By the end of next year the government intends banning excessive/hidden fees charged by airlines (indeed by any company) where payment is made by credit or debit cards. On the face of it this is good news. Look deeper and it might be so great.
Why my scepticism?

On Wednesday, the European Court of Justice decided that all airlines flying in and out of the EU would have to pay for carbon emissions from January 1st next year. Make a wild guess who’ll end up paying?

Yet again the time approaches when rail fares rise again. We moan, we complain, the media highlight how much annual season ticket costs but rarely do we consider the effects on tourism.

Later today we’ll get to know the outcome of Transport for London’s high court challenge against a proposed tube drivers’ strike on Boxing Day

A survey by HolidayExtras.com has revealed that nearly six-and-a-half-million people flying in and out of the UK in the last year failed to turn their phones off.

Hurray! Westminster Council has finally seen sense and scrapped its plans to charge for parking in the evenings and on Sundays – for now at least.

More passengers chose to take off from Gatwick rather than its bigger London rival, Heathrow, throughout November. Gatwick reported that it saw an extra 12,800 fliers last month – representing a rise of 0.6 percent.

As anyone who has ever visited London knows, the perils of travelling by tube are only too familiar…. severe delays, the noisy neighbour who plays their iPod so loud that the whole carriage can hear it. Then there is the drunken reveller who positively oozes booze and the guy who chooses to eat his takeaway on the seat next to you.

UPDATE: 17/12/2011. Scottish Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing has announced that there will be no accommodation tax in Edinburgh.Without the transfer of powers from the government to loacl authorites, any such introduction would be illegal.

Passengers planning to fly with budget airline Ryanair in summer 2012 will need to travel light. Michael O’Leary’s no frills airline has revealed that it will be increasing its online baggage fees by 25 percent

A poll by the Institute of Public Policy has revealed that the majority of the capital’s dwellers consider themselves to be Londoners first and foremost and English second.

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Fa la la la la, la la la la, Tis the season to be jolly, Fa la la la la, la la la la. Clearly, so this well known Christmas song dictates, halls decorations are permitted at Christmas

Kew Gardens have been voted the top visitor attraction in Britain at the British Airways magazine travel awards.

When the increased charges come in on April Fools’ Day (what better day could the government choose?) you will pay £13 each way to fly, for example, from a London airport to a Scottish one. I can go by train or coach cheaper than the tax let alone the fare if I pick the times carefully!

A BA pilot has taken the airline’s ‘hug a pilot’ training scheme a little too far: the married captain has only gone and gotten a teenage stewardess pregnant.

Readers will be aware of our thoughts on signage. Particulary confusing ones. So here is one from Venice which suggest you can go in opposite directions to get to the same place!

It’s official: the Chancellor announced last week that the controversial Air Passenger Duty (APD) increase, will go ahead after all, despite big rises in APD in 2007 and 2010.

A survey by holiday comparison site, Travel Supermarket, has found that more than one in 10 UK holiday-makers will opt for familiar destinations – step forward Spain, Portugal, Italy et al.

Considering how obsessed Brits are supposed to be with food, we are downright unadventurous when it comes to eating out abroad.

Like Private Frazer in Dad’s Army, “We’re all doomed, doomed I tell ye,” if you believe some of the media reports concerning air and sea travel during the public sector unions strike next Wednesday, November 30th.

So Pan Am – BBC 2’s new American airline drama that has been billed as ‘Mad Men with wings’ – is back on the box tonight.

The familiar slogan goes, “Don’t just book it, Thomas Cook it.” Regardless of what you think of the viability of Thomas Cook – or even TUI or any other ATOL bonded travel company- you can still book confident in the fact that your money, if not your holiday, is as protected as it could be.

In-flight meals haven’t exactly enjoyed a wonderful reputation since they launched back in the 1930s.

You’d think Westminster would want to encourage people to visit the capital during the 2012 Olympics (and help boost Britain’s economy), but the evidence suggests otherwise.

I thought I was dreaming a minute ago. On BBC’s Breakfast, Michael O’Leary from Ryanair and Willie Walsh of the holding company that owns British Airways and Iberia were standing side-by-side having a go at the government about APD.

Which are the most popular places to go in the UK for overseas visitors? Counting how many of us visit our own cities isn’t easy but for those coming from abroad, the International Passenger Survey provides some answers and now, Visit Britain has played looked at the data and come up with some answers.

At the World Travel Market, the USA unveiled a new logo. It is made up of a series of lightly coloured dots or stars that form the initials of the country. It is a soft and slightly woolly image that doesn’t seem to fit. And especially not with New York which bristles with brashness, energy and a disdain for under achievement.

A World Travel Market 2011 Industry Report revealed that half of UK holiday makers are ignoring their smartphones while away with roaming charges cited as the main reason for not using them.