Save money on tyres

Have tyres will travel? Tenuous link I know but an excuse to tell you about my new best friend at Black Circles Tyres . I met the MD, Michael Welch at the BT Business Essence of the Entrepreneur Awards launch last night. Another opportunity to mention that travelguru.tv won one of these lovely awards :-) but Michael won the overall 'Entrepreneur of the Year' title and deservedly so, as he has built a very successful and fast growing business around providing cheaper tyres and fitting services to customers. Basically, Black Circles promise to save you 40% on High Street tyre costs. As it happens, we need new tyres so I checked it out and lo and behold saved myself £100. Not bad eh?

Video v. the printed word

Saturday's Travel section in The Guardian could have been a travelguru edition - almost every page carrying a feature or product mention matching our content. I enjoyed reading the articles but inevitably found myself drawing comparisons with our videos covering the same subjects.
Both mediums have their pros and cons but perhaps combining both creates the perfect guide?

So I list them here for interest and invite comments as to which you prefer:

Tenerife - video v feature
Dahabiyya Nile cruise - video v feature
Girona City Break - video v short break suggestion
Cotswold Water Park - video v short break suggestion

Think its cold here?

Just came across some great pictures for a chilly January and thought I'd share... These were taken in a town called Versoix on the shores of Lac Leman, Switzerland. Now that's what you call cold!

New visa waiver online system for travel to US

Anyone planning to travel to the US should be aware that, as from 12 January 2008 the old Visa Waiver forms that you used to fill in on the flight have gone and been replaced by the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA). Essentially its an e-version of the old paper form but it now has to be completed online at least 3 days before you intend to travel.

Once approved, you get an authorisation number which is valid for 2 years. Travellers without an approved ESTA are advised that they may be denied boarding, experience delayed processing, or be denied admission at a U.S. port of entry.

You can only apply for travel authorization via the ESTA Web site at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov

P&O Cruises Ventura

I bet the news desks could barely conceal their delight when they began receiving stories from disgruntled passengers on board P&O Cruises Ventura Christmas cruise. The headline in the Sunday Times was 'Ocean cruise ends in almighty brawl'. Reading between the lines though it sounds more like there were a few rowdy passengers (mainly kids) with no notion of how to behave whether on dry land or at sea. No doubt at the time they caused unpleasant scenes but I bet that the P&O staff have seen it all before and were more than capable of dealing with it - the ultimate sanction being simply to put disruptive passengers ashore which is exactly what happened here.

It seems a bit of a non story to me. The gist of it was that this particular cruise had been heavily discounted and therefore attracted what the Sunday Times describe as 'chavs'. This is quite a big assumption which I am sure must have caused considerable offence to those passengers who are perfectly well behaved but simply know a bargain when they see one!

Irrespective of price, cruising has always been considered an aspirational holiday that appeals to all sectors of the market - just as you can get 'undesirable' types in 5 star luxury resorts, so you can on a cruise ship too. The notion that cruising is only for the upper classes died out long ago.

We recently filmed on P&O Cruises Arcadia - this is a child free ship, so rowdy youths are never going to be an issue. That said, on board there was certainly a complete mix of age groups and social backgrounds. The type of people on any given holiday will of course have a big impact on your enjoyment. For that reason we try and include feedback and comments from people we meet on location so you can judge for yourself.

Of course there are never any guarantees - obnoxious people travel just like anyone else! The point though is that on a large cruise ship, just as in a large resort, it is pretty easy to avoid people. From my experience, what tends to happen is that different 'types' and age groups tend to gravitate towards different activities and styles of venue on board and for the most part, everyone is happy.

What do you think? Have you been on a P&O cruise? Does cheap holiday = 'chavs holiday'?

BT Business Essence of the Entrepreneur winner

Celebrations in the travelguru.tv office this week as we were finally given the green light to officially announce our latest award: BT Business 'Essence of the Entrepreneur'. We are in fact one of 20 businesses to be recognised, each chosen for their innovative use of technology. As well as the honour of being selected the prize was a portrait session with world renowned photographer Rankin. The shoot actually took place back in September (and very exciting it was too) but the winners are only just now being officially announced to coincide with an exhibition of the photographs at the Oxo Tower in London running from 29 January to 01 March 2009.

Imagine how hard its been keeping it a secret! Amidst all the current doom and gloom its fantastic to have something positive to shout about. Looking at the list of winners, it proves entrepreneurial spirit is alive and kicking in the UK

Happy Travelling in 2009

If ever there was a good time to plan an escape, its now! Regular January blues combined with credit crunch overload make the prospect of blue skies and a change of scene more enticing than ever.

We all have to be realistic though and belt tightening is the order of the day - everyone is on the hunt for the best deal. But, a word of caution; when it comes to holidays 'best deal' doesn't always translate into 'cheapest deal'.

In the travel world, 'bargains' can so easily backfire and the old adage of 'you get what you pay for' still applies. Don't get me wrong, I'm as thrilled as the next person to find cheap airfares but in many ways (providing it actually takes off more or less on time) the flight is the least important element of a holiday - choosing a resort, accommodation and excursions that will match your expectations are key. The last thing anyone needs right now is a bad holiday. Our time off is way too precious to risk anything going wrong.

At travelguru.tv we like to think we've got the holiday research 'nut' cracked - what could be more reassuring than having a trusted travel commentator test out a given holiday or destination on your behalf and not only that, but be able to watch a video of their experience? What's more, if you like what you see, you can then book the very same holiday and be assured of the best possible deal.

We wish you all nothing but happy travels in 2009!