Returning to an old hobby horse of mine, I had to change terminals at Heathrow so I caught the Heathrow Connect service to get me from terminals 4 to 3. In the old days before terminal 5, you caught the Heathrow Express service which linked the terminals at no cost to you. (You pay only if you went on in to Paddington) Now the Heathrow Express doesn’t stop at 4 only the stop for 1 and 3 and then 5. (For those of you who weren’t aware terminal 2 doesn’t exist as BAA rebuilds it)

his is a claim made by Kuoni in a new report that they have issued. In it they say that about half of all life changing decisions are made after a holiday has taken place. It would seem that the relaxing nature of a holiday gives people time to think.
The most popular subject for conversation is apparently the work life balance followed by getting healthier and fitter. And the more money you have the greater the percentage of people who discuss these subjects. Three quarters of the people said that holidays can break or make relationships but this declines as peole get older. Age seems to make people grow fonder of each other.

Visitors to the United States have been used to filling in a I-94 green form which was required by passport control. For the last year they have been trialling the electronic version of this which goes under the name of ESTA. This system will replace the green form in March so it is essential that if you plan to holiday in the US you complete this electronic form before you board your flight. Failure to complete the form means that you will not be allowed to enter the US.

During the recession airlines and tour operators, hoteliers and destinations worked hard to get us to visit them as people became more careful with their money. Good deals were to be had despite the efforts of government to wring more taxes out of us with increases in Air Passenger Duty. But cruise ships (and domestic holidays) don’t pay these taxes so cruising had a financial appeal as well. Increases in holiday prices are beginning to seep through and Carnival Cruise lines is one of those that are planning to increase their prices during the booking period. From 22nd of March their prices go their prices go up by 5%.

In a world where there are surveys about everything and where small numbers of people seem to provide incontrovertible evidence that something is happening, the results of the Airport Service Quality survey (ASQ) which is based on 275,000 surveys worldwide is always interesting. In 2009, 118 airports took part in this survey which involves carrying out a survey 4 times a year at different times of the day and which asks the same questions each time. People are interviewed; they aren’t sent a survey, rung up or e-mailed so it is possible to talk to travellers across all types of flights.
So who won in 2009?

From the late 1950’s when Benidorm launched itself as a tourist destination, we have loved going to Spain for our holidays. The seventies led to a string of comedy films and TV series exploiting our interest in Spain for a holiday. As Spanish resorts adapted to changing holiday wishes in the nineties and this decade it seemed our love affair would never end.
Some “experts” are now saying the appeal of Spain is declining and quote figures from the Spanish Tourism, Commerce & Industry Ministry which has announced that in 2009 8.1% fewer of us visited Spain.

It is quite common to be able to buy a tourist pass in the bigger cities like London and Edinburgh which gives you savings on visiting museums and attractions and the like. And as we wrote yesterday, Kent has one day when differing bodies like the National Trust and English Heritage come together but, as yet, there has been no county pass.
Until now.
Yorkshire, the county that doesn’t exist as one but as three separate ones has managed to get a number of organisations together so that one pass covers all. Or at least 75 attractions within the three counties. There has been a York Pass but this new county wide pass has taken over and covers privately run attractions like Castle Howard and Harewood House as well as places like the Jorvik centre and the Treasurers House that were available with the old York Pass.

Firstly, the good news. the Lufthansa strike was called off last night as pilots and management agreed to talk to each other again. It may mean that some aircraft are out of place this morning so check with Lufthansa to see if there are any problems.
The first bit of bad news is that British Airways’ cabin crew members of Unite have voted overwhelmingly for strike action. You might remember that they voted for action before Christmas but BA management won a court action which said the ballot hadn’t been operated properly. (see CD-Traveller 21 January and 15 December). No dates have been announced for the strike and it may be significant that Unite have said that they want to talk to BA management first. (For a view from the inside see Ian’s comments at the end of the piece on 21st January.)
The second piece of bad news is that, from today, French air traffic controllers start a 4 day strike which will affect flights throughout French air space. About 50% of flights in and out of Paris Orly are expected to be cancelled and a quarter through Paris Charles de Gaulle. The strike coincides with French school holidays.