26/07: Kenya Photos
Well, I've finally started sorting out the photos from our Kenya trip last year. There's nothing to show yet, but hopefully they'll start appearing in dribs and drabs.
Watch this space...
Watch this space...
03/07: Budget Airline Rant
We're planning on going to France for 10 days or so later in the year. The cats are already booked into their holiday villa (Breighton Cats Lodge - highly recommended!) as it tends to book up fast, and we worked out a while ago which flights we were going to book (everything has to revolve around the cat's holiday). Last night we decided to actually book the flights before they went up in price too much...
What a con!
Starting out with prices quoted at £49 (out) & £29 (return) per person, we then get hit for taxes (OK, I'm used to that), automatically opted into their own travel insurance (including having pre-ticked the box that says you agree to their conditions!) - which we removed - and now to add insult to injury, you have to book the number of bags you want to carry at £10 per bag (with a 50% online discount - it's £20 per bag if you didn't bother and turn up at the airport). For your £10 you don't even get additional baggage allowance - it's still 18kg whether you take one bag (£10) or 5 bags (£50)! By this time I was fuming, so when it came to credit/debit card surcharges (£2.50 for debit cards, £5.99 for credit cards, although again I was expecting this) I was livid and turning the air blue (apologies to Jenny who was sat witnessing this).
What started out looking like at was going to cost £78 per person ended up costing £128 per person - an additional £50 each in "hidden" charges.
The final straw came when, after completing booking, we were invited to choose our seats. I figured "why not?" I was expecting the extra leg room seats to cost money, but it looks like it was going to be another £5 just to reserve any old seat (probably each way as well). The cheek! So, we'll turn up and take whatever we get allocated - in fact, if we turn up early enough, we may get put in the extra leg room seats for free because the crew need someone to man the emergency exits!
Right. I feel better for that. It's not the cost that's the problem, it's the fact that there's an extra £50 added on to the initially quoted (and probably advertised) prices that does it. For my next rant, ask me about availability of cheap (~£10) train tickets...
PS Anyone know anywhere nice in France to visit? Having booked the flights, we havent actually decided where we're going yet!
What a con!
Starting out with prices quoted at £49 (out) & £29 (return) per person, we then get hit for taxes (OK, I'm used to that), automatically opted into their own travel insurance (including having pre-ticked the box that says you agree to their conditions!) - which we removed - and now to add insult to injury, you have to book the number of bags you want to carry at £10 per bag (with a 50% online discount - it's £20 per bag if you didn't bother and turn up at the airport). For your £10 you don't even get additional baggage allowance - it's still 18kg whether you take one bag (£10) or 5 bags (£50)! By this time I was fuming, so when it came to credit/debit card surcharges (£2.50 for debit cards, £5.99 for credit cards, although again I was expecting this) I was livid and turning the air blue (apologies to Jenny who was sat witnessing this).
What started out looking like at was going to cost £78 per person ended up costing £128 per person - an additional £50 each in "hidden" charges.
The final straw came when, after completing booking, we were invited to choose our seats. I figured "why not?" I was expecting the extra leg room seats to cost money, but it looks like it was going to be another £5 just to reserve any old seat (probably each way as well). The cheek! So, we'll turn up and take whatever we get allocated - in fact, if we turn up early enough, we may get put in the extra leg room seats for free because the crew need someone to man the emergency exits!
Right. I feel better for that. It's not the cost that's the problem, it's the fact that there's an extra £50 added on to the initially quoted (and probably advertised) prices that does it. For my next rant, ask me about availability of cheap (~£10) train tickets...
PS Anyone know anywhere nice in France to visit? Having booked the flights, we havent actually decided where we're going yet!
