Travel and Travelogues (including insurance for older people)

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Currently the travelogues are the final pages on this site www.silverhairs.co.uk

Morocco     Sailing 1 : Sardinia to Corsica     Collioure, France   Sailing 2 : Turkey ; The Lycian Coast  
Marrakech. See also http://pgoh13.com/marrakesh.php   Acapulco     Derbyshire Dales     Egypt     South Africa    
S.A.Townships  Latvia    Sri Lanka   Mediterranean Cruise  Our ancient Trailer Tent  Venice   Basel/Basle (new)

One of the great things about retirement is that people can consider travelling more.  Despite cheap fares it can still be expensive but, with a little ingenuity, things can be made more affordable.  I hope this page will point you in the right direction.  For details on Malaysia, China and  major European cities  see http://pgoh13.com/

Our latest excursion was an overnight stay in Tilbury Harbour (!) which we found via Silver Travel Advisor.  It was on the Marco Polo, which despite having been built almost 50 years ago was in very good order. I wrote a piece about our stay and it is published HERE.  Don't forget the photos at the top.

Exclusively for Silverhairs visitors - SilverTravelAdvisor are offering the chance of a prize of "The Bradt Guide – Slow Cotswolds" for anyone who registers with their site at http://www.silvertraveladvisor.com/ in January. Simply click the “Silverhairs” box when you are asked “How did you hear about Silver Travel Advisor?” This will automatically enter you into the prize draw.

Finding the right accommodation can sometimes be the most expensive part of planning a holiday, and for older travellers with specific needs or disabilities it can also be the most difficult. Thankfully, as a retiree, your travel dates are probably flexible, which means you can find some terrific last minute deals on everything from brand name hotels and timeshare rentals  to smaller, independently owned, inns and bed and breakfasts.

I have found the following site easy to use : http://www.pureholidayhomes.com/

N.B. On a recent trip with Easyjet I was surprised that we were only allowed ONE piece of hold luggage between two people. We were allowed to each take one piece of hand luggage but the dimensions were restricted. to 56cm x 25cm x 45cm, including handle and wheels. We were not allowed a second piece of hand luggage (each) so, even a handbag or netbook had to be squeezed into the allocated bags. Faced with this it is quite important that one obtains a take-on bag of the maximum allowed size.

HOLIDAYS & TRAVEL (see below for insurance and cash)

If you're considering going on a cruise, then you may want to check out Virgin's cruises, they often have some good deals.

Silver travel logo http://www.silvertraveladvisor.com Where to go, what to see what to avoid? If you like holidays and travelling, you will love www.silvertraveladvisor.com with first hand advice, tips and information written by and for mature travellers. In November 2011 they asked if I would write an article for the and this appeared  HERE

Going Abroad ? If you don't want to be left stranded when your credit card is refused it is advisable to tell your bank you are going.  Most also have an emergency number you can call and some even can let you have a code to get cash from a machine. So get their emergency number and add it to your mobile phone list or keep a note somewhere.

http://www.trainsto.co.uk/  An excellent site for finding and booking trains to and from cities all over the UK and Europe (with hotel bookings too)

In September (2011) we booked with Easyjet to Basle.  I was surprised that two of us were only allowed one case in cargo and one each of a limited size on board.  And that includes a laptop or handbag, which must be accommodated in your single hand luggage.  True, you could pay for more in the hold but it all gets expensive (like the coffee on board!). We also caught for a VERY poor exchange rate for Euros at the Post Office counter.  I complained and got the expected reply.  But apparently their rate is marginally better on line.  We got much better rates  abroad using our cards to pay for everything.

July 2010 Make sure you don't get caught for huge baggage charges (especially on Ryanair) Click HERE and see below.

Compensation due to volcanic ash cloud(s) American airlines provide no cover for flight delays. You will normally get an alternative flight and might get a chitty for a meal and the cost of a phone call but beyond that you will be out of luck. In my case I was stranded  by the eruption and had flown United Airways.  My insurer (Fortis) paid £25 a day up to £100 - better than nothing.  The EEC regulations for European airlines are far more generous. If you want to quote the specific rules to your airline, Regulation (EC) 261/2004 requires it to offer meals, refreshments and hotel accommodation as appropriate while ticketholders wait for a rearranged flight. EU rules state that airlines must compensate passengers for delays or cancellations - unless the delays were completely beyond their control. In that case, the airlines still have to provide accommodation and meals for stranded passengers. So your costs should be met but you shouldn't expect compensation for the inconvenience - there's no blame, so no claim. How long must the airline put you up? There's no time limit on the airlines' duty to their stuck passengers. They have to provide care until they can get you home.  This is why Ryanair had to back down on its refusal. If you have a complaint you should put it in writing to the airline and if you get an unsatisfactory result you should consult the Air Transport Users Council (AUC) at www.auc.org.uk

From 1st May 2009, most Ryanair check-ins have been done on line. Indeed from 1st October 2009 they abolished the Ryanair check-in desks (!) to 'persuade' you to check in on line. From 1st May the additional cost of the airport check-in rose from £10 to £20 per person per trip even if you opted for airport check-in when you booked on line. If you just turn up this is increased to £40 pppt  (per person per trip)! So, a family of four, just turning up would finish up with a £320 addition to their one penny special offer ! During the summer Ryanair hold luggage (even pre-checked) goes up to £20 each way and on board (cabin) luggage is the lowest at 15kg (33lbs) plus size restrictions.  They will even try to sell you their special Samsonite case if you don't opt out.  

If you are a good boy and print your ticket on line you will still have to get rid of your 'hold' luggage somehow. You do this by a self service 'drop desk' where you can still expect to queue. Unfortunately, that is not the end of it and there is even an on-line Debit or Credit card booking fee of £10 per person (return) plus additional charges for checked in baggage (and extra for golf clubs and skis). Only one on-board bag (up to 15kg) per person is allowed. Try to take two through and you may get caught for a £30 'fine' !

You MUST book at least 4 hours before the flight but cannot book more than 15 days early. So, when you want to check in for your return journey you will have to get on line  to do that, too (from the hotel or wherever) You might just manage to book in from home before you leave if you are going for two weeks.

Mind you, Ryanair's figures (November 2010) of passengers and profits show that they know what they are doing in the economy airline business.

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Malaria is a commonplace hazard in many warmer countries. It is advisable to do a check. See http://www.malariahotspots.co.uk/ and, if there is a risk, get some protection.

Applicants born on or before 2 September 1929 are eligible for free standard 32-page ten year passports

N.B. In 2007 we booked a holiday for three in Agadir (Morocco). Yes, we booked through the High Street but by telling them what their own company was charging on line they gave us the same price. We also saved on insurance.  Altogether we paid £1500 instead of over £2000 for three people for two weeks 'all-in' in a hotel we had checked out the year before.  
In 2010 we booked a cruise, again through a travel agent. With a little Moroccan-style haggling we managed to get the price down by hundreds.

Want a map of the UK specifically designed for Disabled Badge holders ? £12 from www.the pieguide.com or http://www.gowringsmobility.co.uk/home.html Or call 0870 444 5435. Not just parking but shopping, toilets, beaches, petrol stations, accommodation.

Everyone aged 60 or over and eligible disabled people will be entitled to free off-peak bus travel anywhere in England. However, this does not apply to National Express, so that somewhat defeats the object. National Express Routesixty fares, though, are 50% off see http://www.nationalexpress.com/
Make sure you don't fall for the 'generous' offer of £10 off your next trip. The Shopper Voucher scheme will cost you £120 a year by direct debit !
The other thing to watch is those expensive rail fares.  Take a look at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets and http://www.cheaptraintickets.info/cheap-train-tickets-guide/ to see how you can save substantially by choosing the right time to go or even just asking.

USEFUL TRAVEL LINKS  All links checked 9th Oct 2011

Specific airlines :www.ryanair.com, www.easyjet.co.uk, www.thomsonfly.com, www.flybmi.com  (British Midland), www.flybe.com  (British European)

General : Birmingham Airport, www.flightmapping.com www.flycheapo.com, www.skyscanner.net, www.momondo.com  www.buzzaway.com  www.cheapflights.com  www.telme.com  www.deckchair.com   www.dialaflight.com  www.cheaponlineflights.com  Easy to navigate site.  Flights, Holidays, Hotels.  Shows discounts available.

Long-haul : www.cheapflights.co.uk, www.travelocity.com, www.trailfinders.com, www.expedia.co.uk  
If you register with www.expediaguides.com/farealert/ a small, unobtrusive icon will be installed onto your desktop. You can double-click the icon any time to see the current low fare, and when we find a fare that meets or beats your pre-set price limit, a small window will pop up briefly to notify you

TRAVEL INSURANCE 

For general advice see www.travelinsuranceguide.org.uk/

This section has been revised in view of my attempt to get insurance for myself (76) and wife (69) for a 17 day break in South Africa.You will find a great deal of variation between insurance companies with regard to attitudes to age and illnesses. Many refuse point blank for over 65's whilst others have no limit. It is essential to look at each quote. Prices also vary enormously. Most insurers double the premium for over 65 or 66. Some will weight the premium heavily if any of the party has had or is suffering from and illness such as cancer.  I have seen a quote for a week in Europe where the over 70 was offered a £21 policy and the other party (65 but having had cancer) was loaded to £156 - for one week!)  Most insurers, rather than giving a blunt refusal on age or health grounds, ask you to phone. Many will ignore pre-existing conditions as long as you agree not to claim for these. The quote on the right in the chart is mine. Note the EHIC Plus site**  EHIC is the current card you should get to cover you for treatments in public European hospitals.  As it excludes private treatment the cost is extremely low. But EHIC alone will not get you home or cover anything except NHS type treatment.  

Please note that those which use an 0845, 0844 and 0870 telephone numbers will be telephoned at your expense.  Better to get an on line quote and booking, which is possible 9 out of 10 cases. Check all prices quoted below as they often change.

I have just signed up to a Santander Joint account.  Why ?  At 79 I was finding it increasingly expensive to get travel insurance. For £10 a month they not only give  annual worldwide travel insurance for me and my wife but also give the Green Flag UK breakdown cover with homecall, credit card and identity protection and key protection insurance (car or home).  As we are both over 65 we have to pay an  additional annual £50 (for two). To make sure you are both covered it is essential that you get a joint account.
Lloyds TSB Gold Current Account is £12 a month which, in addition to other benefits covers a couple (worldwide) up to 80.
For people with a medical history it pays to shop around. The British Insurance Broker's number for finding a broker is 0870 950 1790. One person got family worldwide annual multitrip cover for £250, despite having had a heart attack a few years back

As insurance rates and policies can change, please check out any link.  No guarantees !

If you are older but still want to dive abroad you may be concerned that the hire car insurance will not cover you.  That certainly happened to me and you should look carefully at the small print.  To be on the safe side you can take out an additional policy at http://www.carhireexcess.com/  or http://www.insurance4carhire.com

** The EHIC card covers the following countries : Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Channel Islands, Cyprus (but not Northern Cyprus), Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK

Cheapest ANNUAL WORLDWIDE policy was Bradford and Bingley, which also did a good price on single trip policies for Europe and America. Even cheaper for America, at £100 for three weeks, was Virgin Money. (Mail on Sunday 4th March 2007) A quote for a 75 year old Europe, Annual from B & B was £122.86; Single 2 week trip was £35.89. For a 68 year old it was down to £73 (two weeks £25.49). Luggage cover added £8 for multi trip and £3 for the single trip. Pretty good.

www.atlasdirect.net do a useful list comparing their prices (and level of cover) with many others.  

Alliance and Leicester (now Santander) are advertising a Current (over 50s) Account paying 6% gross up to £2500, (very little interest over that amount). There is a £10 a month fee. For this they give worldwide multi trip travel insurance up to 79 years of age. For £80 this cover can be extended to family. There is also cover for two private out-patient consultations up to £750 p.a., plus credit card and Identity theft protection. After the first year the interest rate drops dramatically. This is NOT a build up savings account.  You could stick in £2,500 at the start and it doesn't demand regular payments from income.

Halifax (Ultimate Reward A/c) have now caught onto this idea offering worldwide travel insurance, home emergency, car breakdown and credit card cover as well as 2.5% on the first £2500 in the account, for £12.50 a month.  They reckon the whole package is worth around £800 a year

It is well known that buying insurance from your travel agent can be expensive. And yet you may be able to haggle there, whereas it is more difficult on the net or over the phone. You may be able to take advantage of a holiday package which includes insurance, with no questions asked about age.

One last suggestion is a bank account which offers travel insurance as part of their deal.  e.g. HSBC have a Bank Account Plus for people who pay in their salary. Although it costs £12.95 a month it includes Worldwide Family Travel insurance, which can cost quite a lot. It also offers one of these savings deals, paying 10% gross. www.hsbc.co.uk 08005871481.

It is well known that buying insurance from your travel agent can be expensive. And yet you may be able to haggle there, whereas it is more difficult on the net or over the phone. You may be able to take advantage of a holiday package which includes insurance, with no questions asked about age.

TRAVEL CASH  Great site on this:  http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money

Are all the money rates the same ? BY NO MEANS.! On one occasion buying 1000 Euros from Marks and Spencers cost me much less than Lloyds TSB, The Post Office orTravelex. But rates vary, so you may not always get the best rate from one supplier.  But M & S seem to do well most of the time.  Bear in mind that Thomas Cook has an on line service which promises to match any rate that you find elsewhere. Nationwide used to be the cheapest way to get money abroad from a cashpoint but they have now started to charge (like the rest) These days we just take a little local currency and pay for everything else with a card.

The amount of cash you get from Bureaux de Change can vary by quite a lot. Most places make a charge (£3.95 to £5) up to £300 worth. So it is best to pay £301 rather than £300. You are also likely to get a better rate on line - even the Post Office said this.

Exchange rates offered can also vary between Bureaux. BUT SEE THE PREPAID CARDS BELOW.

Does YOUR card charge for buying foreign cash?  Sadly, buying currency from a bureau de change in the UK on a credit or debit card isn't always treated as a UK transaction. All credit cards and some debit cards charge an additional fee on top of what you pay the bureau de change.  Some prefer you to buy with cash.

All Credit Cards charge a fee of around 2.5% (minimum £3) when you buy foreign currency; it's treated like withdrawing cash from an ATM. In addition, you could be charged interest from the day you make a purchase, even if it's repaid in full at the end of the month. But for purchases over £100 at least you do get protection from the company if things go wrong. The best of the bunch is the Halifax Clarity, Saga Platinum and Post Office Credit cards, which don't charge fees on purchases anywhere in the world - but do pay it off when you get back.

Visa Debit cards. If you have one of the following debit cards, you'll be charged a 2%-ish fee. The banks that charge issue 'Visa Debit' (previously Delta) cards, though that doesn't mean every Visa Debit card charges. Debit cards that DO charge every time you spend abroad include Barclays, Lloyds TSB, Cahoot, Natwest, Smile, Santander/Alliance & RBS, which will slap ANOTHER charge on top every time you spend in a shop, as well as the normal foreign currency fees - these are the DOUBLE cards from hell.

Debit cards that DON'T charge a fee include Coventry BS; Halifax; First Direct; HSBC; Intelligent Finance.  Although Nationwide started charging from the 1st November 08 their charges are still lower than many other Debit Cards.

Got a card that charges? There are a number of options...

  1. If possible use a different card .

  2. With a debit cards withdraw cash and pay for your currency before you go and you'll avoid the fee, though check the gain isn't defeated by a worse rate.

  3. Spend on the card itself. With most of the cards you're likely to be better off by just spending on it while overseas, than buying foreign cash with it (with the exceptions above).

The worst place to exchange money is the airport. Don't assume you'll get the same rate there as at a bureau de change's high street branch or online quote, it's usually much worse.

4. The best thing to do if you want the convenience of airport pick-up, is order it online first and then ask to collect it at the airport, you get a much better rate.

5. Prepaid cards for added security

Prepaid cards do exactly what they say on the tin; you load cash onto one, and then it can be used in shops and restaurants just like a debit or credit card.

While not quite as cheap as the specialist credit or debit cards, the vast majority are accepted by most shops which take the Maestro network (the substantial bulk) both in the UK and abroad. Their big advantage over cash is if you lose your card, for a fee of around £10 most providers will replace it, with all the funds in tact. Lose a wallet of dollar bills in Times Square and it's gone for good.

Prepaid cards have a variety of different charges, but the two top cards keep these to a minimum. One example is the CaxtonFX card. Another good one is FairFx. This is a prepaid card, which must be applied for online, charges no spending or foreign 'loading' fees, and can be topped up for free by debit card or bank transfer.  Apply via its own website and there's an initial £9.95 application fee, but the link above (FairFx) takes you through comparison site Moneysupermarket, meaning the fee is waived provided you load more than €10/$20.

n.b. I did just this and I was able to apply for a FairFx card, free.  Moreover, you can check the rate of exchange (even before you join).  Suffice to say that for every £100 worth of Euros I got 10 more Euros than I got from Thomson Travel agents a couple of days earlier (Damn!).  RECOMMENDED

Exchange rates

Currently if you top-up at least £500 when opening, it'll boost the amount you load by £5. This bonus means the overall exchange rate challenges the top credit cards for overseas spending. The amount you get abroad for cash or credit card changes daily as the exchange rate fluctuates.  Once topped up with a top up card, that is your rate fixed.  Like to do a little George Soros gambling ? The only cost is €1.50/$2 to withdraw cash from an ATM, less than most credit or debit cards. You get FairFx's own exchange rate, which generally beats the other prepaid cards and cash rates (compare it with TravelMoneyMax.com's best).

FairFX Card Summary. European Load: 0%. Worldwide Load: 0%. Exchange Rate: FairFX's own rate, determined daily (VERY GOOD), ATM Cash withdrawal fee abroad : €1.50/$2. Currencies: Euros/Dollars. Topping up: Free via Debit card online. Obviously if you top up with Euros and want to buy something in dollars there will be an exchange fee.

The CaxtonFX Card has NO purchase fee, is free to top up and makes no charges for Withdrawals or Purchases abroad as long as you make purchases with the currency on the card.

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Travelogues.  I would welcome details of your best (or worst) holidays

   Morocco     Sailing 1 : Sardinia to Corsica     Collioure, France   Sailing 2 : Turkey ; The Lycian Coast  
Marrakech. See also http://pgoh13.com/marrakesh.php   Acapulco     Derbyshire Dales     Egypt     South Africa    
S.A.Townships  Latvia    Sri Lanka   Mediterranean Cruise  Our ancient Trailer Tent  Venice   Basel/Basle (new)

I would welcome any contributions to this page.  Holidays you have enjoyed, hotels you would recommend.  Good flights, good insurance etc. And, if you wish to add any 'Holidays from Hell' we can steer people away from those !

 

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Currently the travelogues are the final pages on this site www.silverhairs.co.uk