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Posts with tag travel

1.8 million to head abroad over Bank Holiday weekend

Filed under: Travel, Families

A massive 1.8 million Britons will leave the UK this Bank Holiday weekend, according to figures from travel association ABTA.

Of these, more than 420,000 will be leaving from Heathrow, 250,000 from Gatwick, 136,000 from Stansted and 65,000 from Luton. Anyone heading to one of these airports is therefore being urged to leave extra time to account for the crowds.

Disappointing A levels? A gap year?

Filed under: Travel, Work & Careers

It can feel like the end of the world if your A level results fail to live up to expectations – especially if your university place was riding on certain grades.

Disappointing A level results don't have to mean the end of your university dreams, though. You may well find another place through the Clearing system, or if not, why not profit from some time to reassess your options by taking a gap year and reapplying in 2011

Sun4U goes bust, what can travellers do?

Filed under: Travel

Yesterday many of the 1,200 Sun4U travellers currently abroad got a nasty surprise, when their hotels demanded they pay for their accommodation or get out. The travel firm had gone bust, leaving them in the lurch.

So if your travel firm goes under - whether you're waiting to travel or you're already overseas - what can you do?

Prepaid cards - the clever way to spend abroad

Filed under: Travel, Budgeting & Planning

Foreign currency is always the chore of going on holiday. Travellers cheques are a pain to exchange, credit cards charge the earth, and you don't want to be carrying around wads of hard cash, so what's the answer?

Well banks and financial institutions have finally cottoned on to the fact that all these methods are a bit of a pain, and created a really sensible and cheap alternative - prepaid cards.

How to avoid holiday disaster

Filed under: Travel, Insurance, Families

It's supposed to be an opportunity for you to relax and enjoy a break from the stresses and strains of daily life, but if things go wrong, a holiday can very quickly turn into a nightmare. Anyone travelling with Goldtrail Holiday will be all too aware of this by now, as the tour operator went into administration last week, leaving thousands stranded abroad. And, with rumours of more strikes - 6,000 BAA airport staff are threatening one in August - the peak holiday season is set to be a bumpy ride for Brits.

So, is there anything you can do to prevent holiday disaster?

Holidaymakers need to get savvy as Sterling plummets

Filed under: Travel

Summer holidaymakers who have yet to change their holiday cash look set to be hit by a big dip in the value of Sterling, which plunged this week after the Office for National Statistics announced that public sector net debt had jumped to £14.5 billion.

Britons jetting off overseas are therefore being urged to wait for the pound to recover where possible before changing their money, while those without the luxury of time need to be extra savvy to make sure they get the best possible deal on their foreign currency.

Holidays are 'so last season'

Filed under: Travel

There are a number of things we thought we couldn't live without during the boom years - overpriced handbags, 50 pairs of shoes, and the latest or best version of anything and everything we fancied.

How times have changed... and recent figures show that not even overseas holidays escaped the cull. We have dramatically reduced the number of foreign holidays we take, and are opting to stay at home instead. However, it's not all bad news: many of us are now finding clever ways to ensure we can still go away.

Britons taking on debts of £12 billion to fund summer holidays

Filed under: Credit Cards, Travel

As a nation, we are set to borrow more than £12 billion to fund our summer getaways, according to new figures from insurer Bright Grey.

Its research suggests that around 10 million British adults, that's about a third of the number planning to head abroad this summer holiday season, will rack up debt to afford their overseas breaks.

Halifax gives holidaymakers chance to avoid overseas credit card fees

Filed under: Credit Cards, Travel

Cash is still king for Brits abroad, new research from Halifax shows, with more than 30 million British travellers keen to avoid foreign exchange fees on overseas transactions choosing to change their holiday currency in advance rather than rely on their plastic.

However, those jetting off this summer are being offered a way round the expensive charges thanks to the bank's new Clarity credit card, which also allows them to avoid the overseas cash withdrawal fees charged by the huge majority of card companies.

Half a million Britons risk massive unexpected costs on holiday

Filed under: Travel, Insurance

More than half a million Britons risked having travel cover claims rejected during the last 12 months because they failed to tell their insurers about pre-existing medical conditions, according to figures from Sainsbury's Travel Insurance.

But while paying more for travel insurance because you have a medical condition may seem a drag, having a costly claim turned down because you failed to give your insurer all the details could ruin much more than your holiday with hospital bills in some parts of the world stretching to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Holidaymakers seek luxury and adventure on long-haul trips

Filed under: Travel, Insurance

Our holiday destinations of choice are becoming more and more exotic, despite the financial strain of the recession; new figures released by online insurer Swiftcover show.

One in four of the travel insurance policies it now sells are for trips to long-haul destinations, up from one in five just five years ago, while its research also indicates that the most popular dream trip for Britons would be a luxury stay on a tropical island.

How to make travel look good on your CV

Filed under: Travel, Work & Careers

I've been away from the UK workforce for a couple of years now; travelling and working in Canada and New Zealand, so I've been researching how best to present all this on my CV for when I get back.

As anyone who has travelled will know, it can be tricky to put travel experiences into words, but it's crucial to fully explain gap years and career breaks to avoid suspicious gaps on your CV. So, how can you make travel work for you?

Going to South Africa? Be prepared

Filed under: Travel, Entertainment

Around 20,000 football fans will be travelling to South Africa to watch the World Cup later this month. However, if they are going to get to enjoy the beautiful game, it's important that they are well prepared for the trip.

Research by esure, indicates that thousands of tourists may forget to make vital pre-holiday checks.

Drive down the cost of petrol

Filed under: Travel

Petrol prices have hit an all-time high, and there are little prospects of any cuts soon.
However, there are ways motorists can the sting out of a visit to the pumps.

By following some simple efficiency steps, reductions in fuel consumption and costs can be made and, importantly, do not require drastic changes.So what should drivers do?

Millions of Brits think French still use Francs

Filed under: Travel

Almost two thirds of Britons are confused by foreign currency, while an incredible 30% believe that the main currency in France - which switched to the Euro years ago now - is still the Franc, new figures from online travel agent Sunshine reveal.

But this lack of knowledge is costing us dear, with more than half of the population spending more than they mean to on holiday because they do not understand the local currency and therefore shell out more than they would in the UK for the same goods and services.