As couples are now putting their careers before having a family women who are 35 and over are faced with the decision of turning to IVF to help them conceive. As some will be successful using their own eggs and sperm from their partner a minority will be forced to look into other options. One such option is to use eggs donated by another women, although there is no guarantee for success childless couples will try anything to have their dreams come true by having a family of their own. In the UK there is a waiting list of 2 years+ so many couples have been forced into going abroad to seek treatment. Although this is not illegal it can be very expensive as flights, accommodation and treatment costs need to be met.

The reason egg donations are so low in the UK is probably due to the lack of awareness in such matters, also the treatment is very gruelling that many women just cannot continue. Daily injections are needed to stimulate the ovaries to produce more eggs for harvesting, hormones get out of control and weight gain is the most common side effect. Most women who donate their eggs have already had a few children so know how pregnancy itself can be hard on the body and relationship, egg donation is just as hard.

The UK wants to start paying egg donors as much as £800 for their eggs to be donated, seems like a very good deal seen as 10 years ago there was no such initiative and you were not given a penny, just the thought of helping a childless couple making their dreams come true was enough. Many people have slammed this idea as some women will see this as a way to make money instead of helping the nation of childless couples.

As nothing more has been said regarding this matter the Fertility watchdog is now reviewing the procedure to see if this will be brought into effect. It seems a shame that women will go to such extreme lengths to have a ‘biological’ child when there are so many babies and young children needing a family. Teenage pregnancies are on the rise and with so many opting to give their newborn babies up for adoption centres are bursting. So much money and disappointment could be saved if women were to adopt instead of gruelling IVF and waiting for an egg donor.

We all know how budget airlines can end up costing more than a standard airline fee from a larger well established flight carrier but it doesn’t stop the millions of passengers who choose them over the bigger budget airlines instead. As flights can sometimes cost more than accommodation finding the cheapest possible fare is sometimes the only way most people can go on holiday.

As most people choose not to get travel insurance there are many charges that can leave them out of pocket if things were to go wrong. One of the unfair charges that seems to attracting a lot of unwanted attention for these airlines are cancellation fees. We all know that if you were to travel on a big budget airline but were forced to cancel in good time you are more than likely to have a straightforward and successful claim to get your money back, minus a small handling fee. With budget airlines this does not seem to be the case.

Cancellation fees budget airlines
Unfortunately budget airlines can force you to pay a fee for them to give you a letter so you can present it to your insurer to get your fare back. The fees start from £17 and soars to £50 depending on the airline. Some airlines however do not charge you a fee to get a ‘no show’ letter as evidence that you did not fly; these are EasyJet, Flybe, Virgin and BA. APD or air passenger duty is usually reclaimed from the airline but as most make you pay and administration fee you may find that you are left out of pocket as these can cost as much as £25 when APD is only £11.

It seems unfair that airlines charge us for checking in, choosing seats and even up to £35 for a checked in baggage of only 15 kilos. It means airlines are charging twice for seats and there is no law preventing them from doing so. As a result of this people who do not fly are not claiming back any charges as travel insurance policies also have an excess charge that all claimants must pay, these range from £50 – £100 so in the end you are left with nothing or in extreme cases out of pocket.

A passenger recently booked a flight to Morocco for his family but after running into problems getting the visas sorted he wanted to cancel, the airline did not let him and he had to pay a further £600 on top of the original £400 just to change the dates so he could fly at a later date. Where’s the justice?

Having a child should not stop you from enjoying the wonderful joy of travelling and enjoying some well deserved relaxation time abroad with your family. The biggest factor that affects many families deciding whether or not to go abroad is the expense of bringing a small child on holiday. A recent report has found that bring an infant under the age of two can sometimes cost more than the adult fare. Ryanair for example charges £20 each way for a child whilst it costs just £12 for an adult fare, if you book a child it costs less than the fare for an infant.

How much does it cost for a baby to go on holiday?
This is the most common question for families that have young children under the age of two. When you come to book a flight ticket you have two options for children infant under two years and Children under 16 years. The prices will vary greatly for the two, in most cases having an infant travel can cost more than the price of an adult fare, a child’s fare is usually the best option. If you book an infant (under two) on a flight then you must remember to check if they are entitled to any luggage allowance as many do not. A stroller or buggy in most cases will be allowed by a car seat may be an extra £20.

There is a way to get cheaper fares for infants with the first being to look out for promotions and to book early if possible. Another possibility is to book a child fare so they qualify for luggage allowance but then they will not be able to use the seat and you will have to place the child on your lap. Some airlines do allow you to get away with this whereas some will not so always call up and speak to a representative before booking your tickets.

It seems very unfair that young infants that are not allowed a seat of their own or any luggage allowance have to pay more than an adult fare whereas a child who no longer requires nappies or bottles gets free luggage allowance. There are a few baby friendly airlines around that will let you pay 10-25% of an adult plus let you take on a small luggage allowance to cover the needs of a young child, others will make you pay for pretty much everything.

Over the last few years many UK citizens have opted to buy property abroad with the intention of selling up or moving there when they retire. In most cases rental properties abroad are bought with the sole intention of making some quick money from a lucrative sale to have a good pension. As there are many places such as Spain, Cyprus and even Bulgaria that are benefiting from an increase in visitors yearly the value of the property will only go up over the coming years as opposed to crashing like here in the UK.

When you buy a property abroad you may be tempted to manage lettings yourself but unless you already live in the country this may prove may difficult than you think. Places such as Spain and Cyprus can be busy all year but slower in the winter months so are you prepared to fly back and forth whenever you have a potential client. This can be costly if you need to fly out at the last minute and what happens if there is bad weather but no-one to check on the property can you afford to sit and wait until the weather clears up for you to travel.

Unfortunately the only other option is to carefully choose a letting agent to manage the property for you. For a monthly fee the agent will advertise the property, deal with queries and bookings, take payment and make arrangements for cleaning the property after the rental period. You will have to be prepared for breakages and damage to the property as there will be people who do not care about the loss of a deposit. For this reason you will also need to have insurance in place that will cover the house when it is being rented, as a result of this insurance may be slightly higher than standard home insurance.

There may also be tax implications such as double tax; you may have to pay in the country your property is rented out in and also in your country of residence. Some countries do not allow tourists to rent out properties that they have bought so make sure you can before you even take matters further. Services for property management abroad can range in price from as little as 20% – 50% so work out the figures before buying a property.

There is a lot of money to make in property and in certain countries abroad so do your research thoroughly before taking the plunge. Some places offer newly built apartments with the guarantee of at least 4 months of rental potential a year but in most cases they cannot guarantee that and you may only have 4 weeks of rental potential meaning a hefty loss.

Overall the choices for property management abroad is not great you should shop around to get the best quote possible also go with a well established company. If you feel it’s not working out for you cut your losses and find another letting agent. You will need to find someone trustworthy as this could be your pension you are investing in.