How to Avoid the Skyrocketing Airline Fees

The airline fees are soaring high for the last few years, posing a serious problem for the air travelers. If you are not careful enough, you may end up paying for the amenities, which were once free. However, there are some effective ways to arrest the costs for domestic flights, which involve some simple advance planning.

Avoid checking your bags

Simply do not check your bags in order to avoid the checked baggage fees. The fees for the checked bags have jumped about $5 to $10 on most carriers since 2008 and many carriers are now even charging fees for second bags. So try to buy a lightweight yet sturdy bag that will synchronize with the majority of airlines’ carry-on allowances. This way you can avoid paying hefty additional fees and will not have to wait at ticket counters for checked bags.

If You Must Check Bags, Check Wisely

If you are sure about checking your luggage, be aware to factor those extra costs ahead of time. If you are carrying heavy luggage, then check out United’s “Premium Baggage” program, which was launched in October 2009, allowing travelers to cough a $349 fee up front, then fly their luggage, along with those of up to eight person on the same reservation fee, free for an entire year. Take notice of your credit card policy, for many American Express card variations allow free or reimbursed check-ins. Also check out your hotel because many hotels offer reimbursement on luggage fees for guests holding visa cards.

Check in online

Remember, that if you are opting for preferred seat selection, which means seats providing extra legroom or those associated with priority boarding, the domestic airlines will make it chargeable. If you are travelling on Air Tran, you need to cough $20 for an exit row seat and on Jet Blue $10 is charged for some additional legroom, where as the charge for early boarding and front of plane seating will cost you $9. If you are not willing to pay this excess cash on this additional airline fees, check in online just prior to your flight. Try to book seats at the back of the flight to bag the extra luggage space, for you will usually board first.  

Enjoy a sound sleep

If you wish to take a nap on flight, carry an inflatable pillow, which are quite comfortable and more hygienic than the airlines’ recycled arsenal. You can get them at many travel and luggage stores and can easily fit them in your purse or briefcase. This way you can always save that additional $7 to $12 included in the airline fees that US Airways, Jet Blue, Virgin America and off late American Airlines are charging for supplying pillow and blankets.

Trying out these simple steps can help you save some of your hard-earned dollars.

(Source: Hotel & Resort Insider)

Our Top 10 Favourite UK Olympic Venues

Favourite UK Olympic Venues - the Top Ten!

Olympic Park, East London

The London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics may still be a little way away, but work is well under way at the Olympic Park in East London. The site includes the already iconic 80,000 seat Olympic Stadium, the graceful Aquatics Centre and the Velodrome. If you'd like to see the site's dramatic transformation in progress, you can take a tour with knowledgeable Blue Badge Guides. Alternatively get along to the open days from 22-24 July.


Football stadiums, UK-wide

The London 2012 Football competitions will be held at stadiums throughout the country. Catch the games at Hampden Park in Glasgow; Millennium Stadium in Cardiff; Old Trafford in Manchester; St James' Park in Newcastle; Villa Park in Birmingham and Wembley Stadium in London, where the finals will take place. If you want to experience the thrill of British football right now, take a stadium tour or catch a Premier League game.


Horse Guards Parade, London

Beach Volley Ball comes to

10 Downing Street

! That's right - the high-energy beach sport will take place on Horse Guards Parade, the parade ground for the Queen's bodyguards that's next door to the Prime Minister's house. It's an unlikely mix, we admit, but one we're very proud of. Head to Horse Guards Parade on 11 June 2011 and 16 June 2012 for Trooping the Colour, the Queen's spectacular birthday ceremony.


Lord's Cricket Ground, London

Lord's Cricket Ground in North West London will be transformed into an Archery range for 2012. Crowds of 6,500 will enjoy the competition with two fields of play inside the stadium. Visit Lords to see the tiny Ashes urn, hotly contested by England and Australia, the stuffed sparrow 'bowled out' by Jahangir Khan and cricketing kit worn by many of the game's greatest players. You can also tour players' dressing rooms and see the famous Lord's Honours Board that records great performances at the ground. And don't forget Lord's is also Britain's most famous venue for county and international cricket!


North Greenwich Arena, London

You probably know the North Greenwich Arena as the O2 Arena. During the Games, it will seat 20,000 spectators for the Basketball final and 16,500 for the Gymnastics. Outside the Olympics, this huge dome by the Thames hosts pop concerts and is home to the British Music Experience, the interactive, immersive celebration of UK pop.
Hyde Park, London


Hyde Park, one of London's Royal Parks, will host the Triathlon course in 2012. Triathlon is among the fastest-growing individual sports in the UK, and thousands of people will line the route to spectate for free during the races. The park itself is one of the largest parks in London, a haven of relaxation in the middle of the city. Don't miss Speakers' Corner where people come to air their views and exercise their right to free speech, and the Diana Fountain, a memorial to Princess Diana.


Weymouth & Portland Harbour, Dorset

Weymouth & Portland Harbour in Dorset, on England's South East coast, will be the venue for the 2012 Sailing and Paralympic Sailing competitions. Weymouth and Portland Harbour provides some of the best natural sailing waters in Britain and during the Games you'll be able to watch the action for free. If you'd like to try sailing yourself you can book a lesson at the world-class Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy. This part of Dorset is also on the Jurassic Coast, Britain's first natural World Heritage Site, a stretch of coastline where exposed cliffs and geological wonders give you an insight into millennia of natural history.


Lee Valley White Water Centre, London

The White Water Centre that will host the London 2012 Olympic canoe slalom competition opens to the public on 22 April. It's the only brand new London 2012 venue that non-Olympic competitors will be able to use before the Games. Get in on the action before the pros and try canoeing, kayaking or white water rafting at this state of the art facility in the Lee Valley Park.


Wimbledon, London

Wimbledon in South East London will be used for the Tennis competition at the 2012 Games. Up to 30,000 people will be able to watch the players compete. The sacred turf of Wimbledon's

Centre Court

has seen some of the greatest tennis matches ever played. Highlights at the club's museum include the Championship Trophies, a 200° cinema screen and a 'walk-through' of the men's dressing room as it was in the 1980s, with John McEnroe.


Greenwich Park, London

Greenwich Park will host the Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian competitions, plus the combined running and shooting event of the Modern Pentathlon. The park has got to have one of the best-looking riverside locations in London and is home to the Royal Observatory, the home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian of the World, making it the official starting point for each new day and year. Greenwich itself is a World Heritage Site and is also the home to the National Maritime Museum and Christopher Wren's graceful Old Royal Naval College.
For more information on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sports and venues, visit London 2012

Singapore, Seoul and Hong Kong Soar in Best Airport Poll

A confidential poll has rated Singapore Changi, Seoul Incheon and Hong Kong International as the best airports in the world.

The poll found London Heathrow inferior to Calcutta, Moscow and Johannesburg, coming in at 99th in the table of the world's 146 principal airports, with passengers complaining of long security queues and poor “ambience”.

The Times newspaper also discovered that, despite decades of innovation in air travel, it now takes about 23 minutes longer to fly from Heathrow to Paris that it did in 1979.

The paper published figures from Euro control, the European air traffic regulator, which show that Heathrow’s average delay per flight has quadrupled over the past decade, rising from three to 12 minutes between 1998 and 2009.

The airport runs at 98 percent capacity and handles 66 million passengers a year. So there is only a two percent leeway to cope with any crises.

A spokesman for BAA, which owns Heathrow, told Telegraph Travel, “Heathrow has made significant progress over the past year improving our performance, particularly compared to other European hub airports. Clearly there is more that we can do."

(Source: TravelMole Asia 31 March 2011)

Which Airline was the Most Punctual in 2010?

Bmi regional has topped a league table of on-time airlines from UK airports for 2010.

The list was put together by www.flightontime.info, based on arrival and departure times recorded by the Civil Aviation Authority.

The top 10 most punctual airlines in 2010 were as follows. (The figures show the average delay in minutes followed by the percentage of arrivals and departures within 15 minutes.)

1. bmi Regional 7.1 89.7
2. Eastern Airways 8.3 89.2
3. City Jet / Scot Airways 8.8 85.6
4. VLM Airlines (in detail) 8.9 86.0 3
5. KLM (incl Cityhopper) 9.3 84.7
6. Scandinavian SAS 10.1 81.8
7. Loganair 10.2 86.4
8. Air Southwest 10.3 82.0
9. Air Berlin 11.7 79.1
10. bmi British Midland 11.7 79.2

British Airways came 20th in the table, with an average delay time of 15.1 minutes and only 74% of flights arriving and departing within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.

Virgin Atlantic performed even worse, coming 33rd in the table. Its figures were 26.2 and 61.8% respectively.

Monarch Scheduled was next in the table, at 34th, with 30.4 and 61.2%.

(Source: Bev Fearis, Travelmole.com, March 2011)

The Best of Seoul in Your Pocket

The latest edition of Seoul Best 100, a pocket guide of Seoul's top one hundred must see sights has just been released. The guide gives a great introduction to the best sights of the capital city of Korea and is freely available from Korea Tourism Organization Sydney office.

The pocket zone by zone guide gives detailed information about major tourist attractions such as Seoul's beautiful royal palaces and shrines like Changdeok and the Secret Garden, Deoksu Palace and the Jongmyo Royal Shrine are all in Zone 1. Also in this zone are sights such as

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Seoul City Square

and top tourist attractions like Insadong, the famous cultural street loved by visitors for its art galleries, handicraft shops, excellent restaurants and famous tea-houses. The popular street of Samcheongdong with its many cafes and designer shops and galleries is the latest trendy place to be seen in Seoul.

In the centre of the capital is Cheonggyecheon, the 5.8 kilometre stream that runs through the centre of Seoul with its unique bridges and fountains and is a spectacular sight during the Seoul lantern festival. Also, in Zone 1 for those who love shopping Seoul's south gate (Namdaemun) is a great place to search for a bargain. Selling a wide range of items from clothing to jewellery to Korean handicrafts, foodstuffs, homewares and more the market is a very popular place with shoppers to Seoul. Nearby is trendy Myeong-dong which is especially lively at night with all its bright lights, designer boutiques and is a place where Seoul's lively young people hang out at night.

Zone 2 of the guide takes you to World Cup Park where Korea reached the semi final of the FIFA World Cup 2002 semi-final match against Germany. The Hongik University area of Seoul with its trendy nightclubs and markets is a great place to mix with Seoul's youth and see all the latest trends and fashion.

Zone 3 can take you further out of the city for some fresh mountain air. Visit Mt. Bukhansan or Seoul Forest for a refreshing breath of nature. Dongdaemun Fashion Town in the eastern part of the city is popular for all night shopping, the shops here close at 5.30am in the morning. If visiting with children Seoul's Chrildren's Grand Park is a great place to take them to see the huge aviary with over 800 parrots and an aquarium as well as enjoy musical water fountains and fun park rides.

Zone 4 is the southern side of the river with Olympic Park and Lotte World, a massive shopping complex as well as theme park which is great fun for families with young children. It includes the Seoul Arts Centre, the Kimchi Museum and the famous fashion streets of Apgujeong (Rodeo Street) and

Cheongdam-dong Fashion Street

.

Zone 5 covers the best of nature with Yeouido Ecological Park and Seoul Grand Park and Zoo. Get the best view over Seoul city from the 63 Building on Yeouido Island or visit Times Square, the new urban entertainment cultural space with department stores, cinemas, E-Mart, bookstores and more.

12 Tips to Pack Your Bags for Your Next Vacation

The key to packing is doing your vacation travel planning ahead of time.. With just a little preparation and the following tips, you'll never have to think, 'did I forget my toothbrush' again.

1. Reading is a favourite vacation pastime, but books can be bulky. Consider buying used paperbacks and leaving them behind when you are done. You'll have more room in your bags for souvenirs and someone else can share in a good read.

2. If you travel with glasses or contacts, always bring a backup pair in case you lose or break your primary pair. If you don't have an extra pair, bring along a current copy of your prescription so you can go to a one-hour eye centre to get a replacement. Nothing is worse than not being able to see all the great new sites.

3. It is also important to not travel with your child's one and only special blanket or stuffed animal. What happens if it gets lost in Des Moines? Consider cutting a small piece or two of the blanket off and reserving that for travel. Find another stuffed animal that most closely resembles the one you have or pick a new one, have your child name it and call it your child's travel buddy.

4. Call ahead to see if there is a hairdryer in the hotel or motel room. If your hotel room has one, which all Best Westerns do, you won't have to worry about converters or the extra space a hairdryer consumes.

5. Shoes can get your garments dirty. Consider using plastic shower caps or old socks to cover the soles and protect the rest of your items.

6. Pack empty duffle bags in your luggage. They come in handy for all of the great souvenirs you pick up during your travels and help you avoid shipping items home.

7. Never put your home address on your luggage. Not only is it much safer, what good does it do when you are leaving for vacation? Use your cell phone number so you can be contacted immediately. Leave the address blank or use your business address.

8. Every hotel room should have a plastic bag in the closet for dry cleaning. This is a great bag to use for dirty laundry, damp clothes or miscellaneous items. In fact, it's not a bad idea to stick a few plastic grocery bags down in the corner of your luggage.

9. There's no need to take full size toiletries that take up a lot of room. You can either buy the little travel size items at the drugstore, purchase the plastic containers and fill them yourself or use film roll canisters as an inexpensive alternative. You must however take into consideration the airline policies regarding taking liquids on board aircraft.

10. If you're traveling with small children, consider packing a complete outfit in a resealable freezer bag. This way you can easily get the kids dressed in the hotel room without going through the entire suitcase. They will also be amused that they have their very own special bag of clothes to get dressed with by themselves.

11. A good rule of thumb when traveling with infants is to pack all colour coordinated separates. This way if something gets spilled you only have to change out part of the outfit instead of the entire thing.

12. Pick a colour scheme for your wardrobe and stick to it. This is helpful, because it limits the number of colour-coordinated shoes that need to be packed. If you can get away with only packing a few shoes your bags will be lighter and easier to carry.

Aussies Look for Bargains Above All Else

Two-thirds of Australian travellers enjoy their vacations more when they know they have scored a great deal, a recent survey has revealed.

The study, conducted by a major Internet travel company, also found that 56 per cent of Aussie travellers book their holidays based purely on the best available deals, and not on locations.

“It came as little surprise that our research also revealed holiday package deals are king, with 71 per cent of respondents saying they always look for package deals and want to see more of them,” company representative and Singapore managing director Brad Gurrie said.

“Holiday packages are a time- and cost-effective option, giving you the most bang for your buck and often enabling you to travel further afield.”

According to Mr Gurrie, a holiday for Australians is all about having a “life experience”, be it discovering other cultures or simply “what’s in your own backyard”.

The survey, which polled 1,786 subscribers to the travel website, further revealed that 55 per cent of travellers would book a holiday simply because an offer was “too good to pass up”.

Virgin Blue Uniforms a Pain in the Neck

If it’s not hard enough already being a flight attendant, now Virgin Blue staff have to attend stylish but troublesome new uniforms.
The new uniforms seem to be a big hit with everyone – except, apparently, those poor staff members who have to wear them.

Last weekend Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph got hold of an internal email that revealed staff at the airline have been suffering from “very painful” rashes after wearing the uniforms. They have been advised to wash their uniforms with fabric softener before putting them on.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has received at least four complaints from Virgin Blue staff since the uniforms were unveiled three weeks ago, the newspaper revealed.

Launched in a fanfare of publicity by Elle Macpherson, the uniforms were designed by Project Runway’s Juli Grbac. But they use a lot of polyester, including a 100% polyester lining.

The paper quoted a male staff member, who spoke anonymously, saying how the polyester-blend fabric of the new shirts gave him repeated rashes on his neck. He claimed the uniforms “suffocate” the wearer.

Others expressed doubts about their suitability in an emergency, with a female flight attendant saying the uniform wouldn’t let her lift her arms above her shoulder – and wondering how polyester would perform in a fire.

Flight Attendant Fired After Placing Baby in Overhead Bin

Okay, we love flight attendants and despite what people think, they have a pretty tough job but we just had to go “Doh!!” when we heard the following story.

A Virgin Blue flight attendant has been sacked after he placed a 17 month old boy in the overhead bin during a game of peek-a-boo.

During the flight from Fiji to Sydney the flight attendant and Natalie Williamson (17 month old, Riley’s mother) were playing the child’s game with the young boy when the crew member suddenly picked up the child, placed him the in overhead bin and left him in total darkness for up to 10 second, The Huffington Post reported.

Ms Williamson told media that she was crying and her husband also travelling on the flight was in shock, while other passengers laughed at the flight attendant’s action.
Virgin Blue admitted to the source that an incident had occurred, the crew member had lost his position with the airline and the Williamsons had been offered three free flights which are yet to be claimed by the family.

(Source: eTravelBlackboard 7th March 2011)

London 2012

The royal wedding comes just one year before the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics, for which the country has been gearing up for years.

More than 8 million tickets will be available to the Olympics and 2 million to the Paralympics. VisitBritain estimates that the Games will generate between 500,000 and 900,000 visitors to London.

After the International Olympic Committee awarded the Games to London in 2005, VisitBritain commissioned an Oxford Economics study, which found that the events could generate $3 billion in tourism gains for the country, 54% of which will be realized after the Games are over.

"Part of VisitBritain's strategy is to close the sale after the Games," Clarkson said. "That's why it's tied into a four-year marketing campaign."

But the Olympics have long been a controversial topic within the travel industry, and not everyone shares VisitBritain's optimism about the opportunities the Games represent.

The European Tour Operators Association, for example, has long cited the adverse effects that hosting the Olympic Games can have on a leisure travel destination.

When the ETOA surveyed 200 tour operators at its annual Global European Marketplace event in November, 68% said they expected business to fall off in London in 2012, and among those respondents, the average anticipated drop was 30%.

"No Olympic Games have been able to estimate demand with any accuracy," Tom Jenkins, executive director of ETOA, said in a statement. "Every city has believed that more foreign visitors will come than actually materialize. Thus, the principal danger of the Games is the imbalance between perception and reality."

The Olympics typically present several challenges for the leisure travel industry, the key challenge being a displacement of leisure travelers as throngs of sports fans take over a destination. Many leisure tour operators, in fact, go dark for the destination during the Games.

Another complicating issue is the fact that much of the business surrounding the Games is controlled by the local organizing committee. Indeed, 65% of London's hotel inventory for the event will be surrendered to the London Organizing Committee for the 2012 Games, Rodrigues said.

Yet, VisitBritain remains optimistic about hosting the Olympics, arguing that whatever leisure tourists are lost during the Games will be won back after the closing ceremonies.

Britain: You're invited - Book Accommodation with Metrostar.com

As the U.K. recovers from several years of disappointing visitor numbers, one might almost suspect that Prince William had his kingdom's tourism prospects in mind last November when he proposed to longtime girlfriend and future British princess Kate Middleton.

The royal wedding, which will take place on April 29, provides just the kind of promotional opportunities, media frenzy and public curiosity that destination marketing organizations dream of.

Moreover, it rounds out a perfect tourism trifecta, coming just as the country prepares to host the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games and planning gets under way to celebrate the queen's 60th anniversary Diamond Jubilee in June 2012.

Close to 1 billion TV viewers watched the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer in 1981, according to VisitBritain, the country's tourism marketing arm. This year, VisitBritain is citing predictions that up to 4 billion people, three-quarters of the potential global TV audience, could watch the wedding of Will and Kate.

Given those kinds of expectations, it's little wonder that VisitBritain wasted no time capitalizing on the hype surrounding the royal vows, which it hopes will combine with the Jubilee and the Olympics to create a momentum that will continue to draw visitors well after the final event is history.

Karen Clarkson, VisitBritain's vice president for North America, said that just after William and Kate say their "I do's" in April, "VisitBritain's plan is to launch a four-year marketing campaign that will capitalize on events taking place, including the royal wedding."

The campaign, she said, will be built around the slogan "Britain: You're Invited," a message that's intended to let visitors know "you're invited to join us during an extended period of celebration."

VisitBritain is keeping details of the campaign under wraps until its May launch, but Clarkson said consumers and the travel trade should expect to see it trumpeted across every available medium, from TV to print to social media.

The campaign is expected to pump an additional $3 billion in visitor spending into the British economy and create 50,000 jobs by drawing an additional 4 million visitors to the country over the next four years.

(Source: TravelWeekly.com)

Malaysia Aiming for More Australian Tourists

Tourism Malaysia hopes to attract 660,000 Australian visitors to the country in 2011, an increase of 80,000 on last year.

Speaking at a reception for guests of the Malaysian Homestay Programme famil, as well as to industry representatives, Tourism Malaysia Marketing Deputy Director Dato’ A. Amirrudin said that Australia had long been one of the “top ten” sources of visitors to the country.

“More than 580,000 Australians visited Malaysia last year, an increase of over 9 per cent on the year before … and with the favourable Australian dollar, we look forward to welcoming more Australians to our shores this year,” Mr Amirrudin said.

The lunch, held at Kuala Lumpur’s Seri Pacific Hotel, gave Mr Amirrudin the opportunity to speak candidly on behalf of Malaysia’s Homestay Programme.

“You have to experience the Homestay Programme to appreciate it,” Mr Amirrudin said, adding that everyone involved in its organisation was “passionate” about the programme.

“The success of the Homestay Programme depends on the entire community: the farmers, the police, the manufacturers of traditional crafts.”

According to Mr Amirrudin, the programme welcomed 50,000 participants in 2010, 2003 of which were Australians.

“The Homestay Programme is basically like a farmstay in Australia, but you stay in a village situation,” Mr Amirrudin said.

With a location halfway between Europe and Australia, Mr Amirrudin also emphasised the importance of short-term visitors to Malaysia.

“Around 50 per cent of visitors to the country are from stopovers,” Mr Amirrudin told e-Travel Blackboard.

Following the lunch, the Homestay Programme famil winners were officially presented with their prizes.

Are you an Aussie and looking for a great holiday experience? Even if you are not an Aussie why not check out Malaysia.

(Source: eTravelBlackboard 4^th March 2011)

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