u/Famous_Specialist_44

I read lots of negatives here and got a bit nervous after booking this year.

I travel to the Azores from the UK. It requires connections: Heathrow, Lisbon, Azores. Flights are expensive so I spend a fair bit of time getting quotes before I book.

Prices: Booking.com was about 20% cheaper than other 3rd party apps and 30% cheaper than booking direct with the national flight companies of TAP and/or SATA. I booked in February for a July trip.

The app: really easy to use both booking and afterwards. There were several flight time changes between Lisbon and Azores which were updated to me automatically. Links were provided to the carrier which worked well for updates and for online check-in.

This is the second time I've booked through Booking .com and both were equally good.

I'll use them again because it saved at least £1000. I assume customer service will be difficult so I cover with Amex chargeback as an option and get travel insurance when I buy the tickets. I've done the same trip with EasyJet where bags pre-paid had to be paid for again at checkin and reclaiming the money took me in impossible circles; with Skyscanner which didn't link well to the carriers causing issues at checkin; and originally I used to book direct with carrier which was expensive.

Anyway, a positive experience for those who are interested.

My dad is mid-80s and English and he was asked to write a reflection as part of the Trinity House project in Faial. It's a bit of a love letter really. If you come from Faial you'll know about the long term project and you'll possibly know him, and if you are visiting you might find the following interesting.

More than sixty years ago I landed in Horta to start a tour of duty in Eastern Telegraph’s Submarine Cable Station.

We, the expatriates, had a lifestyle of privilege but no airport, television, dialed telephone service or supermarket. “Social media” took the form of a page of the local newspaper framed outside “O Telegrafo” and further down the road photographs in the window of Foto Jovial or as a last resort catch up on the gossip at the Cafe Internacional.

The beauty of Faial is captured between the lunar landscape of Capelinhos in the west and to the east the dynamic panoramic magnificence of Pico. Lush green fields are bounded by blue Hortensias interwoven with pink Rosas de Sao Joao supported by yellow Rocas. Bright red lanes of bagaco lead between white "cal” painted cottages with their red teracota roofs. Turquoise sea and sky lapped against the black lava coated in white spume occasionally spoilt in Porto Pim by the red blood shed from the whaling factory. Images to be held forever in ones mind without the aid of photoshop!

In general the majority of social entertaining and dining was conducted in individual houses. The spread of amazing cakes was a true delight and left me with a lasting impression that the hostesses were competing in some secret competition. The bolo de caramelo and strawberry cake being my favorite.

Faial provides a kaleidoscope of memories from a land that closely mixed the lifestyles of the affluent privileged with that of the very poor. Expatriates co-existed with locals forming long-term bonds of understanding and friendship.

I would like to thank Faial for it’s generous hospitality and friendships not only in the 1960s but in later years. I would also thank the community of Faial for their support and hospitality towards the expatriates of many nationalities during the Era of the Telegraph Submarine Cables.

When in 1970 the last Telegraph Cable Station succumbed to new technology and in leaving Faial I took with me a souvenir and although a little bent and frayed at the edge after sixty years I still have it with me. Faial thank you for giving me wife.