20 Nov 2014 6:11 PM:

Monarch can be a bit hit or miss regarding their flights and or aircraft. On my last trip back to the UK (I'm in Spain full time) the AGP-LGW leg was in an almost new A321 and in as much as if flying could ever be called a 'pleasurable' experience, the flight was easily on a par with BA or Iberia.  Monarch are and always have been a sort of halfway house between the locos and the traditional airlines.

More thread drift... Last time I sw Liverpool Airport it was still called Speke and the old terminal was still in use. Neither Ryan or Easy existed.  I see you quote Chester as your home address... I was in the RAF at Sealand at the time living in .married quarters on the base, this was back in the mid seventies and a gang of us from the base were seconded to attend an RAF recruiting stand at the annual Speke airshow!

For RAF engineering personnel Sealand really was 'the pits;' why on earth the powers-that-be thought that we would make good promotors of a life in the RAF, Lord knows!

 

Thread: Liverpool to Malaga Flights

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20 Nov 2014 3:34 PM:

I have a similar situation... we live in Southsea and our doorstep airport is obviously Southampton but there are no direct public transport links from Portsmouth and there is only one operator from there to AGP and thats Flybe and frankly the way they have been screwing around with fares, times and dates is pushing them out of our comfort zone.

From AGP we have a 90 monute coach trip to our home (on the doorstep of Granada Airport) when we land.

Our ideal would be SOU-GRX  but no-one operates that route. Bit snobby I know, but having spent 40 years in the aviation business, I prefer to use the mainstream airlnes rather than Ryan and Easy. Monarch used to operate LGW-GRX but then Ryan took over at Granada and forced Monarch out. Then when subsidies were removed Ryan moved out of Granada and left us with no international flights at all. For four long years this remained the case but then BA with much trumpeting announced that they would be starting a London- Granada service... great we thought... right up to the point at which they announced that the service would operate out of London City Airport... WTF! What a waste of time... LCY- good  if you live or work within a few miles of the City or in Ilford or Romford but a total waste of time otherwise.

So now we are stuck; we eiher pay Flybe's rapidly escalating fares, or are stuck with a 90 minute coach trip to and from both Gatwick and Malaga! We spend more time waiting around for, and on, connecting public transport services than we do on the flight itself!  A two and three quarter hour flight takes around twelve hours to achieve! Grrrrr!

Thread: Liverpool to Malaga Flights

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20 Nov 2014 10:47 AM:

Just a thought but wouldn't MAN offer more flights and a better choice of airlines?

Thread: Liverpool to Malaga Flights

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17 Oct 2014 3:27 PM:

Last year our little UK based chihuahua cross Sophie became due for her rabies update shot... our UK vet charged my wife 45GBP which at the time equated to around 50 Euros... this renewal has a three year validity.

At the same time my six Spanish based dogs also had their annual rabies renewal except that where we live out in the campo, for one day each year, a vet from a nearby town visits the village and sets up a stall in the street... total charge this year for my lot 50 euros and that included a 'free' worming treatment for each of them.

Our normal vet has his clinic about 35Kms away; any visit normally results in a bill much smaller than those in the UK and the meds for routine stuff like antibiotics we get on a free vets prescription from our local pharmacy at a cost of around 2.50 Euros.

We were looking to rehome a dog in the UK who was initially tested borderline Leish positive. The normal treatment for an established case of Leishmaniasis, a daily dose of a med. called Zyloric which costs 3.10 Euros for a pack of 100x100mg. tablets from the local pharmacia with no prescription required. In the UK the cost is around 22.50GBP plus the cost of a vets prescription. Sophie's vet charges 17GBP for the prescription. He said he could provide Zyloric directly from the surgery to order but the cost would be 32GBP per pack of 100x100mg. As it turned out two follow-up  blood tests proved in fact that the dog in question was definitely Leish negative so further 'treatment' was unnecessary. The initial bloodtest was considered to have erred on the side of caution and the Zyloric was prescribed as a precaution... Coffee, the dog concerned in the investigation is still with me in Spain...

Over the years we have seen many examples of what we have termed 'rip-off Britain'

UK veterinary costs are well up on my list!

 

 

This message was last edited by foxbat on 17/10/2014.

This message was last edited by foxbat on 17/10/2014.
Thread: Dog passporti

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17 Oct 2014 11:22 AM:

One other point... have you given any thought to how you will transport the puppy to Spain?

Transport by air is extremely expensive, accompanied or not. UK airlines will not allow pets to travel in the cabin and will only carry the pet as airfreight. Not only that but the main carriers like BA and Monarch insist on the use of an airline appointed freight forwarding agent. To move dogs around mainland Europe typically costs aaround 150 Euros but from and to the UK you are looking at at least 850 euros one way...  and that was for a 5Kgm Chihuahua cross. Ludicrous costs considering that most airline charge around 20GBP per kilo for excess baggage...!

Within mainland Europe most airlines will allow small dogs / cats to travel with the owner in the cabin in a suitable IATA approved crate. NOT so, the UK. Some UK airlines will permit travel in the cabin but only on flights wholly within the UK

Generally you can use any UK departure airport that the airline normally uses when sending dogs into Europe, but when the direction of travel is reversed ie., from Europe into the UK you can only use Heathrow, Gatwick Manchester, and Glasgow.  See 'Airport entry points' under the 'Importing Animals into the UK' heading.on the DEFRA website.

Road transport with the owner is by far the most economical way of doing things but its a long trip 2-3 days but there are many dog friendly hotels en route. If you elect to use one of the many commercial European Pet Transport companies  expect to pay around 200 Euros per dog one way, but before selecting one of these companies do your homework; make sure they have the necessary DEFRA and European licences, check the previous customer testimonials... there are a lot of cowboys out there.

Thats it, chapter and verse! Good Luck

fb

Thread: Dog passporti

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