Adventures with kids and gadgets
Clear Registered Travelers Fly Through Airport Security.
Sadly it looks like this only works in the US at the moment. And it’s not exactly budget. However, kids under 11 years old can use the express security queues when accompanying an adult carrying a Clear card.
Names like “Budget” and “Thrifty” are misnomers. They are there to catch you out and believe that they will in fact be budget or thrifty. They are not.
Travel Babel: World’s Best Airports.
Huh, look at that, no Aussie Airports on the list at all. Who would have thought?
Interestingly these are based on surveys done four times a year. Next time I see someone doing surveys in an airport, I am their best friend!
tripso.com | If shoes were sold like airline tickets.
This is so true – the pricing for airline tickets varies hugely. In fact, when I was booking our tickets from Norway to the UK, I decided against flying with Ryan Air for this very reason. I nearly passed out when I looked at the list of “surcharges”.
Online Check in: £5-10 or Airport check in £10-40 per passenger!!!
Payment handling fee: £5 per passenger
Priority boarding fee: £3 per passenger
Checked baggage: £10 first piece per passenger
Checked baggage: £20 second and their pieces per passenger
Infant Fee: £20
And all of that is without any in flight services taken into account like snacks, meals, drinks or use of headphones etc.
I decided we were better off booking the super saver flights with SAS that were all inclusive with no nasty airport surprises!
Tiger Airways offers over 30,000 free seats on domestic routes | Travel News | News.com.au.
Need an internal flight in Australia between June and September? Get onto Tiger Airways online ASAP!
from Tripso
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMg7_zSbujE&feature=player_embedded
tripso.com | Britain plans to scrap liquid ban for airline passengers.
Looks like the liquids ban may start to be lifted. Now, if only I could bring my tweezers on board, life would be sweet.
Qantas has a competition running currently with a trip to France on the A380 as the prize. They are looking for the most creative entry (which I guess rules out general pleading and grovelling). Time to put thinking hats on!
It continues to be a bazillion degrees here and I’m still Miss Crankypants. I guess not every book I order can be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow but I wanted to tell you what not to buy. The book in question is called ” Driving in Europe 101″ [amtap amazon:asin=1599754894] This is one instance where the product description on Amazon is better written and more informative than the actual product. The book itself promises “Your fun and easy guide to planning a driving vacation through Europe” and “Everything you will need to know to take that driving vacation through Europe including planning suggestions, to-do lists, document requirements and conversion tables..” and ”With the clear explanations and expert advice in this friendly guide , you will discover just how easy it is to drive the streets of European countries”.
Well, obviously it sold me. I am just a little bit nervous about driving in Europe. What with driving on the opposite side of the road, different signs and road rules. I am quite keen to follow those road rules. I don’t want to pay large fines or get arrested, in fact it’s a rather high priority. I was really hoping this book was going to put my mind at ease. One of the things I was a bit nervous about was how the toll road system would work in Italy and France. I’d really like to be prepared to deal with it before we get there. I flipped through this book to the pages on France and here’s what it had to say about the tolls in France,
“Tolls are Levied on most Highways (autoroutes).”
Ooooooookaaaaaay. Not as informative as I’d hoped. How about Italy? The book says,
“Most of the limited access roads (Autostrada) are toll roads. You pay with cash or with a major credit card. Like an ATM , you will have to read or hear instructions from the tollbooth credit card machine in Italian. Unlike an ATM, there will probably be a long line of impatient people behind you. Cash and a pleasant smile may get you through the toll gates most expeditiously, but plastic is always an option if short on cash”.
So after reading that I basically went from mildly anxious to completely petrified at the thought of enormous queues of irate Italians piling up behind us while we desperately try to figure out mysterious spoken Italian instructions. I think in this case, denial was actually better.
Just as a comparison, here’s a sneak preview of a completely different series of books. These books are written to give kids “fascinating facts and stories” about different countries. The one on France has this to say about toll roads,
“Many of France’s motorways are “toll roads”… On some you get a ticket and have to pay at the end of the motorway., on others you pay several times along the way at barriers. Epect your driver to frequently whinge about how much it costs! If you have the correct money you simply throw it into a type of metal basket by the side of the toll booth. This is the fun bit and should definitely be tried if your hot, cross driver will let you. The machines are very sensitive and weigh the money, so they know if the wrong coins (or something that is not even a coin)are thrown in, in which case the barriers will stay firmly locked down”. [amtap amazon:asin=1860111556]
You know, I hate to knock the little guys but “Driving in Europe 101″ is a self-published type book and it really shows. It really needed much better editing and there simply isn’t enough worth while content in it. Despite the translations into European languages of obscure excuses used by drivers involved in unusual accidents, the humour of the book fell sadly flat in my opinion. At first I thought the book was a bit on the smarmy side but then after going back and reading it from the beginning I decided it was down right patronising. For example on the very first page of the introduction, Bowman says.
“Pull your son’s globe of the shelf. That’s the big-ball-thingie you purchased thinking your son would absorb geographic knowledge by osmosis if you simply put it by his bed”.
If I’d read that first page in the book store I would have put the book right back on the shelf where it belonged. Save your money and make a donation to Wikipedia instead.
It’s a more industrial beast than I had imagined. It weighs in at 3.4kg. On the bright side, it might not break the first time we get onto the plane. On the downside, the Flight Crew might dummy spit about it.
Fully Extended Kart
The Kart Folded Up
Very sturdy looking wheels
It’s a Remin Kart-a-Bag Concorde III
[amtap amazon:asin=B0006GCZZQ] If you read the review that goes with it – the person who bought it totally loved it but gave it two stars. Gotta love the way that happens on Amazon.
Folded up it is small enough to fit into one of our bags – as long as that bag was only about half full to start with.
Travelling with Kids
Third Culture Kids R Mine
Jumped the Ditch
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