Dutch Deals with Cheaptickets.nl

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Having just booked some of my autumn holidays and enjoying Karen’s review on holiday.co.uk, I just realised that my preferred airline ticketing website is probably a bit obscure to many of our readers. Having lived in the Netherlands for many years, I have picked up a trick or two from the locals about getting a deal, and the website Cheaptickets.nl was probably one of the best tips I took with me to Edinburgh. Lucky for you, the website is now available in English but with the same great fares as before. Keep in mind, fares are quoted in Euros so be mind full of the ever-fluctuating currency rates, as noted in Karen’s recent post about the drop in the value of sterling against the Euro encouraging more Eurolanders to visit the UK

Rome Awaits - Copyright Andrew Hayes

Good

• Seamless displays of traditional airlines as well as low cost carriers, excellent for those localised services that you might not even be aware of
• Consistently competitive fares (although it wouldn’t be on here otherwise, right?)

Bad

• Not able to select individual flights and recalculate fare
• ‘Deals’ section highlighting destinations with super-low fares that are actually available don’t always apply to your home airport

Rating out of 10: 9

If you are worried about the Euros, you can at at least use the site to get a feeling for the flight schedules and airlines available for your journey. I have found flight options here that did not readily appear on other sites.

I tried a search for an Edinburgh-Rome return ticket for the first week of October. As fares rise and fall on a constant basis, you might have different results, but mine included:

- eBookers.com: from ВЈ219

- Expedia.co.uk: from ВЈ204

- Cheaptickets.nl: from ВЈ197 (1 GBP = 1.25 EUR)

So, not saving a huge amount in this instance, but if you really need to squeeze your pennies, it is always good to have another option. Do you know of other country-specific travel portals with great fares or good travel information that are translated in English?

Rome Awaits - Copyright Andrew Hayes

Good

• Seamless displays of traditional airlines as well as low cost carriers, excellent for those localised services that you might not even be aware of
• Consistently competitive fares (although it wouldn’t be on here otherwise, right?)

Bad

• Not able to select individual flights and recalculate fare
• ‘Deals’ section highlighting destinations with super-low fares that are actually available don’t always apply to your home airport

Rating out of 10: 9

If you are worried about the Euros, you can at at least use the site to get a feeling for the flight schedules and airlines available for your journey. I have found flight options here that did not readily appear on other sites.

I tried a search for an Edinburgh-Rome return ticket for the first week of October. As fares rise and fall on a constant basis, you might have different results, but mine included:

- eBookers.com: from ВЈ219

- Expedia.co.uk: from ВЈ204

- Cheaptickets.nl: from ВЈ197 (1 GBP = 1.25 EUR)

So, not saving a huge amount in this instance, but if you really need to squeeze your pennies, it is always good to have another option. Do you know of other country-specific travel portals with great fares or good travel information that are translated in English?

Roman Vines - Copyright Andrew Hayes

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  Roman Vines - Copyright Andrew Hayes

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Should I buy European car breakdown cover?

Posted by admin on July 17, 2008 under Europe Accommodation | Be the First to Comment

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If you’re taking your own car to mainland Europe this Summer you may be asking yourself if you should purchase European car breakdown cover. It’s hard to decide if you should buy breakdown cover but you have to weigh up the reliability of the your car, against the cost of the cover and what it might cost if you did break down on holiday.

In order to evaluate whether I’d buy European breakdown cover I though that I’d get prices from the two best known breakdown companies, the AA and the RAC.

Firstly I got a quote for cover for a two week period from 16 - 30 July 2008 based on my car a 2004 Skoda Fabia.

AA ВЈ62.73

RAC ВЈ59.30

Then I got a quote for the 12 month cover where you’d be covered for trips of up to 90 days duration, If you plan to take a trip of more than 3 weeks or motor to Europe on more than one occasion during a twelve month period then an annual policy would be a good buy.

AA ВЈ103.90

RAC ВЈ103.50

So there’s not a lot of difference in the price between the two. Both offer an additional 10% discount to existing members.

Would I buy cover? I’m not sure, if I was only going to make one trip for a couple of weeks as my car has been totally reliable over the last four years I would be tempted to risk going without breakdown cover. However if I was going to make a long trip of more than 4 weeks or multiple trips to Europe during the twelve month period then I’d consider it good value.

photo by andrijbulba

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How to avoid paying the recently tripled Ryanair debit card handling charge

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I did a double take today when I was writing about the current Ryanir ВЈ2 flights to Ireland promotion, I was checking in the price and availability of these flights when I noticed that Ryanair are now charging a ВЈ4 handling charge per flight for both credit and debit cards. I thought that it sounded pretty steep, especially the debit card fee, as I was sure it was usually significantly lower than the debit card charge. I referred back to a post I’d written on June 7 2008 about Ryanair’s free flights and sure enough on that date the debit card fee was ВЈ1.20 and the credit card fee ВЈ3.20. That’s a whopping increase of ВЈ2.80. or more than tripling, per flight if you pay by debit card.

There is a way around this as currently you pay no Ryanair card handling charges if you pay by Visa Electron card. I decided that I should open an bank account which offers a Visa Electron card. I discovered that the Halifax offer an Easy Cash account with a Visa Electron, so I’ve applied. However be aware that this no handling charge for VIsa Electron is supposedly for a limited time only.

photo by glass on the shelf

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Ryanair flights from UK to Ireland for ВЈ2 return (plus card handling charge)

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Ryanair are offering flights from the UK to Ireland for only ВЈ2 return if you book by midnight on Friday 18 July 2008. However as I highlighted previously Ryanair do charge card handling fees, even on free flights. It’s now ВЈ4 for a credit or debit card for each flight but if you have an Electron card then there is no charge.

by dllisbona

The offer is available for flights from 1 September 2008 to 31 October 2008 with certain blackout dates. You can only fly on Mondays after 12:00, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Thursday before 12:00 and Saturday after 12:00.

I did a quick availability check and found several flights from Edinburgh to Dublin during the first two weeks in September for ВЈ10 return, including the ВЈ8 card handling charges.

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  by dllisbona
  

  The offer is available for flights from 1 September 2008 to 31 October 2008 with certain blackout dates. You can only fly on Mondays after 12:00, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Thursday before 12:00 and Saturday after 12:00.

  I did a quick availability check and found several flights from Edinburgh to Dublin during the first two weeks in September for ВЈ10 return, including the ВЈ8 card handling charges.

  Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

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  Copyright © Europe A La Carte

  Original source here…

Guest interview - Cheryl Swaby of Buddies4travel

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Cheryl Swaby is the founder of the Buddies4travel site which matches solo women travellers who would prefer to travel in the company of a female buddy with similar interests, destination preferences and budget.

1 What is the aim of your business?

The aim of Buddies4travel.co.uk is to promote safer travel 4 women by providng a like minded Buddy to travel with.

2 What prompted you to set up your own business?

During my travels to Lake Garda, Italy, I met several lone women who said they would travel more often if they had someone to go with. Often friends or relatives cannot make the dates, don’t like the chosen travel destination, unable to afford or are unsuitable buddies as they may prefer to stay all day on the beach when in fact an exciting adventure was required of the holiday. During my Lake Garda holiday I organised the ladies to meet up for sightseeing tours and evening meals . We even saved money sharing taxis together. That’s when the idea for Buddies4travel came up.

3 What’s been the hardest aspect of running your own business?

Juggling loads of things at once can be the hardest .

4 What’s the funniest thing that’s happened to you running your business?

After a full spread feature of a national Sunday supplement, I received and email from a man who wanted to be my Buddy.The email message was nice until i read his surname..”Sutcliffe” isn’t that the name of that Jack the Ripper who is now behind bars? I think somebody was having a laugh that day.

5 What would you have done differently with hindsight?

I would have changed my first “webdesigner” a lot sooner instead of waiting weeks and weeks and no work being done on my website.

My comments - I think that there is demand for a service like this. Some women are quite happy to travel solo, whereas others would prefer female companionship. I travel quite bit on my own and it’s the evenings that can be lonely sometimes. I don’t like eating out on my own in the evening. I know that travelling solo can be more expensive especially with whopping single room supplements.

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BreakFest 2008

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This year’s open-air electronic music festival will be held from till , in the military area near (250 km from Prague) in the district of the region…

: IxInDaMix (Audiotrix), Arok (IOT Records), MidiLink (Tomahawk), 69 dB (Network 23), PsiXer (Psychospores/Cirkus Alien), Pavel (DopeFood), Fonzi Beat aka Rotax vs. SaouLaTerre, Baunz (Touch Response)

The music festival is an opportunity to introduce the sound of breakbeat to the Czech people, and it is a more family oriented alternative to the CzechTek

There are no cottages or hotel rooms for rent this year. It’s possible to camp with tents and vehicles in the area.

:

Thursday-Tuesday - EUR 10 (CZK 250) / person

Sunday-Tuesday - EUR 4 (CZK 100) / person

Thursday-Tuesday - EUR 4 (CZK 100) / car

more info: mayapur.cz

The dressed up bus - cheap travel in style

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Picture this: you are reclining in a spacious, comfortable chair, deciding if you remember enough German from school to make an effort to read the newspaper that was handed out to you at departure. The stewardess comes up to you, and asks what you would like to drink. You ask for a hot chocolate, but then change your mind to a cappuccino-maybe the caffeine buzz will get your German going-and she smiles and walks briskly down the aisle to fill your order. Meanwhile, you turn to gaze out your enormous, plasma TV-sized window at the rolling meadows of the Austrian countryside. Your drink has arrived and you pull down your tray from the back of the seat in front of you and relax as your favorite Hugh Grant movie starts to play on the TV screens that have been lowered from the ceiling. When it’s over, you will probably get out your laptop and use the free wi-fi to find a good German-English dictionary. What could be better than this leisurely travel? How about knowing that you paid only 20 pounds for a roundtrip ticket?

by m-louis

No, you’re not on an airplane, you are on a Student Agency bus from Prague to Vienna, but that doesn’t mean you had to dig out your faded uni ID and pull a hat down over your head.At this Prague-based budget travel agency, 10 to 20 percent discounts are given to students under the age of 26, but anyone can travel at the full price, which is usually already incredibly low. Though the website has limited sections in English (flights, but not bus deals, are available in English), you can call the Prague office at +420.800.100.300 or if you are already in Prague, visit them at JeДЌnГЎ 37, 120 00, Prague 2, to speak with their enthusiastic and helpful travel agents. Student Agency travels to many popular Western and Central European destinations by bus (yes, even a 24-hour, 25 pound journey to London from Prague), and to a huge variety of international locations by air. The flight deals are not always competitive in comparison to low budget airlines, and usually fill up very quickly, especially around the holidays, so plan ahead.

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12 Weird Citroen 2CV Cars

Posted by admin on July 13, 2008 under One stop travel guide to Paris | Be the First to Comment

When it comes to automobiles, the Italians are world-famous for making cars sexy and sleek, and the Germans are well-known for their precision engineering. French car-makers, on the other hand, are primarily known for their inability make cars that anyone outside France would want to buy - and the Citroen 2CV is a perfect example.

Okay, so there are some French car manufacturers which have had some success outside France, but one look at the odd Citroen 2CV will tell you that automotive design is not a French strong-point.

The Citroen 2CV is one of those cars that’s so ugly it’s almost cute - and it’s got something of a cult following these days. It was in production from 1949 all the way up through 1990, a stunning 42 years. More than 9 million cars bore the 2CV design in that time, and you’ll still see these things on the roads today.

But many Citroen 2CV fans can’t leave well enough alone, and they’ve transformed their beloved 2CVs into something else altogether. Call it art, call it asinine, it’s certainly individual. And while you may not see these 2CVs on the streets of Paris, you may see the unmodified version - be on the lookout, and let us know what you’d turn your 2CV into.

There really isn’t anything at all threatening about the 2CV. It doesn’t go very fast, and it’s certainly not going to make a Ferrari feel inferior in the looks department, either. But someone looked at this Citroen 2CV and saw a monster. So, they turned it into one.

Paris Tourism Week: Paris Smiles For You - or Tries!

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We are in the midst of Paris Tourism Week (which began July 5, 2008 and will continue through July 14, Bastille Day, ‘08). The ‘event’ has expanded from Paris Tourism Day last year. I did not participate in the huge ’smile formation’ yesterday - and honestly the idea of a ‘Smiling Paris’ just seems kind of weird. Normally when you’re in a city like Paris or New York, if somebody’s smiling, he’s either a lunatic, a tourist, or just about to drag you over the coals. For so many years, I’ve taken it as a challenge to eke out a nanosecond glimmer from a grumpy Parisian waiter or shop keeper. It often resembles much the sort of smile you can see on Rodin’s bemused Monsieur Balzac or the vacant, dazed smiles of Carpeaux’s The Dance models. I like that kind of smile - filled with questions as opposed to the dazzling Disneyesque, “Am I not wonderful?”

But setting aside the smiles philo for a while, tourists will have plenty of reason to grin if this happiness trend continues (that is, the tourist office handing out freebies to get you to stay in Paris a day or two longer). Even if you don’t arrive in time to enjoy some of the DISCOUNTS and FREE offers for this summer’s tourist week (July 5 to July 14, 2008) this looks like another summer rite that’s bound to continue if the European and US economies continue to stagnate.

Here are some of the goodies that will make you smile:

Parisian for a Day

Get a free walking tour in English or French

Tuesday, July 8th ‘Smile Point’ Sorbonne at 10:30 am and 12 noon

Thursday, July 10th at the Madeleine ‘Smile Point’ at 10:30 and 12 noon

1VISIT4you.com.

Tel. 06 18 54 24 95

Hotel Goodies

A Free Hotel Room Just Because You’re the Funniest of them all?

Tell a joke and you could win a FREE Hotel stay. Yes, it’s hard to believe, especially when I think that the Hotel Arcadie and the Hotel Waldorf (Montpartnasse district) are sponsoring this contest (I’ve mentioned Hotel Arcadie in past posts as a modestly-priced nice place to stay according to friends)

Hotel Arcadie Montparnasse

71 Avenue du Maine 75014

Tel 01 43 20 91 11

Metro: Gaite

www.hotel-paris-arcadie.com

Hotel Waldorf

17 Rue du Depart

Tel: 01 43 20 64 79

www.hotel-paris-waldorf.com

Joke telling contest. (July 6 to July 14, 2008) Any person knowing a good joke or funny story in French, Italian, Spanish or German is invited to share. Up until July 31st everyone can vote on the jokes and help select the winning joke. The prize is two free nights in either the Arcadie or Waldorf hotels (contact the hotels for details) and a free cruise on the Seine. In addition to the ‘Best Joke Contest’, one person will be selected at random among all who participated in voting for the best joke. That lucky random voter will receive one free night and a free boat ride on the Seine.

More deals:

Other participating hotels are offering free brunches, drinks etc. during Tourism Week. Check out the Paris Smiles Program for details.

Paris Smiles for You Program for the Week

>> More on Cheap Hotels in Paris

Happy Hours

You can download the list of participating restaurants, bars and cafes that are offering ‘happy hour’ prices or discounts for Paris Tourism Week. Every little bit helps, n’est-ce pas? Given the price of a beer in this city.

It’s nice to see that the Office of Tourism is pulling out all the stops to make tourists feel at home - and loved in the big city - but the real fun will begin on July 14th, Bastille Day. That’s when you really will want to get out in the streets of Paris to enjoy the annual celebration (which actually starts off on July 13th with the Place de la Bastille Ball at 8 pm).

More on Bastille Day tomorrow.

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