Bulgaria is cementing its lead as an investment property hotspot for skiers and snowboarders looking to own a slice of the slopes. The country’s recent accession in the EU, together with the low prices and plentiful property facilitated by the building boom, are leading many British skiers and snowboarders to leapfrog their traditional favourite ski spots in France, Switzerland and Austria, in favour of Bulgaria’s more modestly priced mountains.

The boom in property development in Bulgaria’s best resorts have meant that brand new ski apartments can be  snapped up  for less than 30K. These low prices, combined with the preventive costs of getting on to the British property ladder, means that many young buyers are choosing Bulgaria for either investment property, a holiday home or a way of generating some extra income through rental returns.

As Bulgaria’s premier ski resort, with the best snow record and longest ski season (mid December to mid may), Bansko has become the most popular location for British property investors to purchase. Previously perceived by some as being a budget ski destination, the $40 million investment in Bansko mean that in terms of size and facilities, the resort is now competing with other more established favourites in Western Europe.

However, it’s not just Bansko that’s big with the Brits; other prominent ski areas such as Borovetz and Pamporovo are also attracting interest. Borovets is Bulgaria’s oldest ski resort which dates back to 1896 and offers pistes up to 2600m above sea level. Pamporovo’s claim to fame comes in the form of its weather, and it’s said to be the sunniest ski resort in Bulgaria.

There are also around a dozen other less well known ski areas in the country, such as Vitosha, Semkovo and Uzana, which are currently more geared towards local weekend skiers rather than the international snow sports market, but these are likely to grow in size in the coming years. The new development around Razlog is getting property investors excited as it will be combining a ski area with an 18 hole PGA golf course just 4km from Bansko, and is likely to attract a lot of interest from British buyers.

Though other European nationals have showed interest in buying property in Bulgaria, the British are leading the charge with an estimated 40,000 Britons now owning property in the country. And it’s not just snow seekers who are looking to buy; the Black Sea beach resorts are also attracting adventurous Brits searching for a Bulgarian property investment with a healthy dose of sun and sea; the most popular places to buy are around the Varna area, in towns such as Kavarna and Albena Beach.

As Bulgaria’s economy and infrastructure continues to develop, it’s likely that it will grow even more popular with the property buying Brits – after all, when you can buy a plush ski apartment, town penthouse or beach villa in Bulgaria for the same price as a conservatory in Britain, it’s not surprising that many are heading to the country in search of eastern property promise.

Elisha Burberry is an online, freelance journalist and keen traveller and watersports enthusiast. Originally from Scotland, she now resides in London.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Elisha_Burberry

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5 Discount Travel Secrets Orbitz, Travelocity, And Expedia Don’t Want You To Know

Don’t make any travel plans until you read this!

Especially when we’re experiencing one of the worst global recessions that we’ve seen in decades, every dollar counts. And because travel is so expensive, many of us turn to well-known discount travel Web sites like Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia.

When you book on these sites you think you’re getting the  lowest prices available , right?

Wrong!

Why You Might Not Get the Best Deal When Booking Your Trip with Most Discount Travel Websites

In reality, you may actually be getting higher priced offers from airlines and hotels that are affiliated with the discount travel website you use to book your trip. Additionally, you’re doing all the work to research flights and hotels, yet the travel sites are still earning their full agency commissions.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Here Are 5 Travel Secrets Orbitz, Travelocity & Expedia Don’t Want You to Know

1. They charge service fees on every booking. Sometimes that fee is disclosed in the "final price" listed online. Sometimes it’s buried in the Terms & Conditions. Need to change your plans? Be prepared to pay service fees of up to $30 on every phone call for a change or re-issue. This does NOT count the $75 – $150 airline penalty. These travel websites actually hope for bad weather, because bad weather means altered plans, which means extra revenue for them.

2. The rate you see may not be the lowest rate available. That’s because large travel websites deal in bulk volume. As a result they concentrate on "national" and "public" rates. They don’t publish "private" fares, consolidator fares, or below-market fares because it’s not in their interest to do so. You can only get those fares from an experienced travel professional, who knows the system and where to find them.

3. Their definition of lowest price may not match yours. Have you ever entered the exact same search on 3 different travel websites and gotten wide-ranging results? That’s because travel websites have special arrangements with certain "partners" and may give these partners preferential treatment or placement bias. That’s how they make money. Consumers, however, are catching on. According to Travel Weekly, bookings on the "Big 3" have fallen over 10% this year. People are turning to airline and hotel websites directly because that’s where they’re finding the lowest fares.

4. A confused customer is their best customer. In the last 12 months we’ve seen a spate of new surcharges assessed by airlines to offset rising costsfrom $5 for some aisle seats to $15 for the first piece of checked luggage. Unfortunately, these costs are not reflected in the search results of most airfare comparison sites. Consumers are left to do the research and the math on their own. As a result, they’re confused. What looks to be the lowest price may not actually be the lowest "total" price when all applicable fees are factored in.

5. Once you hit that SEND button, you’re on your own. What happens when you book online and your flight is delayed or cancelled, or if you miss a connection? Ever tried to get a human being on the phone? You may be on hold for a long, long time. Or when you do finally get someone on the line, you find out he’s in Bangalore (and English isn’t his first language). Meanwhile, the last seat on the last flight out has just taken off. Travel has become more unpredictable than ever. Sadly, it’s not a question of if something will go wrong, but when. And when it does, do you want your fate to rest in the hands of the guy whose job it is to get you off the phone as fast as possible?

This article may seem harsh. But Travelocity, Orbitz and Expedia are keeping these secrets from you. And, you have to know these dirty little travel secrets if you want to  hold onto more of your cash .

By: Don Buynack

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Discount Travel Expert Don Buynack has seen the industry evolve toward tricking travelers into thinking that they’re saving money instead of actually giving them the best travel deals.That’s why he started his new online travel agency, which guarantees you the lowest online fares PLUS gives you $200, $300, $500 or more in spending money. To learn how, get his free newsletter Best Travel Bargains at: www.freespendingmoney.com

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Combination of ‘le credit crunch’ and sterling’s slide causing nightmares for those trying to live the expat dream.

It has long been the stuff of dreams, of bestselling books and sometimes even of profit. The British love of France has led tens of thousands to cross the Channel in search of a better quality of life, a ruin to renovate, or simply to snap up a cheap second home.

But the expatriate community has become the latest casualty of recession, with a ruinous exchange rate biting into the rural idylls of the French countryside just as it has in the "Little England" retirement enclaves of Spain and Portugal. "Cheaper" France is vanishing as the pound slips closer to the rising euro, raising food, wine and energy costs, while devaluing the incomes of those getting wages or pensions from the UK.

"We’re all doomed," said Linda Norton, who lives near Cherbourg in Normandy. "If we can’t grow it, we won’t be eating it next year."

Expats are returning to Britain in their droves, selling houses or leaving them on an increasingly stagnant property or holiday rental market, while sales of homes to UK buyers are down by 50% in some areas.

More than 200,000 British passport holders are registered as resident in France, with more than 100,000 owning second homes and countless others unregistered. The most popular areas are Dordogne, Normandy and, since the Channel tunnel opened, Pas de Calais. There, just 80 minutes’ drive from Calais, surrounded by patchwork flat fields, is the village of Capelle-ls-Hesdin, population a little over 400. It has just three shops; the general store, the butcher’s and the local computer wizard.

Under an icy blue winter sky, the Roziers’ farm looks idyllic: picturesque orange tiled roofs, blue shutters and whitewashed walls. The farmhouse, stable block with tower, huge wood-framed barn and two neat gite apartments frame a vast gravelled courtyard. Chickens, ducks and friendly dogs wander.

Tara and Gary Rozier were a typical London career couple, respectively a nurse and a lawyer, living in a small flat and bringing home 4,000 a month, but "somehow I was still living on my overdraft", said Tara. Now they raise daughters Hannah, five, and Katie, three, in the countryside, running their gites and growing their own vegetables. Both have made huge efforts to learn the language and integrate into the village and, while they fear the numbers of British visitors might dry up, they are not going back.

"We know people who have had to sell up," said Gary, 39. "But if we wanted to sell who is going to pay what it’s worth except someone who was going to run a gite?" They hope that Brits who would normally go further afield will still brave the exchange rate to come to northern France. "It’s still half the price Devon or Cornwall," said Tara.

A few minutes down the road from the Roziers live Kate and Mark Graves with their daughters Royan, 13, and Ciara, 11. They came from Maidstone, Kent, looking for a better quality of family life and have restored an old house with two small self-catering apartments.

"We found it," said Kate smiling. But the exchange rate is hitting them hard because Mark, 39, a chartered surveyor, is one of an army of cross-Channel commuters. He mostly works from home, but travels weekly to his office outside London and is paid in sterling. "I’ve lost 20,000 just in salary this year," he said. To cut costs, the couple have stopped using their central heating and rely on a wood-burning stove for warmth and won’t be going back to the UK to visit family over Christmas.

"It’s a shame," said Kate, 37, "but we have to cut our cloth. The idea of cheap France has gone. We’re not going back like other people we know, though. Anyway, we probably couldn’t sell this house, so we’d be stuffed. There are so many English second homes up for sale."

One of the second-home owners of Capelle-ls-Hesdin, where ferry prices are discussed more intensely than house prices, is Jill Ribbons, 63. She bought her detached, modern house with her sister and spends around a third of the year there, the remainder at her home in Surrey. The retired immigration officer was philosophical about currency fluctuations. "The British expect things to be done for us, it’s that nanny state, we’ll be looked after and nothing bad can happen mentality, so everyone is so shocked when it does," she said.

"I feel you shouldn’t be here moaning about it. We came out here and bought their houses cheap, so to then start complaining is a bit crass. We took advantage. We had everything so smooth for so long."

It’s a sentiment Michael Gibson, 67, recognises. He has lived in France for 11 years. "The exchange rate is biting hard – people came to France because life here was cheaper. They could buy an old ruin with a bit of land, keep animals and grow vegetables. To earn a living, they could look after gite change-overs and maisons secondaires. It was a sort of self-perpetuating merry-go-round. That was then, this is now. The merry-go-round has become a vicious circle. Those of us reliant on pensions are economizing where we can. Fewer shopping trips, wine, newspapers."

George and Iris Belsham, a retired couple, are cutting out their daily English newspaper. They left their village near Canterbury for Capelle-ls-Hesdin when developers began building more houses and groups of teenagers began to hang around the local shop. "Here, the kids are behind doors at night," said Iris, a former PA.

"France was cheaper, quiet and friendly," said George, 76, a former lorry driver. They don’t speak much French, but live happily with their five cats, although they are cutting back on eating out. They know some drastic belt tightening may be ahead. Iris has stopped looking up the exchange rate each morning: "It’s too depressing," she said.

The French, too, are worrying that the British invasion is in retreat. Retired primary teacher Annie Lombardet came to Capelle-ls-Hesdin from Paris with husband, Andres, five years ago. The couple renovated a large 17th-century farmhouse and turned it into a gite

But there are no bookings after the new year. Lombardet said: "I’m not usually pessimistic, but it looks very bad. British people have always loved France and I think it is a pleasure to have them but we will see less, that’s for sure."

© Guardian News & Media 2008 Published: 12/20/2008

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All too often people think that once they have paid their health insurance premium they are covered for all medical treatment but, as can be seen from this article, this is a long way from being the case.

All too many people assume that once they have a medical health insurance plan they are covered for all eventualities but this is not the case and most healthcare plans will exclude a range of treatments. Many people also think that once they have paid their premium that their medical bills are covered. Once again this is not the case and you will almost always be expected to meet a proportion of your medical costs.

The first important point to understand is that there are different forms of health insurance and that each provides cover for different forms of treatment. A traditional indemnity plan for example will not normally cover preventative treatment, such as annual check-ups and immunization, although this is usually covered under an HMO plan.

This situation is beginning to change and an increasing number of insurance companies are realizing that they can save money if they concentrate their attention on encouraging policyholders to stay healthy in the first place. As a result more and more plans are now covering preventative medicine and some even go so far as to offer discounts for the use of such things as health clubs and programs which help people to stop smoking.

Today most plans cover annual check-ups, annual eye checks, routine medical care, immunization, pre-natal care, well baby visits, urgent and emergency care and hospital care, including x-rays, blood tests and other laboratory work.

The precise mix of treatment covered however will vary between plans and so it is important that you check your plan document carefully to see just what is insured. Equally, you must read through the plan carefully to see what treatment is specifically excluded. Most health insurance plans will clearly specify any excluded treatments which will typically include such things as dental and eye care (except for routine annual eye checks), as well as a sometimes lengthy list of treatments for anything from acupuncture to weight loss.

Another thing that you need to look at carefully is the cover provided for prescription medicines. A growing number of insurance companies are excluding payment for prescription medicines from their plans as the cost of medicines continues to rise rapidly. Where cover is excluded it is often possible to arrange cover through a separate plan, as indeed is the case with dental and eye treatment.

Health insurance plans are complex legal documents in which the detail really is to be found in the ’small print’. Simply purchasing a plan and assuming that you are covered for all medical events is likely to result in your being told, "Sorry, your health insurance plan does not cover you for that" when it come time to make a claim.

MedicalHealthInsuranceToday.com provides information on all aspects of medical health insurance including individual and family health insurance plans, short term health insurance, expat medical insurance, health insurance for pre-existing conditions and much more.

By Donald Saunders Published: 6/15/2007

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Tremendous improvement in communication methods like telecommunication and Internet, and economic liberalisation in countries all over the world have given rise to insurance sector, too. Several of bigger and private companies are crossing the border, and opening their business in other countries. Several of insurance companies going global have given boost to the term International medical cover. This medical cover, in true way, appears to be a friend of your in need, when you are living outside your domestic location.

The official figures state that market for International medical insurance is growing all over the world at the rate of more than 10% annually. The need to be insured when living abroad has originated the dire need for several private insurance companies to come up with different plans.

Normally the insurance will cover the compensation sum varying between 50,000 to 5,000,000 depending upon the nature of accident you have met. Post 9/11, International medical cover insurance has become a necessity for expats living outside their country. In addition to world health insurance like income replacement insurance, travel insurance and kidnap insurance have become in favourite list of expats to be availed.

To avail an International medical cover insurance, it is important that you have understood the underwriting terms of plans. Having not an inappropriate underwriting can lead your insurance application to get rejected. Besides, if you are applying for this insurance for the first time, you need to be careful about choosing the right insurance. Premium cost comparison is the best way to decide about the suitable International medical insurance you need. Look for the specific benefits, and check also the range of compensation they are giving you. Taking care of such small issues might give you a good deal. Having a good insurance deal especially when you are living in foreign land is like having your best friend always close to your bosom.

By: Darlene Kaitlin

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

The author is associated with UK’s leading healthcare and medical insurance broker, Essential Health Ltd, which provides medical benefits, to its clients in UK and around the world, for Cancer, Medical insurance, Accident insurance, Life, Travel insurance, International medical cover and even dental insurance. She writes on various topics and latest news related to medical, insurance and most importantly on Cancer.

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