u/Gloomy-Clue-1152

I switched to Santander as part of the offer where you had to also open the Regular Saver and deposit £200 into it.

I believe the £45 Amazon voucher was meant to be sent on 30 September, but I haven’t received mine yet.

Has anyone else completed all the requirements and received their voucher? Just wondering if they’re being sent out gradually.

Thanks!

Hi everyone, I’m in Guildford (GU1) and need to dispose of a dismantled bed urgently tomorrow.

The Guildford Borough Recycling Centre is only about an 8-minute drive from me, but unfortunately I don’t have a car and can’t transport the bed myself. I’ve looked at getting a waste disposal service, but the prices are around £100 which is more than I can currently afford.

Would anyone with a car/van be able to help me take it to the recycling centre tomorrow? The bed is already completely dismantled and ready to go, so it should hopefully be a quick job.

I’d really appreciate the help and I’m happy to cover fuel/your time. Or if anyone can recommend me any alternatives please!

I had an exam booked for yesterday, but when I went to the test centre I was told that Pearson Vue was down all across the country (UK) and therefore I would be unable to sit my exam. Others were also turned away from the testing centre. This issue is ongoing as far as I can tell, and can be seen on Pearson Vue's website https://www.pearsonvue.com/us/en/help.html where it says

"Update:   August 17

Please note, we are currently experiencing system issues impacting Admissions Manager and other VUE Apps which require a connection to the Pearson VUE Hub. Our technology teams are actively working to resolve the issues. Please try restarting your VUE Application Wrapper service as this may resolve your issue.

We apologise for any inconvenience."

I was wondering if anybody else was sharing the same experience? I was thinking about how strange it is that Pearson Vue, which is used to sit hundreds/thousands of exams daily is not really being talked about online. What's also strange is that the customer service teams don't really seem to be aware of this issue or have any timeline for a fix. Pearson Vue being down is a massive issue which would affect ICAEW certificate exams, CIMA exams, and many other types of exams as well.

So, is anybody else facing this issue? Does anybody have any additional information about likely return times for Pearson Vue to be operating again (if something similar has happened before)?

Hey everyone! I wanted to share TheFork because I’ve been using it recently and it actually saved me quite a bit of money on holiday in France.

If you sign up using my referral code, you get 1,000 Yums after making your first restaurant booking (and attending!). I get 500 Yums. Yums can then be used towards restaurant bookings on TheFork.

I was in France recently and there were loads of restaurants offering 20–50% off, and I managed to get:

- Thai food for around £16 for two people

- Italian food for around £16 for two people

- Indian food for around £20 for two people

You can also use 1,000 Yums for £20 off a booking (min. spend £30) or 2,000 Yums for £50 off a booking (min. spend £60), so the referral bonus is actually pretty useful.

There are other ways to build up Yums too:

- Usually 100 Yums for making a restaurant booking

- Some restaurants offer 2x Yums i.e., you get 200 Yums instead of 100 for making a booking!

- Get another 100 Yums for paying through TheFork app with Mastercard

- 20 Yums for leaving a review

- You can refer friends and earn 500 Yums per referral

For referrals, the person you refer needs to make a booking after being referred for the 500 Yums to be awarded.

If anyone wants to try it, here’s my referral code: 5762B558

Hopefully useful for anyone who eats out regularly or has a trip to Europe (or just in UK) coming up!

T&Cs: https://www.thefork.co.uk/sponsorship

Non-ref: https://www.thefork.co.uk/

Hi everyone!

My boyfriend and I are visiting Disneyland Paris on 3rd and 4th August. We fly home on the evening of the 5th, so we only have those two full park days.

At the moment, I've booked 1-day, 1-park tickets for both days because they were quite a bit cheaper than the 2-park option.

However, I'm starting to second guess myself. My plan was to spend one full day in Disneyland Park and one full day in Walt Disney Studios (Adventure World), but I've read mixed opinions. Some people say the Studios park is quite small and can easily be finished in half a day, while others say one day isn't enough if you want to do everything, especially with queues.

We want to make the absolute most of our trip and don't mind staying from park opening until closing.

For those who've been recently, would you recommend:

- sticking with 1 park per day, or

- paying extra to upgrade to 2-park tickets?

If you had two full days, how would you split your time?

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone with a UNiDAYS account has access to an Airbnb student discount code that they’re not planning to use. I’m booking an upcoming trip and would really appreciate it if someone could share a spare code with me.

Happy to share a Vue cinema 2 for £8 ticket code + 20% off popcorn and drinks :)

I’d be very grateful - thank you! 

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone with a UNiDAYS account has access to an Airbnb student discount code that they’re not planning to use. I’m booking an upcoming trip and would really appreciate it if someone could share a spare code with me.

Happy to share a Vue cinema 2 for £8 ticket code + 20% off popcorn and drinks :)

I’d be very grateful - thank you! 

Hi everyone,

I applied for a France Schengen visa through TLS London and I’m hoping to collect my passport tomorrow. I noticed on their website that they say you need to bring an original photo ID when collecting your passport.

The problem is that my passport is my only photo ID. I don’t have a driving licence, BRP/BRC (as discontinued), national ID card, or any other UK government-issued photo ID. Obviously TLS currently has my passport, so I’m not sure what I can use instead.

Has anyone been in this situation with TLS London? Were you able to collect your passport using other documents (e.g. eVisa, appointment confirmation, collection receipt, etc)?

Hi everyone,

I recently applied and requested for a 1-year multiple-entry French Schengen visa. I know there's a chance I simply wasn't granted a 1-year visa, but while I'm waiting/trying to figure things out, I was curious whether anyone has experienced something similar.

When I enter my first planned trip into the EU EES travel calculator, it says I have 90 days remaining to stay until around December, which seems normal.

However, when I try entering a trip in March 2027 (more than 6 months from now), it says "NOT OK".

I'm confused because:

• I requested a 1-year multiple-entry visa.
• I've only planned a short trip this summer, so I definitely wouldn't be anywhere near the 90-day limit.
• I know the 90/180 rule exists, but I don't think that should stop me travelling in March.

Could this simply be because:

• the EES calculator isn't a reliable way to check visa validity,
• it's assuming a shorter visa validity period,
• or does this likely mean I've only been granted a 6-month visa?

Has anyone with a 1-year (or longer) Schengen visa seen the EES calculator behave like this?

Thanks!

I switched to Barclays in June and received the switching bonus yesterday. Now I want to switch to Santander for the £180 bonus. I also intend to get the £45 Amazon voucher when opening regular saver but this offer ends on 9 July.

I have 2 household Direct Debits set up on my Barclays account. Both are showing in the app, but one of them shows £0.00 because it hasn't collected its first payment yet. Its first payment is due to be taken on 8 July.

From what I've read, CASS transfers active Direct Debits, but I'm worried that because this one hasn't actually collected a payment yet, it might not count or transfer properly.

Has anyone switched with a newly set up Direct Debit that hadn't taken its first payment yet? Did it transfer without any issues?

I'm trying to decide whether to start the switch now to avoid missing the Amazon voucher, or wait until after the payment on the 8th and risk missing the deadline.

Any experiences or advice would be appreciated!

My TLS London appointment for a France Schengen visa is on 8 July, and I'm due to fly on 31 July, so I'm a little nervous about processing times.

For those who have applied through TLS London recently (especially this month):

• How long did it take for you to get your passport back after your appointment?
• Did you choose courier return or collection from TLS?
• Is collection any quicker, or is the passport released at the same time regardless of the option chosen?
• Have there been any delays recently with French visa processing?

I'd really appreciate hearing about recent experiences, especially from people who applied in June.

Thanks!

I'm applying for a French Schengen visa and would ideally like to obtain a longer-validity visa. This will be my first French schengen visa, but I have previously held 5 schengen visas from other countries and have always complied with the visa conditions.

For my upcoming trip, I have confirmed travel plans. However, I'm also considering including potential future European trips in December 2026 and March 2027 to demonstrate that I intend to travel regularly.

Since those trips aren't fully planned yet, I noticed that British Airways offers fully flexible/refundable fares. I was wondering whether I could book refundable flights, include them with my application, and then cancel them after a decision is made.

Has anyone done this before?

• Did BA refund the full amount without issues?
• How long did the refund take?
• Were there any fees or restrictions?
• Did showing future travel plans help you obtain a longer-validity Schengen visa?

Any experiences would be appreciated. Thanks!

If you're thinking of joining Virgin Media, you can use my referral link and we'll both get £50 cashback.

• Eligible services: Broadband Only (including Flex) – £50 each
• Broadband + Landline (including Flex) – £50 each
• Entertainment, Cinema, Sport, Sport & Cinema, and Max VOLT packages – £50 each
• Mega Volt Bundle – £50 each

If you're already planning to sign up, it's an easy extra £50.

Ref link: https://aklam.io/hMHdDbtX

Non-ref link: https://www.virginmedia.com/myvmo2/existing-customer?referer=https:%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

I initially wanted to visit Spain and spent weeks trying to get a BLS appointment with no luck. Eventually I gave up and decided to change my entire trip and apply through France instead.

I'm planning to travel on 31 July, but I still can't get a France TLS appointment in London. I've even paid for a bot that sends appointment notifications, but every time I get an alert and log in immediately, there are no appointments available.

At this point I'm wondering if notification bots are even fast enough or real...

Has anyone had success with auto-booking services or bots for France TLS appointments? Any recommendations, or is it just a matter of getting lucky?

Hi, does anyone have a odeon discount code for 2 tickets please? Hoping to go this Saturday!

I can share 2 for £8 Vue discount + 15% off on food and drink (£15 min spend for this)

Has anyone recently had success with a walk-in appointment at the BLS Spain Visa Centre in London?

My travel date is approaching, and I've been trying for weeks to book an appointment through the online system but haven't had any luck finding any available slots.

I'm considering travelling to London and trying my luck with a walk-in, but I don't want to make the trip if they're turning everyone away. If you've been there recently, were they accepting walk-ins at all, or only people with appointments?

Any recent experiences or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi, could someone please share Odeon 2 tickets Vodafone code :))

I have 2 for £8 Vue discount I can share!