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Holidays Birmingham

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Swimming Safety tips

Whether at home or abroad, follow these basic tips for keeping safe:

• Never swim alone or under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and never dive head-first into an unfamiliar body of water.
• Check local information for details of tides, currents and pollution.
• Bilharzia, a parasitic infection of the bowel or bladder, may be contracted by contact with infested fresh water in the tropics.
• In certain areas, fatal primary amoebic meningoencephalitis has occurred following swimming in warm dirty water.
• Salt water is generally safer than fresh water for swimming in developing countries. However, only pools that contain properly chlorinated water can be considered safe from infectious diseases.
• When swimming in the sea, check out the possible existence of jellyfish, sea urchins, coral, sea snakes, sharks and venomous fish. Human sewage and animal faeces make some beaches no-go areas for swimming or even wading.

Holidays Birmingham

50 ways to save on your holidays

Richard Browning

SCHOOLS are clamping down on parents who take their children on holiday during term time. At best, to get permission for even one extra day off at either end of a holiday requires a degree of form filling and letter writing that wouldn't be out of place in a Soviet police station. Even then, the final decision rests on the whim of the chairman of governors.

While the difference a day makes to a child's education is unquantifiable, it can add thousands of pounds to the price of a family holiday. But with this option of saving money virtually outlawed, how do you stick within the rules without breaking the bank?

Here are some examples from the article on how to save money on your holiday. Visit "Holiday Money" to read the holiday article in full.

4. Travel on the ferry at unsociable times
After years of outrageously high fares, the cross-Channel ferry operators have woken up to the fact that people aren't prepared to pay up to £600 to cross a stretch of water so short you can see the other side from our shores - especially as you can fly to Spain for a few quid. As a result, fares have plunged and if you can travel at night, it's even cheaper.

5. Stay at home
A change is good as a rest so why not move into the spare room or swap rooms with your kids for a week or two. It's free and can be great fun – especially if you can agree to swap roles so the children do all the cooking.

6. Share the cost
A holiday home that sleeps 12 people isn't usually six times more expensive than one that sleeps two. So if you can bear to share with friends or family you could save a packet.

Holidays Birmingham

27. Find a low-cost insurance policy online
Your travel agent - online or High Street - will try to flog you insurance. Just say no. Go online or talk to a broker and you'll find single-trip European policies for less than £10 per person. If you're going away more than once in the year, consider an annual policy. Just make sure you understand what you need and read the small print. Tip: single-trip policies cover you for cancellation as soon as you take out the policy even if your travel dates are months ahead. This is not the case for annual policies, which start from the day you take out the policy, not the date of your first trip.

28. Shop around for your European breakdown cover
We've all heard of the AA and RAC but it's only insurance and any number of companies offer the same type of policies for significantly less money.

29. The packed lunch trick
If you're flying no-frills, you can pay several pounds for an in-flight sandwich and drink or you can take your own. With some of these low-cost deals, the cost of your food can be more expensive than the cost of your flights. There's a principle at stake here more than just a free lunch.

30. Take the coach
According to a This is Money survey, petrol will have to reach £10 a litre before we start leaving our cars at home in any great numbers. Until then public transport is always going to find it hard to compete. But coaches are pretty luxurious these days and at the time of writing, megabus.com is offering intercity fares throughout the UK from 50p, with £1 fares available during the Christmas holidays.

Holidays Birmingham

More holiday resources coming soon

Holidays Birmingham

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