“According to information provided by Eurocontrol about the evolution of the volcanic ash cloud, all airports in the Aena network are open. Valencia airport, which has been closed during the early morning, is operational from 8:00 p.m.

Also, you can get more information calling the Aena’s telephone support numbers:

902 404 704

(+34) 91 321 10 00

For more information about Alicante please visit our homepage.

The following airports are affected :-

Barcelona, Girona, Sabadell, Bilbao, San Sebastian, Vitoria, Zaragoza, Huesca, Pamplona,   Logrono, Santiago, La Coruna, Vigo, Asturias, Santander, Leon, Valladolid, Burgos and Salamanca.

Check with your airlines if you use any of these airports.

Also please check flights into Alicante and Madrid from Gatwick as these may also be impacted.

Check here to see current arrivals and departures from Alicante Airport

Initially I thought ‘big deal £10 is hardly an offer’ but I thought I would look into it and see what ‘bargains’ they are offering.

Firstly I have looked at the October half term from the 24th to 31st October for 2 adults and 2 children (under 12). By ticking the box ‘I am flexible with these dates’ you get to see the prices of the flights on other days. Disappointly the fares are quite high over the half term period but really no surprise there.

I received the following quote for flying Sat 24th Oct returning Sat 31st oct.

I then moved the outgoing flight to a day early on the Friday 24th October and the return flight to Friday 30th October

Do you remember the days when you would amble to the beach with your bucket and spade and the highlight of your day was building a very simple sandcastle? And you felt pure joy if your sandcastle stayed up and didn’t crumble? I remember my father getting very creative one year and buiding a speedboat in the sand, which naturally we were all very excited about and thought he was marvellously creative but looking back on it it was two holes dug in the sand with the bucket as a steerring wheel! Not so impressive when compared to the photos I have for you in the video below…..

Building sandcastles these days seems to have got a little bit more extreme and such that even the most competitive of dads can’t compete with these ones!

When you visit the Costa Blanca coast and Alicante and Benidorm in particular you will see some stunning ’sandcastles’ or ’sand sculptures’ built by talented artists. These amaze me and I have put together a little tribute to them in the video below.

Enjoy!

If you would like further information about visiting Alicante please see our main site www.discover-alicante.com

There is an opportunity to get up to 40% off any flights that you book.

If your child isn’t returning to school until the 7th September (and there are a few) then you might be able to get a cheap flight into Alicante and have a last minute holiday in the first week of September.

Or you may be looking to book a cheap flight to Alicante over the October half term. Well now is your chance to grab a flight at a 40% discount.

So if you are lucky enough to be able to travel from one of the following airports

• Birmingham
• Cardiff
• East Midlands
• Manchester

Then it might be worthwhile looking into whether you can grab a bargain flight to Alicante.

Terms and conditions are available on the bmibaby website but a summary of them are below;

• Fares may rise throughout the promotional period.
• For travel from 1st September until 16th December 2009
• Bookings made using a debit card are subject to a processing fee of £2.75 per passenger per one way flight.
• Bookings made using a credit card are subject to a processing fee of £3.75 per passenger per one way flight.
• There is no charge for payments made using a Visa Electron card.
• fares are subject to availability
• limited availability during school holidays
• no refunds permitted
• conditions apply

I hope you manage to grab a bargain!

Firstly I will start with the Flybe offer. They have today released 7 million seats that are discounted. These seats are priced from £21.99 one-way including taxes.

I understood that as part of the offer you were to also receive a £40 voucher to use towards a case of wine from Virgin wines if you book your flight before July 23rd.

But it seems that if you visit flybe.com and click on their advert promoting this offer that it takes you straight through to Virgin Wines. Virgin Wines then credit you with the £40 voucher and you don’t even have to buy the flight!

This voucher can only be used against a case of 12 bottles with a minimum basket value of £79.99 (ex p&p) and it needs to be used by November 2009.

So if you go ahead you can actually get 12 bottles of wine for about £3.50 per bottle.

Seems a good deal to me, I am on my way to order my 12 bottles of wine right now

The information for Virgin Wines voucher is as follows
CODE: FLYBE40WB
PASSWORD: WINEBANK

If you do find a cheap flight via flybe then be aware that

• There may be a 21-day advance purchase necessary on some routes.
• Travel before October 31.
• Book via Flybe’s website (www.flybe.com) so you don’t incur the telephone-booking charge.
• Be aware of the booking fees: debit cards - £1.50 with a minimum charge of £2 per transaction except if paying by Electron, credit cards - £2 on all bookings with a minimum charge of £3.50 per transaction.

The following guest complaints have been released by a well known holiday company. Sometimes it seems you just can’t keep anyone happy………

“I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts.”

“It’s lazy of the local shopkeepers to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during ’siesta’ time - this should be banned.”

“On my holiday to Goa in India , I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don’t like spicy food at all.”

“We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels.”

A tourist at a top African game lodge overlooking a waterhole, who spotted a visibly aroused elephant, complained that the sight of this rampant beast ruined his honeymoon by making him feel “inadequate”.

A woman threatened to call police after claiming that she’d been locked in by staff. When in fact, she had mistaken the “do not disturb” sign on the back of the door as a warning to remain in the room.

“The beach was too sandy.”

“We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was white.”

A guest at a Novotel in Australia complained his soup was too thick and strong. He was inadvertently slurping the gravy at the time.

“Topless sunbathing on the beach should be banned. The holiday was ruined as my husband spent all day looking at other women.”

“We bought ‘Ray-Ban’ sunglasses for five Euros (£3.50) from a street trader, only to find out they were fake.”

“No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled.”

“It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England it only took the Americans three hours to get home.”

“I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends’ three-bedroom apartment and ours was significantly smaller.”

“The brochure stated: ‘No hairdressers at the accommodation’. We’re trainee hairdressers - will we be OK staying here?”

“There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners.”

“We had to queue outside with no air conditioning.”

“It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel.”

“I was bitten by a mosquito - no-one said they could bite.”

“My fiancé and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked.”

……. very funny!