Not been abroad for 20 years

strawb_shortcake

When we recently flew back from Tenerife they were randomly swabbing peoples hands and stomachs - including my Daughter's. But didn't witness anyone undergoing more invasive swabbing. 

I like having a choice of foods on holidays, but we did feel we missed out on more Spanish/Canarian food, lots more Asian cuisine was available this time. I'd be much happier in a smaller resort that doesn't contain a repetition of tacky souvenir shops. 

As for cheap holidays, if you aren't tied to school holidays, good deals can be found on the likes of Tui, search by country's and time of year you want to go with flexibility of 7 days. You can then filter low to highest price. Pick somewhere central that has close proximity to shops and restaurants and you can get a good deal. I find the package options are usually good value, we recently paid £500pp for 10 days in a 4* hotel Inc flights and transfers, I think £50pppn is good value and the overlapped the half term. 
Food wise supermarkets are quite cheap, we always eat out for our main meal and 3 courses can be had in many resorts for €12/15

eDicky

SUPERGIRL2020 said:

I'm so glad I checked my suitcase in cos my cousin took cabin luggage and a very strict security guy took her to the side and stripped searched her it was horrendous she said in all her years of flying this has never happened to her.

They made her take some of her clothes off she only had her t-shirt and skirt on and obvs underwear it was scary dunno why but they told her to take her hoodie, socks and trainers off 🤷‍♀️ they then swabbed all her belongings it was scary!

Airport security staff are strict by nature, especially with someone selected for secondary checks for a particular reason or even at random. The strictness has obviously increased since twenty years ago.

A regular flyer may never encounter being pulled for further checks, until one day it happens. Swabbing items is just a regular part of the process these days.

If I'm not mistaken removal of outer jackets etc for separate scanning is always required, and removal of certain types of footwear is normal. It's not a 'strip search'. Being pulled for further checks may feel rather ominous the first time it happens, after that it's just a minor inconvenience, or more major if it's a busy period, time is tight and staff take a while getting to your turn. Best not to fret about the necessary process of ensuring safe air travel, especially to the extent of letting it spoil your trip in any way.

Great to hear that you did have such an enjoyable holiday..!

SUPERGIRL2020

annabanana82 said:

As for cheap holidays, if you aren't tied to school holidays, good deals can be found on the likes of Tui, search by country's and time of year you want to go with flexibility of 7 days. You can then filter low to highest price. Pick somewhere central that has close proximity to shops and restaurants and you can get a good deal. I find the package options are usually good value, we recently paid £500pp for 10 days in a 4* hotel Inc flights and transfers, I think £50pppn is good value and the overlapped the half term. 
Food wise supermarkets are quite cheap, we always eat out for our main meal and 3 courses can be had in many resorts for €12/15

Wow I don't have that kind of money I was looking at £200 for a week somewhere lol

strawb_shortcake

SUPERGIRL2020 said:

annabanana82 said:

As for cheap holidays, if you aren't tied to school holidays, good deals can be found on the likes of Tui, search by country's and time of year you want to go with flexibility of 7 days. You can then filter low to highest price. Pick somewhere central that has close proximity to shops and restaurants and you can get a good deal. I find the package options are usually good value, we recently paid £500pp for 10 days in a 4* hotel Inc flights and transfers, I think £50pppn is good value and the overlapped the half term. 
Food wise supermarkets are quite cheap, we always eat out for our main meal and 3 courses can be had in many resorts for €12/15

Wow I don't have that kind of money I was looking at £200 for a week somewhere lol

Sorry, in that case you might be better off looking for last minute deals, you'll always pay extra as a single traveller so if you can get a friend to join you then that will help keep costs down for accommodation. Look at also travelling from other airports as that can sometimes be cheaper. If you are looking for a last minute deal I'd have a savings pot for spending money so you have that side covered

strawb_shortcake

Just had a look at Tui, there are these two last minute deals, you can see the price pretty much doubles for solo travellers however there is a £100 discount code

CKhalvashi

SUPERGIRL2020 said:

I'M HOME 😬 

The holiday was so good Lanzarote is stunning we had a lovely hotel! 

I'm so glad I checked my suitcase in cos my cousin took cabin luggage and a very strict security guy took her to the side and stripped searched her it was horrendous she said in all her years of flying this has never happened to her. 

Doing check in was a breeze but I have to say airports and planes are chaotic now compared to 20 years ago felt extremely stressful, rushed and packed in like sardines! Long queues everywhere! It's not fun flying also the plane felt cheap and not very safe and the food trolly was chaos too! I used a mix of euros and my monzo card which worked out well! 

I have to say Spain has upped their game since I last went lots more english shops and english food about the hotel staff were very attentive and much nicer than 20 years ago

All in all I had a really good holiday 

Glad the holiday went well.

If there's no mixing of genders here, that really needs to be reported to the airport in question and possibly depending on circumstances the police. On the rare occasion I get a pat down it's by someone of the same gender and apart from hand swabs in Poland (which I seem to get every time I go through any airport there) have never been touched by any security team member not of the same gender as myself.

Edit to add: That's not really a strip search, ignore the crossed out part above.

CKhalvashi

SUPERGIRL2020 said:

Pollycat said:

SUPERGIRL2020 said:

I'M HOME 😬 

The holiday was so good Lanzarote is stunning we had a lovely hotel! 

I'm so glad I checked my suitcase in cos my cousin took cabin luggage and a very strict security guy took her to the side and stripped searched her it was horrendous she said in all her years of flying this has never happened to her. 

Doing check in was a breeze but I have to say airports and planes are chaotic now compared to 20 years ago felt extremely stressful, rushed and packed in like sardines! Long queues everywhere! It's not fun flying also the plane felt cheap and not very safe and the food trolly was chaos too! I used a mix of euros and my monzo card which worked out well! 

I have to say Spain has upped their game since I last went lots more english shops and english food about the hotel staff were very attentive and much nicer than 20 years ago

All in all I had a really good holiday 

Having been a holidaymaker for over 40 years, this is what's wrong with some resorts.
We stopped visiting Goa for 2 x 3 weeks every year when Sunday dinners and fish, chips & mushy peas started appearing on menus.
When we're on holiday, we want to taste the local food.
We'd be searching out tapas places filled with locals.

Curious why you thought the plane wasn't very safe.

Glad you enjoyed your holiday.

I guess it was just exciting seeing english food and shops if I travelled a lot I guess the novelty would wear off lol

The plane was making weird noises plus we were crammed in like sardines everything felt cheap compared to when I last flew, staff were stressed and doing 100 jobs people up and down the aisle like yo-yos ridiculously long queues for the loo too

I see why Ryanair are a budget airline only wish I was rich so I could fly with a more luxurious airline first class lol 

Top part would have been flaps/slats and naturally engines, completely normal and nothing to worry about.

Second part, there's absolutely nothing wrong with Ryanair IMO, they're cheap, reliable and fly to many (but not all) places I need to go regularly (looking at you, Romania) without a transit stop somewhere or a slog over to Luton (we live 10-15 minutes from Stansted).

SUPERGIRL2020 said:

It has really got me wanting to go back to Spain for another holiday but I'm very poor 😞

How do people get cheap holidays abroad? Any tips?

If possible, be flexible in where/when you go.

We've picked up a few very cheap 1/2 night returns over the next few months by being able to be reasonably flexible with dates (and travelling outside of peak periods). We tend to book about 6 weeks ahead in general, but as soon as we see a price we're happy with that works, it will be booked!

Barkin

SUPERGIRL2020 said:

How do people get cheap holidays abroad? Any tips?

What sort of holiday are you looking for?

We tend to look at Ryanscare/Sleasyjet/etc for cheap flights. Then, if anywhere takes our fancy, we get an Airbnb at the destination.

As an example, we're off to Palermo next month for a week. Flights & accomodation for 2 - £480. 

strawb_shortcake

I've been looking at flights to Athens next May, £244 return for 2 with easyjet, there is a hotel at £100ish for 4 nights also for 2 but not sure I'm brave enough to try that one 

SUPERGIRL2020

Barkin said:

SUPERGIRL2020 said:

How do people get cheap holidays abroad? Any tips?

What sort of holiday are you looking for?

We tend to look at Ryanscare/Sleasyjet/etc for cheap flights. Then, if anywhere takes our fancy, we get an Airbnb at the destination.

As an example, we're off to Palermo next month for a week. Flights & accomodation for 2 - £480. 

Anywhere in spain

Is that a hotel you got?