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hbf posted:I think a lot of the reason people find it grating (or disappointing) there is just expectation. It's a holiday spot on the ocean first and foremost. If you are searching for authenticity that's not the type of place to go. Anyway... Go to Bodegas Lopez de Heredia in Haro. The tour is very good, and they make some of the very best wine in the entire world. According to Google Maps it's about 90 minutes from San Sebastian, or about 40-60 minutes from Logrono. There are also a number of other bodegas in that area, as well as very close to Logrono itself. I can't say I've been to that restaurant, but I highly doubt you'll be disappointed. You can also try Cuchara de San Telmo for some good, cheaper food in San Sebastian itself. It's always busy and full of twats due to its high tripadvisor position, but it is actually worth it and the staff handles it without freaking out and doing a murder-suicide, which is probably more than I could manage. The one thing in SS I really enjoyed was climbing the mountain (Urgell, I think?) and going all around the ruins and such. It's free, you get a great view, and you don't feel like you need a nightstick to fight your way through the crowds. I'm down on tourists in general. I nearly had a full-on breakdown at the Prado yesterday. I just can't. loving. handle. that level of crowdedness, especially when people don't show any level of consideration for others. I can handle crowded bars, I can handle a packed Metro car, but something about the complete lack of awareness shown by giant tour groups at museums makes me want to hang myself. Speaking of crowded places (though not in a bad way), I went to Las Ventas for a bullfight on Tuesday. I didn't know you could smoke cigars in the stands, so I didn't bring one, which pissed me off (since not only can you, it appears to be a very popular thing!). The fight itself is just as bloody as everyone says, so if that sort of thing bothers you, bullfighting is something you'll not want to watch, but it didn't bother me as much as I thought it might. I'd probably do it again, but I won't cry if they ban it either.
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May 28, 2015 09:33
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freebooter posted:Yeah Budget said debit card was OK as long as it was issued in the UK. Europcar didn't, though. Jesus, they're serious there aren't they. All they did here was hand me a Swiss license and put a sticker on the back of my US one that said "NON VALABLE" on the back (and which could be trivially removed). They do fine you if you get pulled over and have both a Swiss and (other country) license in your wallet though -- even if you show the cop the Swiss license first. A friend of mine got busted with a 200 CHF fee because the officer noticed he had a US license next to his Swiss one. Yeah definitely go with the other option then.
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May 28, 2015 11:18
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Yep, I just rang up again - and it was actually Thrifty that takes debit, not Budget - and the girl on the phone asked how long I'd been in the UK and this time I said "six months" and she didn't seem fussed. I think it's more one of those things that governments insist upon in order to try to keep everything neat and orderly, rather than something that can really be strictly enforced. I remember when I moved from WA to Victoria, my girlfriend got pulled over and got in trouble when the officer asked why she hadn't changed her license plates over after being in Victoria for three months, and I got pulled over because my license plate had fallen off and they were irritable that I hadn't replaced it in three months. In both cases the only reason they knew it had been that long was because we both told them when asked, because it didn't occur to us to lie.
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May 28, 2015 11:47
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PT6A posted:Go to Bodegas Lopez de Heredia in Haro. The tour is very good, and they make some of the very best wine in the entire world. According to Google Maps it's about 90 minutes from San Sebastian, or about 40-60 minutes from Logrono. There are also a number of other bodegas in that area, as well as very close to Logrono itself. awesome, thanks for the bodega recommendations. I think I'm definitely going to go to Lopez and maybe a couple others.
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May 28, 2015 18:04
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hbf posted:awesome, thanks for the bodega recommendations. I think I'm definitely going to go to Lopez and maybe a couple others. Good to hear. I just had the bottle of wine I got there (included in the price of the tour, €30) and it is off the charts. Just remember: it's a bodega so special that Akelarre literally had a separate heading on the wine list for their wines. You'll be walking on hallowed ground, and you're going to love it! P.S. Any wine snobs in your life would probably go apeshit for a bottle of the Tondonia Blanco (or red, but especially white because it's harder to find), so if you want to make some very good friends... I can't recall where you're from, but if it doesn't involve airplane travel, well, I would've bought cases of both red and white, and the Gran Reserva bottles that would entitle me to as well.
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May 29, 2015 00:27
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PT6A posted:Good to hear. I just had the bottle of wine I got there (included in the price of the tour, €30) and it is off the charts. Just remember: it's a bodega so special that Akelarre literally had a separate heading on the wine list for their wines. You'll be walking on hallowed ground, and you're going to love it! hmmm cool. I don't know much about wine, but always nice to have some of the good stuff around. I might have to ship back some boxes then. Already planning on shipping some beer back from other parts of the trip (Cantillon)
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May 29, 2015 16:55
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hbf posted:hmmm cool. I don't know much about wine, but always nice to have some of the good stuff around. I might have to ship back some boxes then. Already planning on shipping some beer back from other parts of the trip (Cantillon) Dunno if this applies, but if you're from the States you can bring in a shitload of wine for dirt cheap. Buy as much as you can fit in a suitcase/sturdy box, wrap it in socks and plastic bags or buy legit packing materials, and make a copy of the receipt. Put one copy of the receipt in the suitcase/box and check it as luggage on the plane. When you get to customs, the legit way is to say you've got something to declare and then maaaaaybe have to pay the tax on it. Which will not be much. It's less than $5/gallon so I've read. Anecdotally, in 4 trips to Europe I've never had to pay. And last time I went I bought a cheapass giant rolling suitcase over there and packed it with 8 bottles of wine, 2 liters of olive oil, and a carton of cigarettes. I wrote all this down on the form and when I told the agent, she made me go to the x-ray line. I put my luggage on a scanner, a guy looked at it, and that was that. Only cost was the price of the goods and the rolling suitcase, which was like 35 euro. Way cheaper than shipping.
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May 29, 2015 19:22
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So far, I'm bringing back a bottle of wine, a bunch of cigars, hopefully some brandy (waiting until duty-free for that), and maybe some olive oil (if I can find some decent stuff in a plastic bottle, I'll put it in my suitcase, if not, duty-free). I may have to pay tax on the wine (we're allowed spirits or wine duty-free, not both), and on the total value of the importation (800CAD, currently sitting at around 820CAD before the brandy and olive oil). The only time I've actually had to pay was when I was over my permitted number of cigars, and Canada customs doesn't play around with that poo poo (cue lovely $500 excise tax bill). At least this time I probably face a maximum of $30-50 in tax or something like that.
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May 30, 2015 09:53
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If you're ever in a position where you would owe more than you expected in import duties, are you allowed to just forefeit some of the stuff at that moment? Like PT6A's $500 excise tax for cigars... could you just give up the cigars and avoid that bill?
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May 30, 2015 09:58
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DNova posted:If you're ever in a position where you would owe more than you expected in import duties, are you allowed to just forefeit some of the stuff at that moment? Yes, they gave me that option (and were very surprised when I opted not to take it). Given, however, that it was still a better deal than buying those same cigars at retail in Canada, some of them I couldn't even have bought in Canada, and I was keeping all of them for personal use, I opted to suck it up and pay the money. I did have more than twice the allowable duty-free limit, mind you, so it didn't exactly come as a surprise that I had to pay. In Canada, cigars are an especially unpleasant business, because unlike cigarettes, loose tobacco, and any form of alcohol, they're taxed based on value rather than quantity, so you never know quite how badly you're going to get boned until you go to the cashier. The saving grace was that, after that tax bill, they told me not to even worry about the fact I had three times as much liquor as I ought to have had (and, yes, I did declare everything). EDIT: And let's not forget the "special duty" on cigarettes that applies even on your duty-free exemption. I don't typically smoke rollies, but I'm gonna now. PT6A fucked around with this message at 10:46 on May 30, 2015 |
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May 30, 2015 10:42
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I've been thinking of doing Amsterdam > Brussels > Paris > Madrid trip in probably early March 2016. I haven't booked anything yet, but at the moment my plan is a 12 day trip. My first thought was to travel by train between the cities to see some of the countryside also, but at least at first glance the train tickets seem very expensive. I mean the first couple sites I saw wanted about 200 euros for Paris to Madrid night train ticket. I still kinda like the idea of going by train though. Any weird tricks for getting the cheapest possible train tickets? Or should I just give up the train idea and use planes instead. Also so far this is my day allocation: 3 days in Amsterdam 2 days in Brussels 4 days in Paris 3 days in Madrid
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May 30, 2015 15:25
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Zilkin posted:I've been thinking of doing Amsterdam > Brussels > Paris > Madrid trip in probably early March 2016. I haven't booked anything yet, but at the moment my plan is a 12 day trip. My first thought was to travel by train between the cities to see some of the countryside also, but at least at first glance the train tickets seem very expensive. I mean the first couple sites I saw wanted about 200 euros for Paris to Madrid night train ticket. I still kinda like the idea of going by train though. Any weird tricks for getting the cheapest possible train tickets? Or should I just give up the train idea and use planes instead. There's no particularly good train connection between Paris and Madrid as far as I know, so I'd suggest using a plane or bus for that segment. If you want to do the Spanish high speed train just to see some nice countryside, bus to Barcelona and take the train from there to Madrid. Honestly, though, flights from most major centres to Madrid are pretty cheap, and Paris->Madrid is pretty far, so I'd probably recommend flying. Iberia looks to be around 80€ with 1 checked bag. Day allocation wise, I'd shave a day of Amsterdam and add one in Madrid, because I didn't like Amsterdam and I very much liked Madrid, but that's based on my own particular likes and dislikes. Otherwise it sounds reasonable. gently caress, I can't believe I only have a day and a half left here out of a month. Where did all my time go?
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May 30, 2015 16:33
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Yeah just take the flight from Paris to Madrid. There are probably some routes with scenery through the Pyrenees, but if you're taking a night train you won't see any of it anyway. It'll be way cheaper and it'll save you a ton of time. I also really can't handle Amsterdam, I find it pretty dull and expensive, and I've probably spent about 2 weeks there over 4 or 5 trips, God knows why but everyone else always wants to go. I can't imagine recommending it for any reason other than the truffles. There are better cities to party in: see, Berlin, London, Madrid.
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May 30, 2015 16:42
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Saladman posted:I also really can't handle Amsterdam, I find it pretty dull and expensive, and I've probably spent about 2 weeks there over 4 or 5 trips, God knows why but everyone else always wants to go. I can't imagine recommending it for any reason other than the truffles. Finally someone sees what I see! At least San Sebastian had really good food sometimes. Other than that, they actually reminded me strongly of one another: drizzly, grey, and with too many wide-eyed tourists wandering around wondering why some things dare to not be in English.
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May 30, 2015 17:35
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PT6A posted:Yes, they gave me that option (and were very surprised when I opted not to take it). Given, however, that it was still a better deal than buying those same cigars at retail in Canada, some of them I couldn't even have bought in Canada, and I was keeping all of them for personal use, I opted to suck it up and pay the money. I did have more than twice the allowable duty-free limit, mind you, so it didn't exactly come as a surprise that I had to pay. Haha, those guys were probably super bummed that you opted to keep the cigars and pay the tax.
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May 31, 2015 08:19
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DNova posted:Haha, those guys were probably super bummed that you opted to keep the cigars and pay the tax. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. They did act like they'd never seen anyone choose to pay the money instead, mind you. Of course, I've seen people stand at the cashier (as I'm waiting to hand over my pound of flesh) and argue about the liquor duty on a $4 bottle of rum. Yeah, I know it was a gift from your resort that you "won" (just like 90% of other guests!), but customs doesn't give a gently caress and oh my god it's only $4, give it up! Use your liquor allowance for something good that you can't buy in Canada, instead of Havana Club: Paint Thinner Edition.
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May 31, 2015 09:04
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I just did Amsterdam to Brussels to Paris by train yesterday, actually. It's all pretty flat but Brussels to Paris is just 90 minutes by high speed train so I recommend that. It's almost free to fly in to Madrid. There's got to be a cheap round about way to get there from Paris. Maybe Paris Frankfurt Speyer Madrid? Paris Nice Barcelona Madrid? No reason not to do a day trip in another city.
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May 31, 2015 14:44
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Looking for some advice on getting mobile phone coverage. I'm going to be in the UK, Spain, and Denmark. I would love to have some kind of cell service that isn't ridiculously priced. Mainly for navigation, confirming things with airbnb hosts and the like. I have access to a few different phones here in the US. An android on Verizon (has a micro sim). An iPhone 5s on ATT. and an iPhone 6 on Verizon. From checking with verizon, it seems like their coverage is not great and it's extremely expensive (25$ gets 100mb only). ATT is about the same, but it looks like my ATT iphone is much more compatible for europe. Is the best bet just to buy a plan from a shop when I land (in London) and put the sim in my iphone? Is there a particular mobile provider I should use that will work well across the UK, Spain and Denmark? Any particular chain of shops to get a sim from? I can't imagine using many sms or call minutes, but I would like to have a decent amount of data.
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May 31, 2015 18:02
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hbf posted:Looking for some advice on getting mobile phone coverage. I'm going to be in the UK, Spain, and Denmark. I would love to have some kind of cell service that isn't ridiculously priced. Mainly for navigation, confirming things with airbnb hosts and the like. Don't know about UK or Denmark, but in Spain it's super-easy to get a pre-paid SIM (whatever size). It's 6€ for 500MB, plus maybe 5€ for the SIM card or something, which includes a whole bunch of minutes. I bought mine from Orange because they had a kiosk right at the entrance to the metro station at the airport, and I haven't had any problems with them. The only thing is that you need a passport. Also, I'm going to have to buy a new one when I return with a new phone, because the passport I used to get this one is expired -- either that, or pre-paid numbers can't be transferred between different SIM cards in any circumstance. I'm not entirely sure. Not a big deal, though. Make sure whatever phone you want to use is unlocked, obviously. EDIT: It appears that data roaming is expensive whether you have an EU SIM or not, so I would recommend a fresh SIM for each country. PT6A fucked around with this message at 18:40 on May 31, 2015 |
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May 31, 2015 18:38
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hbf posted:Looking for some advice on getting mobile phone coverage. I'm going to be in the UK, Spain, and Denmark. I would love to have some kind of cell service that isn't ridiculously priced. Mainly for navigation, confirming things with airbnb hosts and the like. Get a different SIM for each country, the Verizon iphone 6 will be unlocked for sure, dunno about the others. There will be lots of places to get a sim either at the airport or downtown in all those places.
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May 31, 2015 19:25
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HookShot posted:Get a different SIM for each country, the Verizon iphone 6 will be unlocked for sure, dunno about the others. There will be lots of places to get a sim either at the airport or downtown in all those places. Have you been to all of those places? I thought the same thing throughout Europe, but Germany was an especial pain in the rear end, so now I assume other countries might be as well. Netherlands and Spain have both been dead easy for me (I had service in both before leaving the airport), but activating that loving German SIM card still gives me nightmares.
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May 31, 2015 19:41
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PT6A posted:Have you been to all of those places? I thought the same thing throughout Europe, but Germany was an especial pain in the rear end, so now I assume other countries might be as well. Netherlands and Spain have both been dead easy for me (I had service in both before leaving the airport), but activating that loving German SIM card still gives me nightmares. It's stupid expensive to roam with an EU SIM, buying SIM cards in each country is easy and cheap.
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May 31, 2015 19:48
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HookShot posted:You're doing it wrong then, Germany is just as easy as most places in Europe. Just hand over your money, have them activate the card for you in shop, put in phone and go. I've never been to Spain but I've been to Denmark and the UK, yes. They didn't give me the option to do it in-shop, I had to wade through the German-only website and figure out how German addresses are formatted in order to do it. Mind you, I did buy it at a Saturn (the equivalent of BestBuy as far as I can tell), because I arrived at the train station instead of the airport and I was being picked up by my uncle. Netherlands was by far the easiest, though. I don't think they even wanted a passport like Spain does. FaceEater: Would you happen to know if it's possible/advisable to get a Spanish NIE as a semi-frequent tourist? I doubt this is the last time I'll be here, by a long shot, and it seems like certain things are easier if you have an NIE instead of a passport (just on this trip: buying and retrieving tickets, changing a SIM card).
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May 31, 2015 20:07
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HookShot posted:You're doing it wrong then, Germany is just as easy as most places in Europe. Just hand over your money, have them activate the card for you in shop, put in phone and go. I've never been to Spain but I've been to Denmark and the UK, yes. I found getting a PAYG SIM one of the easiest things to do in Germany. They didn't want to even see my ID like i hear in some countries. I walked to a Conrad (seems sort of like a Best Buy), got a Telekom card for 10 E or so with 10 E of credit on it, and activated it back at the hotel. Yes, the website was only in German but Google Translate helped there.. also for my address I just put the address of the hotel... Anyway, I dunno.. maybe I was lucky but I know absolutely no German and was able to get it to work pretty easily
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May 31, 2015 22:31
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MoofOntario posted:I found getting a PAYG SIM one of the easiest things to do in Germany. They didn't want to even see my ID like i hear in some countries. I walked to a Conrad (seems sort of like a Best Buy), got a Telekom card for 10 E or so with 10 E of credit on it, and activated it back at the hotel. Yes, the website was only in German but Google Translate helped there.. also for my address I just put the address of the hotel... Yeah, exactly. I did mine at like an Aldi or something and they activated it for me. I had to show my passport, and the guy just put the store's address in as my address and activated for me, no problem.
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May 31, 2015 23:03
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Re: Amsterdam and Brussels, I enjoyed Amsterdam immensely, not doing many drugs, and absolutely hated Brussels not on any. Different strokes; I guess.
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May 31, 2015 23:05
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PT6A posted:FaceEater: Would you happen to know if it's possible/advisable to get a Spanish NIE as a semi-frequent tourist? I doubt this is the last time I'll be here, by a long shot, and it seems like certain things are easier if you have an NIE instead of a passport (just on this trip: buying and retrieving tickets, changing a SIM card). Interesting question. I had an NIE there because I was living there, and I applied in person upon arrival in Logroño. I am pretty sure you can do it through the consulate of your home country though. Matter of fact, internet confirms- http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/LONDRES/en/InformacionParaExtranjeros/Pages/NIE.aspx And to your question, yeah, it can make life easier there. Passport numbers can vary, and inputs aren´t standardized across anything in Spain. If you´re there more than a couple times a year, traveling extensively, it might be worth it. An NIE is far from necessary though if not living or working there. edit - PT6A posted:an especial pain aw, somebody´s been speakin´ Spanish! Ally McBeal Wiki fucked around with this message at 23:23 on May 31, 2015 |
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May 31, 2015 23:18
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Oh gently caress me, waking up to get to the airport after four hours of sleep seemed like a much better idea 5-6 hours ago than it does right now. Oh well, maybe I'll sober up between now and getting to the airport. Thank gently caress I don't have a rental car or any need to drive. FaceEater posted:And to your question, yeah, it can make life easier there. Passport numbers can vary, and inputs aren´t standardized across anything in Spain. If you´re there more than a couple times a year, traveling extensively, it might be worth it. An NIE is far from necessary though if not living or working there. Yep, Spanish Ticketmaster wants a number for your passport/NIE/etc. to collect tickets in person, and their code won't accept anything with a letter in it (even though they say passports are acceptable). Great plan, boys!
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Jun 1, 2015 05:40
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My girlfriend and I are going to be travelling Europe in a couple weeks, and are just finalizing our itinerary. One thing remains, at the end of our trip: I want to go to Greece, and she is a little afraid because her dad read an article in which British tourists complained that refugees ruined their trip, and now she worries that the streets will be riddled with them, and they will steal our money and/or kidnap us. Ridiculous, I know. Now, I looked at all government travel advisories and they all seem to be fine, just practice normal precautions. And the incident in question seems isolated to the island of Kos. She, in particular, would want to go to Crete, which is fine as far as I can tell. We should be alright, yes?
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Jun 1, 2015 07:01
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thehoodie posted:My girlfriend and I are going to be travelling Europe in a couple weeks, and are just finalizing our itinerary. One thing remains, at the end of our trip: I want to go to Greece, and she is a little afraid because her dad read an article in which British tourists complained that refugees ruined their trip, and now she worries that the streets will be riddled with them, and they will steal our money and/or kidnap us. Ridiculous, I know. Just be aware of your surroundings and read up on the most common types of distractions and scams that people use to separate tourists from their belongings. The chances that anything will happen are very low. The chances of something violent happening are much lower still. This is not a bad page to skim through http://wikitravel.org/en/Common_scams but don't let it scare you -- just use it as a primer for what kind of things to be aware of and avoid. What I'm saying is go to Crete unless you think your gf will be too on edge the whole time to enjoy herself.
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Jun 1, 2015 07:24
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You can go to Greece without being kidnapped by marauding hordes of immigrants, yes.
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Jun 1, 2015 07:52
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Saladman posted:I also really can't handle Amsterdam, I find it pretty dull and expensive, and I've probably spent about 2 weeks there over 4 or 5 trips, God knows why but everyone else always wants to go. I can't imagine recommending it for any reason other than the truffles. There are better cities to party in: see, Berlin, London, Madrid. Amsterdam is charming. It's full of channels and colorful houses and flower pots and interesting little shops and bars. You bike or walk around and feel connected to the city. On a warm and sunny day there are few cities in Europe that can compare to it. At night it's safe. There's a quality to the city that's more than a sum of all the things you can do in it. London is impressive but overwhelming and forbidding, like a star destroyer. Madrid is fun but has some of that royal exaggeration too - Prado, Escorial, huge avenues and over-sized fountains. And the heat will kill you in summer. Berlin is fun but it's ugly. Also, none of these cities have red light districts and coffee shops.
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Jun 1, 2015 09:12
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This is my first time traveling through the newer T4 terminal in Madrid and I'm surprised how poorly (or maybe well?) thought out it is. It seems that most flights (in HJK at least) don't receive gate numbers until about 25 min before boarding, so you're stuck in the perfumed purgatory of the central duty free mall with no cafes or restaurants in sight until you get assigned a gate, which could be a 7 min walk in either direction. Once you know your gate you eventually walk past some cafes with sparse offerings of cold sandwiches. The architecture is nice though.
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Jun 1, 2015 09:59
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marmot25 posted:This is my first time traveling through the newer T4 terminal in Madrid and I'm surprised how poorly (or maybe well?) thought out it is. It seems that most flights (in HJK at least) don't receive gate numbers until about 25 min before boarding, so you're stuck in the perfumed purgatory of the central duty free mall with no cafes or restaurants in sight until you get assigned a gate, which could be a 7 min walk in either direction. Once you know your gate you eventually walk past some cafes with sparse offerings of cold sandwiches. The architecture is nice though. My favorite part of that system has got to be flights heading to the 'States. They assign a gate at one end of the terminal, but because the US has these "extra security (theatre) methods," you get to go through a second screening at the other rear end-end of the terminal, and then are not allowed back out of that area unless you want to be screened a third+ time. There's like a Coke vending machine, a bunch of benches, and once I saw a woman with one of those moveable snack stands on that side of the gate, asleep on her feet. And that's it. First world problems, but gently caress that setup.
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Jun 1, 2015 12:58
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thehoodie posted:My girlfriend and I are going to be travelling Europe in a couple weeks, and are just finalizing our itinerary. One thing remains, at the end of our trip: I want to go to Greece, and she is a little afraid because her dad read an article in which British tourists complained that refugees ruined their trip, and now she worries that the streets will be riddled with them, and they will steal our money and/or kidnap us. Ridiculous, I know. You won't be able to tell the Greek homeless from the refugees, who anyway are usually pent up in little concentration camps in parts of the country you wouldn't go to anyway. Maybe the problem is worse for the islands that are right next to Turkey, but anywhere farther away, like Crete, you won't see any (or I didn't, although I last went before Syria turn into an enormous oil fire).
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Jun 1, 2015 13:31
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My uncle is a German (!) working in Crete and he never got mugged or anything like it. The people on the Greek isles are extraordinarily polite and hospitable.
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Jun 1, 2015 13:47
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marmot25 posted:This is my first time traveling through the newer T4 terminal in Madrid and I'm surprised how poorly (or maybe well?) thought out it is. It seems that most flights (in HJK at least) don't receive gate numbers until about 25 min before boarding, so you're stuck in the perfumed purgatory of the central duty free mall with no cafes or restaurants in sight until you get assigned a gate, which could be a 7 min walk in either direction. Once you know your gate you eventually walk past some cafes with sparse offerings of cold sandwiches. The architecture is nice though.
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Jun 1, 2015 16:07
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Went through Madrid T4 just this morning. I quite like it, I find it very efficient, and I wanted to do duty-free shopping anyway. The lounge is not half so nice as Heathrow, where I am currently relaxing with yet more Spanish wine. Business class is the loving tits, in case anyone is wondering. I literally found it impossible to not have a poo poo-eating grin on my face going through Fast Track at Heathrow. The left-luggage service here in the lounge is nice, too, and I've never seen that offered elsewhere. If I were arriving instead of departing, I might use the showers too. Air Canada and their lounges loving suck in comparison. PT6A fucked around with this message at 17:10 on Jun 1, 2015 |
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Jun 1, 2015 16:51
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sweek0 posted:Many terminals work like this exactly because they want to keep you in the shopping area. Sometimes it's due to lack of space at the gates (or platforms, some train stations operate this way, too), sometimes to allow them flexibility when it's busy, but generally it's to get you to spend more money in the shops and restaurants. Be aware that with airports that use this system (all the London ones for example) there's generally barely anything once you do get to the gate. Yeah, lately I've noticed that all the newer airport terminals make it impossible to get to your gate without going literally through the duty free store, constantly being badgered by people trying to get you to buy their poo poo when all you want to do is get to your gate/the lounge/somewhere to sit down/a restaurant/literally anywhere that isn't the duty free shop. Back in my day you got to choose if you wanted to go to the duty free store or not  
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Jun 1, 2015 18:40
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PT6A posted:Don't know about UK or Denmark, but in Spain it's super-easy to get a pre-paid SIM (whatever size). It's 6€ for 500MB, plus maybe 5€ for the SIM card or something, which includes a whole bunch of minutes. I bought mine from Orange because they had a kiosk right at the entrance to the metro station at the airport, and I haven't had any problems with them. The only thing is that you need a passport. Also, I'm going to have to buy a new one when I return with a new phone, because the passport I used to get this one is expired -- either that, or pre-paid numbers can't be transferred between different SIM cards in any circumstance. I'm not entirely sure. Not a big deal, though. hmm, cool thanks for the info. I was hoping there would be some sort of partnership between a few companies to at least get some sort of option for a one time buy. Is there any companies that come close to offering a sort of decent roaming? Willing to pay a bit extra to just do it once since my whole trip is under 3 weeks. Wouldn't mind buy several GB worth of data in one go even if it burned off faster roaming in another country, if that makes sense.
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Jun 2, 2015 00:20
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