...and some crushing away losses on our holidays
AND THE DEFEATS
JEFF PRESTRIDGE Holes in my travel plans
I HAVE had little holiday joy this year. Neil Woodford and his imploding investment funds curtailed a splendid few days in Soller, Majorca (please go, you’ll love it), while my mother’s battle with breast cancer resulted in a Mediterranean cruise cancellation at the last moment.
Even a weekend at the Sidmouth Folk Festival – a longstanding family outing – had to be cancelled as Mum reeled from her diagnosis.
Although my annual travel insurance meant I recouped a good portion of the cost of the cruise, it didn’t extend to the Sidmouth hotel booking. To make matters worse, in making the reservation via website booking.com, I failed to opt for free cancellation, not thinking anything would get in the way of my love for morris dancing. Lesson learnt.
Mum is now back on track and determined to cruise away in 2020. I and my younger sister will travel as her attendants. Fully insured.
TOBY WALNE Woodford blighted
INVESTMENT bogeyman Neil Woodford has reduced my £10,000 in his failed Equity Income fund to about half its original value. Star manager? Not in this galaxy.
As an investor in stocks and shares, you pays your money and takes your choice. I get that. I grieve not for myself – I’ll get over it – but for the thousands of elderly victims who entrusted huge chunks of their life savings to this greedy man. They will suffer the consequences while this multi-millionaire amateur show jumper trots off into the Cotswolds sunset. He takes with him £8.7million of fees trousered while Equity Income lay suspended due to his mismanagement. There is a name for people like him – but it is too rude to print. Au revoir, Mr Woodford.
LAURA SHANNON Forgetting my currency card
IT IS not a good look when a personal finance reporter who harps on about better currency deals is stung by credit card fees abroad.
I unnecessarily paid £12 over just two days in Spain. You may not think that a big sum, but it is a bitter pill to swallow when I should have known better. It is akin to buying a nice bottle of Shiraz, and then pouring it down the drain. The sore point is that it was not through lack of organisation.
I dutifully topped up my prepaid travel card at a mid-market rate, paying just a small fee on top, in good time before my departure.
What I didn’t prepare for was what I would do if I forgot my PIN code – which is exactly what happened. So I had to rely on my bank’s credit card, wincing each time I used it because I knew it was an avoidable expense. Worse was returning home to discover that retrieving my PIN only required sending a text. Can you hear my palm slapping my forehead?
SARAH BRIDGE Booking flights too late
MY WORST financial decision this year is buying plane tickets at the last minute and failing to buy currency in advance. As a travel blogger – I have my own website, aladyofleisure.com – I travel overseas often, sometimes at short notice, which cannot be helped. But even when I do have more time I still only get round to buying tickets just before I fly.
I’m off skiing over New Year and have just forked out almost £500 for a return to Geneva on easyJet. Such a contrast to my recent British Airways flight to Dubrovnik, which cost less than £30 – it was the end of the holiday season.
I also need to sort out my currency ‘attitude’ as I usually get cash from the Travelex concessions at the airport, which certainly do not offer the best exchange rate.
Worse, on a recent trip I bought euros – before arriving in Copenhagen to realise that, of course, Denmark’s currency is the krone.