Devall Travels

We have a timeshare week to use by the end of 2020! When we went to Florida at Easter we used up the 2018/2019 "banked weeks" with RCI. Every year we have another week to use. Until I retire there is no chance of us being able to go to there to the resort where  I "own" a week in Tenerife. I know it's not as exotic as Florida or the Caribbean but for an Easter break it will do us fine. I am still looking on the RCI website for a resort to book but as flights were relatively cheap I have booked British Airways return to Alicante. I used TravelUp as we have used them before and they have always been efficient and cheaper than most oters, si I guess they trim their commission. I had looked at Malaga but for a two and a half hour flight it was around half the price of a nine hour flight to Miami! A fare of £350 each to Malaga is simply a joke. I chose to go on the Friday and so we'll need a hotel.  As we don't arrive until about 8pm...

No response from British Airways as yet and the phone number they give (well hidden on the website) has a queuing system that is indeterminate in how long the wait is to get through. So gave up. We will take the small cases that fit in the overheads and have been tested to fit in the sizing frames that are dotted around the airport.   Plus everyone can carry a laptop bag even though I won't be taking a heavy laptop with me, although I might take my Nexus 7 tablet in case we need a bigger screen to view things on. Luckily I have a few laptop bags hanging around the house and loft and a new one from work that has just been taken out of its packaging. BA kindly have all the information on their website . All we need now is to start packing!

Another juggle. Day 1 - Flight out to Madrid and Trujillo Parador to stay 2 nights. Day 3 - Mérida and stay 2 nights. Day 5 - Badajoz - one night Day 6 - Cáceres - two night Day 8 - Back to Madrid and flight home. Using this Rough Guide to read about the places to visit. To give us more time I have dropped one of the overnights and doubled up at Cáceres. Three weeks to go. Update 12th May 2018 Email British Airways. the return flight has been re-timed to be 1835 instead of 1805.  Not that it matters as we have to have the car back at about 1530.

The Tour d'España has come about really because we wanted an early holiday.  Most often we have been to the US in May but with the changes to my contract at work, where I am stuck with school holidays for the bulk of my leave, it has meant that two week trips are out  of the question unless done at Easter or Summer. I would like to have gone  back as we did in August  2014 on the Explorer -  Revisita España 2014 , and on the bike but it is not practical with Claire's hip and her gradual worry about being on the bike! The next best thing is to fly/drive. I have been checking on Skyscanner and the way it works it seems impossible to get the flight out and back into UK when you want them at a reasonable  price.  A quick click to one-way revealed a lot more flights. It also revealed that their website creates round trips groups of flights that when checked as singles come out at a very different (and lower) price.  In the end I booked I...

Of all the comparison sites I have found that the best, for me at any rate, is Skyscanner. Today I had a quick look, always remembering to change my internet cache before searching and was amazed to see that Virgin had a direct flight from London Gatwick (LGW) on my dates, and cheaper (not much!) that my earlier searches. The times were good and so I thought "I'll have some of that". I clicked on the "offers" page and was taken to TravelUp. An agents we have used before. I filled in all my details, Claire's details and got to "pay now", and a box popped up, "flight details changed". Clicking on it took me back to Skyscanner and it began another search.  This time Virgin was cheapest still BUT the outward aitport was LGW but we'd arrive back at London Heathrow (LHR), some 50 miles away. Not much use with my car in the parking at LGW and an expensive transfer to negotiate.   Instead for £4 more I can fly direct from LGW and...

Flights. There are many flights from UK to Malaga every day, almost from dawn to midnight.  After a look at the usual suspects "budget airlines" Easyjet and some others the fares seemed unusually expensive for the time of year. We go early October and there are no children's school holidays to bump up fares so I shopped about. We fly Norwegian out from Gatwick at 0940 and it should arrive about 1330 including the hour time difference..  No, I hadn't in my wildest dreams expected to fly Norwegian from London to Malaga. But the fare was friendly and they claim to have a few extra inches in leg room. Coming back it is British Airways. The problem I always have is that you leave your apartment usually about 1000 and have to think of things to do with a car full of luggage and then rush to the airport for the long queue to check-in and hang about.  So I picked an early afternoon flight back at 1425 which arrives at Gatwick just after 1610. Plenty of time to re...