USA seems to have stopped its requirement for a pre flight covid test now so I expect the Mrs and I will be out to our sons in Florida in the next few months.
Cheers,
Neil.
Had a week in Malta over half term. Lovely island, people and weather. Flew with BA which are a shadow of what they were but they at least flew on time! No issues at Gatwick either! Now we’ve broken the seal looking at where next, wife fancies Greece!
Going to Kuala Lumpur and bali for August, im absolutely dreading the airport but it all goes smoothly! First post covid holiday and not before time....
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France in August. Anyone noticed any extra issues on the Eurotunnel since Brexit?
had a trip to japan late August planned with flights ‘paid’ for by avios and a companion voucher but Japan is still not open to tourists apart from a few guided tours from select countries as a trial for moving to fully open.
So that’s going to be cancelled with probably a future travel voucher and we’ll try again next year, quite relieved as a delayed flat purchase and renovation means the coffers are going to be raided and the works likely to get close to the trip dates.
shorter trip to Riga and down the coast to Jurmala planned instead whenever the flat is finished.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Just been looking through this thread as we have not been away for coming up to 3 years what with one thing and another. As my wife has a significant birthday coming up later in the year I have been looking at a multi destination break. We are pretty well travelled but she has told me she has always fancied going to Hawaii. I have been looking at maybe going to San Francisco for a few days then on to Hawaii. Our last few breaks we have used Expedia to book our holidays. I was wondering what companies the well travelled people on this thread use? Any recommendations or avoid at all costs suggestions?
Just book it direct with the airlines and hotels. Alternatively we used Travel Nation for a multi centre holiday in the states.
https://www.travelnation.co.uk/
If it is just flights and a couple of hotels I’d do it myself.
Thanks for the replies. I will probably just book through expedia, although I will be looking at the packages offered by the likes of Kuoni etc.
Well we had an email yesterday from EasyJet yesterday saying that the flight today was being operated by Smartlynx Latvia, which I guess is to help alleviate their issues. Stayed in Bristol last night, woke at 3am to check if we’d been cancelled. Got to the airport by 4am to be cautious. Half an hour to get through security which wasn’t too bad. Flight delayed by 40 minutes but they seemed to catch up some of that. Plane and cabin crew were great.
Got to Florence without any issues and now relaxing :-)
As an aside the last time I was in Florence in 2015, I bought a non date sub from the Rolex AD on the Ponte Vecchio bridge for £4,000. Got offered 10% off straight away.
The bridge isn’t that big and only has 15 to 20 shops maximum there . . . . Of those shops there’s the Rolex AD and the holy trinity - Patek, VC and AP!
Sounds interesting. Foodwise I'm looking forward to the Outer banks Seafood boil with lobster, crab, shrimp, had one for my BD when we went last year, yum , yum, that's definitely happening again. After the beach lolling we're going to spend some days in the Great Smoky Mountains, do some hiking in the forests, take in the views.
Why?
I very rarely book a package and as we are retired we take five to six holidays a year.
Had a big one cancelled six months into pandemic- took a while but got full refunds on everything- in fact the US hotels were very quick which is more than can be said if Virgin!
Yep but the flight is covered and many hotels don’t want paying until you get there now. If I’ve had doubts about particular hotels, I just use Expedia which gives a bit more security- always pay for them with a credit card and always have decent travel insurance.
The only time I’ve had issues was at the start of the pandemic when an ABTA travel agent refused to give any refund or help with a cancellation!
Decision time for me. I've got the first week of July off and probably got my last chance for a while to go abroad with my wife. Should I risk the current travel chaos or plan a week in Devon?
If I wasn’t going long haul I’d be looking to stay in the U.K. / use the train to France.
SIL just had their flight last to Portugal cancelled next week. Gutted for them as it was going to be their first holiday in 4 years since having a child / covid and finances allowing.
Too much still up in the air for my liking at the moment.
No flights this year - too much grief. Maybe back to Nova Scotia next year - away from the crowds..
There isn’t really any chaos. We have just travelled to Crete- no issues. Son has just had 4 days in Marbella- no issues. Most people don’t have any issues, I’d go ahead and book somewhere , we are paying €50 a night here and even with flights you won’t get cheaper in Devon!
Went to and from Manchester the past week or so - expected Hell but was through security in 35 mins and coming back I was on the M62 driving home within 40 mins of landing (and that included a walk to the car park).
Go abroad. Despite a delays and chronic understaffing at Manchester T1, we got through and had 8 nights in Turkey during half term. The moment you sit by a pool with a beer in hand and the sun on your skin it all feels worth it and I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.
If it could be avoided I’d fly from a smaller airport, and go out of school holidays.
Off to Madeira 4 weeks today, when the first lockdown came in our cases were at the front door to go that morning, tickets in email today, wife unusually happy at the mo.
That’s where I’ve just come back from (Madeira).
First time I’d been and it was quite lovely.
Landing was uneventful :)
We've been before and had "interesting" landings, one included a trip to the Canaries for an hour, best was when were unable to leave and had an extra free day at an all inclusive hotel.
Years ago I did a helicopter tour around Madeira. Helicopter was tiny and didn’t seem particularly well built. Quite an eventful trip though scenery was stunning. Took us out over one of the largest sheer cliff drops in the world which was somewhat scary!
I'll be in Madeira this summer also, along with everyone else from TZ.
Looking at a last minute getaway for the first week in July, Turkey is obviously a lot cheaper than everywhere else because of their attempt to beat inflation by printing cash. I've been on an Istanbul city break to Turkey many years ago but not on a beach holiday...recommended or not?
Covid aside I go to Bodrum yearly. Nice place, great food, depends what you’re into though. Careful you don’t end up with the Burberry baseball cap crew, that would be horrific. Stay away from those sorts of places if you can.
Flying to Alicante on Saturday for our first family holiday in 3 years - pushing the budget with a private villa.
Think it will differ to past holidays as in the interim our teenagers have grown into blokes so will probably be out on the lash at night :eek:
Just got back from 3 amazing nights in Florence. It was definitely worth the stress beforehand. Both flights were around 40 minutes late departing so not too bad. Bristol airport check in and security a bit longer than normal so we arrived a bit earlier and everything was good.
Been to Florence briefly before but 3 days was fantastic, managed to see and do loads :-)
Mrs Beanie is interested in Hawaii, probably 2024 (holiday for December/January this year already sorted) couple of days in LA going, couple in San Francisco on the way back. We are thinking about an island cruise to see as much as possible but haven't done much research yet so please update us with how you get on.
San Fran is an epic city, Alcatraz tour a must do and worth booking well in advance. The key to any cruise is matching your own needs to the offer. There is a world of difference to the feel of large vs small ships, more mature demographic vs family, formal vs informal. Any cruiser needs to work out their sweet spot and then a company like cruise.co.uk that has the right expertise can look to match you up with a cruise that is best matched to your needs.
I'll echo what you say about SF, we stopped for a few days on the way back from Oz in 2010.
Alcatraz was very immersive and there was an ex-prisoner signing books when we went.
Having stayed on Fisherman's Wharf, I think We may look at Union Square if we go again.
Thanks for the suggestions re the cruise, I have bookmarked The Home of the Real Cruise People.
I've been to SF a few times with business and really enjoyed it. Alcatraz was great. But I'll just point out that there has been a big increase in homelessness and associated drug issues recently that seems to be spilling out of the tradition Tenderloin area into surrounding ones based on what I have read.
We are off to Barbados for two weeks. My family (6 of us) were going to fly from Manchester and my brother's family (5 of them) from London on the same morning. Our flights with Virgin have been moved to London so now we are all flying together. Also, good news this week too as there are now no COVID tests required for vaccinated visitors to the island. Fingers crossed all will be well between now and the summer holidays.