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WIN BIG THIS SUMMER

YulianK
SMARTY Community Manager SMARTY Community Manager
SMARTY Community Manager

SMR0157_Summer_Giveaway_Featured_Post_600x420px_Opt1@1x.png

WIN BIG THIS SUMMER

From a posh picnic to a grand getaway!

Would jetting off with a friend to Europe for a fabulous 4* city break complete your summer?

Well, it’s one of the BIG prizes up for grabs in our huge summer giveaway – win 3 nights in a 4* hotel for two with return flights, private airport transfers, travel insurance and £200 spending money. And when it comes to choosing the destination, you’re the boss. Take your pick of return flights from selected UK airports to either Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, Dubrovnik, Lisbon, Paris, Prague, Rome or Stockholm. The prize is worth over £2,500!

That’s not all, there’s loads of these great prizes up for grabs too:

  • Fortnum & Mason picnic hampers x 5
  • Luxury three-piece luggage sets from Rock x 5
  • GoPro HERO 12 cameras x 5
  • Beats SOLO 4 wireless headphones x 5
  • Tile Pro 4 pack (to keep track of your luggage) x 5
  • Tile Pro 2 pack x 10

HOW CAN I WIN BIG?

It’s so easy. Just answer this question to be entered into the prize draw for your chance to bag our grand getaway or one of our other super prizes:

  • What is your best hack for summer getaway?

The Prize Draw opens 22/07/24 at 10:00 and closes on 01/09/24 at 11:59 (“Promotion Period”). 

To enter the Prize Draw entrants must be a SMARTY customer and have an active plan as at the end date of the Promotion Period.  Entrants must have registered for the SMARTY Community within the Promotion Period and be over 18 years of age and a UK resident (“Eligible Entrants”).

Only one entry per entrant. Winners will be selected at random.

For full terms click here

Team SMARTY


UPDATE - COMPETITION CLOSED

The competition is now closed and we will draw the winner from all the eligible entries. Keep your fingers crossed and an eye on your Private Message inbox.

Thanks to everyone who contributed some brilliant entries. We had almost three thousand posts !

Keep up the great work everyone; the SMARTY Community belongs to us all and succeeds because of your great contributions.

2,842 REPLIES 2,842

Before travelling to a summer getaway take screenshots of maps and any useful information incase you can't access the internet at the location. It's also worth photographing and emailing yourself any important documents, bank card details, tickets and passport in the event of anything being lost or stolen. Nothing's better than peace of mind when travelling.

Going for a picnic with a Fortnum&Mason hamper  after recording a downhill mountain bike route with my GoPro whilst listening to tunes wearing my Beats headphones.

Pack a power bank, these days everything is on our phones,a power bank will help minimise the chances of great inconvenience.

Don’t put your home address on luggage, just a phone number prevents thieves finding it and knowing your house is empty.

mobile phone, phone charger and bank card could help you a lot

Measure and weigh your suitcase using bathroom scales. Not doing so could cost you more than the price of your flight!

Roll your clothes like a pancake when packing into a backpack to prevent creases and save on space 🙂

To make your hold luggage a bit easier to find at the baggage carousel, tie something bright to your bags - I use a ribbon. 

 

Book lounge for the airport 

This might sound old-fashioned but really just old-skool good sense: get a small zip-lock water-resist clear plastic pouch. Add sewing needles, cotton, spare buttons, hooks, mini scissors, & safety pins. Different sizes to hold up torn clothes. Little eyeglasses repair kit with screws. Plus, a range of sticky pads and strips, double-sided padded tape, Velcro patches, superglue and a little roll of fly catcher - the yukky kind that hangs from a ceiling. You can put in some clearly labelled packs of over-the-counter Aspirin, Ibuprofen, allergy pills & paracetamol but nothing that might need prescription.   Keep prescription meds separate. 

I made a kit like this for my daughter's gap-year travels. On her return home 7 months' later, everything had been used except two buttons!

Be calm, collected and plan and prepare well in advance. Don't forget to use a check list

Travel light and plan ahead…. It’s never been easier to acquire detailed information on wherever you are going, rather than waste time figuring out how to do stuff when you are actually there .. so much can be done and booked in advance…

Travel light and get a digital scale to check weight of your luggage.

Only plan loosely, making a rigid plan can be stressful and take away from the enjoyment of a holiday, especially when things like weather can derail your plans, which you have no control over.

Just write down all the things you want to do and accept some things may not get done, enjoy yourself it’s not a job ☀️🏖

Take photos of your suitcase before you close it in case (as ours did) it goes missing. Easy to remember what you packed and my have to claim for.

take copies of all documentation ( via camera phone ) , insurances, id , passport , drivers licence. All in one place in camera gallery should you need them.

Deactivating Voicemail

I would make sure I have my smarty phone plan set up correctly and was ready to go 

It is the summer vacation travel hacks.

Packing your own powdered milk, coffee and tea bags in your suitacase is essential for topping up those meagre supplies in your hotel room.

Take an empty water bottle through airport security. Many airports have free water dispensers after security. Green solution, better for environment, free!

Take tea bags and coffee with you ! Most countries don't sell your favourite brand and if they do it's overpriced! 

Plan your days to include events and chill time. 

bring old clothes and use disposable wears so you can discard at the end of the holiday

Take a usb fzn with y

 

Take a rechargeable  USB fan with you to save hiring  one.

 

Roll all your clothes and put them in your case this saves creasing and you don’t have to iron them 👍🙌

Packing cubes; bin bag for dirty washing (to wash when you get home, not to throw away!); photo all key documents; book tickets in advance

Set your phones up for locating each other/find my phone

Only take man made fibre cloths, which don't wrinkle and can be washed in the shower at your hotel using shower gel and then dry within a couple of hours.  You can take less clothes, a smaller case and avoid the airline costs for checked bags and maybe just take an under the seat bag.

Be spontaneous when you can!  Take advantage of good weather for an extra few days away,but don't micromanage it. 

As long as you have the basic essentials (bank cards etc) for your trip, extras can be bought at the destination.  

Keep luggage fresh with a dryer freshener sheet

Clothes and other fabrics don't tend to smell their best after sitting in a suitcase for several hours, so to prevent that smell on arrival, simply stash a standard tumble dryer sheet in with your clothing items to keep them smelling fresh.

Take a uk short four way extension lead

to plug all your chargers in 

Take an empty water bottle to the airport that you can fill after you've cleared security

kahkar976
SMARTY Rookie
SMARTY Rookie

Pack light. 

JosephC_1402207
SMARTY Rookie
SMARTY Rookie

Make sure you’re travel insurance is up to date and it covers you for all activities 

beccaireland
SMARTY Pioneer
SMARTY Pioneer

Packing cubes!

AmyBurnett
SMARTY Enquirer
SMARTY Enquirer

Bring an empty water bottle to the airport and fill it up, rather than spending £3 on a tiny bottle of water 🙂 also sign up to airline and car rental loyalty programmes (e.g. Avios Preferred gets you to the front of the queue so you can pick your car up quicker, and it's free - I reckon lots of car rentals will have similar programmes)  

HannahW_1798744
SMARTY Pioneer
SMARTY Pioneer

Take a charged up battery pack. And on flight put your phone in a plastic bag and hang on shelf clip to watch hands free tv on your phone/ipad. 

JackMur_1378573
SMARTY Rookie
SMARTY Rookie

Bring less clothes than you think you need, use a backpack, and browse Reddit for recommendations on what to do and where to go.

Andy_2256238
SMARTY Pioneer
SMARTY Pioneer

Pack a 4 way extension lead as well as a travel adaptor so you can plug in all your gadgets