After many, many years of travelling the length and breadth of the UK, I am about to embark on my next adventure; I am launching my business in Singapore.
MrsTravelFreak, two JuniorTravelFreaks, 9 large (and very heavy) suitcases, 6 carry-ons and a great deal of spirit and we are off next week for the next few months…for now.
We will try to review lots of places in Singapore and also capture any random thoughts / rantings that we may have.
Wish us luck!
This review is the final part of a series about my experience of my first ever package holiday – a trip to Lapland. You can find out more about the trip here.
When people tell me they are going on a package holiday I imagine scenes from Sun, Sea and Suspicious Parents along wth images that are indelibly etched on my brain from a season working at Butlins, when at 10am, the parents are a few pints down with a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other and their kids are running wild. I know that I shouldn’t have these images but there you have it.
This review is part of a series about my experience of my first ever package holiday – a trip to Lapland. You can find out more about the trip here.
MrsTravelFreak, the two JuniorTravelFreaks (JTF’s) aged six and eight and myself were staying in this hotel during our three-night stay in Lapland.
The normal process of checking-in didn’t apply here as we were given our room key and welcome pack on the coach from the airport. As we pulled into the hotel I could see that there was one main hotel block (that had the restaurant and bar and a few rooms) and several other buildings spread across an area of around three football pitches. Naturally, our room was furthest way from the coach so off I went carrying body suits for 4, 2 cases and a couple of JTFs!
This review is part of a series about my experience of my first ever package holiday – a trip to Lapland. You can find out more about the trip here.
I was travelling with MrsTravelFreak and the JuniorTravelFreaks (JTFs) for pleasure and had an hour prior to boarding. MrsTravelFreak and one of the JTFs decided they wanted to indulge in some airport shopping; off I went with the younger one to the lounge.
The lounge is situated upstairs in the terminal beside the Virgin Holidays lounge and opposite Boots. I handed over my Priority Pass and stepped into the lounge. It was very busy (the time was 07:00 on a Tuesday) with most customers in the chairs beside the full bar. A staff member was serving drinks and most people seemed to be taking full advantage of the complimentary alcohol. Whilst I am more than happy to drink some champagne at 02:00 in the Emirates lounge in Dubai during a transit, I am simply unable to drink lager, gin or whisky so early in the morning. Looking at the (very red) faces of most of the customers in this lounge, I think this is a good thing.
This review is part of a series about my experience of my first ever package holiday – a trip to Lapland. You can find out more about the trip here.
I was flying from Manchester to Kittila (for Lapland) very early the next day and decided to drive down the night before and stay at the Hilton Manchester Airport.
I had booked the stay well in advance and had arranged for 2 connecting rooms to be assigned to us (MrsTravelFreak, myself and the 2 JuniorTravelFreaks). The cash rate for each room was £109 but the same room was also available for only 20,000 Hilton Hhonors points which I thought was much better.
This review is part of a series about my experience of my first ever package holiday – a trip to Lapland. You can find out more about our trip here.
I had driven down to Manchester the night before our flight. Due to a number of factors, we arrived at the Hilton Manchester Airport a lot later than planned. It felt like I had only been asleep for 15 minutes when the alarm woke me up at 05:00 – it’s probably fair to say that I was a bit grumpy.
The hotel shuttle dropped us off at Departures (which makes sense as we were departing…) but a glance at the departure board informed us that our check-in desk was infact downstairs – in arrivals.
I managed not to moan (out loud anyway) and took the elevator down a level. As soon as the doors opened I worked out where we were going… there was a [person dressed up as a] reindeer in the departures area!
This review is part of a series about my experience of my first ever package holiday – a trip to Lapland. You can find out more about our trip here.
I received a small brochure in the post (about three weeks before departure) that laid out my itinerary and provided check-in times etc. along with a list of useful things to pack. I particularly liked ‘it can be as low as -30 degrees. We cannot emphasise the importance of packing properly, particular for young children’!
I am not a package holiday kind of guy. I like to be in control of everything and the general idea of being the same as everybody else scares me.
All of that said, there are some trips that don’t really work well with the DIY approach. One of these trips was to Lapland in December 2014. I first noticed the deal on Secret Escapes, which displayed a saving of almost 40% against the list price with Cosmos. I discovered that the airline used for the trip (Monarch Airlines) is actually owned by Cosmos and subsequently, I was simply unable to purchase a seat on these charter flights if I wasn’t part of the package gang. I held my breath and entered my credit-card details and in a moment I was joining the many millions of people who travel each year on a package trip.
I received a last minute request to meet with a client in London last week. Looking at Skycanner, it seemed that an EasyJet / BA combo from Edinburgh to Gatwick was the cheapest that matched the times I needed. There was a BA option (returning from Heathrow) for an extra £16, which seemed to make sense – my EasyJet Plus membership recently ran out and I expect I would have spent that much on Speedy Boarding.
I booked my flights with BA and added my Cathay Pacific Gold card details. This is One World Sapphire, which is equivalent to Silver Exec Club. I should have lounge access along with the ability to select my seats at the time of booking free of charge along with using business check-in counters.
