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MONEY COMMENT
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Next week, I'm off to Scotland for a couple of days. I'm heading north of the border to take part in two women's workshops on female financial fitness. The first is in Glasgow next Monday, the second in Edinburgh the following night. Learn more here. I'm standing in for my colleague Jane Mack, co-author of A Girl's Best Friend Is Her Money. In a moment of madness, I agreed to do both 2½-hour presentations in a blonde wig, a dress and high heels (anyone out there own any size 10½ heels?)!!! Last week, I sorted out my travel arrangements for my trip. Things were made slightly more complicated by the fact that I would be travelling up to one city and coming back from another. Here's what I needed to arrange: So, I started at thetrainline, only to discover that the London-Glasgow journey would take over five hours by Virgin Trains. A single by coach would be just £9 with National Express, but this journey takes between eight and eleven hours. Hence, I decided to fly in both directions. I visited travel websites ebookers, Expedia, lastminute and Travelocity to track down cheap flights. I ended up booking through Travelocity because its search for 'trips with multiple destinations' was easy to use. I decided to fly from Heathrow, because I live fairly close to the airport and can travel there free of charge, thanks to my annual Travelcard. The total cost of my flights - with British Airways - came to £74.90. This was made up of £40 in fares, £28.90 in taxes and fees, plus £6 for paying by credit card. Blimey! As for travelling between Glasgow and Edinburgh, I took the cheap option and booked with megabus, a no-frills division of coach operator Stagecoach (LSE: SGC). It charged £1 for the single fare, plus a 50p booking fee (downside: no toilets!). What a bargain! As for accommodation, I found inexpensive hotel rooms close to both venues using lastminute, which has a handy search that allows you to list hotels by their distance from your preferred location. My overnight stays cost £45 and £50 respectively. So, the overall cost of my trip to Caledonia is £74.90 + £1.50 for travel and £95 for accommodation, a total of £171.40. I could have found cheaper deals (for example, flying by Ryanair from London Stansted to Glasgow Prestwick for £2.99 each way, plus taxes, fees and charges), but not without greater inconvenience. Finally, I checked this article, which I wrote last year about travel insurance, before buying a Best Buy single-trip policy from Marks & Spencer (LSE: MKS) for a mere £6.55. Another bargain! More: Visit our Insurance Centre.