Simon Calder

The Travel Expert podcast 1730 weekends news/advice here

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

Passport validity for the EU (plus Switzerland, Iceland & Norway, but not Ireland)
A UK passport must meet two conditions:
On day of entry to the EU, issued less than 10 years ago. On intended day of exit from EU, at least 3 months left before expiry date.
https://t.co/jCaEdR8Z5j

[The Telegraph @Telegraph]

‘I think it is a pretty strong contender for worst airport in Europe’

In this week’s episode of The Travel Expert, @SimonCalder and @Greg_Dickinson advise listeners on the terminal name changes at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport that will take place from the 16 March 2027

Listen to this week’s episode of The Travel Expert 👇
https://t.co/8pzG54Dgmy

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

@CathJudah @tweetsbyjp @easyJet It's a Manchester-based plane so there will be no effect. Regrettable that easyJet couldn't tell you that.
Matera is indeed wonderful. Have a great trip.

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

@telthegooner Hmm. This is unusual. Do email [email protected] with more details.
Best wishes
Simon

[The Telegraph @Telegraph]

Is this the end of the passport?

In this week’s episode of The Travel Expert, @SimonCalder and @Greg_Dickinson discuss the new facial verification system being trialled at East Midlands and Birmingham airports

Listen to this week’s episode of The Travel Expert 👇
https://t.co/8pzG54Dgmy

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

Latest edition of The Travel Expert just out.
@Greg_Dickinson and I discuss:
Fresh round of rail strikes plus Christmas line closures.
Flydubai 1073: how could aviation security change after the near-disaster?
Plus Germany's weird offshore isle, Heligoland
https://t.co/GQ2WbYHsHK

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

Chiltern Railways: RMT members to strike on successive Saturdays, 10 and 17 Oct.
Rail union says staffing plans for the yet-to-start East West Rail pose “a significant risk to safety”.
Chiltern says each train between Oxford and Milton Keys will have a second crew member on board

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

The new episode of The Travel Expert, with @Greg_Dickinson and me, is out.
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary says air fares in Europe are "far too cheap".
For winter sun, which is best: the Indian Ocean or the Caribbean?
And how robots park your car at Gatwick.
https://t.co/GQ2WbYHsHK

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

Rail chaos.
Great Western lines from Bristol, Bath, Swansea, Cardiff, Swindon – closed due to gas leak.
Disruption will continue for the rest of the day.
GWR urges passengers not to travel. "Tickets for today may be used to travel tomorrow at no extra cost or claim a full refund"

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

New The Travel Expert podcast with @Greg_Dickinson features the brilliant Sir Michael Palin on overtourism:
“I take full blame. I make travel programmes. You can’t say only certain people should travel. You want everybody to go if they can”
And much more.
https://t.co/GQ2WbYGUSc

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

West Coast Main Line.
Network Rail emergency engineering work to remove a dangerous bridge will close the railway between London Euston and Watford until 4pm on Sunday 20 Sept.
Links between the capital, the West Midlands, northwest England and Scotland will be heavily disrupted.

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

Singles:
I heard it through the Grapevine
Tracks of my tears
Dancing in the street
Ain't got no - I got life
Israelites
Wichita Lineman
My Way
Proud Mary/Bad Moon Rising
Space Oddity
Sweet Caroline
In the ghetto/Suspicious minds
Time of the Season
A boy named Sue
Time is tight

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

You are on a one-month voyage as a passenger aboard a cargo ship. You can listen to music from just one year.
Which year, and why?

No contest: 1969.

Abbey Road/Beatles
Tommy/Who
Let it bleed/Stones
Crosby, Stills & Nash
Five Leaves Left/Nick Drake
Led Zeppelin II

And much more

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

Other great albums include:

My Cherie Amour/Stevie Wonder
Dusty [Springfield] In Memphis
Tons of Sobs/Free
Ummagumma/Pink Floyd
Love Chronicles/Al Stewart

And, from Fairport Convention, not one but *three* classics : What we did on our holidays, Liege & Lief and Unhalfbricking

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

I’m averaging 3km/h, compared with daughter Poppy who went about 5 x faster.

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

Congratulations to everyone who completed the Great North Run yesterday – including while carrying a scale model of the Tyne Bridge.
I’m currently on a Great North Walk through Asturias.

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

The most compelling radio interview of the year: the amazing @GinaWag talking with searing honesty about growing up with a stammer in the 1990s, and how pop legend Scatman John saved her life.
Listen to Outlook on @bbcworldservice
https://t.co/NIgOHuZ8LC

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

Latest edition of The Travel Expert podcast, with @Greg_Dickinson and me, now out.
We discuss the fallout from another meltdown of the air traffic control system, hitting 300,000-plus, and passengers' rights.
And how the tragedy of 9/11 changed air travel.
https://t.co/GQ2WbYGUSc

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

11 September 2001.
By the end of that terrible day, nearly 3,000 innocent lives were lost.
Passengers, crew, emergency responders, office workers: all had set out that morning with only good intentions.
25 years on, they are mourned by their families, friends and the wider world.

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

@Tigersimon1967 Under air passengers’ rights rules, travellers whose flights are cancelled are entitled to be flown to their destination as soon as possible on any airline, and to be provided with meals and hotels until they get there. No limit other than costs must be reasonable, and no alcohol

[Simon Calder @SimonCalder]

Miami airport is closed after an Amazon Prime Air cargo plane overshot the runway.
Inbound flights from London diverted: British Airways and Virgin Atlantic to Orlando, American Airlines to Charlotte.
BA has cancelled this evening's flight from Miami; Virgin hopes to fly out late