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27 Jul

Your Essential Holiday Check-List


When you hear the words ‘summer holiday’, your mind probably turns to golden beaches lapped by azure waters, exotic bars serving weird and wonderful cocktails, or blissfully warm weather. But there is a practical side to traveling abroad, and that is something you need to consider while planning your trip. To make your holiday a smooth one, make sure you pay heed to the following points.

1. Check your documents: You might be surprised how many people book trips abroad, only to realize at the last moment that their paperwork is lost, incomplete or expired. To avoid being one of them, ensure your passport is in date and that you have a visa for the country you are traveling to if needed. It is also worth allocating a folder for tickets, insurance and other documents, and keeping it in a safe place at all times.

2. Pack sensibly: If you’re going on a beach holiday, then all you’ll really need is a bikini and a towel – right? Wrong. When packing, take some time to draw up a check-list of important items and stick to it. In your hand luggage, you will probably need all passports and visas, tickets, an itinerary, money, credit cards, identification such as driving licenses, medication and boredom-busters such as books and music. In your main luggage, pack clothes, toiletries, a jacket and swimwear, as well as extras for children and babies such as sweets, favorite toys, baby wipes and bottles of milk.

3. Get insured: Travel insurance offers crucial protection while abroad – and, with many companies offering single trip cover from £4, there’s no excuse not to get covered. Reduce costs by shopping around for quotes and ensure quality by checking your policy carefully before you travel. If you are holidaying within the EU, it may also be worth applying for a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). You can apply at your local post office or online, and the card will allow you access to healthcare in any European Economic Area country, or Switzerland.

4. Contact your mobile network provider: If you’re keen to take your mobile phone abroad with you then make sure you will have access to international roaming. Get in touch with your network provider before leaving to check whether your handset will work abroad and to find out about roaming costs. Regular travelers may wish to consider changing networks to get the best deals on overseas calls – this summer Vodafone are offering a Passport deal which allows holidaymakers to make calls from their mobile phones at no extra cost.

Finally, don’t forget to have fun! Get the practicalities over with earlier, and you will be free to enjoy a now-stress summer holiday overseas.


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25 Jul

The 5 Step Plan to Preparing for your Holiday


Planning your summer holiday can be a bit of a pain in the neck when all you want to do is relax and take it easy. However, as long as you cover a few key bases, the whole process is really quite quick and easy and shouldn’t cause you too much stress. Here’s a simple 5 step plan to help you sort out your holiday needs.

Step One: Choose a Destination. Sounds simple really, but this can be the most time consuming element of planning a holiday. It can be made a lot easier if you break it down into smaller decisions, like do you want a relaxing holiday by a beach, or an activity holiday? Or, do you want to be close to home or somewhere a bit further flung? Make use of helpful resources like newspaper travel supplements and the Lonely Planet Guide to give you some ideas.

Step Two: Book Travel and Accommodation. Whether you choose to do this through a travel agency, through your own research, or with one of the many holiday websites like Expedia.co.uk, you can usually get great deals if you’re able to book your travel and accommodation together, so be on the look out for money saving offers.

Step Three: Plan Some Activities. Now no-one wants to have their holiday planned out to the hour, but it can be very helpful to have an idea of some things you want to do before you get there. This will save you any unnecessary stress whilst you’re away, and will let you get a head start on the queues for popular attractions.

Step Four: Sort out your Travel Insurance. Arguably the least fun part of planning a holiday, travel insurance might mean planning for the worst case scenario but it’s still hugely important. Ask around amongst friends and family to see what deals they managed to get, but remember that your policy should be tailored to your holiday and your needs.

Step Five: Search for Summer Deals. Often, it’s the unexpected seasonal deal that really makes your holiday go smoothly, and this summer it could be Vodafone that saves you money on your trip. From the 1st June to the 31st August they are negating roaming charges, meaning that you can make and receive calls from the UK, as well as sending picture and text messages for your normal home rates, which is a financial blessing when away. For more on this and other mobile phone deals, go to the Vodafone site for the information you need on becoming a customer.

Everyone’s holiday is different, so you will undoubtedly find other things that you need to prepare when planning yours. However, if you get these key things sorted out early on the whole planning experience can be made a lot easier, leaving you to look forward to your holiday and relax.


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