₦airaland Forum

GeneralShepherd: SpikeC isn't air maroc cheaper?

For one way tickets, Emirates is about the cheapest
But their stopover na die
Maroc Air (return tickets) are cheap if you book early enough though I use KLM or Air France

@ Justwise, I concur with you on the sending of bank statements to one's address back in your country of origin
Why they do that, I have no idea
That been said, HSBC told me last year they don't do Nigerian student accounts again

peteafrik88: No offence sir, God forbid me with Lloyds in my next life. Though I have an account with them, BARCLAYS is still the best.
@Cookies; You will defo thank me later if you use Barclays.

Well I think everyone has their different experiences with this banks as I jettisoned Barclays for Lloyds due to some abracadabra they pulled on my account
A course-mate had the most bitter experience with them and switched to TSB
Story goes thus, he discovered his account was credited with 2,000 quid
Since he wasn't expecting this sudden cash inflows, he reported the matter only for them to suspend his account for close to 5 months in the name of investigation
Dude was living from hand to mouth all this time and burrowing money from friends along with loan sharks cos even for the little hustle he was pushing here, the employment agency couldn't pay him cos his account was locked down
Trying to open accounts with other banks threw up his pending case with Barclays as a red flag
Eventually the SUG had to take up his case with them with Barclays paying some compensation for his ordeal
Pray what kind of RESPONSIBLE institution would lock down a foreign student's account for that amount of time without access to his funds
And even when the student was the one to alert you to suspicious activity on his account?
Yes do your investigations but be prompt about it cos the UK is so unforgiving when the time comes for one to pay his bills
Na that time you go know say people dey sweat in sub zero temperatures

worry359: We have told you but to repeat!
Get hotel room for 1 or 2 weeks when you arrive.
Talk to people at university, talk to students union, look around local shops.
Then you will find suitable accomodation.
There is plenty there but if you rush to book something from Nigeria you can burn your fingers.
(Also I think that 45 min is too far, you can do better than that!)

@ pete, how body?
Been a while
Hope you dey kampe

@ thread, it beats me hollow why incoming Nigerian students think they can just waltz into UK and pick up accommodation without wanting to shell out on hotels prior to picking up the accommodation
If you have 'reliable' people in the UK, it helps out yet the UK is a different kettle of fish to Naija
But if not, book a hotel or bed and breakfast to bed and then go view all those accommodation you have been viewing using the Internet
The UK is quite organized and you might even get something better than your 'online' accommodation viewed portfolios
Don't be stingy, spend a little money on hotels/bed and breakfast outlets for the first few days
So you don't regret whatever accommodation you choose afterwards as tenancy contracts/agreements are quite binding here

Bambamzzzz: Happy Sunday my oga's in the house,kindly advise me if its okay to stay where its 45mins by bus to my school? please because i have no experience

45 mins is too FAR
BTW, you've been given good advice

@ Don, thanks for asking after my welfare
No its not about any form linking jo!
Card wey I still take pay for air ticket from my savings account a day before departure
Only to enter UK see say the same card no gree comot chedahs again
Abegi!

cookies: Hello house, please which bank in the Uk will you advice me as a student to open an account with?

Based on personal experience, Lloyds

DonOms: #275.9 per pound on GT Mastercard + #420 charges. (31/08/2014)

By the way, GTBank doesn't force you to link your current account to your Debit card. When you fill the form for a card to be issued, you have an option to tick "card linking." I have both accounts but my current isn't linked to my savings.

Thanks Don
How body?
Seems the rate is finally going south (downward)
After I don nearly finish my program and am now rounding up
God punish devil

I don't know about card linking cos I did not request for, nor do it
But what I do know was the card was issued on my savings account long ago
I opened a current account quite later on and declined a fresh card issue ( not that they'll issue another Naira Mastercard though or do they)
Before I left Naija, all my transactions ran through my savings account cos the current account was opened mainly for dividend payments
But found when I tried to withdraw with the card here last October, the ATM kept saying insufficient funds
I was almost bunkers knowing I had more than enough funds in my savings account
Only to call GTConnect and be told the card now linked to my current account as that is their standard practice
Also that I should transfer funds from the savings to the current account so as to make withdrawals here
Even it was over the phone they helped me open and I received my Internet Banking details as I told them I didn't activate Internet banking before I left
Biko, how is it that your card is not linked to your current account?

Thanks for the insight Spikes
And to think no one dropped this 'revelation' here since
Na wa O!
I used to think POS was limited to only retailers and supermarkets
Didn't know your bank could do it too
Thanks once again
Though a coursemate who just returned from Naija on Wednesday was telling me today that pounds has spiked afresh
I disbelieved him cos he spit 292/3 naira black market rate at me seeing my GTB transaction of about 2 weeks back was 278.8
Anyone here to to confirm the current pounds to naira rate please?

spikesC: Instead of withdrawing from ATM and depositing into your account, you just walk straight into the bank and ask to make a deposit into your account via POS/debit card.

Cool
And GTBank will even pay you for this?

spikesC: Nope, they're not.

One thing you can try is to deposit money into your UK bank account via POS
The charges should be low and you even get cashback from GTB

Explain better please
I normally withdrew about 790 quid from RBS [that's the max any ATM allows here], deposit in my account here for spending till it runs low and I do it all over again

angelTI: God bless him for that!

True but how many Nigerians can do that?!
Look at the white man in the face, spit in it, hiss at it , say phuck you slave of mama Charles, pick up his bags and leave the UK?
Not many!
Cos I see many of my black brothers daily kissing white ass in varying degrees

angelTI: Second class citizen in another man's land? Tufiakwa!

You can say that again
I personally know someone who resigned his commission with the British Army because of racial bias
He had his indefinite leave of stay in the UK revoked but he prefers to have his dignity over that

spikesC: None.
I just traveled with my mastercards and transferred my pounds to my brother's UK account.

Thanks for the info you are passing across regarding the rate of naira to pounds
Hope those cards are not linked to a current account like my GTB mastercard
Without informing you, GTB migrates your Mastercard account from your savings account to a current account(once you open one) just like that
Imagine after charging me 400 for withdrawing , I get hit with about 1400Naira COT charges
Crazy innit!
Bladwy banksters!

Nicur: Please i will like to know the cheapest ticket price from Nigeria to Newcastle Uk and which airline to use or in summary the travel cost from Nigeria to Uk thanks.

One way cheapest ticket is Emirates but hope you like long stopovers
Return ticket cheapest is KLM or Air France

paradisewoods: Emirate is the cheapest. 95k, Thats the one I will be booking cos I am heading to Sunderland. travelstart.com.ng

How long is your stopover?
Under 8 hours or 23hours 45 mins?

Schools are closed but Jonathan and his TAN cohorts are holding political rallies in a Port Harcourt where the Ebola virus has recently touched down
Hmnn!

Blockus: If you think these devices are over priced and hyped, try checking how much a simple Bang and Olufsen earphone costs or how much a vertu phone costs then you would know what over priced and hyped means.

Don't bring B&O into this as they are targeted at a specific market segment unlike the products mentioned by the OP which are targeted at the mass market
Even at that, have you seen the production of B&O products?
Boy, the stress tests those products go though and the attention to detail put to each product is something else
Regardless of the aesthetics and quality, their pricing is quite step for someone like me but not for those with deep pockets
Be that as it may, Samsung S3 and S4 had $241 and $244 production costs yet cost minimum of $600 (depending on the country you reside with a price of over $900 in Russia) when they came out
Let's not even talk about Apple Inc
If that is not greedy overpricing, tell me the name you'll call it

Nigeria never fails to amaze
That's why sports writers sometimes refer to the sports minister as the Minster of Football
We get a new sports minister and in under 6 months, we have issues in the running of our football administration
Who does not know that it is the witch that shrieked last night (new sports minister) that killed the child in the morning (NFF palava)
When will we learn that FIFA doesn't tolerate government interference in running of football matters
Anyway, if Fifa bans us till kingdom come, the consolation is that European leagues have started again

I never thought the day would come I'd say this but, THANK YOU GIROUD!
Its apparent from today's match that we need a new striker to slug it out with Giroud because Sanchez can't play top 9
Arsene Wenger, don't dull!

kaypumpin2: Miraculous how we got a point off that shambolic and laboured performance.Every single player looked off pace like they a crazy night at a stag do.
I am a but confused too, if we didn't get Cesc back because we have Ozil for his position, why shunt the same lad to the flank?

Ozil played from the left flank for Germany at the World Cup na!
Or have you forgotten?

I never thought the day would come I'd say this but, THANK YOU GIROUD!
Its apparent from today's match that we need a new striker to slug it out with Giroud because Sanchez can't play top 9
Arsene Wenger, don't dull!

DonOms: @ochukoccna: How are you? I trust you're well and having fun. The GTB rate as at 14th August is #277.7 per £. I've not noticed it go past #278.5 lately except it does this week.

The Don!
How you dey?
I had made my transaction (before reading your post) and its 278.8 as at yesterday wit their usual 420 naira service charge
Still better than last month's 286
How project things, hope its not so stressed
Me too am feeling the project heat

In sane climes, the government (especially at the federal level) would have been called to task by civil society and the populace for rising debts without commensurate improvement in the lives of the people nor in public infrastructure (schools, roads, hospitals etc.)
But this is Nigeria where next week will birth another scandal in people's consciousness without adequate responses
This week its the ill funding of troops fighting the insurgency in the North East
Some time back it was missing $20 billion
Prior to that was the fuel subsidy scam
This above are all interspersed with different other scandals yet the youth whose tomorrow is been made desolate are continually willing serfs in the hands of those who rob their tomorrow.
Also it is under the watch of Ngozi this things are happening
Under OBJ she sold us the dummy of infrastructure been improved once we paid off our debts
Now we hear the burrowing would help us develop infrastructure
Yet its mainly politicians who are having their stomach infrastructure bettered
Shame!

paradisewoods: Please is there anyone In University of Sunderland on this thread? I searched for accommodation of spareroom.co.uk , I ve seen my preference but I dont get replies from the mail I send to all the landlords Please is there anyone In University of Sunderland on this thread? I searched for accommodation of spareroom.co.uk , I ve seen my preference but I dont get replies from the mail I send to all the landlords

I don't know about Sunderland landlords but the little I've seen and know about the UK makes me know that phone calls are the fastest way to a landlord's attention
That been said while spareroom does help, why not bookmark those 'preferences', fly into the UK, lodge in a booked hotel or bed and breakfast (recommended by your school of course) for a few days , map the terrain and inspect those preferences before signing, paying money and committing yourself as tenancy contracts are quite binding in the UK
Also most University towns have to let signs on houses, windows, the school transport hub, local grocery stores etc
The student union MAY also be of help
Wish you the best in your quest!

pansophist: As for me, I am fine with my GT mastercard. I get money sent to me from Nigeria directly to my account and I withdraw from abroad anywhere I find an ATM machine. I can withdraw in weekends anywhere and anytime and no sending fee from the sender, only 420naira withdrawal charge. I can also travel to another country and withdraw there unlike western union where I have to collect in the destination country.
GT mastercard is still the best if you know whats up

GTB Mastercard (and other Nigerian banks) are rip offs
Apart from having higher exchange rates that the prevailing one back in Nigeria, they also slam you with their charges for withdrawing with your Naira card

Oh I understand better now, thought your pounds account was with GTB
And to think GTbank has a London branch , yeye scammers!
Don’t have a 1st bank dom account as 'the 2 references who bank with us' demand by Nigerian banks is really a hassle
Its time the CBN looks into and modifies it

^^^^^
Probably would have to try out out banks regarding this BTA/PTA thing when another juncture arises
Be that as it may, we are spiting the same thing on GTB
They were even nice to tell you to use your cards unlike been introduced to their in house black market Aboki
Wish they could issue Pound dominated cards seeing I too have a GBP account with 'em
Would really smooth things over

Black market of course!
Forget that bank thing jo!
Seeing banks direct you to their in-house black market Aboki when you need BTA!
When I was travelling I was like WTF when GTB Opebi pointed me to an Aboki yet here I was,student who had legit travelling documents dreaming of CBN rates
I roused myself to reality and sought out the black market dudes in my hood
BTW, I'm thinking of using my Nigerian bank card here this week and want to have an idea of what the black market rate is like
This is to help me calculate how much Nigerian banksters creamed off me when I do my transactions

^^^^^^
Emirates would be your best bet for the cheapest one way tickets
But you go wait tire for Dubai
BTW, Wakanow is a good site to compare tickets across different carriers
However use stealth mode [private window browsing when on the site]
I learnt all those flight and vacation sites use the cookies left on your system (if you use regular normal browsing) to track returning site users and give you even higher ticket price quotations

@ thread, BTW, anyone with RECENT and CURRENT pounds to naira rate i.e. if you are buying?

Emmagency: Yeepa! and what happens if it happens that someone gets asked for it and you cannot provide it?

sukber: Baba SpikeC and Justwise, I hope there is no pblm with travellin with a one way ticket ooo? Cos m seein d issh abt return nd one way ticket on this thread.
This is not my 1st tym travelling 2 d UK, does dat affect me 2?

Students on programmes that last beyond 6 months are rarely asked about evidence of a return ticket
I was in 9ja about 3 months back and wasn't asked at the point of entry to show such during my return though I had travelled back into the UK using an Emirates one way ticket because I was short on cash then as I didn't book on time and had crazy ticket prices been thrown at me a week to departure
Tickets of 200 and 210 was now 260k!
In hindsight, if I had booked on time, na KLM (or Air France) O!
A tip I leave, BOOK EARLY ENOUGH
BOOK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

@ emmagency, cheapest one way tickets is usually Emirates but has long stopovers of about 7-8 hours (Qatar Airways too dey cheap but longer stopover)
Air Maroc seems cheap too but I've never flown with them
Personally I would recommend KLM which have shorter transit time and they also fly into Europe unlike the middle Eastern carriers but their ticket make sense when you buy a return which you seem averse to
Most good carriers have pricey one tickets to which adding $100-200 when purchasing would get you a return ticket
Personally I prefer buying return tickets as they can be extended to a new travel date for (a little fee) if the prior indicated return date doesn't fit your schedule
Also it helps a lot if you are short on cash when you want to return
Do what seems best to you because, na your money after all

blessedfavoured: Does anyone here know if gtbank mastercard or diamond Visa card work on uk ATMs?
Just want to be sure, someone told me sainsbury's only.
And charges too.
Thank you !

3sha4lyf: I thought it was only me that noticed that. Actually thought gtb was being racist to uk cash points. Loooooll. Just kidding. But then, that bank ehhhh.

All 'em 9ja banks are scammers
I thought Fidelity would give better rates but found GTB (which overcharges) was better
Also GTB migrates (without your knowledge) your ATM card from a savings to a current account (if you run dual accounts with them) so they can charge you COT
Phucking crazy banksters!

Has anyone seen the so called 'Supermoon' tonight?
Just stepped out of the crib now and all I could see was clouds covering the moon

cookies: My people, please who's heading to university of wolverhampton? I'm meant to arrive in 3 weeks time & need to make enquiries especially concerning accommodation.

From what you typed, I take it that you are seeking private accommodation
I'd advice you to book an hotel in advance (seek if your school has a recommended list of hotels along with bread and breakfast outlets which are cheaper) to have somewhere to arrive at
But start your house search from Naija using the Internet
A good site to look at is spareroom.co.uk (flatmates.com)
Just bookmark the accommodation offers you like and meets your budget, get into the UK, inspect them and choose before paying
You might reach out to your school if they have a list of recommended private landlords
The student union can also be of help, so find out
Lastly, go through this thread's prior pages cos this question must have been asked here before
Cheers