First time holiday abroad!!!

[spongebobsgirl]

yay!!! im so excited as me+my b/f have booked a holiday to spain for a week at the end of august!! ive never been abroad b4, and ive always wanted to go, and we know its going to be great bcos he went to the same place with the same company last year+he loved it!!
what im wondering is does anyone here have any tips or words of wisdom for me, as ive never travelled abroad before?? what are the rules about bringing things back into this country (i.e. cheap fags+booze as pressies)?? can you bring it back, and how much??? also, how much are you allowed to take with you - is there a weight limit on your suitcase??
sorry for the daft questions, but i wana be well informed b4 i go!
YAY im sooo excited :D :D :D :) :) :)
thankig u all in advance :)

[Bri-namite]

I hope you aint gonna let him pay for everything :p

[PartyAnimal1245]

Enjoy! :D Oh, and post piccies. :)

[Wyetry]

Ohhh I am so excited for you.

First Booze and Fags - as your traveling within the EU you can bring back as much as you like as long as its for personal consumption, if you bring back loads then people might thing your going to sell it. However there may well be a limit to the ammount you can buy within the airport duty free.

Secondly luggage - this depends on your airline, so you need to check on your tickets or in the small print at the back of the brochure. For most schedualed flights this is normally about 25KG per person plus an extra 5KG in hand luggage (one rucksack sized bag), however for most charter flights this goes down to 15 KG plus hand luggage. If your worried your going to be carrying too much then weigh your bags before you get there as you will be charged a fee for each KG your over, however if the two of you check in at the same time your allowances will be added together so you will have 50KG or 30KG between the two of you. You can also save on weight by buying shampoo and stuff after check in.

My most valuable piece of advice however is to make sure that you pack a spare change of clothes in your hand luggage (at the very minimum clean underwear) because if your bag goes missing you won't have anything clean to wear until it shows up. Or if your good at capsual packing put all your clothes in your hand luggage - I can pack enough clothes for a week of hot weather into 5KG but its a bit of a strain.

Oh and as a girl you get to take a hand bag in addition to your cabin baggage as well.

[spongebobsgirl]

Originally posted by Bri-namite
I hope you aint gonna let him pay for everything :p

nope, we'vw both got a few months to save up spending money yet+we're both paying our own way, although knowing him he'll want to pay for some stuff. we're going all inclusive though, so free food+drink for me!!! :)


Originally posted by BritJames
Check with the airline you are flying with the weight limit of your luggage.

You can pretty much bring back what you want nowadays through Europe - But again, check on the walls of the airports as they'll mention it.

Take some suntan lotion, a hat, flip flops and a bottle opener

Have fun and don't stress about anything ......Oh, and take Euros

yeah, we'll get euros at the post office before we go. already got me some flip flops+gonna get sun-tan cream, or il end up looking like a lobster, lol. when i pay for the holiday tomo (i dont get paid til 12pm 2nite, but ive rung up+got a quote+a reference number, etc) il ask about that - thank you
:)

[Doofay]

THIS SHOULD BE IN TRAVEL!
:p just kidding.

Fags - if it's outside the EU, the limit is 200. Seeing as you'll be going to Spain, you can bring back pretty much as many as you like within reason - so long as you could prove that they were for personal consumption then you're alright - say 100,000 fags won't really pass as personal consumption :p but about 1000 or something would be fine, my sister brought 2000 back last time i think.

[Wyetry]

Ohh I also forgot to say that you can get money out of a cash point just like you do at home, if you have a cirrus card or a visa (debit rather than credit) one and it will come straight out of your bank account - the exchage rate is the normal bank rate for that day so its normally quite good but they charge you about £1 a withdrawal so its best to take out large chunks rather than lots of little ones.

[melanie]

hiya. hope u have a good time.

as everyone else has said you can bring back an unlimited ammount of cigs for personal use but u cant buy them in the airport or on the plane. i made that mistake last year. looked about everywere to find the cheapest which were on the plane just to find i couldnt buy them cos i was traverling in the eu

[Tweety]

I bet you are well excited, i know i was when i first went abroad. Been twice now & was lovely :).

[Joolyknockers]

Originally posted by Mel-H
hiya. hope u have a good time.

as everyone else has said you can bring back an unlimited ammount of cigs for personal use but u cant buy them in the airport or on the plane. i made that mistake last year. looked about everywere to find the cheapest which were on the plane just to find i couldnt buy them cos i was traverling in the eu

That happened to me the first time I went abroad!! I was gutted!! Make sure you buy your fags and booze before you go through to departures on the way home. When I was in Rome airport, I was allowed to buy 1 and a half litres of spirits but no fags. I could have cried as I had saved loads of my euros back for them!

[Docter Lurve]

Just watxh out for floods of random blokes hitting on you, bf or not, With all the cheesy chat up lines and bluffs you'll ever come across-
Also watch your drinks and personals- enjoy ans good luck

[rachie004]

Tax free allowances:

3200 cigarettes
400 cigarillos
200 cigars
3 kg of smoking tobacco
110 litres of beer
10 litres of spirits
90 litres of wine
20 lites of fortified wine (i.e. port/sherry)

Because you're travelling in the EU you still have to pay the duty on them, but it's at a slightly reduced cost because it's tax free.. Duty free goods can only be bought when travelling from to/from outside the EU

In my handbook it says that when travelling in Spain if your moving large quantities of duty paid cigarettes (between 800-1200) then you need to produce a receipt from a legitimate retailer but if you want to carry larger quantities (in excess of 1200) you need to produce a form known as 'Documento de Acompanamiento'. I'll need to check that because it's confused me slightly, so I'll ask someone in the know tomorrow...

but I suggest you check out here (http://www.ukinspain.com) and here (http://www.fco.gov.uk) which it lists as a reference!

edited to add: I just looked at those sites and neither are very good.. I'll fnd out tomorrow!!!

[Sgt Hicks]

fetch me some cigs n booze back!


hicks

[FLX]

I don't know... but it's just over the channel... not off to another planet, so if you don't plan on buying a lifetime supply of soft drugs it totally won't be any trouble!

we got cash-, coke- & snack-machines, McDonalds, Subways, Burger King, Payphones, etc.

so apart from driving on the (definately) right side of the road, the better weather & food it's just like in the UK! ;)

don't worry & enjoy your trip! :)

[Kermit]

If you buy your cigs and booze in the EU, then, so long as it is for your own personal use, you are entitled to purchase as much as you want and transport as much as you want around.

In practise UK Customs and Excise have limits to what they deem "personal use", but these limits are illegal and have been proved illegal in the UK courts.

If you are travelling in the EU, however, then there is no such thing as "tax free" shopping, because you have to pay tax and duty unless you are arriving or travelling outside the EU. That is why tax-free shopping on ferries was abolished.

[Carolina]

Originally posted by Joolyknockers
That happened to me the first time I went abroad!! I was gutted!! Make sure you buy your fags and booze before you go through to departures on the way home. When I was in Rome airport, I was allowed to buy 1 and a half litres of spirits but no fags. I could have cried as I had saved loads of my euros back for them!

That confuses me. When i came back from Amsterdam i brought 2200 fags back with me. Although no one bats an eyelid nowadays really since the new customs laws came in.

If it's first hols bobs girl then you'll have a ball. I loved my first hol away. Just a word of advice. The spanish don't do optics on any spirits so just watch your first night. You literally get half a glass of voddie and a little bit of coke. I made the mistake of that on my first hol. Oh deary i was poorly. :D

[Captain Slog]

I'm going to Benidorm next week with 3 freinds. This is my first time abroad too. Yay! Pity we're not travelling outside the EU, then we might be able to avoid Euro 2004!