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# Friday, 18 July 2008

The cost of sending a text message back home whilst in Europe could come down by as much as 70%. Currently sending a text message from Spain would cost around 40p but under new rules it could cost as little as 9p. The cuts have been proposed by the EU Telecoms commissioner who has accused mobile operators of failing to offer customers a fair deal. From October she will introduce new legal rules that will put a cap on charges. Her proposals first need to be approved by ministers of the EU member states before they become law.

posted on Friday, 18 July 2008 08:58:45 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #    Trackback
# Thursday, 17 July 2008

Ryanair has announced cut backs of the number of winter flights from Stanstead. It plans to reduce the number of flights by 14 per cent meaning the number of weekly flights will be cut from 1,850 to just 1,600. The plan is part of an effort to try and reduce losses and comes after a similar announcement from BA.

posted on Thursday, 17 July 2008 17:20:41 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #    Trackback

Despite the fact that prices of holidays seems to be more expensive at the moment due to fuel surcharges, there are still some good deals to be had if you look around. One option that is worth looking at is a holiday apartment rather than a hotel. This website for example has some good deals on Barcelona apartments. The advantage of booking a holiday apartment is that it can often work out cheaper choosing the self catering option. Holiday apartments in Catalonia start from as little as £350 a week based on a 1 bedroom apartment near the city centre and according to this article August is a good time to visit Barcelona as many Spaniards choose to go on vacation so the city is quieter and Spanish apartments are often cheaper at this time of year.

Barcelona like Paris has a discount card that you might want to purchase to save a bit more cash. Not surprisingly it is called the Barcelona Card. It offers free travel on public transport, free offers at museums, leisure facilities, nightclubs, shops and restaurants. You can purchase the card for 2,3,4 or 5 days depending on the length of your stay and it also comes with a handy information guide.

posted on Thursday, 17 July 2008 10:32:29 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #    Trackback

BA will cut capacity on winter flights by up to 5% in an effort to avoid losses. They will reduce the amount of flights on its routes and axe some service between October and March. There will be fewer services on the least cash generative routes with no more than two out of 154 routes being axed. Many airlines are currently cutting capacity due to falling demand and high fuel prices with US carriers leading the way. There are signs that the slowing economy is starting to affect travel with BA seeing a decline of 3.7% or 87,000 fewer passengers in June.

posted on Thursday, 17 July 2008 09:06:59 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #    Trackback
# Wednesday, 16 July 2008

If you were hoping to get tickets for next years T in the park festival then you may already be too late. The first batch of tickets sold out in less than 10 hours as music fans rushed to snap them up. For those you missed them there will be another chance to get a ticket when the line up is announced early next year.

posted on Wednesday, 16 July 2008 14:55:15 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #    Trackback
# Tuesday, 15 July 2008

This week's travel blog of the week is 3 Go Global, yet another blog started by someone who decided to pickup sticks and explore the world with their children in tow so they could say "I did that!"

One interesting article I found was about their trip to Bangkok watching an "horrific" display of a mongoose attacking cobras that were dropped into its glass cage (the snakes were later prized from its jaws). However my favourite part was the visit to the Tiger Temple where tigers sit sprawled out unconcerned by the tourists gauping at these larger than life creatures lazing in the sun.

posted on Tuesday, 15 July 2008 23:24:39 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #    Trackback

When booking a holiday you might want to check the small print to see what is says about fuel surcharges. This article highlights a case where a couple were hit with a surcharge of £892 a few months before they were due to set off on a cruise holiday. In their case the extra charge was simply too much to afford and they had no choice but to cancel the holiday. Unfortunately because the charges amounted to £8 less than 10% of the total holiday cost they were not entitled to a refund of the £900 deposit they had paid for the £9,000 holiday.

posted on Tuesday, 15 July 2008 09:23:10 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #    Trackback
# Friday, 11 July 2008

Boris Johnson has quashed the proposed rise in the London congestion charge. The former mayor Ken Livingston has planned to raise the daily charge from £8 to £25. Boris Johnson has said that the £25 charge would hit small businesses and families the hardest and this is why he is scrapping the rise. He also said that his aim is to achieve a "fairer and more effective congestion charge".

posted on Friday, 11 July 2008 10:16:38 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #    Trackback
# Thursday, 10 July 2008

PC2Paper have recently added a new message area to users accounts. For some time we have been having problems contacting customers by email, either due to us having an invalid address on file or the fact that many of our emails are picked up by our customers spam filters. We hope that the new message area  will allow us to contact customers more effectively without having to worry about whether our emails are getting through. If you receive a message from our the PC2Paper customer service team, this will be the first thing you will see when you log into your account. We will soon start using this area to alert customers to any problems related to letter sending and also to send any tracking numbers for recorded and special deliveries.

posted on Thursday, 10 July 2008 12:12:40 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #    Trackback
# Wednesday, 09 July 2008

The Post Office has released a list of branches which are likely to close in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Milton Keynes. The Post Office has said that the cut backs are necessary to make the service sustainable. It is part of a wider proposal to reduce the number of branches by 2,500 nationwide. A public consultation will now open on the proposed closures. The full list of closures is below.

In Bedfordshire

  • Brickhill Drive, Bedford
  • Elstow Road, Bedford
  • Goldington Road, Bedford
  • Midland Road, Bedford
  • Springfields, Bedford
  • Ravensden
  • Stevington
  • Stewartby
  • Kitelands, Biggleswade
  • Blunham
  • Old Warden
  • Southill
  • Chalton
  • Eaton Bray
  • High Street South, Dunstable
  • Luton Road, Dunstable
  • Hockliffe Street, Leighton Buzzard
  • Linslade

In Luton:

  • Slip End
  • Atherstone Road
  • Biscot
  • Biscot Road
  • Chapel Langley
  • Hightown
  • Slip End
  • Chalton
  • Eaton Bray

In Hertfordshire:

  • Bengeo Street, Hertford
  • King George Road, Ware
  • Ware Road, Hertford
  • Blakes Corner, Hitchin
  • Hexton
  • St Ippolyts, Hitchin
  • Station Road North, Harpenden
  • Whitwell
  • Wadesmill, Ware
  • Bedwell, Stevenage
  • Benington, Stevenage
  • Fairlands, Stevenage

In Milton Keynes:

  • Fishermead
  • Little Brickhill
  • Conniburrow

In Buckinghamshire:

  • Gawcott
  • Padbury
  • Preston Bissett
  • Twyford
  • Aylesbury Street, Bletchley
  • Water Eaton
  • Weston Underwood
posted on Wednesday, 09 July 2008 13:57:11 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #    Trackback
# Saturday, 05 July 2008

blogoftheweek_thumb This weeks Travel Blog of the Week is Born to Travel 2526995-Ooops-0written by Sharon and Scott. The blog follows their various travels around the world with the most recent posts finding them in India. One post charts a bus trip to the town of Keylong where the driver negotiates the precarious mountain road whilst holding an animated conversation with the conductor complete with wild hand movements. It all sounds rather scary and the2452300-These-guys-are-nuts-1y post a picture (right) of what can happen if you go off the edge. Luckily they arrives at their destination in one piece despite feeling the effects of altitude sickness - lethargy, nausea, and headaches. Another post is about another bus trip. On this one, however, the couple decided to get off as the bus in question had no brakes despite being about to negotiate the same precarious mountain roads. Despite this it appears that the local people, perhaps hardened to the conditions of the road and the transport were happy to stay on the bus and continue their journey. A third post shows something that you could surely only find in India a man powered Ferris Wheel (left). You have to see it to believe it. These are just a few highlights from this great blog, but its well worth checking it out yourself for more great posts.

posted on Saturday, 05 July 2008 15:20:06 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #    Trackback