reload money on-the-go via an app or website. If the card is lost or stolen it can be replaced, usually at no cost to you. Some costs aren’t apparent immediately, such as hefty margins built into the exchange rates Prepaid travel money cards also give you assurance that you’re not handing the details of your everyday banking account to merchants you’re not familiar with, and they provide easy…

The trolleys seem to be getting bigger, the eggs are elusive, and the first thing inside the entrance is the squashable fruit and veg – which would surely be better placed on top of everything at the end. Not according to the vast amount of research underpinning the way your local supermarket is laid out. When you shop at Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, or even some of the smaller supermarket chains, every detail has been designed to make you spend more. From how many minutes it takes before you start buying on impulse, to which shade of yellow you like best for bananas – it’s all been studied by consumer psychologists and fed into supermarket design. If you feel good, you’re likely to buy more throughout the store Understanding these tricks…

With travel back on the cards, many of us are now booking those trips we’d put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you’re looking to avoid long queues at check-in and can do without a large suitcase, you might want to opt for a carry-on suitcase instead. Choose well, and it could become your long-term trusty travel companion. Choose badly, and you could end up with dodgy wheels, poor handles and too little space to bring your goodies back home. In the worst-case scenario, you may even have to replace your suitcase for the return trip. Expensive cases are often on sale at prices well below the recommended retail price So how much should you spend? Prices vary hugely – in our test alone, they range from $49…

Sweaty summer nights rarely result in good sleep, and a ‘cool’ mattress seems like the perfect solution. But our tests have found that vague terms such as “cooling gel”, “air flow”, “natural regulation” and so on tend to be nothing but marketing hype. Of all the models we’ve looked at over the years, only a handful have come back with a cool feel in our insulation assessment, and latex and spring mattresses have both been among those select few. Which means buying based on the mattress construction alone won’t necessarily guarantee you a cooler sleep. Buying based on the mattress construction alone won’t guarantee you a cooler sleep How we test mattress insulation The process is complicated but, in short, we use a powered thermal device to test mattress insulation.…

Every time we review portable air conditioners we’re struck by how poorly they perform in comparison to split-system air conditioners. If electric heaters are spot heaters in many cases, portable air cons could be considered ‘spot coolers’. On the plus side, they don’t need any hard-wired installation, so your landlord doesn’t need to give you permission to install it. It’s also important to note that ‘portable’ in our language is slightly different to a manufacturer’s idea of portable. ‘Portable’ in our language is slightly different to a manufacturer’s idea of portable You can install these units without modification to your building, but you generally wouldn’t want to lug one from room to room the way you do with a fan. They’re heavy (sometimes up to 40kg), not always easy to…

Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies I’ve been working as an investigative journalist with CHOICE for almost two years now and one of the biggest learning curves (along with getting my head around the details of Australian Consumer Law) has been understanding the way companies relate to the truth. Prior to joining CHOICE, I worked at SBS News and I wrote primarily about the federal government on issues such as immigration, asylum seekers, refugees and politics. Dealing with government departments and ministers’ offices is like dealing with a slippery sponge – you ask direct questions, you look politicians straight in the eye, and say, ‘Tell me, did this happen?’ And how do they answer? They duck, they dodge and they weave, they give you long, convoluted replies to…

Domestic and international travel is now back on the schedule for many Australians, but there are still concerns around how COVID-19 might affect travel plans. Rebookings and credit vouchers may be offered for cancelled flights, and refunds may be available if you ask. But it varies between airlines and depends on the type of fare you bought. Read your airline’s conditions of carriage to find out if you’re eligible. In fact, be prepared to quote these conditions back to the airline because they won’t always offer you a refund if you don’t ask. If you booked through a travel agent or online booking site, you may need to process bookings or refunds through them – they should be able to tell you how to do this. REFUNDS If Qantas cancels…

If you’re the kind of person that’s constantly losing your keys or wallet at home, then a Bluetooth tracker may be handy. These pocket-sized devices are essentially designed to make your ‘dumb’ items ‘smart’ by adding tracking capabilities to a smartphone or tablet app. And when you’re away from home and you can’t find your wallet, all you’ll need to do is bust out the app and it might lead you right to where you dropped it under the hotel bed. But, before you tear up your travel insurance policy, there are some limitations to the technology, as well as some safety aspects, to consider. How Bluetooth trackers work These pocket-sized devices come in three styles: • thin, credit-card sized trackers for your wallet• small buttons with a hole for…

Just five years ago, the mid-level price of a cordless stick vacuum was $299. Today, it’s about $624, with a number of high-end stick vacs from Dyson, LG and Samsung reaching the $1200 mark and beyond. These costlier models often come with extra features such as swappable batteries, automatic dust emptying stations, motorised cleaning heads, specialised cleaning tools, mop attachments, HEPA filters and dirt detection technology. Even Miele, a brand that traditionally focused on corded models, now has a range of stick vacs. And based on the number of visitors to our stick vacuums content on our website, we know our members love them too. So, what are the innovations our expert testers expect to see more of this year? Some stick vacs can analyse the amount of particles you’re…

For more than half a century that noisy, smelly 2-stroke (or one like it) was the only real option for beating back the Blue Couch. These days petrol mowers are thankfully all 4-stroke and take regular petrol. But battery technology has also come a long way and the right choice for your garden maintenance is no longer clear-cut (pun intended). Petrol mowers The tried and true workhorses of lawn care, petrol mowers usually do an excellent job of taming the toughest jobs and they’re quick to refuel, so they’re a good option for large lawns. But they can also be a hassle to start, the fuel is highly flammable, and they can be noisy and smelly. Battery technology has come a long way and the right choice for garden maintenance…