Foreign Perspectives

Archive for the ‘Society’ Category

If you’re learning Spanish one of the worries that you’ll have is with the wide variety of accents that you’ll come across whilst you’re learning the language. Yet, native speakers can cope with them all so you should aim to do so as well.Fortunately you’ve an equally large range of Spanish schools around the world. For example, Spanish immersion Costa Rica offers a range of courses starting from one week up to six months which will naturally give you a chance to hear the Costa Rican accent.Won’t it be impossible to follow? Well, as it happens I ended up having a south American teacher for the intensive course that I did last year and settled into his accent in under a day so you don’t need to worry about it.

The other big plus point is that you get to pick up some of the local culture too. That’s an important part of learning any language and Spanish is very much an amalgam of cultures from everywhere.

Actually, no, it isn’t.

Obviously you can take it as read that it will be much warmer in the south of France during the Summer than it is in the UK but once you get into the December to February period it’s almost always the reverse situation that applies.

For instance, in the last week I was running around Belfast sweating with the heavy coat that you’d think would be required at this time of year in Northern Ireland yet in fact that coat is the one that you actually need in the south of France at the moment.

So, don’t just make the assumption that if it’s warmer somewhere in the Summer that it will be just as much warmer in the rest of the year because often it isn’t.

As usual when there’s a Spanish holiday, we were pretty much completely full over the last couple of days and yet nobody took a breakfast!

In some ways that suits us as it gives us a bit of a break from the need to get up very early to do the breakfasts.

But why don’t they take them though? They certainly take breakfasts in hotels in Spain so why don’t they take them in France? Although it’s hard to give a definitive answer I suspect that it has a lot to do with the absolutely pathetic excuse for a breakfast that you get in most French establishments although funnily enough the price is the same or even higher than for breakfasts in the Spanish equivalent and in Spain you get a very full breakfast for that money.

So, it’s probably down to the French not really “doing” breakfast as a proper meal.

Normally speaking you need to book travel well in advance to get the bargain prices but that’s strictly true only for the very peak of the peak periods and outside that there are often unexpected bargains around if you know where and how to look.

What about the location? Well, if you’re not especially set on a particular destination then you can get really serious bargains. For instance, everyone who goes to Denmark goes to Copenhagen but what about Aarhus? It’s equally cute but often a lot cheaper than it’s more famous neighbour. For that matter, what about a city break not to the “Ryanair city” but to the city that the plane actually lands in? For instance, their “Barcelona” is actually Girona. Not as famous nor as large as Barcelona but there’s still enough to satisfy a short citybreak.

Flights prices are the most volatile and therefore they need the most work to really save money. Thinking of a weekend break? Well, lots of people do so the thing to do to save money is to book what they’re not. On a typical route, people will be flying a little more in one direction on some days than in others. Weekend breaks to Paris are very popular for instance therefore the flight prices on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings from London to Paris are high as they are coming back from Paris on the Sunday evening. The key here is to book a trip that’s less popular such as a week in Paris but starting on Sunday evening and finishing on Friday night ie the opposite of what most people do.

Hotels are easier to deal with in most cases as hotel reservation systems aren’t nearly so sophisticated as those of the airlines. This means that the prices are, in general, more stable and there’s a lot less load management going on behind the scenes. However, that doesn’t mean that there’s no load management going on, just that it’s less visible. So, you may be able to get a lower price by booking via one of the last minute booking sites (no, not LastMinute.com: in spite of the name, they’re not really geared up to truly last minute travel). Likewise doing what other people aren’t is a sure way to save money so in city break destinations, stay a little further out and you’ll find the prices a lot lower.

Insurance? Most people buy whatever policy the airline or travel agent is selling. This generates a lot of commission but rarely gets you a good deal. Much better instead to get an annual policy so you’re all set for those unplanned short breaks.

Anyway, give a bit of thought to your next short notice break and you may find that it can be had a whole lot cheaper than you expected.

Airline charges are such a ripoff these days, aren’t they?

I’ve just booked a flight where the flight charge was EUR 3 yet the plane ticket actually cost EUR 24 courtesy of the basic charges. And that’s not even including the EUR 9 that the checked luggage is charged!

OK, I can accept that taxes are the bulk of that and in some ways it’s good to see it separated out. The snag is, of course, that the airlines get blamed for the tax charges rather than the government who see it as an easy way to collect money and appear environmentally friendly at the same time.

But what about the EUR 6 “processing fee”? How come that’s a separate charge from the ticket itself? After all, presumably they wouldn’t let you fly if they’d not “processed” you, would they? How come, for that matter, it costs EUR 6 per person when the passenger is the person typing up all the information?

Of course in some ways we’re all to blame for this business of separating out of the charges. Psychologically, we’d rather see a headline price of EUR 3 than the real charge of EUR 30. It is incredibly misleading though.