Travel News

Tourist chiefs worldwide slam APD tax

Tourism ministers from more than 100 countries have condemned the Government's new APD flight tax imposed this month. It is in addition to a whole raft of taxes that already exist and is due to rise again in a year's time. Apparently the Dutch introduced a similar tax but quickly rescinded it after a public outcry

16/11/2009

Tories pledge to scrap APD tax

If you needed a reason to vote Conservative then this is surely it. They have said they will cancel the new APD flight tax imposed this month by Alistair Darling, and misleadingly described as an environment tax, when they win the election. The Telegraph is running a Stop the Tax on Travel campaign which we fully support. It puts up the cost of long haul flights by up to £120 now and £170 next year.

04/11/2009

Expenses fiddled at hotels worldwide

Many of our hoteliers are reporting a big increase in the number of corporate travellers asking them to produce dodgy receipts. They are asking for handwritten receipts which disguise the number of diners, quality of wine or the fact that a partner or guest has shared their room. Perhaps they're training to become MPs.

04/11/2009

Don't drink the water!

Think carefully before you brush your teeth on the plane. A study of tap water on board US planes found that 15% of samples were not fit for human consumption and 20 % didn't show any trace of chlorine which should have been used to purify the water.

26/10/2009

Budget Airlines slammed

The online reputation of budget airlines has taken a dive over the summer as customers grow increasingly vocal about misleading charges and poor complaints handling. In research on the best online brands, Virgin came top with a score of 33% while Easyjet slipped to -23% and Ryanair was the worst at - 62%.

18/09/2009

Passenger fixes faulty airliner

Some of our customers were on a Thomas Cook flight which was delayed taking off from Menorca by a technical fault. They were facing an eight hour wait for an engineer to fly out from the UK when a passenger stepped forward and announced he was a qualified aircraft engineer. He successfully fixed the problem and the plane landed back in Glasgow just 35 minutes late. How come that never happens to us!

07/07/2009

Kids go FREE in Dubai this summer

We've added Dubai to our list of destinations where Free Child places are available this summer. One child (16 and under) flies FREE with two adults on Emirates and a second child flies for 75%. We offer a choice of hotels where both children can stay and eat for FREE providing they are sharing a room with two adults. Direct flights are available from Gatwick, Heathrow, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow.

30/06/2009

Car hire shortage looms for summer

Many of our car hire suppliers have not replaced their fleets this year because the manufacturers are refusing to buy back the old vehicles owing to the credit crunch. We are already receiving Stop Sales alerts for August as there is a shortage of cars in some areas. If you need car rental this summer we recommend booking it now!

18/06/2009

Airfares to Australia at all time low

If you've always dreamed of visiting Australia now's the time to do it. As airlines continue to slash fares the price of a flight to Perth has just fallen to as little as £399. Six months ago the same fare would have been £810!

15/06/2009