No, not on clothes or beds or sofas. I’m talking about the holiday sales. At the moment airlines, hotels, travel agents and tour operators have them in abundance. But will they make us book?

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

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.

British Airways is planning to offer a new perk for its frequent flyers: a course on how to survive a plane crash.

As you probably know, fuel prices have been dropping. But has anyone seen any cuts in the surcharges airlines make? Japan Airlines has announced that it will reduce its fuel surcharge. But wait for this. The surcharge will drop from October 1st and last only until the 28th November on flights from here to Japan.

Now flybe have joined the number of airlines who have recently introduced increases in fuel surcharges. Following on from BA’s £10 increase a couple of weeks ago, flybe has added £3 per fare for bookings where the flight occurs after September 1st. In the grand scheme of things this is a relatively modest increase and it doesn’t take place until after the main summer season is over.

Many of us cynical types were expecting that there would be strikes by the cabin crew at British Airways over the easter period and maybe at the time of the long weekend of the Royal Wedding as well. But it seems as though negotiations between BA and the Unite union are getting somewhere as there has been an announcement that there will be no strikes over this period.

From tomorrow British Airways is increasing by £10 the fuel charge that it is levying on all economy class fares on medium and long haul flights. Domestic flights and short haul ones are unaffected this time. It means that if you’re flying to Australia you’ll pay a fuel surcharge of £98 on your ticket and a trip to the east coast of the US will incur £85 surcharge. And I suppose if BA is introducing this, then its stable mate, Iberia will follow as well. And other airlines will follow in one way or another.

There are lots of websites that will give snapshots of what happens based on a few thousand examples. When it comes to assessing how punctual airlines were last year we have the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) figures as analysed by www.flightontime.info. In this instance we are talking of thousands if not tens of thousands or in the case of BA, nearly a quarter of a million flights.

As the new year starts, countries around the world are planning on how much to spend promoting their countries not just to us but the whole world. All countries want more visitors because, of course, it boosts their economies. Thailand, for example, has announced that it wants $196 million (say about £125 million) for 2012. Norway, on the other hand, is spending just £300,000 on the UK this year. And how much is the UK planning to spend? That’s not known yet but last year the government challenged the industry to raise £100 million to promote the country over the next 4 years. They will announce, in the spring, how they plan to spend the money. But the £100 million has been raised.

CD Traveller tells you what’s hot in the travel world

Whether you’re staycationing or vacationing, CD Traveller tells you what’s hot in the travel world

Whether you’re staycation-ing or vacationing, CD Traveller tells you what’s happening in the travel world

Whether you’re staycation-ing or vacationing, CD Traveller tells you what’s hot and what’s not in the travel world

Even before the programme Panorama was aired last night, both Ryanair and the BBC were jostling for the high ground. Ryanair claimed the programme was doing a hatchet job on them. The BBC said that Ryanair wanted editorial control over the programme content. The BBC, Ryanair said, that Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary wouldn’t give an interview although he talked to the presenter, Vivian White and dominated the short interview. In fact White look ruffled as O’Leary dominated the questions.

Estimates vary on the number of people who are flying on a bank holiday break this weekend in addition to all the other flyers but it will be over 2 million. During the summer period maybe 15 million will have gone abroad.

We’ve got used to Ryanair, easyjet, Flybe and the other no frills airlines charging you for using a credit card. When I booked a flight up to Glasgow this morning I deliberately picked BA because I thought I might have to take some hold luggage with me and the price difference was about what it [...]