Don't break the bank on holiday

Five tricks to cut your travel costs

Hands up if you want to spend extra money on your holiday this year? Nope, we didn’t think so. If you’re planning a holiday, read these simple money saving tips before you go any further. Copyright Martin Poole/Mood Board/Rex Features Take to Twitter An increasing number of companies have taken to Twitter to give their followers first dibs on bargain flights, so for anyone wanting to join in on the seat sale Twitter is the place to be. By putting their spare seats up for grabs on Twitter, companies gain more followers and fill some empty seats on flights whilst still making a bit of cash. This is a great opportunity for travellers to bag a bargain holiday too, so everyone’s happy. If you haven’t signed up to Twitter yet, it’s completely free and definitely worth it - especially if you manage to save some money on your next jet-setting adventure. But beware; these deals sell out fast so the longer you wait to bag the bargain, the less chance you will have to get in on the coveted deals. #welovecheapholidays. Negotiate with hotels Don’t worry about sounding cheeky; negotiating with hotels is a trick that all the money-savvy holiday makers use so there’s no reason why you can’t try it too. We’re always told to look on the positive side, but when it comes to negotiating with a hotel manager for the lowest price possible, the phrase ‘is that all you can do for me?’, when said in your most disenchanted tone of voice, could potentially save you hundreds. A great tip when negotiating hotel prices is to always speak to the manager. Receptionists don’t usually have the power to offer discounts or special deals so speaking to the manager is the best way of wangling a deal out of them. In most cases, the hotel manager won’t want to disappoint you or lose your custom, so sounding a bit disgruntled can be a handy little trick to use. If you don’t get the deal, you had nothing to lose. Go on, be greedy! Never travel without insurance Although we hope you don’t need to use it, having travel insurance is important to have as a safeguard just in case something does go wrong whilst you’re away. It’s a good idea to be covered for medical expenses, personal liability, lost luggage, and cash. If you need a pretty basic kind of cover for your trip, have a browse online to find out the best deals that the comparison sites are offering. If you’re over 65 or need cover for dangerous sports or pre-existing medical conditions it may be best to look for specialist insurance policies which are often tailor-made to suit your needs. However you go about it, make sure you get the best travel insurance you can because, as the saying goes, 'it’s better safe than sorry'. [Travelling from Heathrow or Gatwick Taxis and Chauffeured Service ] Shop around for the best exchange rates Refuse the rates offered by the airport; last minute panic buying can add a lot of unnecessary expense to your holiday and we’re sure you’d rather be splashing out on cocktails and cruises than buying your currency. If you know you’re going on holiday to a certain destination and the exchange rate is falling against your own currency, make sure you buy your holiday money in advance. The internet is a useful place to look for the best exchange rates; just make sure you don’t purchase from a company who charge a high fee for the courier service. Another option is to look on the high street where there are some excellent deals to be found on currency exchanges. Always keep a beady eye on exchange rates and always plan ahead to get the best deals. Switch off your data roaming We’ve all done it; you head off on holiday to get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life but have an irrepressible urge to take a sneaky peek at your emails. Sometimes you might even be tempted to make a cheeky status update to make your friends back home envious. You then return home to an unexpected bill and realise it wasn’t such a good idea after all. Who would have thought that a photo of you drifting around the pool on a lilo with a cocktail in one hand and a fan in the other could cost a fortune? If you can’t help but use the internet when you’re abroad, make sure you switch off your phone’s data roaming option. Data roaming is when your phone automatically uses the internet to check for new emails, tweets, or status updates. The cost of this can be limitless, so make sure you switch the data roaming option off before you go away and use free public internet services instead.

No need to queue for easyJet flights

By Bianca Ffolkes

Low-cost airline easyJet has announced it will test allocated seating on selected routes starting next month.

 
Image credit: Rex

Flights from Luton to Sharm el Sheikh, Glasgow to Alicante, Luton to Malaga, Luton to Alicante and Luton to Istanbul will all take part in the trial.

The 40,000 passengers on these routes will be allocated a seat free of charge, with the seat number marked on their boarding pass. They can pay £12 for a seat with extra leg room, £8 for the front seats or £3 to specify any other seat of their choice.

Currently passengers travelling with the budget airline face long queues at the departure gate and a race to board the plane as families and friends try to get seated together.

In a bid to increase customer satisfaction easyJet has spent £5million in computer expenses to adapt its current booking system to allow seat reservations. The test will last throughout the summer and, if successful, allocated seating will roll out across all easyJet flights in the future.

[Travel from Gatwick to Heathrow Transfer London taxi]

The airline said the decision was about reducing stress during boarding.

Carolyn McCall, easyJet's chief executive, said: “We will only roll it out if it works operationally and increases passenger satisfaction. Our aim is to make travel easy and affordable for all our passengers.”

According to Ms McCall the initiative will ensure that families and groups of passengers who are travelling on the same booking reference sit together.

She acknowledged that the airline’s current policy of unreserved seating may put passengers off.

“It can stress people out, the boarding experience. With easyJet, they may not be used to the way we board. It can be a barrier to travelling with us. People are just not used to unreserved seating.”

Gatwick takes customer service tips from five-star hotel

Report by Mark Caswell

Customer-facing staff at Gatwick airport are being given coaching by the head concierge of five-star London hotel The Goring, ahead of this year’s Olympics and Queen’s Jubilee.

The move follows findings by the Airport Passenger Panel - an independent body of experts brought together by Gatwick airport – which identified “top notch service” as a defining factor in an airport experience.

The Goring’s head concierge John Andrews is running workshops with Gatwick’s concierge staff, porters, team leaders and information and passenger assistants, aimed at ensuring passengers benefit from the same “subtle but flawless assistance” provided by the luxury hotel.

Gatwick employs a team of seven multi-linguist concierges, who are available in the airport’s check-in terminals and are “specifically tasked with assisting passengers with any queries as they make their journey through the airport”.

For more information visit gatwickairport.com, thegoring.com.

BA’s new First coming to Gatwick

Report by Mark Caswell

British Airways is to fit its three four-class B777 aircraft serving long-haul routes from Gatwick with the carrier’s new First product, with the rollout beginning in April.

BA offers a first class cabin on flights from Gatwick to Barbados, Bermuda, St Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago.

These routes are currently served with B777 aircraft featuring the carrier’s old First product, but from April the fleet will be re-fitted with new First.

Meanwhile the rollout of new First across BA's four-class fleet serving Heathrow continues - for an on-going forum discussion on which routes are now being served by the new product.

For more information on BA's new first class offering.

Visit ba.com.

Ten most ridiculous airport and flight charges

Travelling abroad can be expensive enough as it is; plane tickets, accommodation, food and insurance; not to mention all of your essential new clothes, and books, food and magazines for the flight.
So when you’re faced with an unexpected charge at the airport, or once you’re on the plane, it’s natural that you may feel a little deflated. There are certainly some irrational charges out there so to prevent you from being caught out, check out these ten most ridiculous airport and in-flight costs.

Smoking zone
Since the smoking ban was introduced to Northern Ireland in 2007 smokers flying from Belfast International Airport cannot light up just anywhere they like. Rather than using the designated outside smoking areas or inside terminals, smokers are charged £1 to access the ‘airside smoking facility’.
This is a designated external smoking area for smokers to get their nicotine fix before a flight. A hefty price to pay if you’re a chain smoker with a delayed flight, as each time you enter your wallet is £1 worse-off.

Car park
If you were thinking that leaving your car at the airport would be a cheaper option than a taxi ride to the terminal then think again. The car park at Heathrow Airport charges holiday makers a whopping £120.40 for seven days’ worth of parking, while you are on holiday accumulating even further costs no doubt. You would expect a car wash and valet included in this price but the truth is that this fee only covers the basics.

Spending a penny
Picture this: You’re on a flight, keeping hydrated as advised, when nature calls. You get up to use the toilet when you realise there is in fact a charge for this facility – but you haven’t got any change! What happens next? Ryanair obviously didn’t think of this scenario when they imposed the charges to use the toilets on their flights. ‘Spending a penny’ doesn’t come close, as the charge is £1 or €1 per toilet trip. Surely this is taking it a wee bit too far?

Freshen up
After a long haul flight or in between two journeys you may want to freshen up to greet your family or before your next journey. But you might be better off stocking up on some wet-wipes in the airport as a shower at Manchester International Airport costs a greedy £6.50 per person. At this price for some hot water, you may choose to hold on for a wash until later, or invest in some extra-strong deodorant!

‘Fat tax’
Weighty passengers who struggle to fit into just one seat on a plane will have to pay nearly double to fly with Air France in a new rule introduced by the French airline. Obese passengers will be charged 75 per cent of the cost of a second seat if they are considered too large by the check-in staff to fit into just one seat. The airline’s 43-44 centimeter wide seats are not a comfortable fit for some people, but the airline will charge for the extra room they require.

Extra leg room
When travelling on a long haul flight you may want that extra bit of room to stretch your legs and keep your hand luggage. This luxury, however, comes with a price tag. Virgin Atlantic, for example, charges at most £50 for an additional three inches of space with their extra legroom seats for a journey between Sydney and the UK. Just as extortionate, for a seat next to the emergency exit you’ll be looking at paying £115 for the same journey.

[Travel Heathrow - Gatwick Taxis transfer Services]

Choose your seat
The early bird catches the worm, right? Clearly British Airways does not comply with this saying as they charge £10 to passengers who wish to select their seats before the flight; a large price tag for thinking ahead you might say. With this extra fee on top of your flight you may wish to take a chance and spend the tenner on plane snacks instead.

Change of name
Hopefully you haven’t had a Carrie Bradshaw moment and decided to take your friends on your honeymoon instead of your new husband or wife, but the need to change the name on a flight ticket can and does occur. Let’s hope it isn’t with Monarch, though, as they charge £100 per name, per booking. Our advice? Get it right first time and stick with your original passengers.

Trollies
Travelling as a family or in a group of friends means lots of luggage, which is where trollies come in handy. But if you’re travelling from Manchester International Airport from 10th April 2012 you will be expected to insert a non-refundable charge of £1 or €2 to use the luggage trollies. In supermarkets, the refundable cost is to prevent theft of trollies, but how do they expect someone to smuggle a trolley onto an aircraft?

Excess baggage

We can’t all fit our holiday essentials into one tiny bag. Likewise, not all destinations offer weather hot enough to justify only packing your swimsuit and sunglasses alone. What happens if you’re going skiing, for example? Or you want to take your guitar with you on your travels? Travelling with easy Jet could cost you up to £50 in charges to take sporting equipment with you, or up to £60 to take a musical instrument with you if flying with Thomas Cook. That’s totally out of tune, we’d say!

Air Asia X to withdraw Gatwick flights

Report by Rob Gill
 Air Asia X is to abandon its route from Gatwick to Kuala Lumpur from March, just six months after switching its flights from Stansted, as predicted by Business Traveller.

The no-frills carrier started flights from Stansted to the Malaysian capital in 2009 but moved them to Gatwick in October 2011. But the airline, which is currently running six weekly flights, will stop flying on the route from March 31.
 
The airline has been offering a two-cabin service from Gatwick with both economy and premium including a flat-bed product.

Air Asia X is also withdrawing flights to Kuala Lumpur from Paris as well as the Indian cities of Mumbai and New Delhi. The carrier said it wanted to concentrate on markets in the Far East and Australasia where it could “build a leadership position”.
Azran Osman-Rani, CEO of AirAsia X, said “AirAsia X remains focused on maintaining its global leadership position in the low-cost, long-haul segment. We intend to concentrate capacity in our core markets of Australasia, China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea where we have built up stable, profitable routes within an infrastructure that supports low cost services.

"The continued high jet fuel prices and the weakening demand for air travel from Europe, brought about by the current economic situation together with exorbitant government taxes, have placed cost pressures on operating long-haul low-cost flights between Asia and Europe, compromising our ability to offer the low fares AirAsia X is known for.”
Osman-Rani added that the implementation of the emission trading scheme (ETS) and the rise of Air Passenger Duty (APD) in the UK from April were key reasons in the decision to withdraw its European services.

A Gatwick spokeswoman said: "We are very disappointed to be losing AirAsia X, which has been operating a direct route from Gatwick to Kuala Lumpur since October last year.
“AirAsia X has made the reasons behind its decision clear. The continued high fuel prices in 2011, weakening economic conditions in Europe and the impact of Air Passenger Duty (APD) alongside the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) carbon tax in the UK has resulted in the withdrawal of operations at Gatwick on 31 March 2012.”

The airline's Paris services will end on March 30, while the last Mumbai and New Delhi flights will be on January 31 and March 22 respectively. Alternative travel arrangements will be made by the airline at no additional cost for any customers holding a booking beyond these dates.
For more information visit airasia.com.

What if you've booked with Thomas Cook?

By Emma Simon

Thomas Cook is to close 200 stores, leaving many holidaymakers wondering whether they should still book a holiday with the company.

Thomas Cook insists that consumers continue to book despite its financial problems. Sam Weihagen, group chief executive, Thomas Cook Group said: “We have instigated significant management changes and implemented a turnaround plan in the UK to address our areas of underperformance.

"Customers have been very supportive in recent weeks and are continuing to book with Thomas Cook. Bookings outside the UK were broadly unaffected by news of our refinancing and in the UK bookings have recovered well.”

The good news is that those who have booked an overseas package holiday with Thomas Cook should be fully covered by the Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (Atol) scheme.

This means that even in the worst case scenario that the company goes bust when holidaymakers are away customers on package deals are flown home without incurring extra expense.

Those who have paid for, but not taken a holiday, will be entitled to a full refund. A travel agent may be able to arrange an alternative holiday, although this is often not possible.

ABTA also provides a similar scheme for those who have booked package deals that don’t include a flight such as winter cruises.

But “independent” travellers, who book flights, accommodation, and other services separately don’t have the same protection.

Many would think that their travel insurance would pay out but many "bog-standard" policies won't provide cover in such circumstances. More comprehensive policies do cover "scheduled airline financial failure” which pays out if your flight carrier goes bust.

It is also possible to buy this cover as a stand-alone policy, although those looking to purchase a policy today should check whether it still includes cover for Thomas Cook flights.

A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers said: “Most standard travel insurance polices are not designed to cover these circumstances. They are there to primarily cover medical emergencies overseas.”

He urges customers to always check terms and conditions of any travel insurance policy carefully.

In addition, customers are always advised to pay for holiday and other big-ticket items on a credit card or Visa debit card.

Under the credit regulations, card providers are obliged to offer a refund if a customer has paid for goods or services that are not delivered, provided the value is between £100 and £3,000. This would cover cases where the holiday company has gone bust.

Bob Atkinson, travel expert at comparison website travelsupermarket.com, says anyone booking holidays should ensure they have "triple-lock" protection in place.

He said: "Holidaymakers need to make sure that the holiday they book is fully Atol-bonded and also that they take out travel insurance with cover for supplier failure. It also makes sense to pay by credit card or with a Visa debit card for transactions over £100. Then they've got belt-and-braces cover."

Rochelle Turner, head of research at Which Travel, said not all Thomas Cook holidays would automatically have protection.

She said: "You need to ask if your holiday is 100pc Atol-protected and if it isn't, don't buy it. The vast majority are, so the Government will be in for a hefty bill if anything happens to the company. At present all travel companies are at risk."