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I note flights seem quite expensive this year, for the usual holiday destinations.  Pretty much anything for the Greek islands seems to be around £450 return, by the time cabin bags are on.

I half heartedly considered booking a package, and just not bothering turning up at their accommodation, as that seems to work out about the same, lol.

The two points you make are linked.

Part of the business I work for is travel agent/package tour ops so we get reasonable market insight on the supply side. The big package operators have booked a lot of capacity for 2026 - betting on pent up demand for holidays ppl didn't take in '25 (and a bit in '24), due to our government's budget sh!tshows and wokists not wanting to travel to Trumpland.

This is why you're seeing a lot of 'secure your booking for only £x pp' offers at the moment as operators need to get bums on seats and cover the deposits they've shelled out to airlines and accommodation owners.

This has made schedule seats more expensive than normal as availability is already down. If you're planning to travel the smart move is to book a package with as low a deposit as you can as current deals are fairly good, but you may find that they get a lot better around May/June if demand doesn't materialise and the big operators start sh!tting bricks. Assuming you *want* a package ofc, which you may not. 

Well done. Must be a bit rare these days. 

In the case of the flights, did you not have to prove you actually took the flight to be entitled to the compo?

No. And how could you take a flight if it was cancelled?

Surely you had to be booked on the flight?

Booked - as in paid for a ticket - Yes. To get the 99p fares, you were travelling hand luggage only, and checking in online 30 days before departure. Therefore, the airline has no way of knowing if you had actually turned up at the airport for the flight or not. I mean, if you live close to the airport, why would you go there if the flight got cancelled more than (say) 1 hour before scheduled departure time?

I note flights seem quite expensive this year, for the usual holiday destinations.  Pretty much anything for the Greek islands seems to be around £450 return, by the time cabin bags are on.

I half heartedly considered booking a package, and just not bothering turning up at their accommodation, as that seems to work out about the same, lol.

I took mine off still attached. Then split the manifold off on the bench.
Removed the heat shield first, and that awkward coolant pipe that goes round the back.
Very fiddly but do-able.

Another day, another compensation claim going into Chiltern

The UK rail service really is crap. And expensive

There is a real scam you can do with that, people buy an open ticket, use it, then look at the actual arrival times of the trains within the ticket window, and claim against the worst ones!

In the case of train compensation, I don't believe its worth the effort, given the pittance you get back.

I religiously put in the claims out of principle.  Chiltern run a bunch of near 40yr old 165's and they are utterly knackered.  If they get enough claims, maybe they might consider retiring that fleet....


TBH, the majority of the rest of their fleet are 168s, and also utterly knackered, but are only around 25yrs old.  They are keen to show a £12m refurbishment, but obviously £12m doesn't even cover the seat coverings

Makes sence locking via the rear door now you mention it, 

Since TCV all bets are off.

Price is dictated by demand and the price you see is no different. Before you actually book, clear your cookie cache.

easyJet and BA often sell blocks of tickets to your operators. TUI and Jet 2 don't, but do operate whole aircraft charters on top of their own package flights.

If you're flying to somewhere where there's a cruise terminal, check the port itinery. Departure days drive up air fares... Supply and demand...

If you fly to somewhere where there's only one flight a day or less, again demand is relatively high.

Just because you book a flight through one airline, you may not actually be on one of their flights.

Importantly if you book via a third party, they are the airline customer not you. This is important.

Before you do the following,.Triple check you have the key in your pocket.

Switch car off and get out.
Close all the doors  EXCEPT driver side rear.
Once the other doors are closed, push down the drivers lock button.
Push down the driver side rear button and close.
Manually check the outside handles and walk away

The car should then be adequately locked.

It makes no sense for the other doors to suddenly unlock themselves when they were previously locked.

Normally when the solenoids fail the locks will bounce.

Also replace the battery in the key and re sync the remote... Ignition in pos 2 engine off and all doors closed. Press and hold the lock button on the key. Locks should cycle. If that doesn't happen,.report back.

I saw on social media a link to something that travel agents use to book flights — some kind of dedicated system with fixed or discounted prices — but I can’t find the information again.

I already use the usual Google Flights, Skyscanner, etc., but I get different prices every time I recheck. The way the algorithms work and adjust pricing feels very manipulative and profit-driven.

Basically, I’m looking to see if anyone can offer advice on how to source better-priced flights.

I’m aware that airlines sometimes drop prices on Tuesdays, and that booking in advance is usually cheaper as they try to fill seats ASAP.

Our problem is that we often need flights at short notice and can’t always predict when we’ll need to travel.