Hey there again from sunny South East Asia.

This time we're writing from Palawan, one of the southernmost island groups in the Philippines.

It was a massive effort to get here, and then we got stuck on a smaller island (Coron) for a few days due to rough seas.

We were safe and comfortable, but the whole debacle reinforced several lessons learned over the years

1. Stay flexible. (Seriously...!)
2. Never schedule risky transport options leading into non-negotiable dates.
3. Most people (including officials) will help if you remain kind and pleasant.
4. The Universe often sends messages about the best course of action; you just need to listen.

Anyway. We could have been stuck in far worse places. What do you think?

We've since moved on to the main island in Palawan, explored the tropical paradise of El Nido, and are now chilling in the lovely backpacker haunt of Port Barton.

The air in Palawan is clean, the weather pleasant, and the sky and water are a piercing blue/green; which makes a nice change from the grey skies of Hanoi.

The surrounding islands, beaches, and coral reefs are quite stunning, and if you're fit and able, there are loads to do and see.

And, it's relatively cheap compared to Western beach destinations. (Although pricier than Vietnam.)

It's no wonder it's become so popular with the backpacker brigade, average tourists, and luxury lovers alike.

In fact, so popular we've got a classic case of -

And that's for many reasons, which I'll discuss in a moment.

As per previous emails, this one turned out longer than expected.

Tim tells me I rabbit on too long.

But some of you have told us you love the format and stories.

So what's a girl to do?

Solution:

I've included a summary at the start of the longer sections and then inserted the whole story.

I'll let you decide what you want to read, and I promise I won't be offended if you skip on down the page...

In This Month's Issue:

Just a heads up, because the newsletter is so long, the last few links in the menu may not work if your email is truncated and the sections get cut off. All you need to do is hit the "View the whole message" (usually at the bottom) or "View in browser" (usually at the top) or similar to get the last few sections.

​How we got stuck in paradise and the signs we should have heeded.

​Handy Hints for the Philippines - SO FAR!​

​Cool new apps and tools we've discovered in the last month.​

​How non-Europeans can stay in the Schengen Zone longer than 90/180​

​New Content You May Have Missed​

​Content in the Pipeline​

​How Our Travel Plans Are Shaping Up​

​Running Total - WayAway Cashbacks (Aug 23 -Feb 24)​

​Travel Deals From Our Partners​

​Travel Competitions​

How we got stuck in Paradise...

And the signs we should have heeded! 🤦

Well, I guess this is a tale in three parts...

1. All the barriers that got in our way to get here
2. What happened to strand us on Coron Island
3. What we could have done differently

SUMMARY:

• We need a long-stay Thai Visa
• There is only one ferry to Coron in Palawan per week
• It was touch and go to make the ferry because of the visa
• We made it by the skin of our teeth
• Rough weather stranded us on the island for three days.

​SKIP to the next section - Handy hints for the Philippines ...So Far!​

....or read on for the full story

Let's start at the beginning...

🚨🚨🚨Warning…it’s a bit long and convoluted, so feel free to hit that skip link above if you want.

If you've been reading the newsletter for the past few months, you'll know we have a ten-week housesit coming up in Thailand starting in April.

That's way longer than the 30-day visa exemption on arrival allows us on our Aussie passports.

(Note: -If you're interested in reading old editions of the Travel Bug Times, you can access them on this page.)

Hence we have a couple of options:

• Get a 60-day tourist visa and find a friendly immigration officer to give us one ~ 2-week extension (allegedly easy), or
• Enter with the 30-day visa exemption and do one or more risky border runs. I say risky because they might refuse us reentry. It's also expensive and disruptive to our plans.

We couldn’t apply for the visa while in Vietnam because of the 3-month validity period and the TET holiday, which closed most government offices in mid-February. So Manila was our only real option.

(FYI: The validity governs the date by which you must enter a country and activate the visa. For example, if you get a visa with 3-month validity on the 1st of January, you must enter by the 30th of March. If you don't want to go until mid-April, you can't apply till mid-January. I have a blog post that explains Visa terminology and how to plan for them on a long trip HERE.)

The Thai website for the Manila consulate says they accept Visas on Mon-Wed-Friday between 10 and 12, which takes five working days to process. Pick up is between 2 -3 pm. So, if you submit the paperwork on Monday morning, you can pick up your visa and passport on Friday afternoon. (Spoiler Alert - it's WRONG!)

The visa requires a lot of documentation. I had MOST of it completed and printed, EXCEPT for tickets in and out of the country.

We are planning to enter by train from Malaysia and are unsure of our mode of departure because we've yet to confirm our next stop.

That makes it tricky (or really expensive) to book a confirmed ticket out. Train and bus tickets aren't released that far ahead, and we don't want to book flights we know we won't take.

So our tickets in and out were the only pieces of paperwork we didn’t have. I was hoping an explanation would suffice.

Silly me!

We arrived sleepless in Manila on a Monday morning flight, dropped our bags at the hotel, and went straight to the consulate.

All was in order EXCEPT we found out the tickets in and out are compulsory!!!!🙄

The good news was that they now accept applications on Tuesdays. If I could book the tickets, I could lodge the paperwork the next morning, and we would receive the visas on Friday afternoon at about 3.30 pm.

After much research, we felt the best option was to book our train tickets on the Thai Railways site and use an “onward tickets” platform for the exit tickets.

Basically they are a godsend if you have to show onward travel at an airport or to get a visa, but need more flexibility.

• For a fraction of the price of a real flight ticket, you can 'rent' one for a limited period.
• The platform buys a real, fully refundable ticket in your name, cancels it later at a specified time, and gets their money back.
• The longer you need the ticket to be valid, the more expensive it gets. Most people take 24 or 48 hours. But I paid for 7 days of validity because I didn't want the embassy checking them on Thursday and finding out they weren't 'real.'

I have always been wary of these sites, but the process was super smooth and straightforward. For $44 (rather than a minimum of $200), we 'bought' 2 tickets from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City, leaving before our 60-day visas expire.

I'll write up a proper case study at some stage, but in the meantime, you can find four options on our Flights Resource Page - Section 1 - Tickets Out/Onward Travel. I used Best Onward Ticket for the 7-day extension, but there are cheaper options if you want a shorter validity.

So...everything was submitted as required by Tuesday morning.

All good right?

Not really!

Our proposed route for this trip is Manila-Coron-ElNido-Puerta Princessa-Cebu/Bohol-Donsol (to swim with Whale Sharks)-Legaspi City-Manila, all by ferry or bus, if possible.

Now….

When I started planning, there appeared to be only one ferry to Coron from Manila, which leaves on Fridays.

It used to depart at 7 pm, and that's the time still advertised on several websites.

However, when I went to book tickets, I found that the ferry now leaves at 4 p.m., and check-in is between 12 noon and 1 pm!

Yikes!

The North Harbor ferry port is about an hour from the Thai Consulate in reasonable traffic. Picking up our passports at 3:30 pm would make it impossible for us to arrive in time. If we missed the ferry we would have to wait a week!!!

Manila is interesting, but not an 'extra week' interesting!

I looked at multiple alternatives:

1. We could take a ~13-hour bus ride to San Jose (on Mindoro) and try to catch the thrice-weekly ferry to Coron. Unfortunately, the ferry was temporarily suspended!!!!
2. We could fly to El Nido or Puerto Princessa and then do a return trip to Coron and back. But we hate backtracking, and flights were really expensive that close to the date. Note: They are quite cheap if you book a couple of weeks ahead, but we couldn't due to the unknowns of the Thai visa. (We later found out there were flights to Coron, but they were limited and expensive, too.)
3. We could reverse our trip completely. But, it’s a bit too early for Whale sharks in Donsol, AND we didn't want to have a once-a-week ferry as our last transport link before flying out to a housesit in Singapore. That's a bit risky, we think.😳
4. We could miss Coron - You saw the picture...We didn't want to do that.

I started to think the Universe was telling us something....but we ignored it.

Instead…

We decided to try all options to get on the ferry.

On Thursday, I went to the consulate, put on my best teary face, and explained our predicament.

After almost bringing the immigration officer to tears with my acting skills, he said we could have our passports back by 1.30 pm on Friday.

We decided it was worth the risk, but the only way we could do it (maybe) was for Tim to go to the terminal with all our luggage, the tickets, and copies of our passports.

We hoped he could check int and I could come later.

We had no joy booking the ferry online, so I walked across town and booked the tickets in person, dotting' i’s and crossing ‘t’s’ to ensure it was viable.

On Friday morning, Tim jumped in a car to the port, and I went to the consulate at 11 am on the off chance everything was ready early.

My new best friend saw me (with a seriously woeful look on my face) and said our visas weren’t complete yet.

But, because I was the only one there he chased them up for me, and I had them in my hot little hand by 11:40 am.

I could have kissed him!

I then spent 15 tense minutes trying to book a motorbike taxi to get me to the port. It had taken over an hour the afternoon before and it was now heading into the busy lunch break.

But, Lady Luck was with me. By 12:05, I was on board a scooter and fighting through the manic Manila traffic, arriving at the port just before 1 pm.

Luckily...because:

They wouldn’t let Tim check me in, so he had to wait near the gate until I arrived. I couldn’t even get into the passenger terminal without my physical ticket…. The picture on my phone was not acceptable.

We were a bit perplexed at having to check in so early, BUT it really does take A LOOONG time to get through all the security (including drug dogs) and get on the ferry.

The added surprise was the health check!!!

What????

Because Tim is over 60, they had to do a blood pressure check before he could board. They do it for all seniors, apparently.

It was a tense few moments. His is high at the best of times, let alone after 24 hours of stressing and then lugging all our bags around til I arrived.

Seriously Universe...what are you trying to tell us?

In the end, the clinician didn’t even look at the monitor and waved him through.

Hilariously, the guy at check-in gave him a flirtatious wink and told him he was 'very strong!'

Boarding was long but uneventful.

The trip was long and sleepless but comfortable, and we arrived on time in Coron.

We joined an amazing boat tour around the islands for my birthday and found a really good craft brew pub for Beer O'clock each day.

So it seemed things were back on track...

BUT nope.

Two days in, the wind kicked up, impacting ferry departures.

For one reason or another (down for maintenance, too windy...????), none of the three ferries to El Nido were running.

And flights got canceled or stupidly expensive, too.

The weather also made excursions out on the sea a lot less pleasant. I saw more than one tourist limping about with bandages all over. And we got told that activities like the snorkeling sites were not possible.

Anyway, we had time, so we chilled until we could finally get a ferry out three days late—the old one.

It was allegedly going to be 10 hours overnight on a deck full of bunk beds rather than 3 to 4 on a comfy fast ferry. Not a problem. We've done worse.

Unfortunately, that, too, was delayed by 9 hours, and instead of leaving at 10 pm, we got to sleep on deck overnight and we departed at 7 am the next morning!

We finally, got to El Nido about 4 pm the following day.

Hooray!

But...

(We might get struck down by lightning for saying this...)

We didn't actually like it that much.

While the surrounding area is beautiful, the town itself is crawling with tourists and all the drawbacks that come with that.

Seriously...my name's not 'Tuk-Tuk,' 'Bracelet,' or 'Boat Trip.'

That kind of thing is normally 'water off a duck's back' for us, but the 'tuk tuk mafia' is super annoying and sets the mood.

We were more than happy we stayed further south at Corong Corong Beach, which is a lot more chilled and laid-back, but still has plenty of bars and restaurants. (And much better sunset views!)

The boat excursions are at capacity, and there are A LOT of them. There's definitely no finding a secluded bay to yourself unless you hire a private boat.

In fact, we've heard they might shut down some parts of the area soon, as they did with Boracay a few years back, so they can regenerate the area. So definitely keep an eye on that if you intend to visit anytime soon.

You can get off by yourself (kind of) on a scooter. But the roads leading to the secluded beaches are rough, and Tim's back doesn't do so well in those conditions (He's on the back as I have the motorbike license.)

Waterfalls and viewpoints require more fitness, balance, and tenacity than either of us has at the moment.

That's why I said at the start that I wished we'd got here sooner—there would have been fewer people, less hassle, and our aging bodies would have coped better with rough stuff!

We had a chance in 2011 on our last trip to the Philippines. And then had plans to be here in early 2020.

But we all know how that ended up...Pandemic anyone?

Have you ever felt like that about a place?

We've had a few over the years, especially when we've returned after a long period.

Bali and Koh Phi Phi are two destinations we thoroughly enjoyed in the 90's but didn't like much when we returned 20+ years later.

Anyway. Port Barton is more our style. Very chill. Very much like our old backpacking days. And, just like then, it has almost no internet, except for a few savvy businesses that have installed Starlink. (Guess where I am right now. :)

Enough of my griping...

Lessons learned.

1. We should have just got the tickets in and out before going to the Thai Consulate on the Monday. Every time we try to buck the system, we get burned!
2. We should have looked at flights to Coron earlier. I was so fixated on the ferries that I didn't even realize they had an airport. (See Flight Connections in the new tools and apps section below.)
3. I should have confirmed the departure day and time of the ferry to El Nido before we planned the Thai Visa submission.

One of our favorite sayings is

I hope we can help others by sharing those lessons

Here are a few more...

Handy Hints for the Philippines so FAR!

After almost one month in the Palawan, here's what we've learned so far:

1 Cash is King!

Hardly any local shops, cafes, restaurants, guesthouses, or tour companies take credit/debit cards. AND, it's expensive to get cash from ATMs. The withdrawal limit is 10,000 PHP (~270 AUD/180 USD), and the local fee is 250 PHP (~7 AUD/4.50 USD). If your bank then adds a foreign withdrawal fee, you can add that on top.

If you have cash - Eg. USD, there are some money changers in the larger places and the rates seem OK. We don't. Up til now we haven't needed it.

SOLUTION: our Wise card/account allows us to:

• Withdraw ~350 AUD fee-free each per month. (After that, they charge 1.50 + 1.75%, slightly less than our Australian bank, which charges a minimum of 4 AUD or 3% (whichever is higher.)) Note WISE uses a far better exchange rate than our Aussie bank too!
• Do a bank transfer to Philippino bank accounts within an hour for a small fee (depends on the amount, but typically less than 1%). This has been a godsend for pay on arrival accommodation costs and tours. I could not do this easily or cheaply with our Australian accounts

2. Booking Accommodation

Walk-in rates are sometimes slightly cheaper than booking on accommodation platforms like Booking.com and Agoda.​

However, we've been able to pay for most of our guesthouses through the platform with a credit card, solving part of the aforementioned cash issue.

And, with the cashback we receive via our WayAway Plus membership, the difference is minimal.

Here's that 55% discount code for the membership again.

Also, with so many people about, the better-value accommodation with good reviews books up fast. So, if you just turn up, you'll probably be left with the less desirable options.

3. Discounts for Seniors

Tim's having mixed feelings about this one. He's received half-price on museum visits, had port fees waived, and has access to other discounts. But they've yet to ask for proof that he's over 60!!! So if you're of that age, it pays to ask for a discount...they can only say no.

34. Health Checks for Seniors

You may need a health check to board a ferry if you are over 60! Plan accordingly if you have high blood pressure or another obvious health condition. I'm not sure what they'll do if you "Fail!"

5. Finding Ferry Timetables is not as easy as it sounds.

​Silent Garden is the best site I've found so far for a comprehensive list of ferry companies to start our planning. But it's clunky and you still need to access the ferry company sites to check timings and book.

Booking tickets online with individual ferry companies is difficult as payment options can be tricky with foreign cards.

​Direct Ferries has a few routes, and booking seems straightforward. The prices I've checked are similar to those quoted on the ferry operator sites.

.But the best way is to book through your guesthouse or local travel agent. Not great for forward planning and requires cash or bank transfer - See Point 1 above.

BUT...it turns out it's actually way more convenient (and cheaper to fly) for anything other than local ferries.

Our trip from Puerto Princessa to Cebu would have taken several days, involved two or three ferries, and cost up to $150 USD or more. However, we got flights for less than $60 USD each and the flight took an hour.

6. The internet is really (really) bad in parts of Palawan

Hence why this newsletter is so late.

We researched beforehand, chose SMART as our provider, and picked up SIMS with loads of data at the airport.

But they haven't been much use if we're even a short distance from the main centers.

WiFi is also spotty. We hope things get better when we get to the Visayas later this week.

However, I just met a guy who downloaded an AIRALO eSIM, and he said it works great. (He's used them all over the world.) Unfortunately, our phones are so old they won't take an eSIM, but if yours does, consider that as an option.

Here's a Promo code: MAR15 to add at checkout. It will get you 15% off until March 31st, 2024. (I update these monthly on the Great Deals page on the website.)

Don't know what an eSIM is, and all the problems they can solve, head over here to find out.​

7. Visa Waiver Extensions

citizens of many nationalities get a 30-day visa waiver on arrival to the Philippines. If you want to stay any longer, you have four choices:

1. Extend at the airport on arrival. There is a desk at Manila International where you can do this. According to our friends over at Bridges on The Road, who did this recently it costs around 90 AUD. We were too focused on getting to the Thai consulate, so we chose to skip that process and sort it out later.
2. You can turn up to an immigration office in many locations around the country and extend in person.
3. You can do it online on this website. This was the option we chose. It's very straightforward, and you'll have the 29 extension within 48 hours. Just make sure you click the Visa Waiver option on the left-hand menu (Not Tourist visa extension, unless that's what you have.) You can do it at any time after you arrive and it adds the extension to your original exit date. And, you can pay with a credit card, solving some of the cash issues. It's about 83 AUD each for another 29 days.
4. Pay an overstay fine at the airport when you leave. I have no idea how much it would cost for an extra nine days, but we are not about to take the risk of getting blacklisted or being held up for our flight to Singapore.

I'm sure we'll learn a few more things before the end of the trip, but lets move on to some other neat discoveries.

Cool new apps and tools we've discovered in the last month.

​Flight Connections - this handy website is awesome for flight planning as it picks up ALL the airlines flying to a particular destination, including some that don't appear on flight consolidator platforms. That means you can go check out flights you ordinarily wouldn't think of, or maybe even see, or have access to.

For example, when searching for Bangkok to London, the system identified EVA Air (Taiwanese Airlines) as a nonstop flight. It turns out it's a codeshare, but it's still an interesting option.

But what I really like is the ability to add stops. So you might get the usual Nonstop flights from, say, Bangkok to London. Add in one or two stops, and your trip back to Europe suddenly gets more interesting with some stopovers in Bahrain, Ashgabat, and more.

Once I've got the options, I can go and compare prices through WayAway, Skyscanner and the airlines themselves. (See this blog for how I do that.)

A small monthly fee (2.99 USD) makes it even more useful, as you can add whole countries, filter on Airline Alliances, and access a full 12-month schedule plus more.

Have a play and tell me what you think.​

Next up, we have CheaperThere. This is a FREE Chrome Extension that purports to find the cheapest prices for flights and accommodation. I heard about it through one of our travel buddies (thanks, Laura), and it looks interesting.

I won’t have a chance to give it a good workout until we get to Singapore, as it’s a Website extension, and I’m currently doing all our bookings on my phone.

I tried several searches for flights and accommodation, and it told me I'd already found the best price with my current tools. YAY!! But it still warrants further investigation.

So if you have the time, check it out and let me know what you find.

We'd also love to know about any other cool tools you use to plan and book your trips. Please feel free to send them through so I can give them a workout and include them in future newsletters.

Next up, the perennial question...

Can non-Europeans stay in the Schengen Zone longer than 90/180?

Short answer - Maybe!

Determining how long you can legally stay in a country or region can often prove challenging if you're "slow travelers" like us. (That's why I wrote that long Visa Planning Blog a while back, which I'll update again soon)

The European Schengen Zone is one area that can pose some serious headaches if you're not careful. Stay too long, and you can get banned for five years or more.

Basically, we (as Australians) can only stay in the Schengen Zone for 90 days in each 180-day period.

That can include 90 days in 1 hit, 90 x 1 day, and everything between. (I use a calculator to make sure we remain legal)

But Europe is made up of many countries and must-see destinations—way more than you can fit in 90 days.

Add with the diverse climate from north to south, peak travel times, and specific cultural highlights like festivals, planning a worthwhile stint in Europe can be quite a task.

After all, if you're going to spend a fortune on airfares to get there, you might as well make the most of it, right?

Aussies, Americans, Canadians, Kiwis, and, well...most non-Europeans (and some Europeans!) have always had this issue.

But since Brexit, Brits have the same problem.

It doesn't help that the Schengen Zone:

• DOES NOT include all EU countries. (Cyprus and Ireland are not in the zone.)
• DOES include some non-EU countries (Switzerland, Norway and Iceland are in the zone.)
• DOES NOT include some territories/Islands - Eg. Denmark is in. Greenland and the Faroe Islands (administered by Denmark) are NOT. France and Italy, yes. Corsica and Sardinia YES.
• Keeps expanding, cutting off escape routes - the latest additions are Bulgaria and Romania.

Also, note that from mid-2025, visitors from over 60 Visa-exempt countries will have to have an ETIAS (Electronic Travel Information and Authorisation System) to visit 30 European countries. (This is very similar to the system already in place for visitors to the USA and Canada.Here's the Official website for that.)

However...

...there is a way for some of us to stay longer than the 90 days in the Schengen Zone. And, thanks to one of our subscribers (Ziggy), I've gone down that rabbit hole.

Because...

Well, it's complicated!

Summary:

Some countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA have bilateral agreements with Schengen countries that allow their citizens to stay for a period of time IN ADDITION to the 90 days in the Schengen Zone.

These agreements are country-specific, both for the European destination and the country of origin.

For example, Australia has agreements with countries different from the US or Canada.

​This appears to be an up-to-date official list.​

So if you are from one of these countries with agreements, you should be able to:

1. Spend a total of 90 days in one or more countries in the Schengen Zone in a 180-day period. E.g. Spain, France, and Portugal.
2. Then exit to a non-Schengen country (E.g. the UK, Albania, Morocco..)—THIS IS A MUST!!! Because there are no immigration checks between Schengen countries, you won't have proof you exited if you don't do this step, which would mean big trouble when you finally do leave.
3. Next enter, stay, and exit the Schengen country with the bilateral agreement for the allowed period of time. E.g. We could then go to Germany for another 60 days. Total time in the Schengen zone = 150 (90+60) days.)
4. And finally, you must then wait the required amount of time to reenter the Schengen zone and restart your 90-day count.

Note:

• Some old agreements have since been rescinded - CHECK before you make plans. Here's an example of the official page for Denmark.​
• Some immigration officials may not know about the agreement. Carry documentation to bolster your case if you are challenged. Find the official agreement or a written explanation from the country you want to enter.
• Some Nordic countries (Norway, I see you) consider themselves part of a "Nordic Bloc" - and count the time spent in any of these countries (Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, and Denmark) as part of the allowed time in the agreement.

So there we go...

Clear as mud, right?

I have heard that the introduction of the ETIAS may make recognition of the agreements clearer and easier to navigate. I guess we'll wait and see.

In the meantime, I'll investiagte further and write up a post on the website.

If you have any information to help decipher the issue, please let me know so I can pass it on to everyone else.

New Content On the Site You May Have Missed.

We're on the move, and very little internet means there's not much new on the website this month.

Since I wrote last, I've only added one walking tour of Ho Chi Minh City. But, I think it's a good one. Take a look if you're headed to Saigon any time soon:

​Cho Lon Saigon: A Free, Self-guided Walking Tour of Ho Chi Minh City's Most Colorful District​

​Videos​

This month there's only one new video on the Catch Our Travel Bug YouTube channel too - It's a Valentine's Day submission for a Travel Insurance PR campaign SafetyWing Nomad Insurance - Peace of Mind for Long-term Travel Couples ​

Content In the Pipeline.

Everything I've added to the list for the last few months is still there. I'm not adding any more til I get through all those!! (and that won't happen til April.) Sorry!

How Our Travel Plans Are Shaping Up.

Don't you love it when you have the flexibility to totally turn your travel plans on their head?

We do.

The Albanian housesit took too long to confirm their dates and location, and it will be super hot there in midsummer.

So, we've devised another cunning plan.

We will fly directly back to the UK after Thailand and pick up the bikes.

We've already lined up a two-week housesit in Brighton and ten days in St. Hellier on Jersey in the Channel Islands.

We'll then try to snag a couple on the Isle of White and Guernsey before heading to France for the Loire Valley cycling Tour, Paris post-Olympics, and a tour through the Middle East on the way back to Asia.

Note, when we withdrew our application for Albania, they said they'd let us know when they've confirmed their October holiday dates, so we may yet get to visit that part of the world this year anyway.

Things are shaping up nicely so far, but of course, they might change at any moment.

If you want to learn more about house and pet sitting and how to save (A LOT of) money while traveling, visit our House and Pet Sitting Resource Page. (I've added some discount codes for you and a heap of free information to get you started.)

The best way to stay on top of our movements is to FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK.

Now, for some numbers. :)

Our WayAway Totals to 8th March 2024

Here are our latest totals from discounts and cashback for bookings made via our WayAway Plus Account. You can see the monthly progression on the new WayAway Cashback page on the website.​

Since the February update, we've added $46 to our cashback.

BUT...it should be more:

• I'm missing cashback from three budget flights that should be around $20 in total. It appears to be a glitch with the app (or maybe I screwed up - not sure), and the Wayaway Support team is on the job.
• I've also also had a subscriber say they were missing cashback on one of their accommodation bookings. I'll follow up on that and report back next month.

If you look closely you'll see I've added another data point to the spreadsheet showing the amount we've saved from deals and discounts plus cashback through the app.

So far, it's almost 2700 USD. Most of that's from finding fabulous accommodation deals, but the recent deals I'm finding on flights are pretty good, too.

Key Points:

Despite the glitch above, we've earned over seven times the discounted membership price back with five months to go and a lot more travel planned.

Latest Deals From Our Partners

As usual, you can find all the latest deals on this page. Some come in later in the month, so I’ll update the page as they do.

PLEASE NOTE: Some of these have short validity periods.

• ​WayAway is now back to 55% off PLUS, but is still a great deal.
• ​Trusted Housesitters - has a 25% off Code, saving you up to 80 USD or more. Use the CODE TRAVELBUG25 at the checkout.
• ​Going (previously Scott's Flights), which finds massively discounted flights, is offering 25% off its Premium and Elite memberships. This can save you up to $49.25.Start a free account (like me), and then decide if you need an upgrade. Then use the Promo code (SUMMER25) at the checkout.
• ​Direct Ferries (over 4400 routes and 900+ ports worldwide) have up to 50% of some ferry routes.
• ​Go Outdoors has a bunch of discount codes available.
• ​Booking.com still has its 'Early 2024 Deals' where you’ll get a 15% or more discount on bookings from 5 Dec 23 until 1 April 24. The stay dates are from 1 Jan 24 to 1 April 24.

Note that if you book your accommodation through Bookings VIA WayAway Plus, you get the Early 2024 deal + your Genius Discounts + Cashback. We've already taken advantage of these discounts several times this month and had massive discounts.

• ​GAdventures is offering 10 to 20% off tours worldwide, including voyages to Antarctica for the 2024/2025 season. There are too many details to add here, so head to the Great Deals Page to see what's available.
• ​Rocket Languages is having a huge 4-day Easter sale. From 26th to the 29th March. Promo CODE: EASTER to get 60% off all language courses.
• ​Airalo has updated its codes for March if you need an eSIM for your next holiday. The PROMO codes are MAR15 for new customers. MAR10 for existing customers.
• ​Amazon - With the Easter holidays coming up next month, it’s worth remembering you can still get one month of free access to:
• Amazon PRIME - with expedited delivery and more
• ​Audible - Perfect for some free and discounted holiday reads. I’ll write up my experience with the AUDIBLE FREE trial soon. Spoiler alert. It was great, but it’s not for me.
• ​Kindle Unlimited - Catch up with all your reading over the holidays without lugging around a bunch of heavy books.

Travel Competitions

I have just updated the Travel Competitions page with all the competitions we entered this month.

This month you can win (if we don't :) ):

• A 10-night cruise for 2 in the Kimberley in Australia worth over 15 000 AUD.
• A two-night stay at Alàbriga Hotel & Home Suites on the Costa Brava in Spain
• A two-night stay at The Terraces of The Capitoline - Italy (This one is seriously POSH!!!!)
• A two-night stay at The Rebello in Porto, Portugal
• A two-night stay at Grande Real Villa Italia Hotel & Spa in Cascais (near Lisbon), Portugal
• A 7-day trip in Bali worth up to 2450 USD
• 500 GBP cash to put towards your next holiday cottage getaway
• A 6-night winter getaway in Whistler plus flights from major airports worldwide
• A 7-night expedition cruise to Svalbard
  ​

Ciao for now. It's almost San Miguel and sunset time!

Once again, we'd love your input on what you think of both the format and the content of this newsletter.

As always, with us, it’s a work in progress, and we'd love your help to make it better.

Happy Travels