General Travel

Safety and security are always the key reasons given when people talk about why it's a good idea to have and use a VPN when traveling but while that's clearly the correct thing to focus on, there's also another reason why it's a good idea to have access to a VPN when you're abroad.

Part of the Elizabeth Line (formerly known as Crossrail) has been open for a few months but it was only yesterday that passengers traveling from Heathrow into the heart of London were able to do so without the need for a change of trains. As I happened to be at Heathrow anyway, I decided to take a look at the new service to see what it has to offer.

Recently, I was catching an early flight out of London Heathrow, and because I got to terminal 5 before the security lane at the First Wing opened, I decided to use the priority security lane at the north end of the terminal rather than waiting for the First Wing line to open. In hindsight, that was a poor decision.

I've just finished a 5 week stay at a friend's property in the Mediterranean and although the stay involved an incredible amount of work (the property is in the middle of a big reconstruction project), I've come away feeling refreshed and more relaxed than I've been for some time.

Thanks to the continuing enlargement of the Global Entry program and the US Visa Waiver Program, more people than ever before can now enter the United States relatively easily and without having to stand in the seemingly endless lines that some of our international airports have long been known for (I’m looking at you Miami).

I'm flying over to London at the end of this week to catch up with some friends and to attend the unveiling of Virgin Atlantic's new Business Class seat for its A330 aircraft. On my outbound journey, I'm traveling alone but when I return home, I'll be accompanied by four other members of my family and this has thrown up a very first-world problem for me.

There's no doubt that the rise of the low-cost carriers has had a significant leveling effect in the travel world with airlines like Spirit, Frontier, EasyJet, and Ryanair all helping to make travel considerably more affordable for a huge number of people. For those of us with mid-tier or higher airline elite status, however, choosing a low-cost carrier over the airline with which we hold elite status can often be a poor decision. This is why.

I like PayPal. I make a substantial number of transactions with non-US entities and PayPal often makes my life easier. There is, however, one aspect of PayPal that I avoid at all costs - the currency conversion system - and I strongly advise anyone reading this to avoid it too.

Singapore has announced that it is making significant changes to its COVID-19 travel rules and that following a review of procedures, it will be discontinuing the use of Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTLs) as well as removing the need for vaccinated visitors to take an on-arrival test.

I can't think of another country that has closed itself off from the rest of the world as tightly as New Zealand has over the past couple of years so it's great to be able to report that it looks like the days of the country's international isolation are coming to an end sooner than we were expecting.