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This week's heavy snowfall has reminded me of the fragility of the UK transport system. When weather is bad, it's worth remembering to check your airport's website to see if your flight has been cancelled or not.
BAA, operator of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted (www.baa.com) offer a flight text service to keep you informed on the status of your flight.
If you fly on Singapore Airlines to Asia or Sydney, then you will probably be eligible for a free Singapore stopover. You can also make use of a number of benefits offered by Singapore Airlines, such as discounted accommodation, special offers on shopping and food as well as a free shuttle bus up and down Singapore's famous Orchard road.
Beware any dermatitis or inflammation on either of your index fingers. On entering the USA you'll be required to provide index finger prints as part of your proof of identity and if the skin of your finger tip is inflamed you may well inadvertently fail this test. At best this means a significant delay at Homeland Security Department. If possible check your index fingers a week, or more if there's an obvious problem, before travel and get some medical treatment to ease your journey!
Recent airline failures such as Eos and MaxJet serve to remind us that cyclical industries such as airlines are subject to huge pressures when a slowdown in the economy occurs. Make sure you protect yourself from being caught short by paying by credit (not debit) card. Airline failures should be covered under section 75 of the 1974 consumer credit act and thus a refund can be obtained for services not received.
Check with your credit card provider for details.
The days of stepping on Concorde and arriving in New York before you took off are sadly gone. However, what isn't realised is that the same trip from London to New York can vary quite dramatically depending on the flight you take. Take a random weekday date in June. The fastest journey time from London Heathrow to New York JFK is 7hr 25mins with either Air India or the 0855 from BA. However, it's worth noting flights to Newark are somewhat slower, with the flights being as long as 8hr 15mins with BA (1840). Whilst it's unlikely to make a huge different, those of us on tight time schedules may give it some thought.
Air travel today is increasingly associated with long queues, dire customer service and delays on the ground and in the air. There is one airport that seems to consistently dispel this every time I travel there. That is, London City Airport. 22 minutes from Bank and about 12 minutes from Canary Wharf on the DLR, London City airport has flights to numerous European and domestic destinations. In addition, BA will be starting transatlantic flights (business class only) from London city in the summer!
Check-in (with luggage) can be done an hour before the flight and I've even managed it 20 minutes before the flight! Security queues are short and efficient. The airport does not have all of the facilities you would find at the larger airports such as numerous shops, lounges, etc, but at the end of the day it does what you want - helps you to get from A to B.
Take one booking reference, one surname and pop over to www.checkmytrip.com. Here you can check your flights, e-ticket number and even the seat you are going to have.
You can save some money by booking your flights and hotels via cashback website www.quidco.com.
Here you can get the referral commission advertisers normally get for referrals. Flights typically receive 1% cash back from well-recognised sites such as expedia.co.uk and ebookers.co.uk or virginatlantic.com.
Hotels also get higher returns giving as much as 10% cash back for agencies such as hotels.com and expedia.co.uk. The only thing to caution about is that hotels will be prepaid and may not have the same flexibility (a cancellation charge may apply) when compared to booking directly.
If you're in Hong Kong and you can take two days (or more) off, then travel agents on Nathan Road (Kowloon) can arrange a trip to Beijing (flights, hotel and visa) with 24 hours' notice. It's not so expensive and well worth the effort. Just one or two nights in Beijing are very rewarding.
Bottom of Nathan Road (ferry end) on Kowloon. There are many travel agents.
BMI fly direct to Chicago from Manchester. Don't forget regional airports when flying abroad - when you take into account heavier congestion around the London airports, it may prove to be quicker to fly from the regions.
The first option would be air travel - there are several flights from Kansai Intl (KIX) to Sapporo (New Chitose - CTS). Flights depart at 16:45, 17:55, and 20:50. The price is 39,900 yen (US $335 at today's rate).
Another option is taking a ferry and train combination from Osaka to Hokkaido. Unfortunately, the ferry takes a lot of time - 19 hours one way, plus a couple of hours for the train. So flight seems to be the best option here.
More options and detailed flight schedule:
www.flightpedia.org/japan/flights-from-osaka-to-sapporo-osaka/
JAL - Japan airlines and ANA airlines are the main players in the air travel industry in Japan. Many other smaller airlines are also competing with them along the most popular routes, such as Skymart, Air DO.
More information, please visit:
www.jal.com/
www.ana.co.jp/eng/
www.flightpedia.org/japan/
Carcassonne is a beautiful medieval citadel surrounded by vines but it's also an airport in the foothills of the Pyrenees well served by Ryanair from a number of UK and Irish cities.
So it's cheap to get to and onward travel to the ski resorts of the east Pyrenees - Font Romeu, Ax, Les Angles and Andorra - is relatively simple - a 90 minute drive. Rather than fight with the crowds in the big ski airports of Geneva, Lyon or Grenoble here is a charming and cheap alternative.
We've been doing this for three years now and wouldn't go back to the Alps.
Carcassonne is in the Languedoc region of S France. Daily flights from Stansted, Dublin, Liverpool and E Midlands from www.ryanair.com and ski packages srating from Carcassonne airport from www.francealacarte.com
Wait until you get to Vietnam to book internal flights. It's much cheaper than booking in the UK. I flew from Hanoi to Hue for £200. I flew from Dalat to Ho Chi Minh City for £30.
There are lots of Vietnam Airlines offices in major cities.
Banska Bystrica is right in the heart of the Slovak countryside. Trains depart from Bratislava or Budapest (www.busy.sk or www.elvira.hu). Flights to Sliac airport nearby.
iViVu is the only travel website in Vietnam offering a flight search and booking facility at a great price. It also provides you with travel information on Vietnam.
BA and Virgin have frequent direct flights to Shanghai Pudong International airport from London.
Other airlines with good connecting flights from the UK are KLM, Air France, Emirates and Qatar Airways.
To check fares from a number of different airlines from London see
www.lowfareflights.co.uk/Pu%20Dong%20(Shanghai)-China-Flights.asp
or direct BA see
www.britishairways.com/travel/fx/public/en_gb?to=Shanghai&from=LON
For flights from airports outside London check KLM (via Amsterdam) see www.klm.com/travel/gb_en/index_default.html
they have good value direct flights from Amsterdam to Shanghai.
To enjoy Hanoi you first have to get there, and for that you need Air Asia. Flights from Bangkok on Thai and other airlines used to be 10,000 baht return; now you can get there on Air Asia for 3,000 baht. Go often, it's beautiful.
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