Protection from Airline Bankruptcy

From tomorrow, 1st November, EU regulations come into place banning hiding taxes and extra charges when they advertise their flights. Theorectically if a flight is advertised at £1 that is what it should cost you. In practice I suspect that won't happen due to choices that you will have to opt-out of such as priority boarding, insurance as well as charges for using debit or credit cards. But it should include the appropriate taxes so unless there is a sale on, you probably won't see many prices under about £20 each way.
There are some other benefits from the new rules. Airlines must charge the same price country by country so a ticket in Spain should cost the same in the UK or Ireland. How they handle changing currency exchange rates between the £ and the € or other non-euro currencies in the EU will be interesting to watch.
And airlines will have to give the EU authorities more details about the finances supposedly so the EU can revoke an airlines licence to fly if they think they may not survive.
About 30 airlines have gone bust this year ( but it is nice to record that LTE is to resume flights from Norwich later this year) and there is nothing tangible in place to protect bookers unless they pay by a credit card. If you book a package holiday and provided the tour operator is ATOL bonded you can get a refund. If you separately book the flight and the accommodation you are not covered unless you use a credit card.
The Air Transport Users Council (AUC), an independent body that looks after the interests of airline passengers, has suggested to the Transport Minister that all airline passengers pay a flat fee for each flight to build a fund that will repay passengers in the event that an airline goes bust. The ATOL levies a fee of £1 per holiday. A similar fee per flight would probably be acceptable to airline passengers if it gave them protection. The airlines would, I imagine, collect the fee as part of all the other charges they collect and remit to the protection body.
This idea seems long overdue to me and the sooner the government and the EU adopt the proposals of the AUC the better.

Shopping Centres, Westfield & Tourism

I don’t like shopping.
Millions do and one of the top listed things for people to do when they travel is to go shopping. Look at the numbers that used to go to New York in the early winter to take advantage of the weak dollar to Christmas shop. Look at the success of Christmas markets up and down the country. (Birmingham is said to have the largest German Christmas market outside Germany)
But its not only for Christmas. When a big shopping centre opens, when outlet stores or out-of-town areas come together like those in Bicester in Oxfordshire or Blakemere in Cheshire, people visit. Contrary to my belief that shopping is hard work a lot of people love it. It becomes a tourist attraction in its own right.
The opening today of Europe’s largest urban shopping centre, the Westfield Centre which covers 45acres and has 265 shops in Shepherd’s Bush in West London will probably become an attraction in its own right like the Metrocentre, Meadowhall, Bluewater and the Merry Centre.
What may be slightly different about this one is potentially the number of overseas visitors who may go there. On one of the TV channels this morning, a spokesman for the British Retail Federation said 200 million visits are made to Britain, most via London and they are hoping for tourists to be part of the 20 million people who are expected to visit it every year. Two new rail stations, an overground one at Shepherds Bush will contact Milton Keynes and East Croydon with the centre and an underground one at Wood Lane. Some £170-£200 million (depending on which newspaper, TV station or website you read) has been spent on improving public transport.
And the publicity has been overseas as well. Westfield, the company, was started by the wealthiest Australian, Frank Lowy, so the Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne Age have both carried stories. There have been stories about it in France, Ireland, Canada and the USA so the tourists might come now that the pound is so cheap against some currencies. Well apart from the Aussie dollar
This year there have been a number of shopping centres opened, Bristol and Liverpool spring to mind. They have done well. We know that in times of a downturn chocolate and holidays play their part in boosting confidence. It looks like shopping does too. And shopping can be part of tourism

Airline Changes Come Fast

Developments have been announced quickly this morning.
Firstly the Icelandic backed Sterling Airways which linked Gatwick with Billund, Copengagen & Stockholm said that it would file for bankruptcy. Although they have looked for buyer, no company has come forward.
Unlike BMI ( who also own bmibaby) who have announced that they have been sold to Lufthansa. The Chairman of the company, Sir Michael Bishop, owned 50% of the company plus one share with Lufthansa owning 30% and SAS 20%. Now Lufthansa will have 80% and, more importantly, those lucrative slots at Heathrow that are so prized. Rumour had it that Virgin Atlantic wanted to buy BMI as well.
Lufthansa, who announced a big fall in profits recently, is getting quite aggressive. They have bought a stake in Brussels Airlines and were interested in Austrian Airlines which is also up for sale.
What happens now to bmibaby?
As a no-frills airline, will Lufthansa expand it, close it and let it operate in just the UK market.

Benidorm: A World Heritage Site?

I thought I must have been dreaming when two newspapers yesterday, the Star and Metro both reported that a French geographer, Phillipe Duhamel, had suggested that the collection of skyscrapers which holidaymakers know only to well were culturally important and merited world heritage status.
To claim that the Benidorm skyline rivalled the likes of the old town of Santiago de Compostela, the Alhambra in Granada, Toledo or Segovia to name just 4 out of the 40 world heritage sites that Spain possesses seems a little blinkered. Or am I?
Pedro Zaragoza, the far sighted Mayor of Benidorm in the 1950's ( who incidentally died earlier this year), devised what became a model for mass tourism and encouraged skyscraper growth. Benidorm virtually originated mass tourism and allowed us of more humble money to join the rich in going abroad for holidays. So it is important and should be remembered if not only by academics. But a world heritage site?
What other modern buildings or streets or towns have been listed. The Sydney Opera House is one and closer to home we have the Blaenavon area in the valleys of South Wales but not Clough Williams-Ellis's Portmeirion Italianate village in North Wales; we have Durham Castle and Cathedral but nothing in Oxford or Cambridge. The choices seem a little strange. Maybe it is down to who shouts loudest.
And Benidorm has shouted!

Choochi & the Flight Delay

Later today we will upload the first results of our flight delay survey that we did with University of Westminster earlier this month. We had quite a list of reasons as to why flights are delayed. But not like this one which was reported in the Boston Globe in the United States.
Choochy, a poodle arrived at Logan International Airport in Boston on Saturday night. And escaped. For the next 17 hours she led her captors a merry dance and managed to delay 8 flights as she played hide and seek on the tarmac.
One flyer who posted a comment on the Boston Globe website (http://www.boston.com/) said that his pilot announced that their plane didn't have clearance to land because of a dog on the runway. Other passengers might have wondered what the pilot had been drinking!
After the newspaper published the story, 27 people posted comments on this story ranging from shooting it to the serious implications of a security lapse. It seems its not only the Brits who love dogs. One comment was that they would prefer a dog next to them rather than "snotty-nosed whining little kid" and another was from a person who had waited 20 minutes while a VIP came and as a result missed a connecting flight. But the person would rather have waited 20 minutes for a dog. And presumably still missed the connecting flight.
So life isn't all doom and gloom. Choochy survived and was taken home by his owners.
So apart from the normal reasons for delays, what is the strangest one you have heard?

Its Half Term: Weather, Travel & A National Day

In my part of the world at least its half term. So as you'd expect the weather has taken a wintry turn and rain has come though not as bad as elsewhere frost and wintry showers are expected for the middle of the week, not just on the stock exchange!
Half term is the only break between summer and Christmas, the longest period without a public holiday in the year and a dispiriting time with dank and dismal weather. So the announcement last week in a written answer by Michael Wills, the Minister of State for Justice, that there are no plans to introduce a national day ( as suggested by Gordon Brown some time ago) is disappointing. Although the kids get a week off, adults have to get through close on 4 months without a break unless they book holiday. One of the proposed days was Trafalgar Day, 21st of October and that was the day the Minister gave his answer! Having a public holiday during half term would give parents the opportunity to take the kids somewhere for the day without having to take time off an break the 4 month winter dreariness. And it would give a boost to attractions and resorts in the UK.
But if there were a public holiday, people need to get to their destinations, the two most popular being by car or train. Last week the government was criticised by Dr Iain Docherty of the University of Glasgow (one of the editors of a book entitled Traffic Jam: 10 Years of 'Sustainable' Transport in the UK) who is quoted by the BBC as saying that the govenment has "got cold feet...when it could have done something" The book says that traffic congestion is worse and investment in railways has been almost completely ignored.
Tell us about it.
So enjoy half term; well the kids might. As for the rest of us...

Cruising with Pele

I was a little slow in spotting this but I mention it here just because it is different.
There have been singles cruises, educational cruises, cultural and lecture cruises and just downright ordinary cruises but a football cruise?

Claiming to offer a first, Costa Cruises have persuaded Pele (a footballer even I have heard of) to front a cruise next year that will be a celebration of him. Joining him will be other “greats” of the football world and there will be conferences and meetings about the state of the game. All will be surrounded by all things Brazilian;- food, dancing and festivities.

But presumably no football because there is no pitch on a ship yet!

Hand Baggage & Security

Queues at airline check-ins seem to be diminishing. Being able to check-in online or use one of the airport machines has helped certain airlines to cut queues. (Charter airlines seem to still have the problem). From check-in at least!
Now they have some delays where you drop off your hold luggage but that also doesn’t seem as bad as it was a couple of years ago.
No the problem now is going through security. No problems at little airports usually although a Gothenburg City queue for a Ryanair flight a few weeks ago took a good while but the problem is at the biggies and those with lots of leisure flights. Luton, Stansted and Heathrow immediately come to mind. At 6am at Stansted this week, it took me about 30 minutes to get through. Maybe that’s not too bad but some people were certainly beginning to get nervous that they wouldn’t make their flights due to the seemingly long queues.
Why is it?
A couple of reasons. The length of time it just takes to get through is an obvious one but the other is the push by airlines to charge for hold baggage which has led to people carrying more and more. This means they search their pockets, take off belts and shoes, jackets as well as unpacking laptops as well as forgetting that bottle of liquid or gel at the bottom of their suitcase. The security people should and must do a thorough job of checking so probably more body searches take place than they did (And given the comments they get, I am surprised at how cheerful on the whole security people are. Much better than immigration people at making you feel at ease.)
A few airports have signs like they do at some attractions saying at this point in the queue you are 10/20/30 minutes from reaching the front. This is helpful in itself for settling those of a nervous disposition and if a person, was available to take those who are really late towards the front of the queue, then that might help.
But surely the biggest problem is that we have removed the queues from the check-in to security. They haven’t gone away just been relocated. And that is an issue for airport designers. To make more space available so that more machines can scan more people more quickly.
Or people will use airports that provide a better service for getting through security.

Hand Baggage & Airline Overhead Bins

With prices being charged for hold baggage on non frills airlines, is it any wonder that people are trying to take on as much hand luggage as they can get away with. Some people seem to be able to travel light and others are taking bags that only Superman could try and get in the overhead bins.

Although Ryanair limit you to 10kgs for hand baggage, I didn’t see this enforced when I flew with them this week. Mind you the plane was fairly empty out and back so there was probably no urgency to enforce it. With others such as easy-jet they don’t mind how much you can take as long as you can carry it.

It means though that space is on a first-come-first served basis. The rest of us who object to paying a tenner or whatever to getting on first have to fit it under the seat or squeeze it in.

In some planes, on one side of the aisle, they have extended the size of the overhead bins to get wheely suitcases side- by-side. Surely the next move is to continue that on the other side and then look at other ways of getting baggage space. After all the more the airlines can get us to carry on board, the less they have to pay ground handlers, the less likely baggage will get lost and the less time we will spent at baggage reclaim.

Toilets!

Adrian spends sooo much time at the airports, however, being male, and I assume a sparse packer, I very much doubt he has experienced the issues females travelling alone have with the toilets at airports.

We are constantly reminded that we are not to leave our luggage alone at any time, so off we pop to the toilets, with hand luggage and 21KG suitcase in tow....

HOWEVER, once there, unless you are a size zero (which i am most definitely NOT!) one has to allow a good 20 minutes to use the toilets. You see, the cubicles that house the toilets are sooooo small, it becomes a task of complicated logic and logistics to negotiate both oneself and ones luggage into the cubicle, leaving some space for the toilet to actually be used.

Almost always travel alone, and thus I have this negotiation down to a fine art:

1) open door to cubicle and lower the toilet seat
2) place hand luggage to the right of the toilet, and suitcase ON THE SEAT (remember not to knock over the bin, which is usually to the left of the toilet!)
3) Enter cubicle, close door, & place suitcase in front of the door.

Repeat in reverse when you are finished!

Why, oh WHY do they not have larger cubicles made available for those who travel alone!?!?!

The only exception which I have come across is at Hamburg airport, where you have a double (adjoining) cubicle with toilet and basin.

Once again, Germans and their efficiency!

Portugal wins but Chiang Rai? Who Goes There?

It's awards time!
The British Travel Awards, (in which you all voted didn't you) will be announced shortly but beating them to the punch have been the Danish travel awards and the Conde Nast Traveler magazine Readers' Choice Awards.
The Danes have voted for Portugal as the best European Holiday destination and quite a few Brits would agree. The readers of Conde Nast Traveler ( can't get used to spelling it the American way with just one "l")however seem to bear no similarity to choices over here. No, their 28,000 plus readers voted for the Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle in Chiang Rai as their top choice. When it came to the top 10 European Islands there were none from the UK or Ireland. No UK or Irish city appeared in the top 10 European Cities.
The top British hotel was the Milestone Manor in London (which was rated equal 47th in the world) and the top Irish hotel was the Merrion in Dublin. (not in the top 100)
I have to say that I haven't stayed in any of the top 30 in the isles or any of the top 100 worldwide!
The readers of Conde Nast Traveler obviously have more money than most of us and probably more time. Am I envious? Maybe a little. But it certainly doesn't show what the bulk of holidaymakers like you and me think.

Fuel Surcharges Drop

Back home from the US now to be greeted by the news that BA and Virgin Atlantic have both cut their surcharges. Virgin started it and BA followed,- with identical cuts of £13 on long haul and £10 on short. These reductions apply to economy class passengers.
For those in business class price drops are lower; £6.50 on long sectors and £5 on short. No reductions by either airline for first class passengers.
Funny how both companies took the same view of how to handle the cuts so that there is a differential between economy and the other classes! Funny how the prices were the same and funny that despite the drop in fuel prices, the surcharges don't reflect those that existed when fuel was last this price.
Yes you've guessed it; there still higher!

An airport to like

This is the last blog from this trip and it comes from West Palm Beach international Airport in Florida where I am waiting to catch a connecting flight home.
There is something wrong.

It could be me. I like this airport. Firstly it's quite small so moving around is easy. Secondly, its not teeming with people. But it has some big benefits. it has comfortable chairs. Armchairs. Wicker armchairs with big cushions for you to sit in and doze. (Some people are and its easy to see why. They are calming unlike most airports I've been though where you get plastic or simulated leather ones which end up with your clothes sticking to you.And not just one armchair but loads of them. There are some opposite where you check-in and even more when you go onto the concourses to go through security.

There are carpets on the floor. Not everywhere but over a lot of it. The rest are quarry tiles.There is also a little golf putting area. Not hidden away but right in the main area next to the lounging area from where I am writing this. And sending it because they have wifi and its free and working.

All in all, I have to say this is what airports should be like. Relaxing, pleasant and functional. Oh well in another 15 hours I'm back at Heathrow. what a difference!

Don't forget your own patch

I write this as I sit in a hotel room before I go and look at the sights of the "strip" in Las Vegas.

It dawned on me as I was writing a brief piece about Las Vegas for CD-Traveller that I knew more about some far flung places than my own village. How many Londoners have never been in the Tower of London or people from Cardiff or Edinburgh been in the castles? I was once in Chicago travelling and was asked for directions. No problems!

In my village I couldn't even tell you which shops were in the high street or give you directions to more than a few places. And yet we have 3 national trust properties within a few miles and I haven't been in any. I haven't been in the small museum in the closest town and I go the shops (if forced) once every few months. Everything else I buy online.

So a little note to myself. Before I start gallivanting too much I will see more of my own little patch of England and see what I am missing. Now doesn't that sound like a New Year resolution? And we all know what happens to those!

Credit crunch - does the uncertainty stretch to your holiday

This post stems from a dinner table discussion on the impact of the credit crunch. A guest (not known for his reticence) was confidently stating the end of the holiday industry as no-one would be spending money on getting away for a week or so. And it is hard to make a cast iron argument against this given the current uncertainty…..but not that hard.

It seems to me that a holiday has become something of an inalienable right over the last 10 years. So providing the low cost carriers survive (no certain thing in the long term with oil prices as they are….even despite recent reductions) and that there is a competitive industry out there offering great value deals, then it’d seem reasonable to assume that we will continue to get away from it all as a tonic to all the doom and gloom we seem set for over the coming years. A quick Google search found this recent article on Travelmole to support my view and this older article from The Telegraph will be an interesting point of comparison next summer.

Perhaps the credit crunch will encourage the next spate of innovation in how to offer customers more value – let’s hope so.

http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1131933.php

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1970474/Financial-crisis-Credit-crunch-fails-to-stop-our-summer-holidays.html

If you don't speak English, forget terminal 5 Heathrow

On Monday, I went to terminal 5 for the first time. Some of you might think I spend all my life at airports but no. The time had come however as my daughter was arriving back from a wedding in the US and needed collecting.

Nice airy terminal with lots of room but both in arrivals and departures all of the information was in English and English only. So I return to an old hobbyhorse. Doesn't BA or BAA expect anyone coming through terminal 5 to speak a different language?

Heathrow is a major hub airport. People catch flights into Heathrow ansd switch to get to their destination. Maybe in the transit lounge there are signs in at least French, Spanish, German and Italian. Maybe there are BAA support staff who can answer questions in those languages but on the public side there is nothing. Little pictures of a train and a bus and things like that but that's it.

BAA gets a lot of criticism it doesn't deserve. The terminal is an achievement and it was brought in on budget and on time. Yes, lots of teathing issues in the opening months but what airport doesn't have those? The opening was just over-hyped. Now it has settled down, people I know who have used it have been enthusiastic. So why couldn't the designers and BAA have considered signage? As you enter there are signs showing the flight details and next is an information sign that says useful things about when to expect incoming passengers to come through. But again, it's all in English and nothing else.

Come on BAA, have a thought to make non-English speaking passengers feel a little more welcome.