A Passage to India? Not if you can't untangle the red tape. At the start of the programme I heard from a London woman, Julie Calvert, who's just lost a dream holiday - and £2,000 - because of an arbitrary rule change by the government in Delhi. A multi-entry visa isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on if you plan to return within two months. If you’re going east, contact in.vfsglobal.co.uk well ahead of time.
The BA strike threat continues, but at least there’s a countdown to Tuesday when talks between management and cabin crew. There are hundreds of thousands of people holding tickets on British Airways who are still threatened by strike action. Let me bring you the latest. order to try to bring some fresh energy to solving the dispute, last night the TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, gave an ultimatum of close of play on Tuesday "to determine whether or not a mutually acceptable settlement can be achieved". If an agreement can't be reached, then Unite has a window of six days to call a strike. If it does so on Tuesday, then action could begin no earlier than 16 March and no later than 22 March. The union has already ruled out striking over Easter. So, if you're travelling any time up to 16 March it's safe to say your flight should operate normally; then there's a fortnight of uncertainty; but from the start of April, normal service should be resumed.
Talking of uncertainty – removing it from your journey is what the Travel Clinic seeks to do. Sue wonders “Is the E111 valid in Tenerife? I am confused as the currency is the Euro but the customs regulations are non EU.” The largest and most beautiful Canary island is certainly in the EU, but like the Channel Islands is regarded as outside the EU for Customs purposes – basically, it’s a low-tax archipelago. But the E111 doesn’t exist any more. You need the European Health Insurance Card, and you don’t want to pay for it. Tap EHIC into a search engine and you’ll probably find the EHIC Application Service pops up first. It’ll cost you £10 to apply for something that’s free, so long as you go to http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/Pages/About.aspx. You can also apply by phone on 0845 606 2030 or by post using an application form available from some post offices.
Our destination of the week was Marrakesh, which I know from experience is looking glorious in March ... but is it really a destination for families? The travel writer Siobhan Mulholland, who's just back from Morocco's finest city, thinks so. She recommends a brand-new hotel, ClubHotel Riu Tikida Palmeraie (
http://www.thomson.co.uk/destinations/africa/morocco/morocco-marrakech/marrakech/hotels/clubhotel-riu-tikida-palmeraie.html).
I’m off, second class, to Bordeaux this week. See you in the skies, or I’ll be back to talk to you next week.
Happy Travels
Simon