Tips please, Majorca, All Inclusive - It's been a while!

[Broodywuz]

Hi, we've just booked Majorca All Inclusive for beginning of August. Myself, DH and DD's (age 5 and 2 years) Want to make things as easy and enjoyable as possible.
Almost 10 years since we've been abroad and never with kids so any advise welcome.

• Spending money, do people still exchange before you go and bring cash? Or do you just use your card like you would at home?
• Check in, I believe this is all on-line now so do you still need to be at the airport 2 hours before your flight?

• Money - check that your card doesn't have fees if you use it abroad. Monzo, for example, is free abroad and free to get. I'd bring some cash, maybe €100, but you'll probably spend mostly on your card
• Yes, check in online but be at the airport 2 hours early.

Some other thoughts

• Will you be getting your own airport transfer? If so, make sure they have a car seat for the 2 year old
• Will you be bringing a pram? You can take it all the way to the gate but it will then go in the hold and might get damaged - either take a pram you're not bothered about or get a bag for it.
• LOTS of snacks for travelling. Including some proper food in case of delays or the transfer taking a while.
• Bring empty water bottles - you can fill them once you get through security.
• You will be able to get nappies there but you might want to bring your own so that you don't have to worry about it.
• Full-coverage swimwear and hats so you don't have to constantly re-apply suncream everywhere

*@sarahb083 thanks for your reply, very helpful.

As far as I know, the only airline where you have to check in online (even if you are going to the desk with a suitcase) is Ryanair. And if you book certain packages they include airport check-in. In any case you will get loads of e-mails before you go. When you have checked in online, put all of the boarding cards onto two different phones so you have a backup. Or print them out, if you have a printer, because it's less fiddling at the airport compared to handing over your phone while controlling small people.

But since you will presumably be checking in luggage, online check-in won't save you any time at the airport. I would try to arrive at least 2 hours early in high summer, and depending on the airport (cough Stansted cough) I might consider buying priority security. Of course if you do that there will be no queue (Sod's Law, innit), but if you don't and there is a huge wait it will be horrendous, both in terms of time and hassle with kids. (You don't need priority security at Palma for the return, as security is always very quick there and they even have special lanes for families with children.)

Regarding cards, you can use them almost everywhere. Check your bank's overseas/Euro zone usage conditions for what they charge. It's come down quite a bit because of competition from Monzo and co. Hopefully there will be no minimum fee and they will only charge you about 2% on top of the official exchange rate. If the card machine in the shop/restaurant offers you a choice between paying in Euros or pounds, always choose Euros.

If your passports are not blue (actually I think they're black), check their validity. They need to be less than 10 years old (that is, from the day of issue) on the day you travel, and to still have 3 months to go until the expiry date on the day of your return flight.

Can I ask where you're going in Majorca?

*@samarrange Thanks for your reply. Probably not worth checking in on-line then. I will definitley double check passports, thanks.

We're staying at Hipotels Coma Gran in Sa Coma. If you have any information on the local area would also be welcome.

@Broodywuz I would still recommend doing the online check in as when you get to the desk to drop your bags off the first thing they ask is do you have your boarding pass - so it's likely to take longer if you haven't done it .
Who are you going with and which airport ?

*@ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea Ahh okay thanks.
We're booked with Tui flying from Aberdeen airport in Scotland, it's a pretty small, quiet airport (or was last time I was there)

Sa Coma is pretty touristy. Don't expect a lot of "typical Spanish local colour". There will be a mix of nationalities among the guests, with quite a lot of German people.

The good thing about being touristy is that there is lots to do. Two hotels have splash parks (Splash World and La Reserva) and I think that at least one of those does day passes. There is also a zoo, and for some reason a full-size French-style hypermarket. You can get the bus into Palma every half an hour, and along the coast to Cala Millor/Cala Bona/Portocristo more often.

Depending on your phone package / usage get a bolt on.

I use Monzo.

Is your two year old in nappies? Bring swim nappies. IME they are extortionate!

Get a Chase account. No fees and cash back on spending.

Sa Coma is lovely. You can turn left on the beach front and walk up to S'Illiot which takes around 15-20 mins. There isn't much there apart from shops and eating places but it's still a nice walk. Or you could turn right and walk up to the castle. I think there's 3 different ways to get to it, but the way we did it was walk along the beach front until you get to Burger King then across the road and over the grass and then just follow it through. It takes around 20-25 mins but it can be a bit steep in places and is pretty rocky in parts. Then again if I can manage it most other will too. You can also hire ponies too. We saw quite a few kiddies riding up on them. I'm not sure if someone goes with you or if you just lead the pony yourself. The castle is pretty good, although probably not what we would call a castle. There's a bar there that serves drinks and food. You can go up to the top of the castle but the steps are very steep and come down on an angle. It's quite difficult to come back down as well as you go from daylight to darkness so it's hard to see the steps. We walked over to Cala Millor a couple of times. Around a 3-4 mile walk each way but it's flat and I think a pretty much straight path once you get to Lidl. The beach in Sa Coma is lovely although beware of the sunbed guy. I'm sure he can spot people from about 10 miles away. As soon as your hand touches a sunbed he's straight over. I laid on the sand last year and when the sun moved my legs were in the shadow of an un used parasol. He tried to charge me for having my legs in the shade. I ended up moving back a few feet instead.

The bus service in Mallorca is brilliant. You tap your debit card on getting on, and again when you get off. You then get charged a day or two later, but its not expensive. At that end if Mallorca, if you like tennis, take a trip to the Rafa Nadal centre in Manacor. It is a huge, live in academy, with a museum attached. Visit the museum. All of Rafas cups plus bits from other sports, such as Alonso's F1 car, Messi's strip etc. Then drink and eats in the cafe overlooking the courts. You can then wander round the courts watching the players practice. Rafa is sometimes there.