#119 Skyscanner Hack - Change Country for Cheaper Flight!

[This is NOT an April fool!] Recently I was trying to organize booking a flight with my sister for our mother from Dublin to Tokyo. I’m more technology savvy so I decided to search for the flights, and then send her the details for her to book. Due to time difference this went on for a few days, with her saying each time the flights were more expensive than what I had said. Finally we went on Skype, using the same website (Skyscanner) at the same time, but somehow mine said it was 500euro, and hers said 600euro. Then I realized – my country was set to Japan, and hers was set to Ireland.

A rumor I had heard before was true – it actually is cheaper depending on the country you book from (or the country you say you book from....) 

I always use Skyscanner – sometimes I check other sites but it always ends up being cheaper or having more options with Skyscanner. If anyone has some other recommended sites, please comment and let me know!

I decided to do this again, with a flight from Japan to Thailand. I changed my country from Japan, Thailand and Ireland. Japans flights were 32,000yen, Thailand was 39,000yen, and Ireland was 40,000yen (about the difference of 60 euro off a 300 euro flight) There were also different flights available depending on the country.

While it may only be the difference of a few euro, from now on I will always toggle between the departing country and destination country at least, to see if I can make some savings. It only takes a minute and could save you substantial amounts!

Below are the screenshots I took, all within minutes of each other. The only difference is the country selected and flights - language and currency settings don't seem to make a difference.

Flights with Japan as country

Flights with Thailand as country

Flights with Ireland as country

#76 India: The Travel Show

The main issue I have with going on holiday to somewhere like India, is the fact that it is so far away from Ireland. Return flights at the moment are about €500 cheapest to Mumbai or New Delhi. This is actually quite cheap considering the distance, but it's still €500 before you even pay for accommodation or entertainment or anything else. But then again, these are all very cheap!

So I'm posed with a problem: travel within Europe for flights under €100, but where accommodation and food is more expensive, or travel outside Europe, where flights are more expensive, but everything else is cheaper. Destinations outside Europe are also usually more drastic and exciting for someone who lives within Europe.

But anyway, before we start discussing India, here's a map to help you, so you won't get confused. I don't think it is likely that someone would visit both Kolkatta and Mumbai for example, as they are quite far apart (a 3hr flight), and these are just a few ideas for each place in India. There are hundreds of things to do near each of these cities if you do your homework!

India Map

New Delhi

This is the capital city, so it is where you can expect to find a lot of stuff, such as;

Askhardham Temple

Lotus Temple

Varanasi and the Ganges River

The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is located in Agra, which is accessible by train by New Delhi. From what I've heard, these trains are INSANE cheap,  possibly under €10 for a first class ticket! They take about 3 hours, and from the train station there it's about 15mins by bus.

If you want to listen back to the show, please go here: www. ulfm.ie/listen-back

#61 Gröna Lund - Stockholms Amusement Park!

Last week, everyone's favourite place in Stockholm - Gröna Lund, opened its doors for the summer! This amusement park is located in the middle of Stockholm, on the edge of the island of Djurgarden. My favourite thing about Gröna Lund is that all the roller coasters give you not only a heart attack, but a fantastic view of Stockholm!!

{I didn't have my camera with me, so I will return this week and update this post asap with some fantastic pictures!}


I bought the Green Card for 220kr, which gives me free entrance, but no rides. However, it also gives me free entrance to all the concerts they have on during the summer. Most of the acts are Swedish and I don't know them, but there are a few big names like Fun, Kesha, Tenacious D, Slayer and Loreen.

On Saturday I went to see American band Fun, which was, well, fun! We also got the daypass, so we went on as many rides as we could until we were sick (for me, this was unfortunately literally!). Most of the lines were about 15 to 20mins which was fine, and then after the concert at about 9pm the lines were only 5 minutes long, which was fantastic! The park doesn't close until 11pm, so I would definitely recommend sticking around until closing when there are very short lines.

The roller coasters give a great view of Stockholm, even if it might be a little difficult to appreciate when you are being hurdled upside down at breakneck speed! Some of the rides also extend out over the water which is super cool too!
My favourites were Insane (the white and purple one), Twister (the wooden one), Jetline (the big blue one), and Kvasten (the red one). I didn't try the free fall ones because they make me really sick afterwards, but there's 3 of them and they're popular! There's also the new ride Eclipse, the worlds highest star flyer! It swings you around Stockholm and gives you the best view, but there are also usually lines of about an hour.

"Insane" rollercoaster

 Eclipse starflyer

 Jetline (blue) and Vilda Musen (purple) intertwine throughout the park

 Kvasten taking off

 The drop in Twister, it looks okay but it's steep!

Some of the extra play-to-win games

Some of the rides include: rollercoasters, waltzers, tunnel of love, bumper cars, sudden drop rides, kiddies rides (mini rollercoasters, spinning tea cups, carousel etc) ghost trains, and then lots of stalls were you have to shoot in the circle or something and you win a teddy bear, or a giant box of chocolate (but these all cost extra, between 15kr for one try and 100kr for a few).

Ticket info: Entrance to the park costs 100kr, and it is 310kr for a day pass for all the amusements (so 410kr total). Most of the rides cost about 60kr, so it could be cheaper to just buy some 20kr coupons, depending on what you want to go on. Other options include a Green Card for 220kr for free entrance all summer (no rides, but includes entrance to the concerts). You can only get tickets online if you have a nordic credit card, so your best option is the ticket office outside the park.
The park is located on Djurgarden, get the ferry from Slussen or the tram from Sergels Torg.

The park at night, as seen from the ferry

#58 World Ice Hockey Championships 2013

For the next few weeks in Stockholm (and also Helsinki), the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) World Mens Championships are on. Tickets for most of the games (and super good seats) are only 75kr, and it's on at the Globe arena, so I had no excuse not to visit!

Obviously, ice hockey isn't a popular sport in Ireland, so my only knowledge of the sport comes from that Disney movie, The Mighty Ducks. I went to see the first game of the championships, Czech Republic VS Belarus. I was supporting Czech, and they won 2-0! It was low scoring which made it a little less exciting I guess, but I still had a really good time! It's a really fast paced sport, it was difficult to keep track of the players as they were skating so fast, and sometimes almost impossible to see where the puck was!

The Globe was made for sports like this, I know they have concerts there, but it really felt like it was made for ice hockey games! The stadium is great, and we had seats in the first few rows, but we went higher up on the break so we could get more pictures of the arena.

Take that Belarus!

You can get tickets for the games at ticnet.se, which is the Swedish Ticketmaster. The Globe is located at Globen metro stop, less than 10 minutes from the city centre.