2014

Here at Holsure we sincerely hope that you had a wonderful Christmas break, and weren't too affected by the storms and floods if you live in the UK.

We hope too that you have a most fantastic 2014 and reach some of the destinations to which you aspire.

We have just heard that Michael Schumacher's condition has improved slightly after his skiing accident and, along with many others, we wish him a full and speedy recovery. Michael was wearing a helmet at the time of his accident and we can only reiterate the need for full safety equipment to be used when taking part in any wintersports activity that requires it. Michael is an advocate of safety both with The Grand Prix Drivers' Association in Motor Sports and in his love of skiing. Always at the forefront of ensuring driver security in the car and on the track, he carried this concern into his other sporting loves - we should follow his example, for ourselves and our family.

Our website can offer more help in this and other areas, HERE

A Happy New Year to all our followers and readers, and most certainly to a hero of our time - good luck Michael.

A NICE cup of Coffee?

Ask for a Coffee in a Bistro in Nice and you'll be charged €7 - Yes €7!

However, ask for a coffee please and you'll be charged €4.25.

Burst in gushing with goodness, jollity and politeness and you'll be charged something more like the standard rate of around €1.50

Yes this bar in Nice has decided to punish the rude and reward the polite - which got me thinking.....

Should we get our food and drink cheaper just by being polite and well mannered? Surely, as decent human beings we should naturally treat our waiters and waitresses with politeness and consideration. We shouldn't have surcharges placed upon our drinks for being rude, we should be ejected from the café, never to be admitted again - shouldn't we? But what about the rudeness of some staff at these cafés - should that go unnoticed? Should we, as the public have to put up with grumpy waiters, sarcastic waitresses or managers who are seemingly uncaring regarding our complaint? Well no, we too should eject ourselves, never to return.

This piece is just a bit of fun really, but it seems more likely that our disagreements and complaints will be met with politeness, empathy and consideration these days. Managers are generally keen to keep custom and reputations especially with the increased use of Facebook and Twitter as guides to good restaurants, cafés and bars.

Of more concern n the writer's opinion is the number of chain coffee stores on our high streets - try the smaller local cafés instead and you might be pleasantly surprised at the reception you receive....

.....and the coffee!

Check out our WEBSITE for more tips....

WinterSports Chalet scandal - don't get caught

Following on from our recent Blogs regarding Winter Sports Holidays, we picked up recently on an item on BBC News and decided to research the information provided.

It seems that many British Winter travellers have been conned into paying money to non - existent chalet holders on the basis that the chalets were owned by these fraudsters and by dealing directly with them posing as owners, these chalets offered much cheaper accommodation. 

Consensio Holidays have asked for dozens of listed chalets to be removed from the Internet on various rentals websites and Abta - the Travel Association have commented that "it is a growing problem".

Remember when booking your holidays to make sure that the company is a member of a Travel Association such as Abta and pay by Credit or Debit Card - not by transfer. 

Finally, remember that is something looks too good to be true....well, it probably is...

For more information regarding Travel Insurance wherever or whenever your holiday is please take a look at our website HERE

The End Of Roaming Charges.....

The Mobile Network Operator, Three, has announced recently that it is scrapping roaming charges for all British travellers visiting America. It has already ceased charging in Australia, Italy, Austria, Sweden, Ireland and Denmark as well as the city of Hong Kong and will include Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Macau in this extension of the scheme.

We know, at Holsure, that many of our clients are shocked by the cost of their mobile phone bills on returning from their holidays. Recent research suggests that Britons pay £256 million each year on roaming charges with average bills of around £120 following overseas trips.

The EU has capped roaming charges at 24.5p for voice calls, 8.1p for texts and 46p per Mb for data usage and in 2014 these charges will fall even further.

But the costs of calls outside Europe can be high. O2 charge £1.10 per minute from America to Britain and it can cost 90p per minute to receive a call, texts cost 40p each and data usage a massive £6 per Mb.

We hope to see this change soon with four of the UK's major Operators (EE, Three, Vodafone and Virgin) signing an agreement with the Government supporting a total scrapping of roaming charges by 2016.

Watch this space.