We found a while back that even joining a roadside assistance organisation can sometimes work against you if that organisation does not cover the car you actually drive. We found to our anger some years back that the AA does not cover certain Volvo’s…and we had such a one. Being able to read your own car is a skill you need to develop – and save yourself some time and trouble. Not to mention money!

It was nerve-racking to say the least and something I hope never happens to us again on holiday. But it did teach us a lesson – that having some car maintenance skills up our sleeves helped us avoid a lot of inconvenience which would have spoilt what had been a wonderful family holiday.

We are looking into taking off for somewhere warm in August, July is a non-runner for us right now, and I really don’t care where it is so long as the sun is shining and there is plenty of sand and sea at my fingertips. I would love to get out my beach gear, buy a pair of Costa Del Mar Sunglasses and a new bikini (it’s been a while since I wore one of those!) and stock up on tanning oil. And to think I grew up in Australia where such items were part of my everyday living…

I would love to go to Dubai – nice dry heat, the beach and not the humidity you get in other places. And the shopping aspect is not too bad either.

Fortunately his head is screwed on properly and he has all the right arrangements in place; full insurance, rego, he has joined a roadside assistance club as he got the loan through their organisation, and the helmet, boots, etc…

What surprised me was the cost of the accessories – $500 just for the helmet alone! the jacket set him back $450, but he is over the moon about his pride and joy and I just pray that he is safe when he is out riding it. And to think I used to fret whenever he went out on his mountain bike.

It is all about the RFID chip that is fast replacing the old magnetic stripe that sits on the back of your debit/credit cards and the new chips emit radio waves which makes it easy for thieves to scan your ID without you taking anything out of your wallet or handbag. Protect yourself by investing in the new blocking products which protect your details – sometimes advances in technology make life easier for the wrong people.

You get to travel via routes that have been forgotten by the car-loving population who aim to travel to their destination these days as quickly as possible but without the joys of all that hidden scenery, just boring motorways. Leave the sat-nav at home and discover villages you never knew about and certainly pubs and shops that are well away from the motorways. I hope this series revives the interest in a simple car trip around the UK rather than joining the cattle-queue heading off the Spain each year.

I met one lady who has lived just four miles from the Ulster American Folk Park for fifteen years and yet had never even been there until last weekend. We intend to hire an RV and see the entire length and breadth of Ireland considering a week would take in a good chunk of what’s on the tourist map, we’ve been to the west but have yet to discover the southern tip and Arran Islands. You could do the same as rv’s are easily accommodated these days in parks and an rv insurance quote would let you know how much in total – but cheaper than hotels by far.

Like I said, just have a look at what touristy things are in your local region, within say 2-3 hours drive – and make a weekend of it. Don’t spend too much time getting there and back or that defeats the purpose of the ‘rest and recreation’ aspect, but take the time and discover your own area.

The first thing to do is to check what currency is used at your destination. If it’s a mainstream currency such as dollars or euros then it’s best to take the money in that form. However, if you’re going off to less mainstream countries, check which of the principal currencies is most commonly used there (if in doubt, take dollars). Sometimes you can’t get the currency used outside the country or can’t get sensible amounts of it so you need to take dollars or euros eg India used to only allow you to import £5 of their currency which wasn’t really worthwhile getting.

What about taking cash? Well, if you’re in America then it’s always worthwhile to take, say, $100 with you (nothing larger than a $20 bill) and likewise for those living in euro-land. However, if that’s not the currency of the country you’re going to, it’s going to be expensive to convert to the local currency. The other option is to buy some of the local currency before you go but beware that this is usually quite expensive and not as cheap as you would think from the advertisements eg when I bought $150 for about £100 in a shop advertising that the commission was £3.50, the actual charge was over £10 ie 10%. The other main downside of cash is that if it’s stolen, it’s gone as holiday insurance rarely covers cash to any significant amount so if you are taking it, limit the amount to $100 or so. If you buy foreign currency on a card, it counts as a cash advance with all the charges that implies.

Travellers cheques (or checks) are much better than cash in that they can be replaced fairly easily if stolen (keep a note of the numbers, date bought and where you bought them). However, they are equally expensive to purchase and there is often a charge to cash them too. If you’re going to America or Canada you can use dollar cheques as though they were cash in shops (even where they say “no checks accepted”). Again, take them in the currency of the country you’re going to if it’s a mainstream one, otherwise dollars or euros. If you have any left over after your holiday, keep them rather than cash them in your bank as you can use them later (there is no expiry date) and this will save you paying the commission again. If you buy travellers cheques on a card, it counts as a cash advance with all the charges that implies. Make sure that your travellers cheques come with the Visa or Mastercard or American Express brands as others may not be accepted. You can’t use American Express travellers cheques in Cuba or Vietnam nor any issued by American banks.

Credit/Charge cards are used nearly everywhere these days. If you don’t have a card already, you should get one (Visa or Mastercard) even if you only plan to use it for emergencies. Bear in mind that not everywhere accepts them though and also that not all places take both Visa and Mastercard. If pushed, you can get cash on these cards either in an ATM or over the counter in a bank but save this for emergencies only as you’ll get charged a cash advance fee, currency conversion fee and interest. The exchange rate used is much better than you’ll get for either cash or travellers cheques so that $150 that I got would have cost me around £2.75 vs the £10 that I was charged had I used the card in a shop, around £7 had I used it to get cash (assuming I’d paid the full balance when I returned home). In those countries which don’t have ATMs, you can usually still use the card to buy things and get cash over the counter in banks. I say usually because it isn’t always the case eg in India we couldn’t use the card in shops and the banks weren’t practical either.

Credit/Charge cards come in four basic international-use versions. Visa/Mastercard are the most accepted worldwide but note that in some countries one may be more accepted than the other and in particular don’t rely on shops accepting both cards so, if you can, take both types. American Express is the next most accepted but it is widely accepted only in countries that are “American/British” influenced; the one principle advantage it has is that it can be replaced by any American Express office although note that these are not very widespread and may be difficult to get to. One thing to avoid is their Travellers Check Card: best to get one of their proper cards if you can, but only if it’s free in your country. Diners Club is very far behind Amex in acceptance worldwide and not worth paying for. You cannot use cards issued by American banks in Cuba or Vietnam which notably includes MBNA (owned by Bank of America). Discover isn’t accepted outside America. JCB acceptance is patchy: good where Japanese tourists are common, poor otherwise.

Debit cards are almost always branded Visa/Electron/Plus or Mastercard/Maestro/Cirrus and work in the corresponding systems however sometimes you may be issued with a card which can only be used in your own country: check that one of the Visa/Electron/Plus or Mastercard/Maestro/Cirrus symbols are on your card as if they aren’t you probably can’t use the card internationally. Charges are as per credit cards except that you don’t get charged interest on cash advances.

Cash cards are often limited to the country in which they are issued but if they have a Plus or Cirrus symbol on them, you can use them abroad too (this should change in 2008 with the introduction of the Single European Payment Area ie all European cards should be useable in all European countries, but don’t rely on that date). Charges are usually the same as for debit cards in ATMs. The principle advantage of having a cash card is that they are a lot less attractive for thieves as they can’t be used without the PIN.

Prepaid cards are becoming increasingly popular with travel agents, mainly because they see it as a way of getting even more commission than they can on travellers cheques. If you have a normal Visa/Mastercard credit or debit card, don’t bother with these. Charges are usually around £20 for the card, plus commission to convert to the currency of the card, plus cash advance fees ie a good deal more expensive than travellers cheques which in turn are a good deal more expensive than just using your own card. For example, had I got my $150 on a card, the cost would have been around £30 vs the £10 that it actually was and the £2.75 that it would have been on a credit card.

As well as the above options you also have a choice of providers of the various methods of payment. Travellers cheques may be offered “commission free” by your bank (and the UK Post Office), although note that this is not the same as “free” eg my $150 would have cost around £7 “commission free” (vs £10 with commission).

In the UK, the Nationwide Building Society offer a totally free debit card (ie no transaction fees, no ATM fees, no currency conversion fees) so my $150 would have cost nothing; their credit card is almost as good in that it’s free for purchases but is a bit expensive for cash advances. If you like to have large chunks of cash available to you, the Egg money account is excellent (2.75% currency conversion when used in shops or ATMs) and a good alternative to a prepaid card. Most UK cheque accounts come with a debit card with Maestro or Visa Debit facilities. For a UK cash card you seem to be limited to Egg’s savings account (Plus system) and Royal Bank of Scotlands Instant Savings account (Cirrus system).

In America you can get quite a range of systems listed on the card eg NYCE, Star, etc. but in reality the only two that matter are Plus and Cirrus for cash, Visa and Mastercard/Maestro for debit/credit card use as none of the others are accepted internationally. The costs for international use are rarely clearly laid out on American card agreements and smaller banks may not even know how much you’ll be charged for using your card abroad.

If you use one of the banks within the Global Alliance banks (BNPParibas, Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of America, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Westpac) can use machines from one of the other Global Alliance banks without transaction charges (currency conversion fees still apply).

Why is it then that our friends all seem to be able to go away on holiday without any problems and then come back and bore us all stupid with their holiday slide shows…? I am hovering between booking two weeks in Majorca in July and wondering whether to stay put and hire a caravan on the beach somewhere close. I tell you, if only the bloody sun would shine here it would make the decision a whole lot easier!

As travellers begin to arrive back the UK from all around the globe the compensation claims are ready to start flowing in, there will be some justified claims of course but for those people who paid a mere £10 for a ticket with a budget airline like Ryanair their hopes for being compensated hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds will be simply that – hopes. Ryanair is refusing to refund a penny. An airline that carries passengers paying less than a hundred pounds a ticket is not going to be able to afford huge across the board payouts, if the airline is forced by European regulations there is a good chance you will be waving bon voyage to your favourite way to get to the Spanish Costa’s.

I feel sorry for those people; they went on holiday and ended up in a nightmare spending money they did not have, sleeping in airports with small children, paying thousands to greedy car rental companies to get themselves to ferry ports across France and Spain, but honestly what do these people expect…? they would have been flying on tickets that cost anywhere from £10 to £40 and yet they expect hundreds if not thousands to be refunded to them for their troubles. Do you want budget air travel to continue or not ?…go ahead and sue for what you think you are entitled to but you can then kiss goodbye to your el cheapo trips to Tenerife and Salou because the airlines will simply close up shop.

The same goes for those who bought bottom end of the market travel insurance from companies like ‘Insure and Go’ for next to nothing and then complained about the poor service and exclusion clauses…what do you expect when you pay peanuts? how many people actually check their exclusion clauses before travelling – not many obviously but I bet they will in the future.