Many people have asked me when booking their airport transfers “Can I smoke my E’ Cigarrette on the plane or airport”.

Now my initial response regarding the airport is to always refer back to the specific airport terms and conditions or guidelines.

In regards to the plane itself, there is a very definitive answer.

All passengers are allowed to carry their vaping machine on board, but the device itself MUST be switched off. Nor can the device be charged whilst on board.

I hope this little update helps during your impending future flights.

It looks like the end of August and September may encounter a UK Indian summer. The question is will you stay in the UK or travel abroad for a last minute holiday abroad?

Many people fail to realise that the UK has some unbelievable holiday destinations.

One of my favourites is Cornwall St Ives. In particular the Carbis Bay area. It is just stunning. The golden sandy beaches and the wonderful blue ocean. You can easily be forgiven to think that you are somewhere in the mediterranean.

If you have never been to Cornwall. Don’t just travel to Carbis Bay. My advice is to travel along the coastal line and visit as many beaches as you can.  A recent guide that I read through stated that there is over 110 beaches/coves/dunes to visit in Cornwall.

So if your into your hiking and trekking, I would suggest planning your trip in advance.

If your looking for a chilled out family break than Carbis Bay is perfect. St Ives also has some lovely restaurants/ bars/ coffee shops etc to relax and watch the sunset.

If you want to stay in the UK, I would defo advise visiting Cornwall.

If your household is anything like mine. Then you probably on one hand can’t wait for the little terrors to return back to school, but on the other hand do have moments of “ahh, lets try and enjoy what time we have left”.

I guess the fact that we can’t all have the luxury to jump on a plane and go travelling around for the whole summer means that ‘Mummy & Daddy’, or whomever is in charge. Must not only have the patience of a Saint, but also have the organisational skills of a skilled professional planner.

It’s been 3 weeks of the school holidays and I can honestly say that not one day has gone by without my kids starting and ending the day with “what are we doing tomorrow” !!!!!

I love the fact that my kids are inquisitive and tend to have a thirst for learning and experiencing new things.

I guess all I would say for any parents prior to the school holidays is to PLAN PLAN PLAN.

I would love to hear what you have planned for your kids this summer. Free days out would be especially good to hear about, as I have 3 kids and paying for daily excursions in and around London can be VERY expensive.

Ok, thanks and I look forward to hearing from you guys soon.

So many of you often don’t appear to worry about planning ahead for your onward travel from the airport.

In London the famous Black Taxi is synonymous with travelling around London and beyond.

However did you know that the London Black Taxi tends to cost an average 60% more on your average airport transfer and standard London taxi costs.

Yes, it’s nice to travel around in London and the UK in the iconic Black Taxi, but in these times of austerity is it really a realistic financial option??

Uber has also grabbed many headlines in recent years with the use of the application that they have introduced, which offers taxi cabs for passengers.

However many people tend to either forget or not even be aware of the highly cost effective online airport taxi companies that are regulated by TFL (Same as Uber and the Iconic London Black Taxi).

By doing a simple online search you can save yourselves up to 60% on an average airport transfer and standard taxi fare.

So next time your travelling abroad and booking your flights, why not also book your airport transfers for when you land????

Travelling abroad has often been associated with going with your family, friends, colleagues etc.

However, the trend beyond the universal ‘Gap Year’ appears to be increasing year on year.

Many friends of mine would once say to me that “no way can I go on holiday on my own”.

However since the drop in air fares, introduction of hostels, Airbnb and numerous online flights/accomodation and transfer companies.

It has made the once seen ‘lonesome’ idea of going on holiday on your own to actually something quite envied upon. The world is a much more accessible place that people now feel more safe to venture around.

Places that might appear quite remote and ‘out of bounds’, no longer are seen as ‘no go zone’s’. On the contrary it is now reported that the individual traveller is increasing more and more.

It would be great to hear of some places that people have visited on their own and share some advise on how you got on. Ideas from hotels, hostels, transport, flights, destinations etc would be great.

Tanning Salons are now almost a ‘must have’ shop on Britain’s high streets. There’s probably more chance of finding a Tanning Salon than a post office. Such is the growing demand of Britain’s obsessed self glamorisation.

My question is why do people get ‘fake’ tans literally hours before travelling and heading off to a sunny hot climate?

I’d be interested get some genuine feedback.

Take Care

It’s that time of the year when we are all thinking about our summer holidays.

Peak holiday periods are notoriously expensive with many families and individuals often feeling like they can’t go on the types of holidays they wish for.

In the UK there has been a significant boom in domestic holidays being booked.  Now I’m not saying that going to Cornwall or the Lake District is not wonderful destinations.

However one of the main reasons people feel they need to stay within their given countries is the perceived costs associated with going abroad for a holiday.

I recently returned from a holiday with my Wife and three kids from a beautiful place called Ras Al Khaimah. Ras Al Khaimah is wonderful island in the United Arab Emirates.

We stayed in a lovely 5* All inclusive hotel that was absolutely AMAZING. When looking to book this holiday we were getting quotes of around £6000.00 which included the Flights, Hotels, Airport Transfers for a 7 night holiday.

NOW this was outside of our budget. We ended up paying a total of £3800.00 for all of the above( Same hotels, flight times, Airlines). The £6000.00 quotes we received included a shared shuttle service to and from the airport.  However when we booked our holiday ourselves we were able to book a large private minibus airport transfer all within the £3800.00.

How did we do this you ask???? Well here goes;

1. Book your flights on independent flight checkers e.g. Sky Scanner
2. Book your hotels via independent hotel sites e.g. Travel Bag
3. Book your airport transfers from Online Airport Transfer Companies.

All of the above saved us over a  whopping £2000.00!!! So, I am sure you can see why I will never book a package holiday through these online holiday companies. Effectively they are searching the same flights, hotels, airport transfers that you or I can do ourselves.

Yes you may spend a few hours searching the best deals, but hey. I’m sure the savings are well worth the time and effort.

After all, that massive saving could go towards another holiday!!

Anyways. I hope this blog helps you when booking your next package holiday.

Feel free to drop me a line if you have any further questions on how I went about my booking process.

Having a lovely luscious green lawn is something that most people would love to have in each of our homes.

However the demands of maintaining such lovely lawns is not as easy as it might seem. In the UK, regular rainfall and the often changing weather tends to make it more than a challenge for most.

Often home owners may need to tend to their lawns every 7-10 days during the summer months.

Over the last few years there has certainly been a noticeable trend in homeowners of houses, flats (apartments), restaurants etc introducing lovely green artificial grass lawns.

In the earlier years I would often hear people be put off by the ‘cheap’ looking artificial lawns. I must admit I too was one of those people.

However, since having 3 young children and quite a demanding job. Juggling the upkeep of my work/home life balance is becoming more and more difficult.

I must also admit that I have certainly recently had my head turned by the introduction of a number of reputable artificial grass companies that have entered the market. Some of these companies are even installing lawns for the ‘Queen’, Richmond Park, Battersea Park. Such is the quality of the new styles of artificial grass. It is surely making people like me, who was so vehemently against ‘fake’ grass, to now actually start to consider some of the obvious advantages to introducing it into my home.

Since doing some research on artificial grass. I have noted that most of the artificial grass companies tend to import the grass from countries oversees, like China.

This certainly has not deterred me. As just like many many products in the UK and USA market. Imports are just a part of our everyday life and we all know that some of the great products that we have in our homes often travel from all over the world before ending up in our homes.

I’m certainly giving it some serious thought this summer and would love to hear from anyone who has fitted this type of grass in their home or business.