Travel/holiday thread

[Pblakeney]

I have been caught out with a car park scrape. One of us of sorted car rental the other the insurance, for the same two drivers. Claim denied because the primary person was not the same on both. I think that is borderline illegal, but I didn't have the energy to challenge it very far.

Fortunately that won't arise as I will be doing the hiring, and the driving.

 

[Beebo]

Also, use a credit card for the car hire and make sure you have the same one at point of collection. They now put a temporary hold of about half the value of the car on a card (which isn't ideal for debit) and some companies insist on credit not debit card details in order to allow you to rely on your own insurance.

Some less scrupulous places also seem to see people using those policies as the ideal opportunity to find damage to repair, so take lots of photos.

I was penalised for exactly that in Spain.
I booked via a debit card, but when it came to paying at the counter they would only accept a credit card, which I didn’t have. I had to pay an extra £300 for their upgraded insurance.

My other horror story is a chipped windscreen in Canada. Almost impossible to avoid if travelling on semi made up roads.

 

[Pblakeney]

I was penalised for exactly that in Spain.
I booked via a debit card, but when it came to paying at the counter they would only accept a credit card, which I didn’t have. I had to pay an extra £300 for their upgraded insurance.

My other horror story is a chipped windscreen in Canada. Almost impossible to avoid if travelling on semi made up roads.

I had the same in NZ. Fortunately I had taken out full cover so got a swap for no extra charge.
Same applied when I dropped the car off at the airport and noticed I still had the keys when I was on the plane. 😱😂

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

Probably not feasible until retirement, but I really want to do a full scale trip to Japan, take at least a month and see as much of it as we can.

We went to Stockholm last year which was a really lovely city. We might do either Norway or Iceland this year.

Cycling wise the only area I haven't ridden on my list is Asturias.

 

[First Aspect]

I was penalised for exactly that in Spain.
I booked via a debit card, but when it came to paying at the counter they would only accept a credit card, which I didn’t have. I had to pay an extra £300 for their upgraded insurance.

My other horror story is a chipped windscreen in Canada. Almost impossible to avoid if travelling on semi made up roads.

My Canada horror story was having my card refused by a random security check and being unable to contact the bank. I slept the night on a tow truck drivers sofa.

When I got back from that trip I couldn't pay rent because the rental car company drained my account in about 20 below threshold debit card transactions, because the man child who had inherited the familys Budget franchise was annoyed I had put 3000 miles on the car.

Yes, I did get it all back, but I then had to send the same information from my bank to several debt collectors over the years, which the man child had sold the debt to.

Budget HQ could not have been less helpful so.ive never used them again.

 

[spen666]

Does it have to be epic? If so I'll bow out of the thread until retirement.

If not, I'm going skiing next week (which at least for me is epic, for reasons of previous injury).

If anyone has any epic scuba diving ideas or experiences I could be inspired. I had a fanciful idea of trying to visit Saudi Arabia as a means of experiencing the Red Sea again but with a lower risk being of being shot, drowned or attacked by a shark than going to Egypt again.

The sharks in Egypt shoot people? Is this evidence of evolution?

 

[Pblakeney]

Probably not feasible until retirement, but I really want to do a full scale trip to Japan, take at least a month and see as much of it as we can.

We went to Stockholm last year which was a really lovely city. We might do either Norway or Iceland this year.

Cycling wise the only area I haven't ridden on my list is Asturias.

I did a tour in 2024 and can thoroughly recommend it. I can give details of the route and climbs if you wish.
One thing to be aware of, the weather. It is not called the Costa Verde without reason, the rain keeps things green.

 

[First Aspect]

The sharks in Egypt shoot people? Is this evidence of evolution?

I don't think a comma before the final member of a list is required.

On the subject of shark attacks, mostly it is people swimming out too deep and mixing with the big fish (there are coral shelves that go from paddling depth to several hundred meters vertically down on that coast) and because people inevitably attract fish to feed, which then attract other fish. One one trip I saw a trend of people swimming with breadcrumbs filled pockets. Great for meeting fish (most of the reachable coral being long since dead, after all), also great for attracting sharks. Which is exactly what happened a few weeks later.

There also seems to be a bit of a boat safety issue there.

 

[spen666]

I don't think a comma before the final member of a list is required.

On the subject of shark attacks, mostly it is people swimming out too deep and mixing with the big fish (there are coral shelves that go from paddling depth to several hundred meters vertically down on that coast) and because people inevitably attract fish to feed, which then attract other fish. One one trip I saw a trend of people swimming with breadcrumbs filled pockets. Great for meeting fish (most of the reachable coral being long since dead, after all), also great for attracting sharks. Which is exactly what happened a few weeks later.

There also seems to be a bit of a boat safety issue there.

yeah but what about them shooting people - that's what I'm concerned about. I can stay on beach and be safe if they only bite, but if they shoot, I will need by bullet proof swimming costume when sun bathing

 

[First Aspect]

yeah but what about them shooting people - that's what I'm concerned about. I can stay on beach and be safe if they only bite, but if they shoot, I will need by bullet proof swimming costume when sun bathing

I don't think scuba will be the right thing for you. There are both triggerfish and archerfish to worry about.

 

[briantrumpet]

I don't think a comma before the final member of a list is required.

You'd have to reorder your sentence to prevent arses like Spen and me pointing at the shooting sharks. Sorry.

 

[spen666]

I don't think scuba will be the right thing for you. There are both triggerfish and archerfish to worry about.

Ive no intention of going in the water, just don't want to get shot by an armed shark whilst I'm sunbathing on an Egyptian Beach

 

[spen666]

You'd have to reorder your sentence to prevent arses like Spen and me pointing at the shooting sharks. Sorry.

I'm not worried about you or I pointing at sharks, I'm worried the sharks may point at me with their weapons

 

[First Aspect]

You'd have to reorder your sentence to prevent arses like Spen and me pointing at the shooting sharks. Sorry.

Only if you are inconsistent with your own previous distaste for an Oxford comma. Otherwise something else is needed in the sentence to prevent the correct interpretation that you have wilfully avoided.

 

[First Aspect]

Ive no intention of going in the water, just don't want to get shot by an armed shark whilst I'm sunbathing on an Egyptian Beach

Being shot on an Egyptian beach is not completely impossible, but you have to leave the main resort areas to have too much risk of that, which you would not want to do because you'd get arrested or shot.