i heard an advert for PeoplesChampion as a place to find cheap travel insurance ... and it does actually seem like a proper new comparison website - most sites promising cheap travel insurance just seem to link to MoneySupermarket - this one seems to use the same display software, but is somewhat different ...
PeoplesChampion also has a very useful feature of showing Personal Accident Cover in the main comparison screen [instead of burying it in the policy detail like Money Supermarket and others - making it very time consuming to select based on this criteria] ...
the maximum Personal Accident Cover appears to be 50k gbp - with Marks and Spencers and Norwich Union providing this level ...
19 November 2006
car hire - tenerife - 9 days ...
changed the dates - now looking for a car from 10:30 on fri 24th dec ... to 18:00 on mon 1st jan ... preferrably from TFN ...
Alamo does not have any vehicles at TFN or TFS ...
Budget does not have any locations in tenerife ...
NationalCar does not have any cars available from TFN or TFS ...
Thrifty does not have any locations in tenerife ...
Carjet.com has an Opel Corsa sized vehicle for 139 gbp - all extra drivers are free, and there is a zero insurance excess ... this company won the Best Car Hire company in the 2006 Guardian newspaper Travel Awards ...
CarHire3000 has an Opel Corsa sized vehicle for 137 gbp - it is unclear what the excess would be, or how much they charge for extra drivers ...
TravelSupermarket has CarHire3000 as its cheapest ...
HolidayAutos europe [owned by lastminute.com] has a Fiesta size vehicle available for 110 gbp - with 1 free additional drivers [further drivers costing 10 eur per day], and damage excess waiver [unclear what the excess would change from or to] costing 23 gbp, totalling 133 gbp ... this company has had some bad press recently ...
SIXT holiday cars has a Polo sized vehicle available for 240 eur [approx 160 gbp] - apparently including one free additional driver, but unclear what the excess is ...
Hertz has a Peugot 107 sized vehicle for 164 gbp - each additional drive 60 eur [40 gbp] ...
Avis has a Polo sized vehicle for 180 gbp plus 66 eur [approx 44 gbp] ...
Europcar has a Fiat Punto sized vehicle for 197 gbp ...
Easycar doesn't have any of their cheaper cars left - they have a Ford Focus sized vehicle for 214 gbp ...
Alamo does not have any vehicles at TFN or TFS ...
Budget does not have any locations in tenerife ...
NationalCar does not have any cars available from TFN or TFS ...
Thrifty does not have any locations in tenerife ...
Carjet.com has an Opel Corsa sized vehicle for 139 gbp - all extra drivers are free, and there is a zero insurance excess ... this company won the Best Car Hire company in the 2006 Guardian newspaper Travel Awards ...
CarHire3000 has an Opel Corsa sized vehicle for 137 gbp - it is unclear what the excess would be, or how much they charge for extra drivers ...
TravelSupermarket has CarHire3000 as its cheapest ...
HolidayAutos europe [owned by lastminute.com] has a Fiesta size vehicle available for 110 gbp - with 1 free additional drivers [further drivers costing 10 eur per day], and damage excess waiver [unclear what the excess would change from or to] costing 23 gbp, totalling 133 gbp ... this company has had some bad press recently ...
SIXT holiday cars has a Polo sized vehicle available for 240 eur [approx 160 gbp] - apparently including one free additional driver, but unclear what the excess is ...
Hertz has a Peugot 107 sized vehicle for 164 gbp - each additional drive 60 eur [40 gbp] ...
Avis has a Polo sized vehicle for 180 gbp plus 66 eur [approx 44 gbp] ...
Europcar has a Fiat Punto sized vehicle for 197 gbp ...
Easycar doesn't have any of their cheaper cars left - they have a Ford Focus sized vehicle for 214 gbp ...
15 November 2006
car hire - tenerife - 11 days ...
looking for a car from 10:30 on fri 22nd dec ... to 18:00 on mon 1st jan ... preferrably from TFN ...
Carjet.com does not have any cars at TFN or TFS ...
Budget does not have any locations in tenerife ...
NationalCar does not have any cars available from TFN or TFS ...
HolidayAutos [owned by lastminute.com] has a Fiesta size vehicle available for 132 gbp - with 1 free additional drivers [further drivers costing 10 eur per day], and damage excess waiver [unclear what the excess would change from or to] costing 27.50 gbp ...
SIXT has a Polo sized vehicle available for 294 eur [approx 199 gbp] - apparently including one free additional driver, but unclear what the excess is ...
Hertz has a Peugot 107 sized vehicle for 200 gbp - each additional drive 60 eur [40 gbp] ...
Avis has a Polo sized vehicle for 220 gbp plus 66 eur [approx 44 gbp] ...
Europcar has a compact car for the bargain price of 350 gbp ...
Carjet.com does not have any cars at TFN or TFS ...
Budget does not have any locations in tenerife ...
NationalCar does not have any cars available from TFN or TFS ...
HolidayAutos [owned by lastminute.com] has a Fiesta size vehicle available for 132 gbp - with 1 free additional drivers [further drivers costing 10 eur per day], and damage excess waiver [unclear what the excess would change from or to] costing 27.50 gbp ...
SIXT has a Polo sized vehicle available for 294 eur [approx 199 gbp] - apparently including one free additional driver, but unclear what the excess is ...
Hertz has a Peugot 107 sized vehicle for 200 gbp - each additional drive 60 eur [40 gbp] ...
Avis has a Polo sized vehicle for 220 gbp plus 66 eur [approx 44 gbp] ...
Europcar has a compact car for the bargain price of 350 gbp ...
13 November 2006
london - tenerife ... charter flights ...
looking for flights departing around sat 23rd dec, and returning around mon 1st jan ... charterflights.co.uk lists the following flights ...
Gatwick to Tenerife, Spain
219 gbp
Sun 24 Dec 2006 LGW to TFS 0925 1340
Sun 31 Dec 2006 TFS to LGW 1440 1855
Gatwick to Tenerife, Spain
239 gbp
Sun 24 Dec 2006 LGW to TFS 1430 1850
Sun 31 Dec 2006 TFS to LGW 1700 2115
Gatwick to Tenerife, Spain
219 gbp
Sun 24 Dec 2006 LGW to TFS 0925 1340
Sun 31 Dec 2006 TFS to LGW 1440 1855
Gatwick to Tenerife, Spain
239 gbp
Sun 24 Dec 2006 LGW to TFS 1430 1850
Sun 31 Dec 2006 TFS to LGW 1700 2115
12 November 2006
ski week in january ...
looking for a week's skiing in january - departing sat 13 jan, returning sun 21 jan ... considering St Anton am Arlberg since it is easy to get to and has lots of self bookable B&B accommodation - so don't need to take a package ...
flights with Ryanair (FR) from London Stansted (STN) to Friedrichshafen (FDH) departing at 14:40 [arr 17:15] is 19.99 gbp [07:05 departure is an extra 10 quid] ... and return flight departing at 10:05 [arr 10:45] is 1 penny [21:40 departure is an extra 70 quid] ... giving a total price of around 50 quid ...
there is a weekend airport bus transfer to St Anton (stopping at Bludenz, Zurs and Lech) which departs FDH at 17:45 [or 10:15 for the early flight] and the return connection departs St Anton at an eye-watering 05:50 [or 17:30 for the late flight] for the price of 57 eur ...
St Anton ski pass - this week falls into the low season ... so a 7 day pass would cost 204 eur, or an 8 day pass [if taking the late flight on sunday] would cost 226 eur ...
using Intersport equipment hire prices - 7 days for VIP skis costs 151 eur and boot hire costs 57 eur ...
B&B accommodation should cost around 30 eur per night ... slightly cheaper if it's a bit away from the centre ... totalling approx 240 eur ...
all of which comes to 50 gpb plus 710 eur [approx 475 gbp] = 525 gbp ...
flights with Ryanair (FR) from London Stansted (STN) to Friedrichshafen (FDH) departing at 14:40 [arr 17:15] is 19.99 gbp [07:05 departure is an extra 10 quid] ... and return flight departing at 10:05 [arr 10:45] is 1 penny [21:40 departure is an extra 70 quid] ... giving a total price of around 50 quid ...
there is a weekend airport bus transfer to St Anton (stopping at Bludenz, Zurs and Lech) which departs FDH at 17:45 [or 10:15 for the early flight] and the return connection departs St Anton at an eye-watering 05:50 [or 17:30 for the late flight] for the price of 57 eur ...
St Anton ski pass - this week falls into the low season ... so a 7 day pass would cost 204 eur, or an 8 day pass [if taking the late flight on sunday] would cost 226 eur ...
using Intersport equipment hire prices - 7 days for VIP skis costs 151 eur and boot hire costs 57 eur ...
B&B accommodation should cost around 30 eur per night ... slightly cheaper if it's a bit away from the centre ... totalling approx 240 eur ...
all of which comes to 50 gpb plus 710 eur [approx 475 gbp] = 525 gbp ...
11 November 2006
Dublin - Tenerife
Aer Lingus (EI) flies to Tenerife South (TFS) ... whilst Ryanair (FR) flies to Tenerife North (TFN) ...
EI's departure on sat 23rd dec is showing as full ... leaving their fri 22nd dec as available - for a mere 309 eur single excluding taxes and charges, or mon 18th dec for 80 eur ...
for the return, EI have mon 1st jan for 245 eur excluding taxes and charges, fri 5th jan [dep 12:50 arr 17:10] and sat 6th jan [dep 18:10 arr 22:30], both for 309 eur ...
so a return flight departing on fri 22nd dec and returning on fri 5th jan comes to 662 eur including taxes ...
FR's prices look much better, although their flights depart at a sleep-depriving 06:00 [arr 10:20], they fly on mon, wed, fri and sun ... with mon 18th dec costing 1 cent, wed 20th dec 14.99 eur, and fri 22nd dec 59.99 eur - all excluding taxes and charges ...
for the return [dep 10:45 arr 15:05] mon 1st jan would be 69.99 eur, wed 3rd or fri 5th or sun 7th jan would each be 109.99, whilst mon 8th jan is 69.99 eur, and each flight after that drops to 1 cent - all excluding taxes and charges ...
so a return flight departing on wed 20th dec and returning on wed 3rd jan comes to 161.50 eur including taxes ...
EI's departure on sat 23rd dec is showing as full ... leaving their fri 22nd dec as available - for a mere 309 eur single excluding taxes and charges, or mon 18th dec for 80 eur ...
for the return, EI have mon 1st jan for 245 eur excluding taxes and charges, fri 5th jan [dep 12:50 arr 17:10] and sat 6th jan [dep 18:10 arr 22:30], both for 309 eur ...
so a return flight departing on fri 22nd dec and returning on fri 5th jan comes to 662 eur including taxes ...
FR's prices look much better, although their flights depart at a sleep-depriving 06:00 [arr 10:20], they fly on mon, wed, fri and sun ... with mon 18th dec costing 1 cent, wed 20th dec 14.99 eur, and fri 22nd dec 59.99 eur - all excluding taxes and charges ...
for the return [dep 10:45 arr 15:05] mon 1st jan would be 69.99 eur, wed 3rd or fri 5th or sun 7th jan would each be 109.99, whilst mon 8th jan is 69.99 eur, and each flight after that drops to 1 cent - all excluding taxes and charges ...
so a return flight departing on wed 20th dec and returning on wed 3rd jan comes to 161.50 eur including taxes ...
Belfast to Tenerife
looking to depart between wed 20th and fri 22nd December ... for two weeks ...
Belfast International airport website shows a departure on tuesdays with Airtours [tue 19th appears to be available, but not the return 2 weeks later] ... and on fridays with Falcon Holidays [flight only redirects to First Choice - which doesn't have availability], Airtours [which doesn't have availability on this date either], or Direct Holidays - which looks suspiciously similar to the Airtours website, which does have availability for departure on fri 22nd Dec at 08:00 [arr TFS 12:30], and returning on fri 5th Jan at 13:30 [arr BFS 18:05] ... for a whopping 429 gbp per person !
Belfast International also has scheduled flights with Jet.com on thursdays and sundays to TFS ... and they have availability departing Thu 21st Dec at 13:45 [arr 18:00] and returning on thu 4th Jan at 08:00 [arr 12:15] ... for a painful 403 gbp ...
Belfast International airport website shows a departure on tuesdays with Airtours [tue 19th appears to be available, but not the return 2 weeks later] ... and on fridays with Falcon Holidays [flight only redirects to First Choice - which doesn't have availability], Airtours [which doesn't have availability on this date either], or Direct Holidays - which looks suspiciously similar to the Airtours website, which does have availability for departure on fri 22nd Dec at 08:00 [arr TFS 12:30], and returning on fri 5th Jan at 13:30 [arr BFS 18:05] ... for a whopping 429 gbp per person !
Belfast International also has scheduled flights with Jet.com on thursdays and sundays to TFS ... and they have availability departing Thu 21st Dec at 13:45 [arr 18:00] and returning on thu 4th Jan at 08:00 [arr 12:15] ... for a painful 403 gbp ...
03 November 2006
London - Tamworth ... for the Snowdome
thinking of travelling to Tamworth to try out the Snowdome on Saturday 2nd Dec ...
thetrainline.com gives a return price of 36.30 gbp with a journey time of just over 2 hours ... if you play around with the timings, you can get singles from london - birmingham and for 10 gbp, and the return from birmingham to tamworth for 5.40 gbp, totalling 25.40 gbp ... saving 10.90 gbp !
however, using the viamichelin.com website it estimates that the journeytime (despite a bit of a complicated routing for a couple of pickups) would also take around 2 hours ... and the petrol cost would be 20 quid each way ...
so the moral of the story - even with 2 pax, it's cheper to drive by at least 10 gbp (32gbp if you take the preferred routings) ... and if there are 3 pax, the saving would be between 36.20 and 68.60 gbp ...
travel by train aint cheap !
for the record ... the train details are listed below ...
to get to the snowdome for 1.30pm (and depart around 4.45pm)
dep 11:03 arr 13:08
dep 17:03 arr 19:34
cost 36.30
to get to the snowdome for 3.30pm (and depart around 6.30pm)
dep 13:03 arr 15:08
dep 18:47 arr 21:35
cost 36.30
2 x £10 singles london to birmingham, plus £5.40 for birmingham to tamworth return = 25.40
to get to the snowdome for 3.30pm (and depart around 6.30pm)
dep 13:03 arr 14:36 dep 14:49 arr 15:08
dep 19:03 arr 19:27 dep 20:00 arr 22:32
thetrainline.com gives a return price of 36.30 gbp with a journey time of just over 2 hours ... if you play around with the timings, you can get singles from london - birmingham and for 10 gbp, and the return from birmingham to tamworth for 5.40 gbp, totalling 25.40 gbp ... saving 10.90 gbp !
however, using the viamichelin.com website it estimates that the journeytime (despite a bit of a complicated routing for a couple of pickups) would also take around 2 hours ... and the petrol cost would be 20 quid each way ...
so the moral of the story - even with 2 pax, it's cheper to drive by at least 10 gbp (32gbp if you take the preferred routings) ... and if there are 3 pax, the saving would be between 36.20 and 68.60 gbp ...
travel by train aint cheap !
for the record ... the train details are listed below ...
to get to the snowdome for 1.30pm (and depart around 4.45pm)
dep 11:03 arr 13:08
dep 17:03 arr 19:34
cost 36.30
to get to the snowdome for 3.30pm (and depart around 6.30pm)
dep 13:03 arr 15:08
dep 18:47 arr 21:35
cost 36.30
2 x £10 singles london to birmingham, plus £5.40 for birmingham to tamworth return = 25.40
to get to the snowdome for 3.30pm (and depart around 6.30pm)
dep 13:03 arr 14:36 dep 14:49 arr 15:08
dep 19:03 arr 19:27 dep 20:00 arr 22:32
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