The same as on our hotel and camping resource page, this isn’t a sponsored list, and it’s certainly not another “Top 10” assembled for the sake of it.
It’s the practical side of how we travel as a couple – the hire cars we drive, the connectivity we rely on, and the flights and airports that get us there in the first place – built up journey by journey, from Morocco and China to Croatia and beyond.
As we keep exploring, we’ll add to this page whenever something genuinely earns a place on it. For now, it covers how we get there, how we get around once we’ve landed, and how we stay in touch – with each other, and with everyone back home.
Looking for where we actually sleep at night? That’s over on our Where We Stay: Hotels & Campsites We Actually Use page.
Jump to: Airlines · Airports · Car Hire · eSIMs & Connectivity · A Note on How We Choose.
Airlines
Flights are rarely the romantic part of any trip, but which airline we book can still make or break the first and last few hours of it. Budget and full-service carriers each have their place on our trips.
As a couple, we tend to weigh the same things most travellers do: price (often the deciding factor, especially for short trips), route options (avoiding long transfer times on longer flights), airport choice (we’re lucky enough to have several international airports within easy reach of home), and flight times (usually the main reason we’d pick one airport over another).
Baggage allowance matters less to us than it might to others. On short trips we can often manage with just the free hand-luggage allowance, and on longer flights most carriers offer reasonably similar conditions. If an offer isn’t reasonable, we’d simply look elsewhere rather than negotiate around it.
Seat selection is one thing we won’t compromise on. We always sit together, regardless of what it costs – that’s just our style.
What we actually look for before booking flights
- How easy changes are. Since we plan our longer trips well in advance, timetables can shift. We don’t fly business class, so we don’t rely on airlines’ rebooking flexibility. Instead, we build in some spare time either side of a trip in case a flight lands later or a return departs earlier than planned.
- Realistic connection times. This is mostly something we adapt to, especially on multi-leg trips. We’d rather have a realistic, shorter layover than a long one, even if that occasionally turns a travel day into a stressful one. In those situations, we’d sooner rely on our travel insurance than build in hours of buffer we don’t need.
- Clear baggage policies. We check hold-luggage allowances and cabin-bag rules carefully before booking. This also helps when planning the rest of a trip if internal flights, trains or buses are involved at the other end.
- Reliable seat selection for couples. Being able to guarantee that we’re sitting together, ideally without an extra fee, is a small thing that saves a surprising amount of pre-flight stress. In practice, we’ve almost always ended up paying something for it, though. Different airlines take very different approaches here.
It isn’t easy to compare airlines fairly, so we go on something like an average experience across several flights. What matters most to us, though, is how it feels to fly as a couple – which could be a completely different experience if you were travelling solo or with children.
Ryanair
T42 Vibe – Overall: ▰▰▰▱▱ 3/5
| Category | Rating | Verdict |
| Value for Money | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Comfort | ▰▰▱▱▱ | Fair |
| Punctuality | ▰▰▰▱▱ | Good |
| Customer Service | ▰▰▰▱▱ | Good |
| Booking Experience | ▰▰▰▱▱ | Good |
This is the airline we probably fly most often for shorter flights. Most people would say comfort on their flights is rather poor, but it’s largely compensated for by the low price – especially if you travel without paid luggage.
A couple of highlights from our own experience, both good and bad:
- Ryanair’s headline price is hard to beat if you book well in advance. That said, once you add a cabin bag fee and checked luggage, we’ve had occasions where British Airways worked out cheaper on the very same route.
- The most frustrating part of the experience is the online booking and check-in process, which pushes a long list of add-ons at every turn. Under “comfort”, we’re also counting the frequent delays, inconvenient arrival times and the general wear of a cabin full of tired toddlers.
Worth knowing: if sitting together matters to you, don’t rely on Ryanair’s free random seat allocation. We’ve found the experience frustrating enough that we now treat paid seat selection as part of the real fare. That’s our personal experience rather than a claim about the airline’s intentions – your mileage may vary.
easyJet
T42 Vibe – Overall: ▰▰▰▰▱ 4/5
| Category | Rating | Verdict |
| Value for Money | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Comfort | ▰▰▰▱▱ | Good |
| Punctuality | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Customer Service | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Booking Experience | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
This is our preferred budget airline for shorter flights, and the one we’d choose over any other on a route it covers. It has a noticeably more human feel to it, especially for couples. Prices can be a touch higher, but that’s made up for by the better comfort level.
A couple of highlights from our own experience:
- The cabin-bag policy is much the same as with other budget airlines, but flying with easyJet simply feels less stressful. Flight times also tend to be more convenient than with other low-cost carriers.
- easyJet passengers tend to be quieter than on some competitor airlines – purely our own observation and impression as a couple, but a consistent one.
Worth knowing: easyJet says it will do what it can to seat people travelling on the same booking together when seats haven’t been selected, but it isn’t guaranteed. If sitting together matters to us, we prefer to select our seats rather than leave it to chance.
British Airways
T42 Vibe – Overall: ▰▰▰▰▱ 4/5
| Category | Rating | Verdict |
| Value for Money | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Comfort | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Punctuality | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Customer Service | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Booking Experience | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
This airline covers both shorter and longer-distance flights, and the thing we most appreciate is that service standards stay consistent across both. The main difference is the cabin equipment – for example, there is no entertainment system on shorter flights.
A couple of highlights from our own experience:
- We particularly favour BA for how clearly its baggage options are presented. What is included depends on the fare, though, so we always check the allowance before booking.
- When things go wrong, they tend to go properly wrong. We’ve had a delay that ended up meaning an overnight wait for the next available flight.
Worth knowing: flight times and connections are where British Airways really stands out, in our experience.
Airports
This is a section we’re looking forward to building out over time.
An airport is the first and last impression of a trip, and a good one can set the tone before you’ve even checked in. We’ve passed through everything from small regional airports where the whole process takes twenty minutes and the runway doesn’t even have proper tarmac, to sprawling international hubs where the walk to the gate – and finding your way through a maze of onward transport – is a trip in itself.
What we look for tends to be the same wherever we are.
What we’ve come to expect, more than actively look for
- Straightforward navigation. Clear signage and a layout that doesn’t need a treasure map, especially useful when connecting under time pressure.
- Realistic queue times. Security and immigration queues vary hugely by time of day. We try to note honestly what to expect rather than what an airport claims.
- Decent facilities for a long wait. Somewhere reasonable to eat, free water-refill points and enough seating matter more than duty-free once you’ve got a delay on your hands.
- Ease of onward transport. How simple it is to reach a hire-car desk, a taxi rank or public transport once you land, since that’s often the true start of a trip.
Unlike our departure airport, which airport we land at is usually a secondary consideration. It depends on other factors entirely, such as the airline we’ve chosen, the purpose of the trip and our final destination.
This section is set up for our own airport write-ups and T42 Vibe scores, and we’ll be adding our first-hand experiences of airports across Europe and beyond as we go.
Car Hire
Road trips are at the heart of how we travel – slow, independent and often off the main tourist routes – so the hire car matters more to us than it might to other travellers. We’ve collected cars everywhere from Agadir to the Croatian coast, and picked up a few hard-won lessons along the way.
Like our accommodation, most recent rentals have gone through DiscoverCars.com, with EconomyCarRentals.com our previous go-to before that. We’ve also used EconomyBookings.com and, occasionally, booked directly with a local operator, usually after a good experience or when there was no better alternative.
What we’ve learned
- Read reviews of the local operator, not just the international brand. Standards vary between countries, and sometimes between branches of the same company – we’ve learned this the hard way more than once.
- Inspect and photograph the car before driving off. Every scratch and scuff matters. A short walk-around video before leaving the rental office now takes us a few minutes and has saved a longer argument later.
- Collect the car as early in the day as you can. Daylight makes a proper inspection possible. If collection happens after dark, make sure there’s enough light to document the car properly before signing anything.
- Match the car to the roads, not the badge. A small hatchback is fine on the Croatian coast; a bit of extra ground clearance earns its keep on the Anti-Atlas mountain roads. Neither situation calls for a brand-new SUV.
Morocco
Samicar, Agadir, Morocco
T42 Vibe – Overall: ▰▰▰▰▱ 4/5
| Category | Rating | Verdict |
| Value for Money | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Vehicle Condition | ▰▰▰▱▱ | Good |
| Customer Service | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Collection & Return | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Transparency | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
Samicar delivered the car directly to our hotel in Agadir, with clear communication throughout. The return was also managed very well.
- Hotel delivery – no trek to a rental desk
- Responsive and professional before and during the rental
- Strong value against everything else we compared
Worth knowing: the car had clearly done some miles and showed it, though nothing that affected the drive. If anything, an older, less conspicuous car seemed to attract less attention during the roadside checks we passed through – that’s simply our observation from that trip, not something we’d regard as a general rule.
One of the smoothest hire experiences we’ve had anywhere.
Croatia
Car hire booked through Lastminute.com, Croatia
T42 Vibe – Overall: ▰▰▰▱▱ 3/5
| Category | Rating | Verdict |
| Value for Money | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Vehicle Condition | ▰▰▰▱▱ | Good |
| Customer Service | ▰▰▰▱▱ | Good |
| Collection & Return | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Transparency | ▰▰▰▱▱ | Good |
Competitive pricing and an easy pickup, undone slightly by the return. The handover was a bit slower than expected, apparently because of a previous customer’s complaint.
- Good value for an Adriatic coast road trip
- Straightforward collection
Worth knowing: the return took longer than we expected, thanks to an unusually thorough damage inspection. Build in extra time if you’re heading straight to a flight, and document the car more carefully than usual before you set off.
We’d use them again, but with lower expectations of a quick handover at the end.
Bulgaria
CarRent, Sofia, Bulgaria
T42 Vibe – Overall: ▰▰▰▰▰ 5/5
| Category | Rating | Verdict |
| Value for Money | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Vehicle Condition | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Customer Service | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Collection & Return | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Transparency | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
The only hire company on this list good enough that we booked directly with them the second time, skipping the comparison sites entirely. The staff were always very friendly and professional.
- Free shuttle to and from the office at Sofia Airport
- Straightforward process for a cross-border trip into North Macedonia
- Clear, no-surprises pricing throughout
Worth knowing: on our trip, crossing into North Macedonia meant buying a Green Card, which cost us €100 and felt like a fair market rate at the time. The car also had to come back clean, but Sofia has plenty of self-service car washes; ours cost around €3 to leave spotless.
For us, this remains a benchmark for what a good regional hire company looks like.
eSIMs & Connectivity
Since we started travelling more independently, staying connected has become one of the first things we sort out after landing. Reliable data makes navigation, translation, payments and simply messaging a hotel or driver far easier, without hunting for Wi-Fi.
Whether we’re finding our way through Marrakesh, driving the Anti-Atlas or exploring back roads in rural China, dependable mobile data has become as essential as anything else on this list.
Our approach so far
- eSIM first, local SIM as backup, combined whenever it’s worth the extra step – reliable data plus a local number when we need one.
- A local number still matters in some places. WhatsApp covers most guesthouse and driver contact, but in China specifically, a local SIM can be useful for services that require a Chinese number.
- Get connected early – ideally before collecting a hire car or meeting an airport transfer, not afterwards. It removes a surprising amount of stress later on.
- Think about it as a couple, not two solo trips. Multi-device or shared-data plans can sometimes be better value than two separate packages – something most solo travel guides don’t mention.
Morocco
Local SIM card, Morocco
T42 Vibe – Overall: ▰▰▰▰▰ 5/5
| Category | Rating | Verdict |
| Coverage | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Speed & Reliability | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Value for Money | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Ease of Setup | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Travel Convenience | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
Bought and set up at the airport within minutes of landing. We used this after arriving at Marrakech Airport.
- Widely available as soon as you land
- Strong coverage across everywhere we drove
- Staff generally configure the phone for you on the spot
Worth knowing: bring your passport – we needed it to register the SIM. We haven’t yet tried an eSIM in Morocco, so can’t compare directly, but the local SIM route worked well enough that we’ve had no reason to look elsewhere.
China
We used both an eSIM and a local SIM in China, and the combination worked well: the eSIM kept us online the moment we landed, while the local SIM gave us a Chinese number for services that needed one.
Holafly eSIM, China
T42 Vibe – Overall: ▰▰▰▰▱ 4/5
| Category | Rating | Verdict |
| Coverage | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Speed & Reliability | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Value for Money | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Ease of Setup | ▰▰▰▱▱ | Good |
| Travel Convenience | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
It was live before we’d even cleared the airport, with a built-in VPN that worked for the whole trip. This was the very first time we’d used an eSIM anywhere, after landing in Shanghai.
A few highlights from our experience:
- Strong coverage right across the country
- The VPN worked consistently – not something we take for granted in China
- No need to track down a SIM card on arrival
Worth knowing: setup needs a bit of preparation before you leave home, and we hit a snag extending our 15-day plan mid-trip. Holafly refunded it promptly once we were back, although it cost some time in the moment.
If you need a Chinese phone number for particular services, we’d pair an eSIM with a local SIM rather than relying on the eSIM alone.
Shanghai Telecom local SIM, China
T42 Vibe – Overall: ▰▰▰▰▰ 5/5
| Category | Rating | Verdict |
| Coverage | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Speed & Reliability | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Value for Money | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Ease of Setup | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Travel Convenience | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
This gave us a Chinese number alongside the eSIM’s data – useful for anything that wouldn’t work without one. A local number was needed, for example, to book a restaurant.
- Reliable data on top of a working local number
- Cheap top-ups when we needed more data
- Handy for local apps that expect a Chinese SIM
Worth knowing: the included data in our 15-day package was modest, so we topped up within the first few days – inexpensive and easy to do.
Paired with the eSIM, this was the more complete of the two.
Croatia, Bulgaria & Other European Destinations
O2 roaming
T42 Vibe – Overall: ▰▰▰▰▰ 5/5
| Category | Rating | Verdict |
| Coverage | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Speed & Reliability | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Value for Money | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Ease of Setup | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Travel Convenience | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
This works the moment we cross a border, with virtually no setup – the low-effort option for multi-country trips. We usually restart the phone on arrival to make sure roaming kicks in properly from the outset.
- No activation and no local SIM shopping
- On our plan, roaming in O2’s Europe Zone is included up to the applicable data allowance
- Reliable across the European destinations we’ve tested it in
Worth knowing: roaming allowances vary between providers and plans and can change, so it’s worth checking your allowance before you travel. Heavy data use over a long trip can still hit the cap.
For us, O2 roaming has been the default for years, and it remains the benchmark against which we judge everything else here.
North Macedonia
Airalo eSIM, North Macedonia
T42 Vibe – Overall: ▰▰▰▱▱ 3/5
| Category | Rating | Verdict |
| Coverage | ▰▰▰▱▱ | Good |
| Speed & Reliability | ▰▰▰▱▱ | Good |
| Value for Money | ▰▰▰▰▱ | Very Good |
| Ease of Setup | ▰▰▰▰▰ | Excellent |
| Travel Convenience | ▰▰▱▱▱ | Fair |
Quick to install and ready before we’d even landed, although the connection itself let us down more than once. This may well have been down to local network coverage rather than Airalo’s eSIM itself, but it was inconvenient all the same.
- Genuinely easy setup, with no shop visit required
- Fair pricing for what it offers
Worth knowing: we had several patches where the connection was unreliable – fine for light use, less so if you’re depending on it for navigation or video calls.
For a future North Macedonia trip, we’d try a local SIM or a different eSIM provider instead of reaching for this one again.
A Note on How We Choose
Not every airline, airport, car hire company or connectivity provider we’ve used makes it onto this page. We only include the ones that genuinely impressed us – or, occasionally, the ones that stood out for the wrong reasons and are worth approaching with a little caution.
Where we can, we give a T42 Vibe score reflecting our own experience: subjective, out of five, and no apology for either of those things.
Airline scores weigh value for money, comfort, punctuality, customer service and how straightforward the booking experience actually was.
Airport scores weigh navigation and signage, queue times, facilities and how easy onward transport turned out to be.
Car hire scores weigh vehicle condition, customer service, transparency, value for money and how straightforward collection and return actually were.
Connectivity scores weigh coverage, reliability, ease of setup, travel convenience and value for money – because staying connected has become just as important as choosing the right flight or hire car.
We’ll keep adding to this page as we go – only ever with places and services that have genuinely earned it.
The long way round, as a couple
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About the Author & Travel Philosophy
The author, ainarsbl, is a Level 7 Google Local Guide, Master Reviewer and Expert Photographer with over 1,000 contributions, 200 reviews and 600 photos. His focus is on discovering scenic landscapes, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, cities and meaningful travel experiences for couples. Learn more about the Travel42.uk authors and our approach to exploring the planet together.