Use an E-passport on arrival at London Heathrow?
For EU Passport holders: E-passport gates – arrivals made easy Automated e-passport gates offer an alternative to conventional passport checks. Simply scan your e-passport at the barrier. The system runs a face-recognition check against the chip in your passport, then if you’re eligible to enter the UK the gate opens… Read the rest
Fly to Europe with better legroom and comfort by Ian Collier
What are my options? Many of our clients love travelling around Europe each winter, but aren’t so thrilled by the prospect of over 26 hours of flying to get there, so an increasingly frequent question we’re asked is “how much extra does it cost to fly in a bit more… Read the rest
Stop off en-route to Europe? by Ian Collier
Here’s how. Let’s face it, from Christchurch we are pretty much exactly on the opposite side of the Earth from most places in Europe, and 12,000 miles away, give or take. It will take anything from 27-32 hours to get from Christchurch to London – Air New Zealand are currently… Read the rest
Have a villa in Italy by Juliet Davis
All villas are rented from Saturday to Saturday. Very important that you consider how this fits into your itinerary. PRICE really makes a difference to what you get in terms of location, amenities and filling expectations. This cannot be stressed enough. The price often goes up by around 50% through… Read the rest
Explore Alaska by Ian Collier
The traditional cruises will go Vancouver to Anchorage or Vancouver to Vancouver and they do some great sightseeing of Glacier Bay National Park or perhaps Hubbard Glacier, and then they typically stop at a mix of towns including Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Sitka. These towns are tiny (think Akaroa) and… Read the rest
Discover the Italian Lakes by Discover Travel
In the mountainous landscape of the Alps, amid spectacular scenery lie the famous Italian lakes of Como, Maggiore, and Garda. There is also the lesser-known, but equally picturesque, Lake Orta and straddling both Italy and Switzerland is the stunning Lake Lugano. The shores of all these lakes are dotted with… Read the rest
Explore Tuscany by car by Discover Travel
Tuscany is one of those magical parts of the world, where you are immersed in magical views of olive trees, grape vines, Cypress trees and villas that all look old, well maintained and so in keeping with their environs. You can never tell if a building is new, old or… Read the rest
Make sense of Frequent Flyer schemes by Ian Collier
There’s often confusion about the merits of joining the variety of airline Frequent Flyer programs on offer to New Zealand travellers. So, how do you accrue points, what are the benefits and is there really such a thing as a free trip? WHAT IS A ‘FREQUENT FLYER’? A frequent flyer… Read the rest
Travel Safe by Ian Collier
A frequently asked question is ‘will I/we be safe’? Well, we’re certainly not going to recommend travel to ‘unsafe’ places, but for up-to-date travel information, the best resource for Kiwis are the advice and travel advisories published by MFAT at Safe Travel where destinations are ranked according to current risk… Read the rest
Stay in touch while travelling overseas? by Juliet Davis
Most of us would like to use our smartphones while traveling abroad but choosing an affordable method can seem very complicated. Should you buy an international roaming plan? And if you do, what does 100 megabytes of data get you anyway? Perhaps you need a hot spot pass? Or a… Read the rest
