Personally Chosen

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If you’re going on holiday now is a good time to apply for an American Express card.

Why? Sure you’ve already got Mastercard and Visa, won’t they do?

Well, they probably will do and, yes, it’s true that outside the British Isles and North America, acceptance of their cards isn’t nearly as widespread as it is for MC/Visa. However, when you get your credit card stolen (and you will do sooner or later), it’s the only one that you can depend on getting replaced whilst you’re on holiday. With Mastercard and Visa you’re depending on a lot of connections working and, particularly if you’re going to one of the countries in the former Eastern Bloc, then that infrastructure just isn’t in place.

OK, so it’s handy when it’s stolen abroad, but what about in the UK? Well, acceptance is pretty much universal these days and you’ll pick up a nice cashback bonus at the end of each year. It might not always look as worthwhile as some of the points rebate schemes but how often have you actually used the points that you’ve accumulated. Besides, with points you’re stuck with whatever the card issuer has in their catalogue, whereas with cash you can get whatever you want.

Definitely worthwhile as a third card and I think you’ll be surprised at how often you use it.

 
You’d think that travel agents would be able to cope with people who pop in and want to go somewhere but haven’t really set their mind on anywhere in particular, wouldn’t you?

Well, I’ve tried that and I’ve yet to find one that can come up with a suggestion that is outside the standard off the cuff ideas that anyone could reel off. Until now that is.

Holiday.co.uk aren’t quite there yet but are definitely heading in the right direction I think. For a start they have loads of information on places that really are all over the world which isn’t always so easy to come by if you’re aiming for somewhere that’s truly out of the ordinary. A less obvious difference is that you can actually book the flights online to really exotic places which you can’t do on most normal travel sites.

Now, to be fair, you can’t always get hotels in the more exotic places. However, that’s something that’s commonplace across the majority of travel sites. For instance, although I could have booked a flight to Quito in Ecuador, they didn’t have a hotel listed there although you could call them for a hotel as, unlike most online places, they have real people on the phones which is something that you usually need for really out of the way places.

From all that you’d think that they only had exotic destinations but, of course, that’s far from the case. They’ve the usual beach, ski and city break options but even there they tend to offer that little bit more than you find on most travel sites. Not only that, but you can be considerably more flexible with your search options than on any other travel site that I’ve seen (and I’ve seen a LOT). Normally, you’d need to say at least where and when you’d like to go but you can leave out the where and the when can be up to seven days different from the date you give which lets their system come up with some ideas that you might not have thought of.

An excellent site with the information that you need to plan even the most exotic trip but which retains the ability to offer you holidays at the ordinary end of the scale too and with the flexibility that people are looking for these days. Of course, in many ways this should be no surprise as they’re ABTA’s very first online travel agency, dating way back to 1994.
 
 

Knickerbox are a very well known name with ladies who love to buy the best quality lingerie and undergarments. Just take a look at their website: there are several categories the first of which presents their latest ‘just in’ fashions. Their bra’s, briefs and knickers are all very stylish - not too ‘over the top’ - which will appeal to those ladies who love comfort, appearance and quality.

With this in mind their range will suit any woman of any age…even Granny! taking a further look I love the range of cami’s in the brochure; not cheap and tacky looking, just romantic, sexy and so stylish at the same time. Just as I said, even Gran could treat herself to something from this range.

Stockings have made a huge comeback in ladies fashions in recent years and there is a nice selection of style and design - women today prefer the hold-up style stockings which can be worn under skirts, even trousers, and will give any set of legs a sexy allure. My favourite is the seamed style - very 1940’s Hollywood.

For those who are into Ann Summers designs you will find this range at Knickerbox; we all know what to expect from an Ann Summers selection so I don’t need to say too much more…

If you are making a gift selection then take a look at the Top Ten; this gives you an idea of what are the most popular items. Guys, this should help you if you are choosing something for your lady. If you want to make a saving check out the clearance sale section as there is always a list of items on discount and each item is something special.