Share Sounds related to Travel & Holidays

After a great deal of fuss about air bridges and people being able to go on summer holiday, things suddenly changed last weekend. A swift about turn saw a 14 day quarantine period imposed for those arriving in the UK from Spain at just six hours’ notice, hitting tens of thousands of holidaymakers who are there already, those with trips booked and leaving Britons hoping for some Spanish sunshine stuck in travel limbo… again. So is this the end of summer holidays for 2020? Are holidays to Spain off the cards for some time, and can you go to France, Italy, Greece or anywhere else safe in the knowledge you can come home and not have to take an extra fortnight off work? On this week’s podcast Georgie Frost – in Spain and facing a 14 day quarantine if she can get back – is joined by Simon Lambert and Grace Gausden to talk holidays, travel insurance, refunds, air bridges and whether even a staycation is safe. Plus, as savings rates take another tumble should you lock your money away for five years at 1.1 per cent just to protect against further falls? And finally, is buy-to-let back? A stamp duty cut, low rates and a weaker property market has got property investors interested again but are they saving money now just to lose it in future?

Adam Cox talks to comedian James Mullinger, who left the UK for a new life in Canada. While James had moderate success in the London comedy scene, his career exploded when he made the move to Canada. James discusses why Canada isn’t the land of snow and ice that most people assume it is and that, due to its size, it’s actually much more varied than most Brits would know. He reveals how his unique perspective on Canada as an outsider helped his comedy career, and explains why Canada makes such a great place for a holiday.

The mortgage price war claimed a high profile victim this week as Tesco Bank scrapped lending. Tesco Bank will continue with its other products, but why has it ditched mortgages, why have a string of other smaller players shut their doors in recent months, and why did building society behemoth Nationwide issue its own caution on home loans this week? On this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Sarah Davidson and Georgie Frost dive into what is currently a weird world of mortgages: where a greater supply of money to lend than demand to borrow it means there are some very cheap deals on offer. Also on this week’s show, the team look at a reader’s problem with a neighbour upstairs, who has stripped the floor back to floorboards and is creating noise issues, despite a lease that says there must be carpets. How do you enforce that? Thomas Cook’s troubles and what they mean for holidaymakers are under the spotlight too. And finally, ever wondered why sometimes drivers get a ticket but at others escape with just a warning, or what really drives police officers mad behind the wheel?

Inheritance tax is a conundrum. Just 5 per cent of estates currently incur it but it’s been voted Britain’s most unfair major tax. Even with the number of people hit by it expected to double, it seems we just don’t like the concept. It’s no wonder then that the Chancellor commissioned a report into it from the Office of Tax Simplification, but no one forecast that to be as damning about the system as it was. It’s complicated, more than ten times as many bereaved families have to fill in forms as pay it, and it turns out the very rich pay proportionally less than those directly below them. Does that make inheritance tax ripe for a change and how could it be adjusted? Simon Lambert and Georgie Frost discuss that on this week’s podcast. Also, on the show they discuss why tenants are still waiting for a fees ban, whether the latest move to curb private parking tickets goes far enough and the least reliable cars you can buy second hand. And finally, we’ve all heard the one about how airlines might use your browsing history to hike flight costs, but have you heard about error fares that can get you somewhere for a fraction of the normal price? And more to the point are both these true. We bust five flight booking myths.

Child benefit and state pension - It’s not the most obvious link. But if you are a parent who is looking after a child instead of working, you need to register for child benefit in order to build up your entitlement in retirement age. Austerity swept away the universal child benefit and those households where one parent earns more than £50,000 have to start giving it back until it is removed altogether above £60,000. Unsurprisingly, many who fall into this bracket simply opt not to take it and see no point in registering. Unfortunately, mums and dads who stopped work to look after children are now finding they’ve missed building up their state pension. It should be easy to fix, but HMRC and the government have been stalling parents affected. That’s why This is Money has started a campaign to get this mess fixed, before it gets any worse. On this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost discuss how this all happened and why it matters to not just those affected. And finally, can you really have a weekend away in Europe, flights and a decent hotel for £57? Yes you can, thanks to a very clever new website we tracked down.

It's time to check-in with our friends over at Money Saving Expert. This week Georgie was joined by personal finance writer Sam Mc Faul. With the Easter holidays coming up they look at how to make sure booking your holiday runs smoothly as well as what to do if you've been affected by Virgin Money's recent glitch. Plus all the latest deals the team have come across this week.

Every year Travel Technology Europe comes to London's Kensington Olympia to showcase some of the leading companies and new start ups in the travel industry. With technology playing an increasingly vital role in how we plan and organise trips the show is an ideal place to see some of the suppliers leading this change. Our reporter Tom Hill visited the show to meet some of the 260 exhibitors helping shape the travel industry.

This is Share Radio's weekly travel show - The Share Radio Travel Guide. Share Radio's Simon Rose was joined by travel journalist and author Sarah Tucker. They looked at how technology is shaping the travel industry, the risks passengers should be aware of when putting carry-on luggage into a plane's hold, and discussed why complaints about holidays and flights have hit record levels. Plus, Haitham Mattar, the CEO and Head of Tourism of the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority talked about how the emirate plans to boost tourism through sustainable development.

A tax break given to Boeing to develop a new airliner has been ruled a banned subsidy by the World Trade Organisation. The decision saw both Boeing and European rival Airbus claiming a victory in the long-running battle between the plane-makers. The WTO said Washington State gave the plane-maker a prohibited subsidy by halving the tax rate in an inducement to develop the company’s 777X airliner there. For more, Howard Wheeldon, of Wheeldon Strategic, joined Share Radio Breakfast to discuss.

There was a slide in pre-tax profits from EasyJet yesterday. Airlines are concerned the triggering of Article 50, the mechanism which formally starts Brexit negotiations with Brussels, could put the Open Skies agreement at risk. Carriers such as Ryanair and IAG, the owner of British Airrways, have urged the UK government to preserve the agreement, or otherwise, risk hurting UK airlines. Share Radio's Matt Cox heard from Aviation Industry Commentator Julian Bray to find out more about Open Skies and why there is so much concern.