Credit Crunch Travel Tips
The fact that the constant barrage of credit crunch related news is so grim at home only makes me more desperate to escape to a place where at least if the news isn’t any less grim I can’t understand what they’re saying. And some sun would be nice too. That always cheers me up. As well as shopping around for credit crunch travel discounts there are some other ways come up with cheap holiday ideas, without cheap holiday meaning a fortnight sitting in a house you can’t really afford the mortgage for. These are the World Reviewer Top Tips for Cheap Credit Crunch Travel.
Like the scouts and dentists will tell you – be prepared
No point going to Egypt and skipping the pyramids because they’re a bit pricey, if you look around in advance many destinations can offer you a combo deal, tickets to the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower with a boat ride down the Seine thrown in for example. There’s also no point going to a place where the shopping is bound to tempt with your suitcase at full weight on the way out. Leave a bit of breathing room in your luggage to avoid a scene at the airport where you have to start jettisoning your smalls to fit that coat that was too cheap not to buy.
We all know mobile phone charges on holidays are hideous and the credit crunch isn’t going to improve that, but if you get your phone unlocked before you leave you can get a local SIM card and at least make cheap local calls if you need to.
Know what you’re got coming to you
European travellers are entitled to a free European Health Insurance Card which means if something untoward befalls you medically you can save yourself a lot of extra cash and worry! British travellers should also check out if they’re entitled to get their travel jabs free on the NHS from their GP – a lot of people will find they are.
If you’re still a student in any way shape or form make sure you pick up an internationally recognised student card – like one from STA travel – waving your school library card at the charming people in the ticket office of Beijing’s Forbidden City won’t do you any favours.
Stick to your budget
You can be thrifty even after you hit the ground. Simple things like eating out where the locals do rather than in the often over priced and less authentic tourist areas, and carrying a drink in your bag can help you stick to a daily budget.
Mind the false economy
Being flexible about your travel arrangements will always save you money but if the cheapest flight available means you’re going to get into the airport at 3am and have to catch a cab to the hotel - which will promptly charge you for a whole additional night - then you may want to reconsider.
Self catering options may be worth considering - some people can eat their money’s worth at the breakfast buffet, but it might be worth looking for accommodation with at least a fridge, kettle and a toaster in case of emergencies? Car rental is another travel expenditure that should be considered carefully at the moment. It can be a cheap way to get around but remember that petrol prices are sky high in many places at the moment. If you do rent a car returning it with a full tank can help avoid any pesky additional charges.
It’s a precarious economy that has people withdrawing all the cash for their trip at the commission free money exchange post office – if you lose it you lose it all – but it’s still worth changing some currency before you go and looking for a cheaper exchange rate than you’ll get from your hotel.
Don’t scrimp on insurance. If you’re that lucky you must be one of the people who has benefited from the credit crunch – but how many of those people do you know? Coming home from holiday is bad enough without coming home in an air ambulance you’re going to spend the next thousand years paying off, or scoring all those wonderful shopping bargains on vacation and then losing your bag on the way home and not even having a decent pair of underwear to call your own.
Don’t leave it to the last minute
Leaving it until the last minute only really works if you can be flexible. If you’re hoping you’ll be able to arrange cheap parking at the airport on the day you probably also think credit crunch is a cereal. These little details all add up in the end.
SarahC
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-tips-articles/credit-crunch-travel-tips-691462.html
March 8th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Would you suscribe to a "journal for gentlewoman" like The Lady?
And do you agree that "traditional activities from baking to knitting are seeing a resurgence thanks to a credit crunch fueled back-to-basics mood"?
LONDON – A dusty grande dame of British publishing is getting a makeover.
The Lady magazine, founded in 1885 as a "journal for gentlewomen," is famous for recipes, rules of etiquette and classified ads seeking cooks, butlers and nannies. On Tuesday, it marched into the 21st century with a glossy new issue featuring adventure-travel tips, full-color advertising and even — whisper it — a Web site.
"Where we were seen as irrelevant and eccentric, we want to be seen as charming and amusing."
Its offices, in an imposing pastel-painted building in Covent Garden, are a London landmark.
The past issues displayed in the building’s window indicate The Lady’s problem. There’s not much difference visually between a 1939 issue featuring a model in quilted chintz negligee and a black-and-white 1978 edition promising stories about "a prettier you" and "Charles Darwin." No connection between the two was apparent.
Adrian Monck, head of the journalism program at London’s City University, says The Lady is "a charming reminder of another age.""It’s a miracle it’s still with us," he said.
Although The Lady has survived, it has not thrived in recent years. The magazine’s circulation is about 30,000, less than half its peak. Budworth thinks he can double that within a year, despite the economic crisis."There is huge untapped potential in The Lady," said Budworth, 44.
He may have a point. Women over 45 — Budworth’s target audience — are a huge emerging market, and traditional activities from baking to knitting are seeing a resurgence thanks to a credit crunch fueled back-to-basics mood.
"It’s very fashionable now to be an English lady — clever, witty, confident of your own style, family-based," said Sarah Kennedy, a veteran of glossy women’s magazines including Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan who has been brought in as The Lady’s editor-at-large. "These women are becoming more visible, commercially and financially.
"They’re not interested in (reality show) ‘Big Brother.’ They’re not interested in celebrity culture. They’re confident enough to say, ‘I like gardening. I like walking holidays — but I still want to look like Sharon Stone.’"
Anxious to capture this audience — settled, well-off, interested in travel, gardening and books — Budworth commissioned The Lady’s first-ever market research. He found to his alarm that the magazine’s average reader was 78 years old.
"I think we were in danger of becoming irrelevant and only appealing to 80-year-olds," he said. "Dearly as we love them, you have to bring in new readers."
Some things, though, will not change. Budworth vows The Lady will not stoop to "celebrity, sex and tittle-tattle."
"I would never use sex to sell the magazine," he said. "The Lady is greater and grander than that."
Edit: Ah Helen..you are always a true lady!
Edit: And you Frank, sound suspiciously like a lady i know & like!
: )
March 8th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
not for old lady
References :
March 8th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
"The Lady will not stoop to "celebrity, sex and tittle-tattle."
That´s me out then.
References :
March 8th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
I’ve taken The Lady for over twenty years. The articles are informative and not in the least smutty. It’s a good read and my friends pass it around when i’ve finished with it. Some of the trite rubbish you see on the shelves today are just revolting, you’d think that the soaps were real life looking at the headlines!
References :
March 8th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
My Mum reads The Lady.
Take it from me there are plenty of perversions in the subtext. lol.
I’d also like to add my Mum reads the Chat, Have a break , Hello, OK and horrifically, is a ‘Twilight ‘ fan.
Dark underbelly and all that…………………………
References :
March 8th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
Some people use it if they are looking for an au-pair, or if the want to find a job as one.
Personally I find it a tad boring. All magazines have that effect on me though!! I prefer to read something with rather more substance.
References :
March 8th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
No, I don’t read magazines.
Only the occasional scientific journal..
Magazines are very rarely honest.
References :
March 8th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Actually, when I was 18 I did used to read the Lady! It was where I found my job as an au pair in San Francisco and spent a very happy year there!
References :
March 8th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
My mother-in-law used to read The Lady. I approve - I’m not ready to buy anything called by such an archaic title, but at the same time, I’ll sneak a look.
References :
March 8th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
I wouldn’t, yet! It definitely is the place for ads for au pairs etc, so it is useful for that. Apart from that it looks boring, but it’s the sort of thing that you are glad is there.
As for knitting and baking, it is actually rarely cheaper to make something from scratch now, especially in the style recommended in magazines. I think it is for people who want to feel part of getting back to basics and responding to the recession, but aren’t really short of cash.
I actually once had a job interview at The Lady. The editor was very ladylike and as you would hope, but I can confirm they would not stretch to a gentlewoman’s salary.
References :