Holidays | 24/7 Moneybox Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Holidays’

World record in festivals challenged: 26 in 30 days

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Greg Parmley plans to start his epic record attempt at attending festivals at Glastonbury, where, no doubt muddy, he will get on his motorcycle to the Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium.

The festivals range from the heavy - including Metal Camp, a Slovenian event with bands such as Death Angel and Trollfest - to the more chilled, including Montreaux Jazz festival, with Sting and Carlos Santana.

Parmley plans to end his adventurous musical endeavour at the High Voltage Festival in London. Guinness World Records have decided to allow the opening of a new category which welcomes people challenging this: the ‘Most Festivals Visited in 30 Days’ category.

When asked why he wanted to do the challenge, Parmley said he needed something to get him out of the office on his motorcycle. Well, this challenge will certainly do that! He is set to visit some of the best festivals in Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, Serbia, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Not a bad idea for the summer then.

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Tags: Holidays
Posted in Leisure | No Comments »

Thai water pistol fight breaks world record

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

Fighting broke out at an unprecedented scale in one of Bangkok’s shopping malls for a full 10 minutes. Fortunately it wasn’t another coup, but rather a friendly water pistol fight. The event was to commemorate the Thai Songkran Water Festival. Perhaps this is something we can adopt in England when it heats up this summer, although the occasional hosepipe ban may be a bit of a killjoy.

The item in The Telegraph (with accompanying video of the watery mayhem!) reports that the Songkran festival continues for three days, and is celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year’s day from the 13th to 15th of April. Other than having fun, the acts of spraying water or putting powder on each other’s faces symbolises washing away the sins from the old year.

The only losers in the event were the people of Spain who held the previous record from 2007. I’m sure that they will be ‘gunning’ for the next opportunity to take their record back!

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Tags: Holidays
Posted in Games, Leisure | No Comments »

Towels tagged to tackle thieves

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

Hotels can lose as much as £9,000 a month from towels, linens and dressing gowns being taken as ‘complimentary gifts’ by guests. The problem has become too much for one hotel in Hawaii which is piloting a new technology which uses machine washable radio frequency tags stitched into anything a thief may try to remove from hotel premises.

As reported in an article in The Economist, the technology should be popular with many hotels, particularly the lower-end hotels and motels, which can lose anywhere between a fifth and a quarter of towels in just a month. Even advertising that a hotel has this technology may be enough to deter many hotel guests from stuffing their suitcases, and avoiding the embarrassment of setting off the alarms at the door.

Losing as much as £9,000 a month means that the technology could almost pay for itself. However, hotels may be reluctant to give the impression that it thinks its customers are all thieves. I can’t see the Ritz being too bothered by people taking souvenirs as I’m sure it adds to the experience.

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Tags: Holidays, Technology
Posted in Leisure, Technology | No Comments »

Bubble wrap designed to prolong ski seasons (…and reduce injuries?)

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

The two biggest enemies of a a nice powdery snow and lots of tourists are snow and sunshine, however a Scottish professor has suggested that a bubble wrap type of plastic could be used to ensure that skiiers and snowboarders can keep the snow on their pistes.

Think of the bubble wrap type plastic used in covering swimming pools and you’re not far away from what Prof McClatchey has in mind, as reported in a Scotland on Sunday item. He has experimented with a series of covers, double covers and silver covers to increase the reflectivity of the material. But the most effective for use on areas is just a clear plastic, as it had the effect of reducing the melting caused by rain, wind and warmer temperatures.

The research comes at a time when climatologists have been investigating the decline in ski days in Scotland over the past 30 years due to the effects of climate change. This decline is as much as two days a year. Over five days, half a metre of snow is lost from snow packs.

Industry leaders are intrigued by the new concept and it could be set to make a mark in Europe. But I don’t think having bubble wrap everywhere is enough of an excuse to not wear a helmet!

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Tags: Holidays, Technology
Posted in Leisure, Sport, Technology | No Comments »

Take advantage of competitions systematically, and systematically get lucky!

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

Here at 247Moneybox.com we thought we might highlight an interesting article from The Telegraph. Have you ever tried entering competitions systematically? The odds should be in your favour to end up winning something, especially if it just means buying a different brand of cereal or buying another type of chocolate bar. Look through the terms and conditions to find loopholes which might allow you to enter more than once. This might prove profitable! Some 25,000 people consider themselves to be serial competitors. You too can get lucky so give it a go! Not the lottery though, that’s just plain stupid!

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Tags: Competitions, Holidays, Terms And Conditions, Win
Posted in Holiday Money, Money saving, Online shopping | No Comments »

Unattended baggage - one of many ways to get your holiday off to a bad start (or to no start at all)

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

If you’re not going away this summer then you will be missing out on all the hassle involved with getting away for a ‘relaxing’ break. Packing, getting to the airport on time, sorting out hand luggage and separating items into small plastic bags, making sure you have your tickets, and what to do once you’ve arrived … and don’t forget the passports! We at 247Moneybox.com thought we’d highlight some tips to help you pack and have an enjoyable holiday.

First of all, keep your documents safe. Scan them and email them to yourself. Record the last card numbers of your credit/debit cards. By having your details electronically saved you can send them to the embassy if you lose them.

Split up your valuables, so if you lose your credit card it won’t be disastrous for your holiday. Perhaps keep your card with your suitcase, or have a stash of spare emergency cash to deal with any problems that might crop up.

Bring plastic bags. These can be handy for a number of purposes and can be easily compacted to save some space in your suitcase and bags.

When it comes to carry-on luggage, make sure you have the most important documents going on the plane with you.

Hopefully these tips will help you to have a relaxing holiday, and if any emergencies do occur then you should be able to deal with them quite easily.

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Tags: Fast Money, Holiday Money, Holidays
Posted in Holiday Money, Money saving | No Comments »

Holidaymakers need better protection, but not from the sun

Friday, June 26th, 2009

The summer is prime holiday time for 40 million of us Brits. Now there have been calls for the Government to look into the regulations covering holidays, according to BBC News. The Trading Standards authority have outlined that not only do package holidays coverage need to be reviewed but also that of holidays of any person going abroad, where regulation has been deemed to be outdated.

The outdated regulation has been levelled at the lack of ATOL protected holidays. ATOL protects against the travel agent going bankrupt and leaving passengers stranded. However, obviously in the current climate this is increasingly becoming an important aspect of any holiday making abroad. Vivid examples of this include XL which went down and led to thousands of people putting in claims for cancelled holidays.

Less than half of holidays are ATOL protected now, compared to 98% ten years ago. This is due to the increase of computer-customised holidays that mix elements of different holiday packages and subsequently aren’t fully ATOL protected.

Suggestions for rule changes include a blanket protection for all flights booked with scheduled airlines and protection for flights sold alongside another component, such as accommodation.

If you’re hoping to travel abroad this summer but may have to wait too long for your next paycheque, visit us at www.247Moneybox.com and see if we can help out with a payday loan.

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