security

Search Results for "security".

Agoda Nightmare: Falling Victim to the Booking.com Phishing Scam

I am very vigilant about avoiding scams and identity theft. I take extra care with my passwords, avoid clicking random Facebook links, and exercise caution in all aspects of my online life. Despite all my efforts, I recently fell victim to the Booking.com scam. One that has been recurring for about five years. To defend myself, it’s important to note that this wasn’t entirely my fault. In this scam, it appears that Booking.com’s data has been compromised, as cybersecurity experts at Perception Point reported. This compromise seems to be ongoing. Through whatever vulnerabilities exist, scammers…

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The Tunisair Dilemma: Is the Terrible Rating a Warning or a Challenge?

I am planning my October travels, and I am always game to fly a new airline (surprise!!!). (I have now flown 120 different airlines). I have a group of airlines that are in my top ten and a group in my bottom ten… I may have found a contender for what would be the world’s worst airline if I am game to fly them on a short hop from Europe to Tunis. Their flight time is just over one hour whilst their competitors onky offer indirect flights of five hours plus for three times the…

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I have flown (and ranked) every One World Member Airline

With my recent hop from Casablanca to Doha, with Royal Maroc Airlines, I have now flown every one of the 13 One World airline members. The One World Alliance was formed in 1999 and includes 13 airlines which carry half a billion passengers a year via 14,000 flights a day. Each airline continues to operate independently but through the Alliance, they “work together to deliver consistently a superior, seamless travel experience“. One World has two major benefits for me. The first is the ability to earn frequent flyers points across the entire alliance. I use…

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Royal Air Maroc Business- Could do better

Overall, I enjoyed my first-ever flight with Royal Air Maroc (RAM), the Moroccan flag carrier from Casablanca to Doha in Qatar, aboard a very comfortably laid out Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The experience, however, wasn’t One World standard. RAM is owned by the Moroccan Government and is headquartered at Casablanca-Anfa Airport. They joined the One World alliance in 2020. I had planned to fly them that year, but obviously, I was grounded. Flying them means I have now been on flights with every One World carrier (existing and previous). Booking I used 42,000 American Airlines Advantage…

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Unique Flying – an Island Hop with Citilink Airlines

The direct distance from Dili, the Capital of Timor L’Este to Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia is just over 1100 km (660 mil) and takes around 90 minutes. Two carriers ply the route- each one flying a few times a week. I chose a new airline for me: Indonesia’s Citilink, hopping on board flight . The fare wasn’t cheap, however as demand seems to exceed the number of available seats. My biggest gripe with the island nation is the lack of easy transport opportunities. You only get to Dili by air from Darwin, Australia, and Denpasar. Because…

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Why I love WISE money tool

Are you travelling internationally soon? Or later this year? I am a huge fan of WISE which used to be called Transfer Wise. They have become so indispensable for me that I have been astounded recently, to find people who don’t know about them. (If you do sign up, please use this link: https://wise.com/invite/u/martinc5) Six fabulous reasons I love Wise: 2 I have two fee-free VISA cards (one real and one virtual for online shopping). They have a distinctive Green colour which is always a talking point. The exchange rate is so good that I…

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Out of Dili’s Terrible History emerges a Terrific Travel Experience

While it may not be as popular a tourist destination as some other cities in Southeast Asia, I found Dili had some interesting options and is one of the most authentic places I visited last year. Dili is the capital city of Timor Leste a small island nation located in Southeast Asia on the island of Timor (which is divided between Timor Leste and Indonesia). I have wanted to visit since Timor Leste’s Independence. Transport options to this island nation have been few and pricey. It does take a lot of work to organise travel…

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Best Flight Of 2022 With World’s Best Airline

Three years ago, my best flight of 2019 was with my favourite airline: Qatar Airways. In 2020, like most people, I ventured not far from home and in 2021 I only travelled within Thailand. Last year, saw me carefully resuming international travel. Of the 68 flights I had through 2022, the best flight of 2022 was again with Qatar Airways. Booking One of my hobbies is trawling the net for the best flight deals I can find. Sometimes I pinch myself at my successes! I picked up a very affordable Cathay Pacific flight from Doha…

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Emergency Numbers – Full list from across the world

This is an updated post from two years ago. I have added several COVID19 numbers, n this current situation with travel starting again for many and COVID19 still impacting people, you need to know the emergency numbers of the country(ies) you are going to? In many parts of the world, people believe the emergency phone number is 911, the North American response number. It is not universal nor is 999, the UK number.  112 has become standard in many parts of the world but not everywhere. Also, in some countries, there is one number for…

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Dodging National Closures – Last Plane to Bangkok

I was in the USA for family reasons on a long arranged trip and was in the Northern suburbs of Philadelphia, USA. My Home base is in the northern suburbs of Bangkok, Thailand. Having worked in public health, I monitored the virus carefully.  As the infections accelerated flight cancellations,  lockdowns and compulsory quarantined accelerated. I decided to cut short my US business and get back to Bangkok. This was a rather nerve wracking trip as I tried to dodge the virus, country closures and airline shutdowns. Booking Finding a way home from Philadelphia proved to…

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