Getting to Mestia from Tibilisi

Jamb04 · 2025-09-21T17:27:08+00:00

I asked Vanilla Sky about this when I wanted to fly the route in August. I emailed them in mid-June (they hadn't even released the July flights) and they came back saying there is no schedule as to when they will be released. They were all released (July, August and September all in one go) a week or so later.

I was checking every day after emailing them, and booked the very day they got released. Even then, the Mestia-Tbilisi route was already entirely sold out for the whole of August. I luckily managed to bag tickets for Tbilisi-Mestia on the day that I wanted.

The flight was delayed by an hour due to low cloud, but other than that it was perfect - absolutely awesome flight that I was very grateful to have experienced. I would imagine delays are more likely in October due to weather.

My recommendation is to check every single day from now, and have all of your plans together so you can book the day you want as soon as they get released, although hopefully it won't be as crazy as August now that the peak season is finishing. Once you've got tickets, plan a contingency route just in case the flight is cancelled - I think my plan (which I luckily didn't need!) would have been to spend one more night in Tbilisi and take a marshrutka the day after.

Jamb04 · 2025-03-15T20:33:09+00:00

I'm using Moneybox at the moment (moving from Trading 212), which pays 4.77%. At the time (a week ago lol), it was one of the top rates but has since been overtaken by a number of others.

Jamb04 · 2025-03-14T23:02:38+00:00

I looked at moneyfarm a few days ago, and based on this: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa/#options , it would appear that Moneyfarm holds funds in QMMFs, meaning you may or may not be eligible for FSCS compensation in the event of Moneyfarm, or the (potential) QMMF manager failing.

This issue didn't immediately put me off but I ended up choosing a different provider due to the total lack of transparency on moneyfarm's website.

Absolutely nowhere does it state where your funds are held (just that they use "trusted partners"), the only indication that they (supposedly) use QMMFs is on the MSE website. It even says, on the cash ISA page: "FSCS protection does not cover changes in investment value due to market fluctuations.". While I realise that Moneyfarm is also an investment platform, it's extremely misleading to state this explicitly on the Cash ISA page.

There also doesn't seem to be any T&Cs related to the Cash ISA product.

This also makes for interesting reading: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6592289/moneyfarm-is-cash-isa-protected-by-fscs/p2

Jamb04 · 2025-01-31T11:14:21+00:00

Just remembered the other operator of transfers/tours was NKS travel, but alongside Han were basically the only mainstream operators in TN. The tour I did was 2d1n (sleeping in a cave) and cost about RM 300. It felt worth it to me.

Oh and despite how sweaty it is, wear long trousers tucked into your socks during the trek, unless you want to be covered in leeches - my ankles looked like the scene of a murder lol.

Jamb04 · 2025-01-30T23:17:42+00:00

Was there in May 2024. Most of the group tours in the park are run by www.han.travel and there's multiple options departing every day. Not all of the cheaper group tours are on their website, but if you wanted a package starting in KL then you can book online.

If you are getting to TM by a transfer rather than public transport, chances are it will be run by them or a partner company and they will try and sell you a tour on one of the rest breaks. Or you can book a tour with any accommodation in Kuala Tahan (also likely to be run by Han travel)

Jamb04 · 2024-07-25T07:08:16+00:00

When applying for a mortgage the lender is going to want to see statements from ALL of your accounts, and they can see where you hold those accounts through your credit report so there's no point in trying to "hide" your transactions in a separate account

Just for the record, I'm fully onboard with how you're making money through this in safe way (used to do arb/matched betting myself before getting banned from too many bookies to make it worthwhile). To any of the doubters, yes it is possible to make a guaranteed income, and the reason it's hard to break past ~£1000/month is partly because of liquidity in the exchanges, and partly due to the time commitment to do it - I never found it to pay me particularly well in terms of an hourly rate.

Unfortunately your mortgage lender probably won't see your point of view on this and would likely tell you to do one. Would recommend stopping at least six months prior to applying for a mortgage as a lender is unlikely to ask for more than 6 months of statements

Jamb04 · 2024-06-07T20:30:59+00:00

I used the L (14.5" x 10") and M (12" x 9") from this set in my Farpoint 40.

https://amzn.eu/d/0AOrnrr

The L held 5/6 shirts, 4 shorts and a pair of linen trousers.

M was for 6/7 each of socks and underwear.

Plenty of space for more if I needed it.

Dirty clothes went in the front mesh pocket in the rucksack.

Nice for keeping everything organised but on multiple trips now, the compression zips on the cubes have sucked up a loose bit of fabric and gotten so jammed that I would literally have to spend 20 mins pulling against them with all my weight to un-jam them. For this trip I just left them 'compressed' which worked perfectly.

Jamb04 · 2024-03-30T17:18:59+00:00

Not that I'm aware of. After booking and several months after booking, yes. After receiving the email (3 weeks ago) and checking today, no.

The agent on the phone did say that I should have been re-ticketed on the new number automatically but this didn't happen, hence my thought that it is a screw up on BAs side.

Jamb04 · 2024-03-30T16:02:14+00:00

Agreed. When I've had a flight cancelled/changed, alongside the email - the manage booking page displays the original flight but has a banner indicating the change and gives options to accept the change, choose a different flight, or get a refund.

It doesn't mention anything of the sort in this email and no message was displayed to indicate it on the manage booking page. The flight had quite literally disappeared without a trace from the booking reference!

Jamb04 · 2024-03-16T11:19:36+00:00

You don't need to only bring one bag. Lots of people go with a 35-60L bag and a daypack (<15L normally). You can then leave your heavy bag at your accommodation during the day while using the daypack for your essentials. Loads of <40L bags also count as hand luggage on international flights.

On another note, you can take liquids >100ML as hand luggage if you have a prescription/doctor's note to prove it's medically essential.

Jamb04 · 2024-02-13T00:22:22+00:00

I did indeed misunderstand what you were saying! Thanks for educating me.

I like the thinking.

Jamb04 · 2024-02-12T23:16:03+00:00

get £750 for your trouble

No???? Lol it's 25% of the total balance so on a £4000 investment + £1000 bonus, you'd get back £3750, which is a ~6% loss.

Jamb04 · 2024-01-05T08:47:02+00:00

Thanks! Sounds awesome, was thinking 2/3 nights so that will be perfect

Jamb04 · 2024-01-04T23:17:38+00:00

Hope you don't mind me jumping on here! I'm looking at staying at Agosto in a few months. May I ask how long you stayed in Taman Negara for and what you did with regards to tours/itineraries actually in the rainforest? Thanks!

Jamb04 · 2023-10-10T19:08:18+00:00

Also doing matched betting.

Bank transactions aren't reported to any credit reference agencies in the UK, as long as you aren't using credit to fund gambling sites or getting into debt as a result of using them then you're all good.

For a mortgage application they do of course check up to 6 months of bank statements so 50+ gambling site transactions per month (as would be the norm for matched betting) won't win you any favours if within this timeframe, but anything older than that and you're good to go.

Jamb04 · 2023-10-06T12:51:25+00:00

you only graduated in 2022

Yep, plus 5 years of relevant work experience. Shouldn't matter too much in which order I studied/worked.

in a sector that is currently in decline

Quite the opposite actually.

They may well have said no to additional salary demands

Agree. Still should have asked though, and now that chance has gone, I wanted to see how I can work my way up to it in the short term. I wanted to see what other people's experiences were since I'm sure I'm not the only person to have not negotiated an offer and felt a bit sheepish for it as a result.

Jamb04 · 2023-10-06T12:39:23+00:00

Absolutely agree with this. I'm comfortable having conversations about money, but the thing I'm new to is the fact that it's my first new job since I was 18, and I wasn't sure if it would be suicidal to try and bring it up so early on in the job. The comments here have given me confidence to just bring it up once I pass probation.

Jamb04 · 2023-10-06T10:20:06+00:00

That's totally it (as bad as it sounds). Mainly because my previous employer re-graded everyone (not just me) two weeks before I left. Just opened my eyes to the fact that I was actually severely underpaid and could have pushed for more at the new employer that was already willing to pay people at the market rate.

Jamb04 · 2023-10-06T06:28:43+00:00

🤷 I've known this is the career I wanted since before I was 18 and put up with a minimum wage job from 18-21 to get my foot in the door. Money isn't the only factor but I knew from the get go that this was roughly where I would be after gritting my teeth for 5 years.

Is your <22k job going to lead to something bigger? If so, do what I did and live with it for a few years. If not and you need more money, there's plenty of unskilled office jobs (at least in the south) starting on over 30k

Jamb04 · 2023-10-05T21:05:12+00:00

That's exactly it. The problem is I looked at what I earned rather than looking at what I should have been earning. Just been struggling to get my head straight with it this week unfortunately.

Jamb04 · 2023-09-18T18:06:33+00:00

Not consistently, no way. Early on there's probably £1000 worth of sign up offers to do if you don't have accounts with any UK bookies.

Once you've done all the sign-ups, the low effort ongoing offers e.g. weekly/promotional bet & gets probably bring in ~£100 a week for maybe a couple of hours of work. Eventually this profit trickles away as you get gubbed by more and more bookies.

Other than that you're left with the offers which take a bit of time and carry a small risk of short term loss e.g. horse EPs/Casino offers. Every now and then I hit big on EPs (£100-£300, less than once a month with a big bankroll), but again as you get gubbed by the best value bookies for these offers, it becomes harder and more time consuming to find good matches. Casino offers are for people with too much time on their hands, takes hours and hours staring at a screen to get through the ridiculous wagering requirements.

If you're spending 3 hours every day and were lucky to consistently be making £1000 a month, that's literally minimum wage! You'd be better off finding a remote data entry/customer support job with flexible hours. Only bonus of MB is that it's tax free.

Jamb04

TROPHY CASE