Archive for April, 2009

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Seven Sensible Tips for a Stress Free Holiday in Queensland

Thursday, April 30th, 2009
As I was born in tropical North Queensland on the Atherton Tablelands, and have worked in and traveled to most parts of Queensland, I feel that I can offer some great tips and information for you.

TIP NO 1 WEATHER The weather cycle in Queensland is the same throughout Australia with our summer months being December, January and February. Autumn months are March, April and May and winter months are June, July and August. Spring months are September, October and November and are very pleasant.

TIP NO 2 DAYLIGHT SAVINGS Queensland does not operate daylight saving and local time is always 10 hours in front of GMT. Other states of Australia do operate daylight saving times from the first Sunday in October to the first Sunday in April, so be aware of this if you fly into Queensland from other Australian states.

TIP NO 3 METRIC SYSTEM In Queensland the metric system is used so all distances are in kilometres (km’s), speed is in kilometres per hour and petrol/fuel is sold in litres.

TIP NO 4 DRIVING IN QUEENSLAND Driving in Queensland, Australia and hiring a vehicle - Most hire companies will ask to see a valid un-restricted driving license and if this is in English this will usually be accepted. However if you have a licence which is not in English, you should first obtain a valid International Driving Permit before you leave your home country. Australia requires a “1949 Convention IDP”. And don’t forget, drive on the left side of the road. And always ask the hire company if you are allowed to drive the hire vehicle on a dirt road or you may have your insurance cancelled.

TIP NO 5 VOLTAGE The nominal mains electrical voltage is 230 Volts in Australia. As plug sockets require the Australian Standard plug pin arrangement, travel adaptors can be purchased within Australia, usually at airports.

TIP NO 6 EMERGENCIES 000 is the National emergency number in Australia and this is used for all emergency services including Fire Service, Ambulance Service and the Police.

TIP NO 7 MOBILE PHONE USE Australia has a modern telecommunications and mobile telephone network which includes 3G services to most parts of Qld. Check with your mobile company to see if “International Roaming” is available and this service can be activated for you whilst in Australia. Phone companies operating in Qld include Telstra, Vodafone, and Optus.

INFORMATION ON QUEENSLAND Queensland is home to about 4 million people and is the second largest state in Australia. Areas of Queensland in the interior are vast and sparsely populated, while coastal areas have a denser population. Tourists love the average summer temperatures of 25 degrees celsius (77F) and the average winter temperatures of 15 degrees celsius(59F). Brisbane is the capital of Queensland with about 2 million people in residence.

Queensland stretches from the northern tip of Cape York to the south east at Coolangatta on the Gold Coast. The most popular holiday spots range from the Gold Coast to Cairns in North Qld, which is a driving distance of about 1760klms. However, you can fly into the Brisbane airport in South East Qld, Maroochydore airport on the Sunshine Coast, Hamilton Island airport in the Whitsundays, Townsville airport for North Qld, or Cairns international airport for a tropical vacation. There are about 40 airports throughout Queensland, large bus companies and fast trains available, so getting to your destination is easy.

Most holiday resorts offer a free courtesy coach to take you directly to their door after collecting you from the airport, railway station or bus depot. There are many online places to choose your accommodation from and in all areas of Queensland. Accommodation is divided into several classifications including hotels, apartments, resorts, motels and Boutique accommodation, resort caravan parks and Bed and Breakfasts. As a guide, apartments and cabins tend to have more extensive ‘in room cooking facilities’ for people looking for a self catering holiday.

If you want to explore a part of Outback Queensland, hop on a flight to Longreach from Brisbane using Qantas (2hrs 25mins), jump on a bus tour to Winton and visit Lark Quarry where 93million year-old fossils capture a dinosaur stampede. A museum has been built to shelter and protect these dinosaur tracks.

If you love your comfort, travel in a luxury air-conditioned tour coach or if wanting to be adventurous and drive yourself, hire an air-conditioned four wheel drive vehicle from Longreach. The 179 klm road from Longreach to Winton is sealed but from Winton to Lark Quarry it is a badly maintained dirt road. I learnt the hard way. The red dust seeped into our 1985 Mazda T3500 bus, which has no air-conditioning, when my husband and I traveled to Lark Quarry. The dust was quite unpleasant which is why I suggest you travel in an air-conditioned vehicle. Still, we enjoyed the end result and would not have missed the experience of the Outback.

Winton is known for its water supply which pushes its way to the earth’s crust from three artesian bores, all around 1,200 metres deep gushing at a temperature of 83 degrees Celsius.(195F) The water comes from the Great Artesian Basin which provides water for almost all areas of Australia’s Outback.

Accommodation is available in Longreach and Winton and most of these places will book your tours. Discover attractions like the Stockman’s Hall of Fame, Qantas Founders Outback Museum, the Waltzing Matilda Centre and the School of the Air.

A visit to The Sunshine Coast will give you a never forgotten vacation and you can get to this area on an air-conditioned coach, by rail or a hired vehicle. It is only about a 1.5 hour trip from Brisbane. Or you can fly from Brisbane directly into Maroochydore airport where you will have a large choice of accommodation. Again, most resorts offer a courtesy coach pick up.

When you visit this vast state of Queensland, I hope these tips and information enable you to enjoy your vacation, in Australia, ‘down under’.



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Budget Travel And Vacation In Europe

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
Many budget travelers assume that a multi-city European vacation is beyond their means, but that is often not the case. The large number of budget airlines that have sprung up in Europe in recent years have dropped the average cost of airfare between many major European cities.

In some cases, the cost of coach airfare between major European hubs like London and Amsterdam is lower than a comparable first or even second class train ticket.

And of course flying between cities is far less time consuming than taking the train or driving yourself, and that means more time to explore the places you’ve always wanted to see, as well as more money to spend once you get there.

The key to getting the best airfares, both from the United States to destinations in Europe, and between European destinations, is to shop around and compare carefully.

Most major American air carriers have partnerships with one or more European airlines, and therefore it is often possible to shop airfares between European cities from the web sites of these airlines.

In addition, the major European only airlines all have their own web sites, and most provide for online booking and confirmation as well. This makes it easy to line up all your airfare before you leave the United States.

This is an important consideration, since it is often more difficult, and more expensive, to book airline tickets or train tickets after you have arrived in Europe.

The choice of European cities you plan to visit can also have a major impact on airfare between destinations. Many of the low cost European air carriers are based in London, so it is often considerably less costly to fly from London than to fly from many other major European cities.

Therefore, many budget travelers choose to make London their primary destination, and to take two and three day trips from there to the places they have always wanted to see.

While it is possible to get great deals from other European gateways, it is often more difficult than flying to and from London.

Just as American airlines have their own major gateways, such as New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta, so too do budget European airlines.

Planning your visit around these hub cites is often the best way to get the lowest possible airfares between European cities.

Flying within Europe is surprisingly affordable for way for many budget travelers to get around.

Many first time travelers to Europe, and some seasoned travelers as well, are shocked to find just how affordable it is to fly around Europe.



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Car Hire Price Increase Troubles Holidaymakers

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
With the current cash crisis and other increased costs many of us are worrying about next year’s holidays or may have even resolved that we may not be able to afford a week or two abroad this year. Earlier this year holiday company XL holidays collapsed and many people lost out on holidays or were left stranded all over the world.

Understandably many people are now extra cautious about the budget airlines so that they don’t get stung too, but it isn’t just uneasiness about the stability of travel companies that people are worried about, the great cheap flights boom of the early 2000’s has recently gone bust and with oil prices rising it has left many flight companies that were the cheapest option pushing their prices up to compensate.

Many flights companies have had to pull out or go into administration because of the rise in running costs and so the market for cheap flights has certainly taken a sharp decrease, even more popular and successful businesses like RyanAir and EasyJet has admitted that this year will be very slim with regards to profits.

When people go on holiday in the UK typically many people don’t want to be confined to the hotel or resort that they are staying in and many of us will hire a car to see the most of their chosen destination, many visitors to Britain will also brave our congested road network to see the most of our small island country too.

The problem for many car hire companies though is that as a knock on from the drop in the number of holidays that they simply aren’t getting the business, unfortunately this has meant that many larger Car rental companies like Avis have had to increase the costs to hire a car. It isn’t a massive increase as the industry is propped up by business car hire and courtesy cars provided in car insurance claims but the increase does not lure holidaymakers very well.

The problem is that if trusted car hire chains like Avis push up their prices then there is a chance that holidaymakers may go for cheap, less safe options locally when on holiday. Car hire in Spain is a popular service linked with the tourism trade and many towns and villages will have car hire firms lined along the streets of tourism hotspots.

It is important to make sure all the vehicles are safe and reliable as independent hire firms may be cheaper these days but they may also not measure up with regards to safety and roadworthiness compared to larger trusted chains.



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Car Hire Scams: Don’t be a Fuel

Sunday, April 26th, 2009
Renting a car on holiday is a good way to explore your destination as a native would, avoiding the busy tourist traps and making the most of your break. But, like many other tourist industries, the car hire sector is plagued with hidden fees and little surcharges which can relieve the unsuspecting tourist of a lot more money than they expected.

Aside from the ‘discovered damage’ trick, another all-too familiar ploy is the ‘fuel gauge’ one. Most rental firms stipulate that a car must be returned with a full tank of fuel, or a refuelling charge will be added. This sounds simple enough, but some unscrupulous firms take it one step further; if they can squeeze even one more litre into the tank after you return it, they could charge you a hefty bill.

Like the discovered damage scam, this is easily avoided if you take precautions. When you pick your rental car up, take a photograph of the fuel gauge and the odometer and make sure the rental staff mark these down on your forms. Then, upon leaving the rental agency, drive to the nearest garage and top up the tank, keeping the receipt. When you go to take the car back, go to the same garage and top up once again, and keep the receipt. Give both of these receipts to the rental staff and this will prove that you filled up the car before returning it.

Bear in mind that some car’s fuel gauges read differently to others, and parking the car on an incline could also affect the reading. Topping up the tank on both pickup and collection will take away any doubt that these factors may cause. If you can’t do this, you could arrange for the rental company to refuel upon the car’s return and charge you the difference, but this will often be much more per litre than you would pay at a filling station. Better to do it yourself if at all possible.

Despite the tricks to watch out for, holiday car hire can be fun; the experience of driving in another country is something to remember. Cheap car hire can be booked online, and most car rental agencies offer airport pickup.



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Now is the Time for an All-inclusive Holiday in Europe

Saturday, April 25th, 2009
Many travel experts have recently recommended buying all-inclusive package holidays due to weakening pound against the euro. With package deals, you do not have to pay for food and drink when at your resort and this could save you a considerable amount of money. The reason it will save you money is simple; you have to pay for your food and drink in euros, which you would have exchanged for pounds. Due to the fact the price of your holiday includes all food and drink at your resort, you will not have the extra costs which soon add up.

So you have figured out that all inclusive holidays are the way forward, so where do you choose to go? There are many options depending on the type of holiday you are looking for. Spain has been one of the most popular destinations along with Portugal, Greece and France. If you are looking for somewhere to relax and enjoy the summer heat then you could do worse than choosing one of the beautiful Spanish islands where you can enjoy the great weather, fantastic beaches and clear blue seas.

For those looking for some adventure in their holidays then the Italian slopes may be your choice. Great deals are widely available and offer a more adventurous type of holiday, you may not get 30°C temperatures but you certainly get the mesmeric slopes of the Alps and crisp white snow.

Some people do not know where they want to go and leave the decision to the very last minute. This is very common nowadays and is the reason last minute holidays were introduced to the market with some very competitive deals available, customers can leave it to decide where they would like to go. Adventure or relaxation, whatever type of holiday you are looking for you will be able to find it and with the euro being the strongest it has been against the pound, now is the time to buy.



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Combining Two Airline Tickets Brings Terrific Savings

Saturday, April 25th, 2009
Here’s a tip that the airlines don’t tell you: You can often get great savings on airfares–especially international airfares–when you use more than one airline ticket for the same trip.

But there is technique to it. Some challenges can arise when you use two tickets–but don’t worry, I’m going to tell you how to avoid them right here.

Coming up with possible combinations

When you use two tickets for your trip, you are using two airfares, which normally couldn’t be combined on the same ticket. Typically, this means booking different airlines.

So, how do you find two airfares that are cheaper than one?

One way is to think of popular cities between your origin and destination that you would love to visit. Popular cities usually have more competitive airfares.

For example, you may not find a reasonably priced ticket from your city to Malaga, Spain, but you may find a great deal to Dublin, another fabulous city to visit. And, because Malaga is popular with travelers from Ireland and the United Kingdom, it should be easy to find a cheap ticket from Dublin to Malaga.

You’ve saved a bundle, and enjoyed two destinations for less than the price of one.

Another way to save with two tickets is to use a budget airline for part of your trip.

For example, you probably won’t find good airfares from Raleigh to Mazatlan, but you’ll almost certainly come across low fares from Raleigh to Las Vegas and other major cities in the West because low-priced Southwest Airlines flies these routes.

And, because Mazatlan is a popular destination for travelers in the western U.S., you can expect to pick up a great fare from major cities to Mazatlan. In most cases, these two tickets will cost significantly less than buying one ticket from Raleigh to Mazatlan.

To see where several budget airlines fly, check out the route maps of Southwest, JetBlue, WestJet (Canada), and Ryanair (Europe, Ireland, and the United Kingdom) at their websites.

Consider secondary airports and changing airports

When setting up your two tickets, think of secondary airports and changing airports while traveling, if you really want to save.

If you’re traveling to Europe, Frankfurt, Paris, Rome, and London all offer less well-known airports with incredibly cheap fares to other points in Europe. (Ryanair’s site lists its European airports, which are also used by other budget airlines.)

For example, you may fly into London’s Heathrow Airport from the U.S. on a bargain ticket, but you can fly on to other points in Europe more cheaply if you fly out of London’s Lutton, Stansted, or Gatwick airports.

Many cities in the U.S. also have more than one airport, and usually the lesser known is predominantly used by budget airlines, such as the Midway Airport in Chicago.

Five ways to avoid inconvenience when you combine tickets

Using two tickets does increase your chances for inconvenience, so follow these procedures when you’re setting up your itinerary:

* Plan to schedule at least one day between your two tickets. Suppose you arrive late on your first ticket and miss the departure flight on your second ticket? The airline on your second ticket may not have another departure to your destination that same day, or it may charge you high fees to rebook. You can avoid this potential problem by scheduling your departure for the next day from the outset - and possibly enjoy the sites, a great restaurant, or friends in that city while you’re at it.

* If you must check luggage, plan to schedule at least several days between your two tickets. I always recommend that you pack everything you need in your carry-ons, but I realize this is not always possible. So, if you must check luggage, plan to schedule at least several days between your two tickets.

Since you cannot check your luggage from one airline to another when using two tickets, if your luggage is late, the airline on the second ticket may not be obligated to send your luggage on. So, if you are still in that city when it arrives, you will be able to pick it up yourself. (You can see how picking a city you’d love to visit fits in quite well with this strategy.)

And speaking of luggage, be sure to check the limits on luggage size and weight with all airlines. The rules occasionally change within the U.S., and note that airlines outside the United States have far more restrictive limits on luggage size and weight for both carry-on and check-on luggage, when your ticket does not start or end in the U.S. The penalties for noncompliance can be steep.

* Consider asking a travel agent to set up your itinerary. What if you pay for one ticket and then find that the other ticket is suddenly unavailable for the price you expected? No airline price (even one displayed clearly online) is guaranteed until it’s paid for.

Because of this, you may wish to use a travel agent for two tickets. In most cases, he or she can void the first ticket if you are unable to get the second ticket.

On the other hand, if you’re flexible about your dates and airports, you may wish to go for discounts on Priceline and other online sites for maximum savings.

* If you’ll be switching airports, find out how much time you’ll need. Research the amount of time you need to switch airports and factor that into your flight departure time. For example, if you arrive in Paris Charles de Gaulle and depart from Paris Beauvais, transferring from one to the other can take hours, unless you choose to go by taxi–quicker, but expensive.

* Although a few budget airlines, such as Southwest and JetBlue, are very financially strong, be sure to check out ones you’re not familiar with. If an airline’s stock price has lost most of its value, the airline may offer more than the usual number of flight cancellations and changes.

Knowledge equals…

Using more than one ticket has helped me afford to travel the world. But be sure to follow these tips to avoid inconvenience. You’ve heard of knowledge = power. Well, here let’s say knowledge = great savings plus smooth traveling.



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Holiday Insurance for Outdoor Adventure Travel: Dare to Risk!

Friday, April 24th, 2009
It becomes quite boring going to the same old places where you shop till you drop; see cars end to end and high-rise buildings in the name of a holiday. Adventure travel is nowadays being taken up many people as they want to experience life on the risky side. But dare not think of that without holiday insurance for outdoor adventure travel.

When it comes to adventure, many different things can come to your mind as per your risk-taking capacity like parasailing, paragliding, bungee jumping, rock climbing, trekking, white water rafting, etc. but as we enumerate these activities, we also realise that they actually involve a lot of risk and we can even end up in a hospital in a foreign land if a mishap happens. So it is better that the traveller buys himself holiday insurance for his outdoor adventure travel.

All risks involved in adventure travel are covered with this insurance plan. Any medical urgencies arising in these adventures are also covered. Hospital charges are all reimbursed to the traveller which he spends in such a situation. Also, any loss of baggage or documents is also under the coverage of this holiday insurance plan.

Since high risk is involved in these adventure trails, the premium for these insurance plans is also higher. But with the help of in-depth research for a good policy, the travellers can get low premium plans. These can be obtained by comparison and do not cause a burden for the traveller as well. Extra premium helps in getting extra privileges like more sports at no extra costs etc.

For outdoor adventure travel, it is best to avail holiday insurance to safeguard yourself and your finances. This will help the travellers taking the risk have a mental satisfaction about their expenses.



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France’s New Hotel Classification

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
article by Mon “Hotel” New hotel classification in France

 

A reform of the hotel classification has been on the news since more than a year: Indeed until now there were no five stars hotels in France, but since the beginning of 2009 the change is on: Hotels that volunteer will be rated from one to five stars for a minimum of three years and a maximum of five years. The evaluation will be done, at the expense of the volunteers. Moreover the ratings will have to be approved by the French government

The point of this new classification system is simply to mix different point of views related to norms and understand and respond better to the clients’ needs by responding better to the comfort criteria that are a “must have” and other criteria that can please the clients.

The move was of course orchestrated by the French government whose goal is to place tourism “at the heart of the economical growth “ by defining a new political plan concerning tourism: “destination France 2020 “the matter was discussed this summer at the “Assises nationale du tourisme” that took place this summer.

The challenge is to support tourism which is the first industry of France: With the globalisation and the client’s changing needs France has to be competitive with other destinations concerning the clients’ behaviours and needs. (Not having a five star rating is a serious handicap considering that the client doesn’t always know the fact that France’s highest class of hotel is “four star luxe”).

Objectively what is going to be different about this new classification?

Firstly it is interesting to know that it is the first time in twenty two years that the classification grid is being changed: And indeed clients needs have changed a lot in twenty two years!.

The new classification is bringing major changes to satisfy the clients: - no star hotels will disappear: The hotels that volunteer will all be classified one star consequently a fifth star has been added to replace the “four star luxe” appellation. This is useful to hotel owners; it will allow French hotels to be competitive compared to hotel in competing countries. - The new classification system promises to be more exigent : let’s do a little comparison with the old classification

Old classification New classification For a first star rating 30 criteria were needed First star rating:61 criteria needed For a two star rating 30 criteria were needed two star rating:68 criteria needed For a three star rating 30 criteria were needed three star rating:75 criteria needed For a four star rating 33 criteria were needed Four star rating:94 criteria needed For a four star luxe rating 33 criteria were needed Five star rating:124 criteria needed

The classification will also comprise of optional points: Every hotels that volunteer to get reclassified will have the chance to have optional points, these optional criteria will give establishments the chance to differentiate themselves from their competitors and to show the client the diversity of French hostelry (These optional criteria will not be imposed, hotel managers will choose them). Let’s take a moment to summarise and understand this new classification: To be rated hotels will have to respond to the following exigencies: - they will have to be compliant to a number of obligatory criteria (See above page) - they will have to be compliant to a number of optional criteria

These criteria will give hotels points, and it will be the points that will be taken into account for the ratings:

To be rated “one star”, 141 obligatory points will be needed with an addition of 24 personal, optional points to the hotel. To be rated “two star”, 161 obligatory points will be needed with an addition of 24 personal, optional points to the hotel. To be rated “three star”, 177 obligatory points will be needed with an addition of 24 personal, optional points to the hotel. To be rated “four star”, 226 obligatory points will be needed with an addition of 24 personal, optional points to the hotel. To be rated “five star”,298 obligatory points will be needed with an addition of 24 personal, optional points to the hotel.

Note: hotels will be given a 5% flexibility margin: if they can not comply to all the points needed to be rated in one category they can make up for these criteria by adding optional points ,but optional points and obligatory points do not have the same value: One obligatory point is equal to three optional points. The heart of this new classification is the client: While the previous classification paid particular attention to surfaces and equipments the new classification pays particular attention to services proposed to the client (in addition to paying attention to the equipment and surfaces.) In addition to that the client will be informed about the new classification and can be solicited to make suggestions about it. Note: hotels will be given a 5% flexibility margin: if they can not comply to all the points needed to be rated in one category they can make up for these criteria by adding optional points ,but optional points and obligatory points do not have the same value: One obligatory point is equal to three optional points. The heart of this new classification is the client: While the previous classification paid particular attention to surfaces and equipments the new classification pays particular attention to services proposed to the client (in addition to paying attention to the equipment and surfaces.) In addition to that the client will be informed about the new classification and can be solicited to make suggestions about it. monhotel.fr

In terms of competitive positioning a change was inevitable: The hotels of the world’s first tourism destination could no longer afford to avoid comparisons with their international competitors! Indeed the creation or more appropriately the adoption of the fifth star will change this fact.

What exactly does the fifth star represent? It will represent the best of French hostelry, the fifth star will be the distinction of excellence and it will of course offer a better readability to international clients. What exactly does the fifth star represent? It will represent the best of French hostelry, the fifth star will be the distinction of excellence and it will of course offer a better readability to international clients.

monhotel.fr

A new classification procedure: If the new classification is supposed to make French hotels compliant to international standards the attributions of stars would also be made according to the techniques used by our international competitors. The evaluation will be done by specialised audit firms which will visit hotels regularly and will be more or less exigent (depending on the rating of the hotel), moreover surprise visit will be made to hotels rated four stars and above

Every five years the classification will be subjected to changes (according to the progress or regression of the establishments).

The “Agence de developpement touristique” or Tourism development agency in English will have to support the procedure and animate it. Transition phase:

Given the time that hotels will need to adopt the classification the new and the old classification will co exist during three years strating from the publication of the “Loi Tourisme” or tourism law (which I will present later in this article). After three years the old classification will cease to exist.

A point on investments: As I said earlier the point of this classification is mostly to modernize French Hotels and it will ssdetermine new economical parameters on which establishments will build their new economical system, and to build a new economical system one needs funds. Two organisms will help hotels to find funds:

-OSEO

-caisse des depots

The Loi Tourisme

This law will modernize the regulations for professionals working in the travel business to allow them to be more competitive in the international sector. This law’s aim is to make easy the sales of tickets for travel agencies: -this law will suppress the four steps that one had to pass to have authorisation to sell trips - Every operator wanting to sale trip formulas will have to declare his activity to a national register managed by the future “Agence de developpement Touristique”. The law will be according to reports constituted of thirteen articles.

an article by “Mon Hotel”

Don’t forget to visit our website: monhotel.fr





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Budgeting for Low Cost Travel Around the World

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
The Phenomena of the Low Cost Budget Airline has certainly come of age in the last couple of decades and unless you happen to have been on the moon for the past 10 to 15 years you will have been aware of the rapid increase in the number of these travel operators.

Nowadays some air line brand names such as Easy Jet and Ryannair sit alongside the major brands such as British Airways and Air France.

The trouble in the past was that the majority of the low cost carriers only serviced the smaller domestic markets of Europe. Now they appear to be almost everywhere and the distinction between Travel Company and Airline has become distinctly blurred in recent years.

But alongside the likes of Southwest Airlines in the United States, other low cost airlines have begun to appear on a regional basis worldwide.

However it is in Europe that the Low Cost Budget Airline reigns supreme.

At the last count and when we carried out a quick survey recently we found that there were approximately fifty such airline operations throughout Europe flying to an ever increasing and varied range of destinations.

In Europe the main Low Cost Carriers an certainly the best known are Easy Jet and Ryannair. Easy Jet claim to be the most “webbed” airline in the world and no this doesn’t refer to strange aspects of the staffs feet (I am sure they are not webbed honestly) but rather that due to the fact that every Easy Jet plane has a massive web address “easyjet.com” plastered along its fuselage just in case you were one of the unfortunate ones and forgot their web address – as if? Apparently nearly 90% of its bookings come via their web site and this brings about it massive reduction in costs of scale.

The main routes that Easy Jet covers are from their main hubs at London Luton and Gatwick airports. Now here is an interesting if not slightly “anorakish” fact and that despite the size of the Airport, the amount of Traffic it handles, Easy Jet is, apparently the second largest Airline and London Gatwick Airport!

Easy Jet has hubs at Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, Nottingham East Midlands, Liverpool, Newcastle, Bristol, Belfast, Berlin Schonefeld, Dortmund, Geneva and Paris Orly.

In Ryannairs case as well as now being quite dominant within their own Hub at Dublin, Ryannair now have hubs based at London Stansted and London Luton, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Nottingham East Midlands, Prestwick in SCOTLAND, Shannon in the Irish Republic, Brussels, Frankfurt Hahn, Stockholm, Bergamo (nr Milan) Rome and Girona (nr Barcelona).

It would appear that gone are the days when it was nothing more than a cross between a massive rugby scrum and a slightly contained riot trying to get onto a flight with one of the Low Cost Carriers.

Situations have improved and gone are the days (hopefully) when the likes of Ryannair would just hurl you out of the plane and then in an attempt to make up time, hurtle down the runway in search of the next airport……and forget to unload the existing material and content from the cold hold! This last part is based on a true story; a Ryannair aircraft did once hurtle out of an airport in an attempt to make up time etc only to discover that they had forgotten about the property and belongings for their recently disembarked passengers left in the hold!

Still as we have said, things are definitely improving (or so we hope) so perhaps we will no longer be hearing these sorts of stories any more.

Hope so!



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Holiday Insurance: Protecting Your Holiday Home Against Damages And Claims

Saturday, April 18th, 2009
Buying a holiday home is a big responsibility. You can’t just buy a home and hope that things will turn out just the way you want them to be. To make sure that your investment in your holiday home is well protected, you should get a holiday home insurance upon purchase of the property. Always remember that when it comes to holiday insurance, timing is very important. Note that any incidents that happen prior to the issuance of the holiday insurance is no longer covered by the policy so it is very important that you get a holiday home insurance on your property immediately after buying it.

Things To Consider When Buying Holiday Home Insurance

Before you buy a holiday home insurance, you need to take an inventory of the things that you want to be covered by the policy. A comprehensive insurance policy should be able to protect your building and the contents of that building. Your building insurance should be enough to rebuild the vacation home in the event where if become totally damaged. On the other hand, the amount of the coverage for the contents of the vacation home should be enough to pay for everything you will want to take if you do decide to move house. Yes, insuring everything can cost you a lot of money but this is the only way to fully protect your interest on your property. Note that you will end up losing more money if you do not take a comprehensive insurance coverage on your property.

Aside from getting a comprehensive holiday home insurance coverage on your building and it contents, you should also get an insurance coverage against liabilities. Liability insurance is especially important if you plan to rent your vacation home during times when you do not need it. Note that under the law, the owner of the property can be held liable if a guest gets injured while staying at the property. Since claims for damages can be very expensive, it is very important indeed that property owners get liability insurance.

Checking The Fine Print

Reading the fine prints on an insurance contract is very important. When getting holiday insurance for your holiday home, never skip the fine prints before buying the policy. If there is something that you do not understand in the insurance contract, do not hesitate to ask the insurance underwriter for clarification. Always remember that the things that you do not know about can actually hurt you.



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