2022 travel plans

[welshbairn]

1 hour ago, yoda said:

I'm planning a trip to the Netherlands in a couple of months (Groningen and Amsterdam / Haarlem, probably). What's the deal with using my Starling debit card over there? I've read conflicting things - Starling say it's fine but a few things online say that MasterCard and Visa aren't widely accepted outside of Amsterdam.

I'll be taking cash with me anyway but just wanted to know if I'll be fine with my card or should get a travel card?

Think it's just the odd shop and supermarket who won't take Visa and Mastercard, was in Haarlem a few months ago and my Visa card worked fine everywhere, shops, bars, public transport. Maybe Covid made them more accepting of plastic to avoid cash handling. Never seemed like a problem on previous visits to Amsterdam, Utrecht and Rotterdam in recent years, if a place didn't take plastic I'd just get cash out of an ATM. Don't think there's any point in buying a travel card unless you can find a Maestro one, think they're all Visa or Mastercard too.

P.S. If you haven't already booked accommodation I'd recommend basing yourself in Haarlem for visiting A'dam, much easier to find somewhere and cheaper, especially midsummer, and under half an hour away. It's a lot calmer and less touristy too.

Edited April 29, 2022 by welshbairn

[German Jag]

For anyone going to Germany from between June & August the German government is introducing a nationwide €9 monthly ticket which will be valid on all local trains and buses. Is being introduced as a means of assistance during the current period of excessively high energy and fuel prices plus also very high inflation. Will likely cause carnage in the popular tourist areas, but will save me €80 a month on getting to work. €9 ticket

Edited April 29, 2022 by German Jag

[welshbairn]

2 hours ago, German Jag said:

For anyone going to Germany from between June & August the German government is introducing a nationwide €9 monthly ticket which will be valid on all local trains and buses. Is being introduced as a means of assistance during the current period of excessively high energy and fuel prices plus also very high inflation. Will likely cause carnage in the popular tourist areas, but will save me €80 a month on getting to work. €9 ticket

Could you connect up with other local networks if you're going long distance? Probably not worth the faff unless you just want to meander about, which sounds fun tbh.

[German Jag]

2 hours ago, welshbairn said:

Could you connect up with other local networks if you're going long distance? Probably not worth the faff unless you just want to meander about, which sounds fun tbh.

No restrictions on what networks / Bundesländer, so the likes of Hamburg => Munich possible for the €9 but no ICE or IC/EC trains. In otherwords adds maybe 2 -2 and a half hours onto the journey plus having to make a couple more changes. 

[welshbairn]

33 minutes ago, German Jag said:

No restrictions on what networks / Bundesländer, so the likes of Hamburg => Munich possible for the €9 but no ICE or IC/EC trains. In otherwords adds maybe 2 -2 and a half hours onto the journey plus having to make a couple more changes. 

If it was running into September I would have gone for that, lots of random stops without much planning ahead. Booked up until then unfortunately.

[The Naitch]

On 24/02/2022 at 19:42, The Naitch said:

Looking at New York in October for my other half's birthday. Hopefully there's no covid requirements at all by then.

That's New York booked up for five nights. Cannot wait.

Off to London at the end of the month for a few days, always fun down that way.

[welshbairn]

3 hours ago, The Naitch said:

That's New York booked up for five nights. Cannot wait.

Off to London at the end of the month for a few days, always fun down that way.

I'd be thinking of this to avoid queues at NY. Haven't used it but I think it's free and I really hate queuing.

On 28/04/2022 at 11:34, Frosty said:

Used the VeriFLY app for our US trip and can recommend it. Didn’t have to show any of the individual test/vaccination details just the VeriFLY approval and there were specific VeriFLY check in desks that meant you went straight to an agent rather having to wait in the general check in queue.

 

[The Naitch]

11 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

I'd be thinking of this to avoid queues at NY. Haven't used it but I think it's free and I really hate queuing.

 

Good shout. It's not until late October so hoping that the covid entry requirements have been ditched by then. Long shot, I know.

[Frosty]

 

Can confirm it’s free

[Craig fae the Vale]

Off to Nottingham for a couple of days on Monday. Got the Castle and the underground caves booked, and will be stopping by the Haunted Museum. Hoping to find some good craft beer bars too. Looking forward to it, first holiday outside of Scotland since 2018.

[Andy Dufresne]

Never got our Covid status checked last night all,all they asked was if you were vaxed was go through a different lane.

[welshbairn]

46 minutes ago, Andy Dufresne said:

Never got our Covid status checked last night all,all they asked was if you were vaxed was go through a different lane.

Never got asked for anything but my passport flying to Sicily, and back yesterday.

[Newbornbairn]

Took my parents to Spain last week. Went to the bother of installing the App on their phones and making sure it was updated. At Alicante they had half a dozen desks manned for Covid checking, but everyone was just waved through.  Got the feeling they were just looking for people who looked ill. (It was a flight from Weegieland - most of them looked ill imo)

[welshbairn]

Booked up for another 3 weeks in Sicily beginning mid September. Using Catania as a base, booked an Airbnb for the whole time but intending to do  a fair bit of travelling around the island, leaving most of my stuff in the flat, it's got good transport links.

Edited May 17, 2022 by welshbairn

[O_Kahn]

On 29/04/2022 at 09:29, The Holiday Song said:

Visa isn't accepted in a lot of places. All the main bank cards are Maestro as far as I can remember. I think Mastercard is okay though, but worth checking that.

I wasn't going to take Euros for my trip to Netherlands last month, but ended up being glad of it.  8 or 9 times out of 10, card was fine, but a couple of the machines in random shops and cafes didn't accept my Halifax credit card or RBS debit card.   (both Mastercard).  But most places were fine.  No bother on public transport or self service machines in the train stations.

We were in Leiden and near Tilburg most of the time.

Edited May 17, 2022 by O_Kahn

[O_Kahn]

On 22/04/2022 at 09:03, Self-raising Lazarus said:

Has anyone ever used a paper rail pass from EU Rail/ Interrail?

Two weeks in Europe starting in Bologna, and finishing in Munich. Not 100% sure how the paper passes work, but have used the mobile pass last summer.

 

I've used 2 x paper Inter-rail passes, but that was in the late 90s.  Looks simple enough now details here: https://www.interrail.eu/en/interrail-passes/what-is-interrail/how-use-your-interrail-pass

1996 was Brussels-Paris-Dordogne-Barcelona-Venice-Prague-Amsterdam, with a few side trips. 

Taking currency was a pain in the arse then, right enough.

[Self-raising Lazarus]

On 17/05/2022 at 20:09, O_Kahn said:

I've used 2 x paper Inter-rail passes, but that was in the late 90s.  Looks simple enough now details here: https://www.interrail.eu/en/interrail-passes/what-is-interrail/how-use-your-interrail-pass

1996 was Brussels-Paris-Dordogne-Barcelona-Venice-Prague-Amsterdam, with a few side trips. 

Taking currency was a pain in the arse then, right enough.

Cheers for the advice,

Back today and had few issues, one inspector in Slovenia who had never heard of the mobile pass and didn't get us logging the trip on the APP whilst using the pass, and a few dashes to a platform. 

[paul-r-cfc]

Booked up for Lisbon in November for a stag do. No school holidays round that time so get to Lisbon 8pm on the Friday then back home Sunday morning. Hectic but would imagine it'll be worth it.

[Honest_Man#1]

On 27/04/2022 at 21:36, Honest_Man#1 said:

Honeymoon in October includes big chunk of time in Sri Lanka. Starting to look a bit ominous to be honest, but no idea how late to leave it before making a decision on whether to try to cancel that portion and rebook flights etc. Massive pain in the arse.

Looking less and less likely this will happen, but checked with insurance and to get money back have to cancel within 28 days of the trip if government are still saying no essential travel. Bit of a nightmare having to try to organise something else to fit into the rest of the trip that we’ve got after Sri Lanka with 4 weeks notice.

[doulikefish]

4 hours ago, Honest_Man#1 said:

Looking less and less likely this will happen, but checked with insurance and to get money back have to cancel within 28 days of the trip if government are still saying no essential travel. Bit of a nightmare having to try to organise something else to fit into the rest of the trip that we’ve got after Sri Lanka with 4 weeks notice.

Mauritius/Maldives or South Africa? 

I'm assuming you have flights going somewhere in that vicinty so plenty of options for those countries maybe a choice