Book Review: Upgraded! How To Save Money And Fly In Luxury Using Avios Points– Are you one of the 99% who would love to fly Business Class but can’t afford it? This book is for you….

Despite having a very good knowledge of air miles schemes, I knew very little about Avios points when I picked up this book so I was intrigued to see what it had in store.

I often read blogs about how to snag free or cheap upgrades but in reality, most of them don’t work. I have tried every ‘trick in the book’ to get upgraded on flights and despite it working once or twice (mostly down to dumb luck), in reality an airline will not upgrade your seat for the simple reason that its clients who have handed over literally thousands of pounds to fly in Business / First class would not be very happy sitting next to someone who paid an economy fare… and Business class passengers are the last type of clientele they want to displease!

Without giving away too much of this book’s top secret tips, Avios appears to be the next best thing in snagging aviation discounts and from countless proven accounts, it actually works! The book talks you through in a step-by-step approach, all you need to know to gain Avios points to snatch discounted flights or upgrade your seat to a Premium cabin for a mere percentage of the going market rates.

The book explains – in some depth – exactly how and where to collect Avios points, and where to spend them and gives very honest accounts on what is beneficial to you, and what is not. It is very simple – if you commit yourself fully and put a little time and effort into the Avios scheme, you genuinely can fly for peanuts!

It is the first book I have seen of its kind which actually breaks down the travel ‘zones’ and how many points are required to fly to these destinations, in which cabin, and roughly the value of points to be collected in various places, including Tesco Clubcard points!! Who knew that?!

To summarise, if you fly with British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Air Malta, Flybe, Monarch, Air Auringy, Qatar or Finnair, for business or leisure travel, this book is an absolute must read for you if you want to save a lot of money and get cheaper flights, or if you want to see how the other half live and travel in luxury.

Having flown in Business / First class myself several times, I can say from experience that once you have experienced it, you will not want to fly Economy again. I have just set up my first Avios account already and you can do the same at https://www.avios.com/

To purchase your very own copy of this incredible book, ClickHere!

Happy Travels!

Cuddle Your Globe

Travel Blogger

13 Tips To Help You Avoid Being Scammed While Travelling

We have all been there – a horrible unjust has occurred that feels like your dream holiday has turned into a nightmare. You feel helpless, distressed, scared, angry, maybe even furious… But the worst part about being scammed abroad is being out of your comfort zone and not having friends / family in easy contact and more importantly, having different laws to abide by. Needless to say, it’s a very unpleasant situation that can cost a lot of money and easily ruin your holiday. 

I have been inspired to write a blog to help others avoid a scam situation either abroad or at home and to give advice on what to do if you find yourself a victim. I have based the blog on travel to any country and any continent. Cultures and law varies and sometimes, paying money out that you shouldn’t have to can save heftier unjusts, such as prison. This blog is a guide to differentiate and help you in these situations.

The most important thing to remember when travelling in general is to be savvy and careful. These tips may seem like there is no fun to be left when travelling but that’s not the case, they are really helpful but sadly there are no guarantees of avoidance. 

Scam and con artists are ruthless and genius and will try anything to succeed. I consider myself to be very streetwise and still found myself mugged in the street in Asia – it happens!!

1. The Hotel Scam

Some people consider a hotel a ‘safe zone’. Don’t. If anybody rings your room telephone claiming to be hotel staff and asks for clarification of credit card details, hang up and visit the front desk for clarification. Don’t leave cash or valuables laying around the room. In some cultures, maids accept cash left out as a tip. If it was not meant to be taken, don’t leave it out. Be careful of bulk safes kept behind reception. I have heard of ‘inside jobs’ where the safes have been raided and all cash / valuables / passports were taken. If you have an in room digital safe, use it for all of your valuables. If you are cautious I would recommend ensuring your hotel has this facility prior to booking.

2. The Booking Scam

When booking your trip, the golden rule is if something seems to good to be true, it probably is. Shop around and compare prices. They should be reasonable comparable with other companies. If using a travel agent, I cannot stress enough how important it is to ensure they are fully ABTA and ATOL bonded before you hand over your cash. If they are not and they go insolvent, wave goodbye to your money and holiday. Credit card insurance alone is not enough. There have been incidents of people being scammed for over €90,000 from a timeshare con. Do your research before you book.

3. The Overweight Baggage Scam

I will not name individual airlines but I have experienced this scam personally. I have travelled on an international scheduled flight having pre-weighed my luggage and had it verified at check in, only to check in for a domestic flight with a different airline, usually a budget airline when I have pre-paid for up to 20kg to find out that my case that has always weighed 19kg suddenly weighs 24kg, according to their scales and they are demanding $30 per kilo over the 20kg. If you are in this situation, keep calm! Do not shout at the staff, it is not their fault. Politely explain that you are certain the bag is underweight and ask for them to use a different scale. Tell them you cannot afford to pay. Failing these, pay the fee. In some countries, failing to pay this fee can result in bigger fines, deportation or prison. Be warned.

4. The Hire Car Damage Scam

When you collect you hire car, abroad or at home, always check it for existing damage before you get in. Be thorough and report anything you find. On returning the hire car, allow enough time before flights etc to go through an inventory with the staff to ensure you are not left with a larger than planned credit card bill. If there is damage that they think to be caused by you, they will charge you. When you hire the car, always ensure it has CDW (collision damage waiver) and I recommend taking any option extra insurance offered such as tyre and windscreen cover.

5. The Insurance Scam

Separate to the above, when driving abroad (similarly to at home) always be alert and vigilant for other road users. Be prepared for somebody to slam their brakes on in front you. If they do and you crash into them, you just fell victim to the insurance scam which can be more unpleasant than at home as car hire insurance doesn’t always cover for equivalent fully comprehensive.

6. Don’t Get Too Drunk

Yes, most of us like to have a cocktail or two on holiday. Don’t ever lose sight of your surroundings. Alcohol causes a well known delay in reactions and a deluded sense of confidence which makes us all vulnerable prey to scammers.

7. Don’t Buy Drugs.

This one goes without saying really. You are breaking the law. Why on earth would you trust a complete stranger who claims to be selling drugs anyway?! There have been incidents of police offering to sell drugs in some countries, only to arrest and heavily bribe the tourist. This is best case. Other alternatives can include 10 years imprisonment. Just don’t do it.

8. The Crowd Scam

Busy crowds are breeding grounds for this kind of behaviour. Pickpocketing becomes easier and there have been cases of the fake injury scam by ‘bumping’ into a stranger, causing damage to something expensive in which they demand you pay for. If you can’t avoid crowds, be extra careful.

9. The Border Crossing Scam

These are rife in most developing countries, especially on public buses. The bus stops before the official visa check / immigration point and somebody claiming to be official demands money, or worse to check your passport and disappears with it. If in doubt, ask for I.D. Discuss it with other travellers. Somebody else may have done this before and give reassurance. Failing that if there is cause for concern, the scam is less likely to be successful if everybody ‘teams up’.

10. The Hiring Things Scam

This is most common with water sports and mopeds. You get a super cheap deal to hire the equipment, have loads of fun, but when you return it, the staff point out damage and claim you did it and you have to pay a lot of compensation. You can barter, explain, beg, plead, even threaten a lawyer. In many counties, this won’t stand and failure to pay will result in an army of locals claiming they ‘saw you do it’. Try negotiations and pay the fine. It’s easier than prison. The best way to avoid this situation is don’t hire anything without official documentation to protect both parties, unless you can afford to pay.

11. The Fake Cop Scam

It is common is some countries for scammers to pretend to be police in order to gain trust and demand to see passports / money, only to take items and disappear. The bottom line is, if in doubt ask them for identification. If they can’t produce it, say ‘No.’ And walk away. 

12. The Travel Agent Scam

In every country there are thousands of local tour operators. Generally they are fine to use. BUT, be careful. If you are spending a lot of money on a local tour, it is sometimes best to use a reputable agency or the Concierge desk in your hotel.

13. The Dodgy Cab Scam

Never use an unlicensed taxi, period. If you use a licenced taxi, do research beforehand to find out the best company to use. Failure to do so can easily result in a nasty situation where you are locked inside a car with an angry driver demanding much more money than you are happy to pay. If in doubt, agree a fare before you leave. The chances are the taxi driver knows where you are staying – don’t forget that!!

Be safe out there folks!!

Cuddle your Globe xoxo

How To Arrange Your Holiday Visa to Anywhere

Many destinations now require a visa for entry, even as a tourist.

This blog will help you regardless of you nationality and destination.

I am not going to list every country and every nationality link that requires a visa because frankly, I don’t have the time or space on my blog. What I can share with you should save you a lot of time and money.

Whatever your nationality and wherever you are travelling to, you can quickly and easily check your visa requirements by looking on the embassy website.

NOW, bare in mind that there will be hundreds of companies posing as the official visa website, always click on the link to the website with the word ’embassy’ in it.

For example;

http://www.chinese-embassy.org.uk

There will be step by step instructions on how to apply for a visa and all the fees. Other companies will offer to process your visa for you, but you will often pay more than 100% mark up for the Priveledge. Yes it’s fiddly and time consuming to do it yourself, but it is straight forward and will save you lots of cash. If you are worried about making a mistake, either get a friend to help you, or most embassies themselves will charge a smaller fee to check it and allow and reapply if you have made an error.

To test the theory, I am a British Citizen and I looked at the cost of a tourist visa to China. It’s £85. The first of these so-called official visa companies I looked at that was not the official embassy website was charging £171 for exactly the same visa! I’m not trying to put these companies out of business because if you can afford to pay extra and don’t have the time or energy to do it yourself then I guess it’s worth paying the extra, but at least shop around a bit.

Some countries off the top of my head that will almost certainly require a visa for tourist entry are;

China

USA

Australia

Vietnam 

India

Again, this will all depend on what passport you are travelling on.

This doesn’t apply with ‘visa on arrival’ which is common in countries like Egypt and Indonesia which is basically just a tourist entry fee and is done, on arrival, like it says on the tin.

I hope this helps you and saves you from being ripped off.

How to Get an Extra Holiday for FREE and Avoid Long Layovers on Connecting Flights and What Exactly a ‘Transit’ or ‘Stopover’ Means.

Some people will know a little about this. I know that many others know nothing at all, I hope this post helps all of you in some way in your future travels.

When you are travelling super duper long haul, there is only a maximum amount of distance one flight can take you due to fuel restrictions etc, so it’s very common to take a connecting flight to your destination. Sometimes these flights have 2 or more ‘transits’. A transit is basically when you remain airside at an airport in any given destination, without clearing immigration, awaiting boarding your connecting onward flight. This means you have booked the entirety of your journey on one ticket and any checked luggage will be sent through to your final destination for you, and you just need to change aircraft.

More often than not, flights with one or more transits are much cheaper than flying direct, so this is a great way to save some coins if time is on your side.

So, you may often find amazingly cheap flights that involve a connection time at an airport of over ten hours. This is often because of busy dates and limited availability on the flights with good connection times. Take note;

• This can be excruciatingly dull and you can easily spend what you saved on the flight cost actually inside the airport.
• Officially a ‘transit’ is only a transit if your connection is under 8 hours. This means you may require a transit visa for 8 hours and 10 minutes, incurring more fees.
• Anything over 24 hours will certainly require a visa, if required in your stopover destination.

So basically, if you are only considering doing a long transit to save a few pennies, I would say it’s not worth it.

BUT… There is a much better solution. 

• Be flexible with your dates. Moving your outbound date by just one day could shorten your total journey time by many hours and free up availability in your perfect connecting flight.
• Abuse the situation and swap your awful long transit to a stopover!!

What is a stopover, you ask?

A stopover is a planned break in your journey. For example, say you book a flight from London- Sydney, with a transit in Dubai. Your luggage will be checked from London to Sydney and in Dubai, you change planes. What you CAN do is actually book a flight to Dubai, stay for a few days and then fly onwards to Sydney. This means you will collect your hold bags at Dubai, clear immigration, leave the airport and return to check in again for your Dubai – Sydney flight. * Please note that all ticket rules vary and whilst many airlines offer this free of charge, some will charge a small fee and there will likely be a small airport tax increase. 

So, if you are flying through Dubai anyway, make the most and tick that country off your list.

Emirates via Dubai is just an example but this can work on almost ANY flight ticket with a transit.

Happy free holiday hunting!

Cheaper Flights in the UK

The Scottish National Party (SNP) are planning to reduce the APD (air passenger duty) which is a large bulk of the tax we all pay on our flight tickets, by half for all flights departing from Scottish airports. This is an attempt to boost tourism, economy and employment in Scotland.

A one way long haul ticket for an adult out of the U.K. currently has APD of around £73. (£12 for short haul and considerably more in premium cabins). So expect to pay half of these in the future if you fly from the chilly northern country.

What does this mean for Brits?

If you live halfway between Scotland and England, it will be miles more financially beneficial for you to fly from Scotland.

Airlines will likely be encouraged to relocate or increase flights from Scotland in attempt to make revenue.

If you book early enough, trains from parts of the U.K. To Scotland will save you money overall when compared to flying from your local airport.

3 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Claim Travel Compensation Unless Essential..

I do not mean travel insurance claims. Of course if you need to claim for medical reasons or any other legitimate reasons, you should!

I am discussing the ‘middle-man compo’ companies who state you are entitled to claim compensation if your flight is delayed by more than 3 hours or for food poisoning in Egypt etc etc. Here’s why;

1. Nothing in life is free. Every time some uptight twit claims money back from an airline or tour operator because their £500 holiday ego has been dented, guess what happens? They hoik up the rest of their premiums to cover the losses. So we all end up paying more.

2. Blood pressure. It’s not worth getting yourself worked up enough because you arrived in Malaga 5 hours later than planned. Yes, it can be a huge inconvenience to be delayed. Let it go. Enjoy the rest of your holiday. Fretting about it will likely ruin your holiday and increase your blood pressure. Having a stroke in Tenerife is not fun.

3. Plan better. Don’t stay in a cruddy 3* hotel in Sharm El Sheikh. You know the drill, frankly if you do, you deserve food poisoning. Don’t plan a flight that lands in an hour before your meeting because flight delays are common.Welcome to aviation – your fault!

People who do the things I have listed above really piss me off and ruin travel for the rest of us.

Have a nice day.

  

So long, US Airways

  
Last night US Airways operated their last ever fight. It departed San Francisco at 21.55 hours and headed for Philadelphia for 6am local time this morning.

It was given the flight number US1939 to mark the year the small airline began operations as All American Aviation in Philadelphia. It changed its name to the better known, US Airways in 1997.

It’s not all tears, though… In 2012 US Airways merged with American Airlines so the aircraft will still get to transport happy passengers, just with a shiny new lick of paint!

Do you fly more than once a year? Get ready to pay more tax…

  
In the recent national controversial debates with regards to the planned expansion of London Aiports (Heathrow and Gatwick) and the effects it will have on our environment, another solution may have been found. Green Peace MP, Caroline Lucas has, for some time, been backing an idea of replacing APD (Air Passenger Duty, which is basically the bulk of the tax we all pay when we fly) with FFL (Frequent Flyer Levy).

The idea behind this scheme is that the people who fly the most will pay more tax than those who take an annual holiday. It is thought the most frequent flyers are just 15% of the population but they take a whopping 70% of the flights and approximately 90% of these are short haul, so Green Peace hope that by implementing a scheme resulting in frequent travellers having to pay more tax to fly (increasing with each outbound flight per annum) will ease the strain on airports as people will begin to use trains and other modes of transport. It will also be better for the economy and residents near the airports.

The good news if you only fly once a year as a family holiday… you may not have to pay any tax at all resulting in very cheap flights!

What are your thoughts on this?

*SECRETS OF THE TRAVEL TRADE* – tips on how to find and book the best and cheapest flights (from an insider!)

Here I am revealing the top secrets of the travel agent / airline ticket industry. I hope you find this useful when you come to purchase your flights!

There are three different types of airlines:- Charter, Budget (low cost) and Scheduled airlines.

Charter flights are usually operated by a package holiday operator and operate a slightly flexible schedule; usually seasonally / once a week e.g, and include the likes of Thomson, Thomas Cook and Monarch and are aimed at holidaymakers.

Budget, or Low Cost flights operate usually a bit more frequently but can still be seasonal (depending on destination) and include Ryanair, Easyjet, Wizz Air, Jet Blue or Virgin Australia etc. They are no frills and low cost and you have to pay for lots of hidden extras such as airport check in and hold luggage.

The third type of flight is scheduled flights; these are the main carriers who run flights on specific routes and specific times and include BA, Virgin, Emirates, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, American Airlines, Delta etc etc etc, the list goes on. Scheduled airlines generally offer a better service in terms of reliability, in flight entertainment, luggage allowance, meals / drinks on board.

I am not going to discuss charter and budget flights in any great depth but I will tell you, they will usually cost you less than a scheduled flight if you have the choice of either options which are flying the same route. If there is any possibility you will need to change the name on the ticket, book with a low cost or charter company as scheduled airlines NEVER allow a name change. You will still need to check the rules of your ticket with your agent to see if a name change is permitted. The other point I will make is that if you want to book a flight with a charter or budget airline, just book direct with the airline / company, on their website or in store. No third party travel agent receives concession or commission on these tickets and with their fees and commission mark up you will often end up paying a lot more, despite what they tell you when booking. By third party I mean they have no direct affiliation with them (for example, this will not apply if booking a Thomsonfly flight through Thomson holidays travel agent.) Booking package holidays with charter flights is pretty much the only time in the travel world where you can find a ‘late deal’. If they have not sold their hotel rooms / flights when the travel dates are approaching, they are likely to drop their prices.

Scheduled flights are the main airlines who deal with travel agents and offer agencies a discounted rate which is why you will normally able to find flights a lot cheaper by booking through a third party than direct on the airlines website. So where do you look to find these flights? How do you know you are getting the best fare possible? This is where I can help you! There are some great tools online and by phone to help you plan your trip.

Firstly you need to consider what type of trip you are looking at. If it is a simple return flight (to and from the same destination and departure point) then you are laughing!! You can search for live availability on various websites and because the travel agents know that you have access to this anywhere, the competition is rife and you can easily get the best rates.

If you are looking at multi-stop flights (visiting various destinations on the SAME ticket) then this can become a little more complex online but I can recommend some fantastic companies who can look at this for you. http://www.opodo.co.uk/ is fantastic for checking multi stop flights online. Alternatively if you prefer to speak to a travel agent over the phone, I can recommend Flight Centre http://www.flightcentre.co.uk/ , Dial A Flight are very knowledgeable with complex itineraries and have access to low fares and various others in the same league. You will need to factor whether or not your ideal trip is realistic. By this I mean, Emirates are based in Dubai so if you use them for a flight to Australia then in theory you can stop in Dubai for a few days en-route. You would not however be able to stop in Dubai and then New York to travel out to Australia. Some airlines offer special tickets that can take you around the world in the correct direction with various stops and it can save you a fortune compared to booked these flights individually online yourself. With these tickets, your best option is to phone a few of the main stream agencies. If you have been given a quote from one, expect to be able to get it around 10% cheaper by shopping around. Agencies will always put mark ups and fees on to your flight. Don’t try to bankrupt the travel agencies but know that you can probably save a few pounds by shopping around.

http://www.skyscanner.co.uk/ is a great tool to check what flights are physically operating the route / date you have entered and gives you the best possible fare for that flight. Whilst sometimes you can go through and book it, bear in mind it sky scanner is just a search engine / flight comparison tool and does not search for live availability and often shows prices that are no longer available to book or the flight could be completely fully booked. I do, however find it very useful to look for flights travelling to obscure places or to play around with the dates.

If you have a preference of airline rather than the best price then your best bet is to find the flight you want on the airlines website and get the direct quote from them, then phone a few mainstream / reputable travel agents to see if they can price beat it. I will come to this again in more details shortly.

I have mentioned some companies above that can be used to check for flight availability that I, personally have had good experiences with in the past. There are some others such as http://www.netflights.co.uk/ , Travel Up, Expedia who often have great rates – shop around!

Business travellers (Inclusive Tour fares) – If you are travelling to certain destinations without a Saturday night stay, you may be familiar with having to pay 3-4 times the cost of a normal ticket! No more…. If you speak to some travel agents, they can hook you up with a deal that includes accommodation for a minimum of 3 nights / or full duration and this potentially will save you hundreds. This is not available in all destinations but USA is a hot spot for these deals. The fact that the travel agent knows you will not be able to get this flight only price online and can do it a lot cheaper WITH accommodation does mean they are likely to include a large profit margin so again, it is always worth getting matching quotes from various reputable agencies to see who can offer the best.

Book in advance – Booking last minute to get the best deals in the world of scheduled airlines is a myth! This only applies with charter flights or package holidays occasionally. Scheduled airlines do not drop their prices last minute, they would actually prefer to send the plane off half empty than to sell cheap seats off to fill the plane.

Be Flexible with Dates!!! You will be surprised how moving the dates around even a day either side could save you many pounds. If your departure date is 31st May for example, always check the 1st June as this could be a new season and therefore have drastically different prices. Its basically worth checking flights 2-3 weeks either side of your ideal dates to travel. If you want to get away in September, avoid departing in the first week as this is still school holiday period and the prices are still hiked up.

Pre Book Seats – do this online as far in advance as you can. SOME airlines will actually let you book bulkhead seats or exit seats online in advance but be warned, they may move you from these seats if someone else needs it more. If you are unable to do it online, speak to your travel agent. Some airlines have now started to charge for this service.

Check in online – usually available 24-48 hours prior to your departure time, check with your airline. check your seated together and any meal requests are showing and print your boarding pass. If the online check in tool is not working, be warned there may be an issue with your flight taking off when it should, you should contact your airline.

Don’t bother with a long connection in an airport just because it saves you £20 off the airline ticket, you are wasting valuable holiday time and will easily spend that in the airport anyway.

How to avoid the summer school holiday prices! This may not work all the time / every year but I am aware than Scotland and England do have different school term dates so if you are prepared to drive to Glasgow for a flight during the English half term, it could save you hundreds if there is a group of you travelling!

I mentioned Flight Centre above, if you click on to their website and scroll to the bottom they offer something called the Lowest Airfare Guarantee. This means if you find a flight cheaper with another travel agent that fills their criteria (ABTA and ATOL bonded / reputable) then they will price beat it by £1. I have used this tool before and ended up paying about £50-60 cheaper than they had originally quoted me. They are a great company to use, reliable and offer good customer service.

Make sure that if you book with a travel agent repeatedly that you occasionally shop around as they could start adding more profit to your bookings once you get comfortable without you even realising it!

Before even factoring in the cost of the ticket, the most important thing you MUST check is that the agent you are considering booking with is both ABTA and ATOL bonded. This gives you financial protection against the failure of the airline you are flying with or the travel agent you are booking with. There is no point in saving £50 on a flight that you may lose £600 on a few later as they have gone into administration. Credit card payment does not give you the same protection, for example if you are abroad and the airline you are due to fly home with goes bust, AMEX are not going to travel out to Corfu and get you home….

Happy bargain flight hunting!

*publisher would like to add that this is all based on personal opinion / review of purchases / products and publisher accepts no responsibility or liability for readers future purchases / products*