A baby's first flu jab needs two doses, switching supplier won't cut your power, and a plane ticket can speed up a visa
A baby having a flu jab for the first time needs two doses, but the health centre may not book the second
In a chat for mothers of babies, someone asked how many doses of the flu vaccine other people's children had been given. The answers varied: some children had two doses because it was their first flu jab, others had one because they had already been vaccinated the year before. One little boy was given the first dose but was not booked in for the second.
“We were told two doses of the vaccine itself, because they'd never had it before (they're 1 year 9 months and 6 years old).”
Translated from Russianpequenos_PT09.11.2026
Under DGS rules for this season, children aged 6 to 23 months having their first flu jab get two doses (DGS announcement on the 2026/2027 campaign). This season children from 6 months up to and including 4 years old are vaccinated free of charge, and the campaign runs until 31 March 2027.
If your baby is being vaccinated for the first time, ask about the second dose straight after the first: the doctor may not prescribe it and the nurse may not book it.
“Our doctor didn't tell us either and didn't write a second referral. Thankfully an attentive nurse let me know.”
Translated from Russianpequenos_PT09.11.2026
According to the mothers, appointments are made through an app: you submit a request, and a couple of days later a nurse calls back and offers a time. Some health centres take requests by email. One family was prescribed a nasal spray vaccine for their two-year-old so the vaccination could be done at home.
“I submit a booking request through this app, and a couple of days later a nurse calls back and offers slots. Appointment reminders always come through the same app too.”
Translated from Russianpequenos_PT09.11.2026
The lights stay on when you switch supplier: many on Reddit move once a year to whoever is cheaper
The owner of two houses in Felgueiras asked on Reddit whether it was worth leaving EDP Comercial for Ibelectra, which has no branches and a poor reputation for customer service. The bill for one of the houses, with a contracted power of 6.9 kVA and usage of about 300 kWh a month, comes to almost €80. More than 60 people replied, and nearly all of them said the same thing: go ahead and switch.
Commenters explained that the wires, the meter and outages are the responsibility of the grid operator E-Redes, while the supplier only bills you for what you use at the tariff you chose. So the power doesn't go off when you switch, and if the supply is cut, it is still E-Redes that deals with it. Newer meters send readings automatically.
“Ibelectra or any other supplier, even a completely unknown one, will only bill you for what you've used, at the tariff you agreed. If anything happens to the electricity supply, that is always handled by E-Redes. So whether you're with EDP or someone else makes no difference.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira08.11.2026
“I've been with Ibelectra for over a year. I've never once had to call them, and I rarely go to their website for bills. My meter is new and sends the readings itself. You can easily change supplier, and while the switch is going through, the house isn't without electricity for a single minute.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira08.11.2026
Many people change supplier once a year or even more often, moving to whoever is cheapest at the time: Galp, G9, Endesa, Ibelectra and back to EDP. One commenter did the sums: the cheapest option was EDP's digital tariff with a 20% discount, at about €65 a month, with Ibelectra at about €70; compared with the current contract, that would save about €180 a year. There is no need to call the retention department, the commenter added: just choose the right tariff yourself.
“You don't need to talk to any retention department. Just move to the right tariff. The cheapest is Digital -20% from EDP, which comes to €65 a month, and the next is Conforto from Ibelectra, at €70. The difference is €60 a year, and compared with your current tariff it's €180.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira08.11.2026
You can compare tariffs in the Poupa Energia simulator, run by the state energy agency ADENE. At the end of October the regulator also advised households to check their contracts.
Visa held up by a ‘technical error’: the chat advises taking your plane ticket and case numbers to the consulate
A Startup Visa applicant posted in two chats at once: two members of the same team already had visas stuck in their passports, but the applicant did not. The consulate put it down to a ‘technical error’ and said to wait for an email, with a week to go before the flight.
Chat members replied that this does happen. One of them had gone to collect a visa in Moscow in July and saw people arrive with similar stories and ask for their cases to be looked into; things moved faster for those who showed a ticket with a departure date. The main thing, they say, is to be persistent.
“When I was in Moscow in July for the visa sticker, people really did come with situations like this and ask them to sort it out. If you have a flight and a ticket, show them, and they'll react faster. I saw it with my own eyes :) But you have to be persistent.”
Translated from Russianleft4portugal09.11.2026
They also advise going on a Friday, when the consulate puts in visa stickers, as there is then a chance of getting up to the second floor. Beforehand, write on a sheet of paper your case number, surname and first name, visa type, email and phone number, and next to them the case numbers and surnames of the people on the same project whose visas have already been approved: it is all one case, after all.
“Give it a try, but go on a Friday: when people come for their visa stickers, there's a chance of getting up to the 2nd floor. But try in advance. Write on a sheet of paper your case number, surname and first name, visa type, email, phone, and also the case numbers and surnames of those who were approved — it's one case for all of you.”
Translated from Russianleft4portugal09.11.2026
The applicant had already been to a visa sticker appointment and was again told to ‘wait for the email’, and now plans to go to the consulate every day until the flight.
“I'd actually just been to the visa sticker appointment and got turned away: ‘wait for the email’. I went because my colleagues got their emails at the same time, and I thought mine just hadn't reached me and we all needed to go for the sticker.”
Translated from Russianleft4portugal09.11.2026
The Caixa app failed on the morning of 9 November but the website worked. Transactions can now be confirmed with biometrics
On the morning of 9 November people in a banking chat started asking whether the Caixa Geral de Depósitos app was showing an ‘unexpected error’ at login for everyone. It turned out it was for many: some could not log in at all, others got in and immediately saw the error. Updating to the latest version did not help everyone.
While the app was down, people made transfers on the bank's website, Caixadirecta. Chat members noted that the app has gone down on Mondays before. By midday it was working again for some, though slowly.
“Caixadirecta online works, I've just made a transfer.”
Translated from Russianbanksdeportugal09.11.2026
“It generally likes to have a lie-down on Mondays.”
Translated from Russianbanksdeportugal09.11.2026
People also noticed something new: transactions that used to require the matrix card (cartão matriz, a card with codes) can now be confirmed in the app with biometrics. According to chat members, the bank sent a notification about it.
“It's working, but the app is still lagging badly... They've added a new option: now you can use biometrics for transactions that used to need the matrix card.”
Translated from Russianbanksdeportugal09.11.2026
Flying alone, you can't take two cats in the cabin: the chat suggests registering one to a fellow passenger
The owner of two cats is moving from St Petersburg to Lisbon in January and flying alone, and asked in a chat about life with pets whether both cats could travel in the cabin rather than one going in the hold.
The answer was that there is no deal to be struck with the airline to get round the rules. The solution is to find someone travelling on the same flight and register the second cat in their name. The cat's paperwork has to be done well before the flight, so asking someone in the queue at the airport will not work.
“You can't make a deal with the airline that gets round the rules. You can find a travel companion, put the second cat's documents in their name, and take both in the cabin (but the documents have to be done well in advance, so just going up to someone in the queue at the airport and asking them to take the animal won't work).”
Translated from Russianportugal_pets09.11.2026
We covered the documents a cat needs to enter Portugal in our guide How to move to Portugal with a dog or cat.
