| Solving all your travel troubles
Malcolm Rogers answers some of your queries about holiday travel
in Ireland
 By
Malcolm Rogers
Many of you have written to The Irish Post in recent times with a wide
range of questions concerning going on holiday in Ireland, so this week
we have devoted these pages to making your lives a little bit easier.
Where is the best place to stay in Ireland?
Mrs B. Gough, Manchester
This is one of the most common questions the Travel Section is asked
Mrs Gough, and we’ll be doing a full feature on the topic in the
very near future.
So much depends on cost — the classiest places are probably the
likes of Dromoland Castle, where George Bush stayed recently (although
you may feel that’s something less than a recommendation!) and Castle
Leslie, where Paul McCartney was married.
Recently the Galway Bay Hotel in Salthill was voted the best four star
hotel in Ireland at the CIE Tours National Awards of Excellence. More
than 48,000 international holiday makers gave it their number one rating.
In the south west, the award-winning Park Hotel in Kenmare (with spa and
set in the Kerry countryside) is offering two-night spring breaks from
£245 per person (www.parkkenmare.com).
In the north west, McGrory’s in Culdaf is best known for its music
in the Backroom Bar. It is offering two nights’ B&B plus one
dinner for c99 (£67) per person.
If, however, you’re looking for a true Irish welcome with some local
knowledge thrown in, B&Bs are still a very good bet. My own favourite
in the west of the country is Iverna Cottage in Salahoona, Spiddal, Co.
Galway (tel: +353 (0) 91 553 762). A fantastic welcome awaits you, and
breakfasts which are more like bacchanalian feasts.
I recently flew on a ‘direct flight’ from London to Madrid
and was extremely surprised to find that our aircraft was heading to Amsterdam
first. Surely as I’d booked a direct flight I should have expected
to fly directly there, instead of spending an hour on the tarmac in Holland?
Mr J. Reynolds, Manchester
No Mr Reynolds, what you needed was a ‘non-stop flight’ if
you didn’t want to land at any other airports. All a ‘direct
flight’ guarantees you is that you won’t need to change aircraft.
The arrival time on your ticket should have given you a clue. Flying time
to most Spanish cities from London or Dublin is between two and three
hours. If your arrival time is in the region of four hours or more after
departure then you’re likely making a stop en route to pick up passengers
— typically Amsterdam or Paris as these are (like London) hub airports.
I recently missed my flight to Dublin from Luton Airport as the train
from St. Pancras was delayed. Then when we arrived at the train terminal
in Luton we had to wait a further 10 minutes before the coach took us
on to the airport. The result was that my wife and I arrived at Luton
within 30 minutes of our flight but missed our journey home to Dublin
— and my mother’s 75th birthday party. The easyJet flight
was still sitting on the tarmac when we arrived, but the staff at the
check-in desk were adamant that the flight was closed and said we should
take the matter up with Thameslink. Do we have a claim against either
the airline or the rail company?
Mr S. Hanlon, London N7
‘Fraid not on either count, Mr Hanlon. Many airlines adopt a zero
policy on gate closures. Recently Tourism Minister in the Republic John
O’Donoghue was refused entry onto a Ryanair flight from Cork to
Dublin because he didn’t have his passport with him.
Because of security — and also the streamlining of booking staff
(in other words there’s less of ‘em these days) — most
airlines (not just Ryanair) operate very strict deadlines for check-in.
This is typically 40 minutes before departure. Check your ticket to be
sure of the exact time.
No better news with the rail company, either. Their contract is to deliver
you to the station, which they appear to have done. However, they can’t
be held legally responsible for not getting you their on time —
that’s not part of the contract. The answer, Mr Hanlon, is to leave
plenty of time to get to the airport in future.
And on a philosophical point, there’s a saying which goes —
if you don’t miss the odd plane, then you’re spending too
long at airports.
Is there somewhere I can buy a waterproof, sandproof personal stereo?
I’m tired of having to buy a new one every time I come home from
holiday.
Ms B. Breatnach, Liverpool
No need for an expense like that, Ms Breatnach — if indeed such
a beast exists. Why not simply wrap your personal stereo in cling film?
You can still see all the knobs and dials, but water and sand won’t
be able to enter.
I have just returned from a trip to India, and took out insurance policy
the day before I travelled. But because I booked the insurance so late,
I didn’t receive the documentation before I travelled.
Unfortunately my flight home was cancelled. I phoned the number given
to me by the insurance company over the phone and they told me I was covered
to book a new flight home.
However, when I got home and made a claim I was informed that the small
print said I wasn’t covered in the circumstances. Do I have any
redress?
George O’Neill, Totnes, Devon
Regrettably not much George. I’m afraid this is one of these situations
where at this stage you can only learn two lessons in advance for next
time: (1) always book your insurance in plenty of time to get your documentation;
(2) always read the small print. It’s worth it, even if it is hard
going — some people call it incomprehensive insurance!
If you do a lot of travelling, a yearly blanket travel insurance is probably
a good idea.
As regards the cancellation of flights, there’s a wide variance
in policies over when you are covered. Again, read the small print.
Top tip…
We’ve all seen those adverts from Ryanair or Aer Lingus: “Dublin
for 1p”, “Barcelona for £3”, etc., but when you
log on to the website you find that all the bargain seats have gone.
So apart form spending your life on the web, how do you cash in in these
discounts?
Well, there’s now a new device called Really Simple Syndication
(RSS) which will let you know the minute a new deal from any of your favourite
sites is announced.
It will save you hours from flitting from site to site, and mean you’re
one of the first in line for the limed number of bargains available.
Of course you can get information of the latest deals from the individual
airlines via e-mail, but too often these just clog up your mailbox with
stuff you don’t really want to know about and that most people delete
immediately.
To avail of this new technology simply go to www.cheapflights.co.uk and
subscribe to the RSS feed. This has news of the latest deals offered by
the low cost airlines.
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