Seeing the World

The usual Ryanair efficiency basics got me and a plane full of Slovakians to Bratislava on time.  As promised,  Juraj who’d contacted me to finalise the detail of the hotels.com booking, was in the arrivals hall holding a placard with my name on it.

After a successful jaunt over to an ATM he led me to his car and drove me from airport to accommodation.  My initial thoughts as the car progressed was that this is a thoroughly modern and clean country.  It also appears to have numerous brands that I’ve never heard of, only IKEA and McDonald’s standing my test of international globalism.

It also crossed my mind that there didn’t seem to be any run down inner city areas.  Approach Manchester from any angle and you’ll get to an area that most wouldn’t choose to live in unless they’d been raised there.  As I was thinking this the graffiti started, Juraj turned his car to the left and pulled over in a narrow road.  Yes, we’d reached the apartment!

Rather nervously I followed him across the street to a large but dark building.  He opened the door, we walked through the entrance and out of another door into a courtyard.  At this point I remembered my accommodation is called “The Courtyard”.  He unlocked the door to my apartment.  I’d envisaged a bedroom with a kitchenette.  I got something much better.  Imagine Monica’s apartment in Friends but with a huge bathroom and you’d hit the jackpot.

Juraj handed me a map, pointed out where Tesco is and explained which tram leads to the railway station.  Wednesday’s trip to Vienna just got easier.  I paid him for the room and the taxi service and set out to further explore my massive home for the next four nights!

Although it was dark outside I felt safe and walked towards Tesco.  Discovering a Lidl on the way as well as numerous places to eat.  Cheap.  A Vietnamese restaurant offering a fabulous noodles meal for €3.50.  Elsewhere, pizza and a beer for €1.50.  I don’t think I’ll be using my apartment’s oven, hob or microwave!

As i was tired I turned back and bought a carton of milk from an unbranded local shop.  I think Tesco and Lidl can do without my money here.  Back to the apartment, a coffee as supplied by Juraj and then a shower.  Cold water.  So I left it running for two minutes while I emptied out my bag.

On returning to the bathroom I realised that the shower had been angled away from the drainage area.  My huge bathroom didn’t take well to this and there was half an inch of water across the whole floor area.  That is some design fault.  It must be somebody else’s fault, right?

Twenty minutes mopping up with the towels.  Hopefully the bits left behind will disappear overnight.  I filled the bathtub instead of showering, got in and promptly fell asleep.  Bloody frozen when I awoke an hour later!

Lots to explore tomorrow and I’m rather excited about it.

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Back to Leeds Bradford Airport. A tougher drive in the middle of the day when compared to my previous early hours effort. The place is silent though. Hardly a soul in sight. Perhaps the UK could solve its apparent runway shortage by using this airport more!

On recommendation, I stopped off at Murgatroyds fish shop on the way in and then consumed my haddock and chips in the airport car park. Big mistake. The fish was magnificent but airports don’t seem to do bins so the remains will stay boxed up in the passenger seat of my car until Friday. Not good.  It might prepare me for next month’s trip to Iceland where they like rotten fish!

For the first time in several flights I beeped going through security. I’d kept my Afatinib in my pocket in error. I don’t think they liked it’s metallic wrapping. It took an age for the drug to come back through the scanners – I didn’t enjoy not being in view of what is keeping me alive

Excitingly my gate number is already on the departure board. Less excitingly I discovered there are no seats there. I’m currently sat in an area labelled “Sports Bar”. There is no sport, TV, bar or machine dispensing drinks. My next liquid intake will be in Slovakia! One assumes there is rebuilding going on down here. They might get it done faster if they employ some builders and fitters!

I did check out the currency dispensing ATMs. They offer an exchange rate that effectively charges you around 20% commission. I think I’ll stick my Halifax Clarity card in a Bratislava airport machine on arrival. Then the adventure really begins!

Bratislava.  I’ve heard of Slovan Bratilava from the football record books I used to read as a kid.  I assume they got to the occasional European final back in the day.  Beyond that, I know little about the place – other than it used to be in Czechoslovakia before the nation split after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  Apparently they like the Czechs but didn’t want to be the same nation.  So both joined the EU instead!

So far I’ve established the football stadium for Slovan Bratislava has a capacity similar to that of Oldham Athletic, the pictures of the Danube flowing through the city look stunning, there’s a castle and my hotel is 19 minutes walk away from a railway station that will provide transport to get me to Vienna for a day.

Ive been to Prague in the Czech Repulic and enjoyed that.  Although it was probably the place where I vowed to make more of foreign travel as we did little more than attend a rather good Bruce Springsteen gig.   That’s probably my comparator city at the moment.

I’m travelling with €30 and a shedload of credit cards.  Hopefully the ATMs will be kind to my no foreign currency fee cards on arrival as I have to hand over €210 for the driver collecting me at the airport and the hotel.  I do like having my name on a placard as I enter the arrivals area!

1978?  I’m not sure.  I can remember the photo being taken but very little about the day.  No regrets over the clothes!

Revisiting the place has been one thing I’ve intended to do for years.  When I sat down and put my bucket list on paper it was one of the few things that I felt I must do.  And I’m delighted to have done so.

At around £16 to get in it’s no bargain.  And you’re meant to book in advance or there’s a risk of not being admitted!

Ironically, you get the best view of the stones from the main road before you even get to the car park.  But after negotiating the entrance and bus transfer you find yourself close to the stones, surrounded by Japanese and American tourists.  And you can fully circle the structure albeit not get close enough to touch.  And despite time having taken its toll you can appreciate the magnificence of what it once was and feel some sort of aura

While I can appreciate a good city or cathedral it’s natural beauty that does it for me.  Stonehenge is a sort of half way house between the two.  And I loved it.

A half decent night’s sleep in a low cost chain hotel was welcome after struggling with a sore eye yesterday.  Despite that, and no goals, I enjoyed the football.

The good news on the eye is that it’s feeling betterment, but that’s offset by a now rare side effect to the afatinib cancer medication.  Let’s just say we ate later than usual and maybe I should have waited another hour before downing the drug.  Plenty of fluids Dave.  You don’t want to be dehydrated.

Once we’re showered and dressed the day will start with a Holiday Inn Express breakfast.  HIX tend to offer my preferred hotel needs of free parking, free wifi and free breakfast.  Oh, and beds!  A family of four would probably end up paying nearly £20 for a Maccies morning treat so there’s a bargain to be had if you’re only paying £39 for your overnight stay and the morning food’s included.

That said, what’s on offer is basically just an unlimited continental buffet with scrambled egg, little sausages and beans thrown in if you prefer something hot.  Much as I’d prefer poached eggs, proper sausages, mushrooms and bacon it’s not really essential and what’s on offer starts the day well.

To come, Stonehenge.  I’m really looking forward to this.  Unlike, for example, Malta, it’s on my bucket list.  I’m assuming a load of old rocks will also interest Chris as geology forms part of his degree course.  I did see the place as a kid but the memories have long since faded.

After that there’s little time to do other stuff as Chris needs to get some time with his mum before heading back to uni tonight.  I’ve got to check my bag for Bratislava tomorrow.  I think it’s all packed.  I know I’ll unpack it entirely and repack it all again but that’s just part of the fun.

Ultimately as long as I’ve got a change of underwear, passport, Afatinib, credit cards and suitable charging plugs and cables for electronic devices I’ll survive.

I’m proud of my son Chris tonight.  He’s done the bulk of the driving to get us down to Swindon and then negotiated town’s notorious “Magic Roundabout” – a bizarre sequence of six mini roundabouts and thirty eight arrows designed to scare the hell out of outsiders.  He’s only been able to drive my chunky Insigna for the last three weeks but handled the journey and the nuts intersection well.

Oldham grabbed a point with a goalless draw in the football. But the game was awkward for me to watch as my Bell’s palsy affected eye struggled to cope with direct sunlight at first and then dry air as the match wore on.  At least I didn’t miss any goals!  Combined with my back feeling achy throughout it wasn’t quite the fun lads day out I’d anricipated.

Back at the hotel now.  Last year a combination of optimising a generous promotion from IHG (Holiday Inn and more) with some timely business travel and a trip I paid for myself I managed to earn a shedload of loyalty points with IHG and gold status too.  The points are being spent on free nights in Santiago, Helsinki and somewhere else I forget.  I also got a Hilton status match on the IHG gold thing which got me a free cooked breakfast on a December morning last year.

No free night tonight, but for £39 we have a functional room, breakfast included and because of the gold status a free drink tonight too.  Quaint, individual or magnificent it isn’t, but cheap, comfortable with free parking and free wifi it is.  And well placed to get us to Stonehenge in the morning.

I have received a request to try and explain how Avios work. It’s a pretty complex question though and I’d suggest reading sites like Headforpoints and the British Airways section of Flyertalk to get more expert thoughts than I can provide.

I will try to simplify things though. Whether I succeed or not is another question. What you read below is definitely not the full story!  I’ve written previously about Avios too.

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What are Avios?

A currency that can be redeemed buying flights, hotels and car hire around the world.

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How can I earn Avios?

Flying with British Airways, other One World Airlines, Aer Lingus and Flybe.
Our business class flights to Chile will net 26,000 Avios each. Shorter economy flights earn significantly fewer Avios.

Booking holidays via BA Holidays.
A £2,000 holiday will earn 4,000 Avios.

Shopping at Tesco.
£100 spend a week will earn over 12,000 Avios a year.

Filling up with petrol at Tesco, Esso and Shell.
£200 a month of Tesco fuel will earn nearly 3,000 Avios a year.

Using certain cards from Lloyds Bank and American Express.
Sign up bonuses can be as high as 35,000 Avios and £500 a month in spending can earn 9,000 Avios a year.

Completing surveys with eRewards and Rewards for Thoughts.
Sign up bonuses of 600 Avios. Ten minute survey a week will earn 2,400 Avios a year.

You can also redeem TopCashback earnings for Avios.  This post gives you more information.

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What are the best value flight redemptions?

An Avios ticket is fully flexible and can be changed or cancelled for a £35 fee. Most cheap airline fares are non-flexible.

8,000 Avios plus £35 can get you return flights with hold luggage from from London to Prague.

13,000 Avios plus £35 can get the same from Manchester to Ibiza.

100,000 Avios plus £498 will pay for return UK to New York flights in business class.

As a rule, flights to Europe in economy or flights further afield in business class provide best value for money. But there are numerous permutations and there will be examples that bend that rule.  I’ve done well redeeming for QANTAS flights to get me between Australian cities.

Avios flights in long haul economy often attract taxes that are close to a non-flexible fare. If you’re confident you’ll be travelling on those dates it makes little sense to pay with Avios.

Longer flights such as those to the American west coast or Australia usually see higher class reward seat availability snapped up 355 days in advance. It’s rare to be able to get any seats that suit.

There are ways to redeem long haul for fewer Avios and lower taxes through Iberia if you fly yourself to Madrid first. Feel free to ask – it gets complicated!

Obe other consideration is that Avios is very much a British Airways currency that you can earn and occasionally spend flying with their One World partner airlines.  Although British Airways is currently increasing its routes from Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol they are predominantly a London based airline.  Sometimes a Ryanair flight from the north can be better than an Avios redemption that needs a Yorkshireman to get to Gatwick.

All clear?

More information can be found at the excellent Headforpoints site which adds three articles daily.  The BA section of the Flyertalk web site is also helpful, albeit more advanced.

If you are applying for an American Express card get in touch (email address in the contacts info above) and I’ll send you a referral link that will earn us both additional Avios.

Well I was a bit bored.  Malta has been and gone.  Bratislava and Iceland will be out of the way by the second week of March and then what?  Nothing until first class flights to Boston in June.

“Exciting” news on the first class thing.  At the time of booking our connecting BA flight from Manchester to London was a one class thing where you have to pay for food and drink.  While at least you can purchase M&S Percy Pigs as part of that service, it’s not exactly a first class experience.  BA are about to announce that our booking will be upgraded to their new Club Europe service for domestic flights.  That means we’ll get fed and watered for free at the front of the plane.  Given that flight time is about 35 minutes they’ll have to serve us quickly!

Anyway, the new booking.  Somebody sent me a link to “ten cities tourists often forget” this morning.  A couple I’ve done.  A couple I don’t feel like doing.  But I checked the football fixtures for the end of March and there’s definitely a gap.

So I’m off to Ljubljana for four nights.  No, I’d never heard of it either.  But it’s in Slovenia.  And also throws up the opportunity to get the bus to Zagreb, admire the countryside and spend a few hours in Croatia.

Flights and hotel are booked.  My first Luton Airport experience.  My first Wizz Air experience too!  And the airports at both ends will allow lounge access on the new AMEX charge card I’ve been accepted for.  Some early value for my £450.

I need a hotel at Luton Airport as it’s an early flight.  That’ll do me for £60.  And the bus from Ljubljana Airport to Ljubljana, while only €4.10, seems to be a very rare thing on a Sunday.

The other big crisis is that I’ve run out of clear wallets to store all my trip documents in.  A trip to the pound shop might be in order.

For the uninitiated, Walt is a character in the series Breaking Bad.  I believe it’s on Netflix and strongly recommend you watch it!

Walt is a family man and chemistry teacher diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer and, from memory, given eighteen months to live.  His immediate instinct is to provide for his family after he’s gone.  A wife, a disabled teenage son and a baby on the way.

In the instant after my diagnosis this was exactly how I felt.  The urge to travel came later.  The urge to ensure whatever I had got to my kids was instant and instinctive.

Walt, bless him, went about it in a slightly different way though.  He used his chemistry skills to start cooking crystal meth and became the biggest supplier in the American South West.  Indeed, I’ve loved visiting that part of the world and the blue skies, open roads and stunning New Mexico scenery were what drew me into the series.

Anyway, given my only CSE (that’s what the not so smart kids did instead of O levels) came in Chemistry I chose not to go into drug production and distribution.  The first thing I did arrange was a will.  Two things I’ve not done but probably should are prepay the funeral and set up a power of attorney.  But the big piece of work is still ongoing with my pension.

I’ve worked for the same company, allowing for mergers, collapses and takeovers, for over thirty years.  My pension is a defined benefit (formerly known as final salary) which provides a set of excellent guarantees in retirement, albeit not as excellent as they once were.  Although the option of taking the pension from age 50 exists, the best value is leaving it untouched to age 60-62.  I’m 49.  Assuming I pop my clogs soon means 30 years of contributions will provide nothing.  Kids don’t inherit the pension.  They can have what’s left of my modest savings and redundancy money when I go, but if I make it through the next five years there’ll be nowt left!

Recent changes to pensions legislation have created an opportunity though.  Convert my company pension to a personal pension and the cash value becomes available to me at 55.  I’m not expecting to last that long.  If I don’t, the kids share a substantial six figure sum.  If I do, I’ll have more than enough to survive on until I’m 90.  Win / win.

It involves paying rather a significant sum for the services of an IFA, lots of form filling and negotiating the slow world of third party pension administrators.  Although I started the process in November, it’s still not finalised.  I’d better not croak today because that six figure sum will disappear.

But it’s nearly sorted.  Walt cooked his crystal meth.  I understood the dark arts of releasing value from a potentially valueless pension.  We’re clearly two of a kind!