VIA CONDOTTI BARGAIN HUNTING

Advantages: Exclusive
Disadvantages: Expensive and pretentious

...Bargain hunting on Via Condotti? Surely that's a near impossibility. Why this is one of the most expen...oh, wait a minute, That should read BAR hunting. Much more sensible. The most famous fashion streets in Rome are the three parallel streets that all run into Via del Corso - Via Condotti, Via Borgognona and Via Frattina. And the most famous of these is Via Condotti, named after the channels that carried water to the nearby Agrippa thermal spa baths. But that's all water under the bridge now...as it were. These days, it's more about channelling hard cash into the fashion houses. It all started back in 1905 when Bulgari (who never learned to spell apparently) was first to spot the trend of people who had almost as much money as they had fashion sense but considerably more than common sense. Bulgari can, I suppose, be considered...

proxam 07.06.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Via Condotti

Traveling Via Vias

Advantages: Lovely beach....the south of France, dahling
Disadvantages: Not much to do without a car

...If you want to bemuse a foreigner, send them to the bit of France from which I've just returned. Not satisfied with the usual 'one name per place' rule, you'll find references to the areas of Vias, Vias Plage and Vias sur Mer (on post cards, in brochures, on the internet) but, confusingly, only 2 different parts of town, the touristy end and the old French bit. ****** Travel We drove Manchester to Liverpool, flew Liverpool to Nimes, taxied to Nimes town centre, caught a train to Agde and then taxied to Vias Plage. Travelling days were long - in excess of 8 hours - but if you live in other parts of the UK, or are happy to pay a little more for your flights you can reduce the trip quite significantly by flying to Montpellier and then grabbing a cab from there. We chose the fun long way round instead, and paid £100 each...

zoe_page 19.08.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Vias Plage

::::VISA ELECTRON CARD::::

Advantages: You don't need to carry cash!
Disadvantages: Many places don't accept it!

...I was reading my guestbook when I noticed a note from lilkayb telling me to get writing, so here goes: ::::VISA ELECTRON CARD:::: I have had an account at Lloyds TSB since I was about eleven years old, this was then known as a Young Savers Account, When you get to 16, it changes to a Current Account. All I had to go with the account was a paying in book and a cashpoint card. When I was fifteen I damaged my Cashpoint card and requested a new one, a few days later I recieved a letter from the bank containing my new card, only it wasn't the card I'd wanted. They had sent me a cheque guarantee card, only problem was I didn't have a cheque book! I rang later that day to tell them what i'd requested and what i'd recieved, the lady on the phone was very helpful and assured that my cashpoint card would be through the post very shortly...

JADELOUISESILVA 24.07.2003 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of VISA Electron

.:: Visa Electron ::.

Advantages: Use abroad and in UK, accepted in most retail outlets
Disadvantages: Not many online retailers accept

...Yep, now at the age of 11 you can claim your own debit card from both Natwest (Solo) and Barclays (Visa Electron). As usual with most banks you get a cash point card, but it is not to useful if you want to use it abroad. So, eventually I got myself an Electron one, and found it extremely handy. Virtually every shop in Europe will accept Electron and most high street shops too. This is because of major card merchant services like Barclaycard and Streamline enable this. But here is where the disappointment comes in. Electron is fine for those who prefer high-street shopping instead of using the Internet, but for the internet, electron is lousy. I could say this about solo - online shops such as Tesco and Sainsbury does will not accept this card, but they will do so in stores. This is no doubt taken as a precaution against under...

tnet9202 16.07.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of VISA Electron

Visa Electron

Advantages: One of the only debit cards available to under 18s
Disadvantages: Not accepted everywhere

...There are only two debit cards that I know of which are available to under 18's, one being Visa Electron and the other being Solo. I decided when I was 17 that I wanted a debit card, as they are so much easier than carrying cash around with me - and much safer too. My bank account at the time was with Lloyds TSB, but they could not offer me any type of debit card because of my age. After finding out that Halifax would be able to give me an account with a Visa Electron card I quickly accepted and opened a new account with them. My card arrived, and I hit the shops! It was so easy to be able to walk around town with my Visa Electron in my wallet and just a small sum of cash for the places which don't take it. I felt safer, knowing that if my purse was stolen I didn't have any cash in there to lose, and that my debit card could...

gem412 20.01.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of VISA Electron

Get Shopping on Via del Corso.

Advantages: Plenty of variety, not all designer, lots of affordable places, food and cinema.
Disadvantages: You might fall in love with designer clothes in the windows!

.... Via del Corso runs from Piazza Venetia, below the Il Vittoriano monument in the center of Rome, all the way up to Piazza del Popolo in the north of the city. It's one of the biggest streets for shopping in Rome and is frequented by tourists and locals, looking for a variety of goods. There are no sites that would be of interest to a tourist on Via del Corso, but there are so many very nearby such as the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and Forum Romanum. So if you're doing a lot of walking around the city, then you're bound to find yourself on this street at some point. It's certainly well worth a visit as it's an interesting street with a good variety of shops and a good atmosphere. We can date the history of this road back to the time of the Roman Empire, when it was known as Via Flaminia and was known to take...

Ottavia 08.09.2008 (29.08.2008) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Via del Corso

Visa Electron: I want one even here!

Advantages: is accepted worldwide, spend what you have, no fee at Ryanair and Easyjet
Disadvantages: some internet and normal stores don't accept it

...Since I have joined this community, I was taken aback from how many of you people don't like Visa Electron. I do agree that they have limitations, but they DO have good traits. I'm Italian and have moved to England a few years ago. It's useless to let you know what difficulties I had when I first arrived, but something that really helped me out was my Italian "postepay" card, a pre-paid credit card issued by the Italian post office. You can charge it with up to ?3000 euros and works pretty well on the Internet and in the shops. Visa Electron prepaid credit cards were introduced in Italy in November 2003, by the Post Office. I signed up for mine in December 2003 and it has only recently (December 2007) sadly expired. I won't renew it, but only because now I have better accounts. One of my accounts, though, has a Visa Electron card...

Kagomesama 24.09.2004 (12.02.2008) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of VISA Electron

Power Off... The Visa Electron

Advantages: Increased Online Security, Will Eventually Replace The Visa, Excellent And Fast Customer Service, Usually A Good Account Package (From My Experience With Barclays And The Abbey National)
Disadvantages: 7.5 million outlets in the UK accept the card. 11.8 million do not, and most smaller shops havent even heard of it. Online usage is still very difficult as most sites still dont accept it.

...The Falcon writes... Whilst the Visa Electron, the new 'Electronic Use Only' card from Visa, seems like a fantastic idea since it offers increased security for internet transactions, and a long needed update to the Visa system, and a host of other things your 'Personal Banker' will speil off at you, the card has one quite major flaw. Unlike its father the Visa, which has become the global electronic currency, the fledgling Electron is not accepted in very many places at all. In fact, apart from your large chain stores like Woolworths and Tesco, it's hardly accepted anywhere at all. And on the internet, which, as the name suggests, is the main area your card is meant to be used, it is hardly accepted anywhere! I do alot of internet surfing and consequently alot of shopping too, at the major sites like amazon...

the_midnight_falcon 14.04.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of VISA Electron

Electron Shock

Advantages: can't see any
Disadvantages: not accepted everywhere or online

...My bank recently issued me with the sexy looking Visa Electron card which replaced my previous multifunction card. And when I tried to make my first transaction on the internet I got to find out how pants it is. Hardly any internet sites can take it and few can accept a transaction over the phone so, what I ask, is the point? It clearly states on the front of the card that it is a DEBIT CARD and as such is really an electronic cheque. Actually it is better than a cheque because it works on an up-to-date balance in your account and therefore, theoretically, it should be impossible to use it if you haven't got the cash in your account (or overdraft facility) to back it up. I wonder why then it is so unacceptable in so many places - including branches of WH Smith who tell me they have no plans to accept it in the near future...

w1ldrover 25.02.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of VISA Electron

Visa Electron - Time for an update!

Advantages: Accepted most shops,
Disadvantages: Can have problems online.

...Well, When I was waiting to recieve my electron card, I was a bit concerned about some of the reviews I'd read - thinking my card was going to be next to useless. However, this wasnt actually the case! I noticed some of the reviews were quite old - and more places seem to now accept this card - so its only fair it gets another review. I've been using my electron card for a good few months now, and have been able to use it in the follwing high street shops wihtout any problems at all... Tescos, Sainsburys, Asda, Morrisons, WHSmith, Dixons, Currys, HMV, Virgin Megastores, Fopp, Orange, O2, GAME, Woolies, Superdrug, and well pretty much anywhere else. The only place I could find who wouldnt take Electron or Solo were Clinton Cards, strange. What about online? This is where the problems start. As its a Point of sale card...

Luke702 07.12.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of VISA Electron