Heathrow Express Discount Fares July 2011

Our promotional discount of Heathrow Express Tickets has ended but we still recommend that you purchase round-trip tickets rather than single journeys, that you book in advance online and save money compared to purchasing onboard.

UPDATE December 2011

Heathrow Express discount of 25% for bookings in December 2011 and outbound travel up to end January 2012
The normal online fare for Express Class Return is £32 but the sale fare saves £8 at a price of £24.00
To obtain the discount Heathrow Express fare you have to click on a Google advert, otherwise you will be charged the normal fare.

Simply Google “Heathrow Express Sale”

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Hidden Credit Card Fees to be Banned

The Office of Fair Trading has ordered travel companies to show credit card and debit card charges at the initial booking stage online.

This will make comparison of fares more meaningful as the charge for two return Ryanair tickets could amount to an additional £24.00

It also wants charges for use of debit cards to be scrapped altogether and is asking the Government to change the law – but how long will that take?

In the meantime, you can avoid Ryanair charges by applying for, and using, the best prepaid card as reviewed in my article, ‘How to save money off your next Ryanair flighthere.

 

Best Airport Parking for Leisure Trips

Having researched airport parking at Heathrow, Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Southampton we’ve conclude that instead of booking through 3rd parties that you should book direct with BAA.

Example:
One week Stansted Airport Short Stay (convenience of a walk to the terminal) just £77.00

BAA Official Airport Parking guarantee:

  • You won’t find their parking for less
  • No hidden charges
  • BAA car parks are the closest.

Book direct with BAA here

Virgin Atlantic Strike Dates

The pilots strike dates will be during a short window of time.

One week notice must be given and strikes must begin within four weeks of the ballot announcement

Thus at today, Thursday 30th June, the Virgin Atlantic pilot strikes will have to occur between: Monday 7th July and Tuesday 19th July

If you have a flight booking, there is nothing you can do until a date is announced. Unless you have a fully flexible refundable ticket, you will lose cancellation fees etc if you choose to rebook on another airline.

Also of course, a strike may even be avoided.

When, and if, strike dates are announced, the airline will attempt to provide you an alternative flight or a refund.

We’ll monitor the situation and update you, but for now, there is little you can do but wait.

Meanwhile, you can save up to £8.80 Heathrow Express Tickets – see my article here

And if you need airport parking, BAA offer the best rates and most convenient locations if you book in advance here

Booking Business Travel is dedicated to providing impartial help to those who prefer to book business travel online. We offer all the best online travel resources and search engines in one place. Checkout our hotel comparison for example.

If you like my site, please subscribe for occasional updates, or follow TravelHelps on Twitter

Visiting India Why business and leisure travellers need looking after

So you’re booking a frequent traveller who thinks they can travel independently and hail cabs to meetings and hotels?

That’s fine, in many countries. And it can be done in India too but I warn against it.

On a recent business trip to Delhi, which is one of India’s more “organised” cities, with a fabulous subway, I experienced three days as host of a travel company, with a car and driver at my disposal and options to visit shows, tourist sites and restaurants.

I also spent a few days travelling around the city independently and despite many years of similar travel backpacking, I found the second experience exhausting.

There’s the dust and pollution to contend with.

The difficulty of finding a cab during the rush hour.

What appears to be a short walk on the map can turn into an Annapurna Expedition.

Being misdirected again and again at street level when searching for even a large international hotel which is 5 minutes away….

Booking Business Travel recommends that a local agent take care of you whilst visiting India. The relative cost of having a car with a driver and optional tour guide is minimal.

And you will avoid hours of frustration.

You could book this through a UK agent but they will simply buy the services of a local agent so I recommend that you go direct.

SIDDARTH Travel is an IATA agent located in Delhi, and part of the Interserve network of over 100 agents throughout India.

Their attention to detail is second to none and they can arrange ground transportation, hotels and optional tours – locally, and further afield, for example, the Himalayas.

Details of Siddarth Travel can be found here

 

Best Airport Parking for Business Travellers

Having researched airport parking at Heathrow, Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Southampton we’ve conclude that instead of booking through 3rd parties that you should book direct.

Example:
One week Stansted Airport Short Stay (convenience of a walk to the terminal) just £77.00

BAA Official Airport Parking guarantee:

  • You won’t find their parking for less
  • No hidden charges
  • BAA car parks are the closest.

Book direct with BAA here

Booking Tips for booking travel online

Impartial Booking Tips saving time and money when booking travel online

As a former travel agent with 30 years experience, I offer booking tips for the following, and more:

Booking tips for flight search using Skyscanner – the best flight search and comparison tool

Booking Tips for UK Rail – How to avoid booking fees

Eurostar Booking Tips – How to achieve the lowest fares and where best to book Eurostar

Ryanair Booking Tips – Save money on baggage and avoid those extra fees

Booking Tips when booking British Airways – where are the best fares, how booking just one seat even though you need two, can save you money

Please visit my blog category Booking Tips for more information or use the search function.

Sign up to my blog if you book travel online and wish to be kept informed

 

Hidden costs of using a travel management company to book Ryanair

If you book Ryanair through a travel management company, you will pay a transaction fee of, typically £15 but, because the TMC will use their preferred credit card (and perhaps earn points or AirMiles!) you could end up paying more than you expect, for two return tickets:

Transaction Fee £15 per ticket £30
Ryanair Credit Card Fees £6 per sector £24
Total extra cost by using a travel management company £54

Because Ryanair don’t pay commission and because many agents are keen to maximise earnings there is always the temptation to “mark-up” the fare by an additional £20 ….
Always compare fares quoted by using our flight comparison

Apply for your FairFX Anywhere card here

How to save money off your next Ryanair flight

Easily save over £20 on your next Ryanair booking

Ryanair now charges £6 per flight per passenger to take your payment!

That’s  £24 for two return tickets!
Avoid credit card charges by using the FairFX Anywhere MasterCard

The FairFX Anywhere £ MasterCard

The £9.95 application fee is waived if you apply here.

Future top-ups of any amount are free of charge.  Although you have a sterling balance, the card can be used abroad and a competitive prevailing rate of exchange is applied.

A low 1.4% charge is made on all purchases on the card.

International ATM charges are £1.50 plus 1.5%
UK ATM incurs a flat charge of £1.50 (no 1.5% charge)

For two Ryanair passengers with bookings costing £90 each, the FairFX charge will be £2.52 but you will avoid the Ryanair card fees of £24.00 saving £21.48

SPECIAL OFFER:  The FairFX £9.95 charge is waived for Booking Business Travel customers:

Apply for your FairFX Anywhere card here

Top Tips for Booking Ryanair Flights

5 top tips to save money on your next Ryanair trip!

Always search for just one seat

There may be just one seat left at a lower fare and then others at a higher price. See a full explanation here

Always use our flight search comparison engine

You may be surprised by an option or airline that you hadn’t considered.

Book check-in baggage after you’ve booked your flights

If you require a check-in bag in one direction only, you can do this in the Manage My Booking facility after you’ve completed your booking.
One direction booking of baggage is not offered when you make your booking – so you can save up to £35 by arranging baggage afterwards.

Use a FairFX prepaid MasterCard to pay for your tickets

On a return booking for two people you’ll save as much as £21.48. See my article here

Book Stansted Express Tickets via the Ryanair site

And you’ll save £8.10 per person

 

Discount Eurostar Tickets

Eurostar does not offer discount ticket prices below those on its own site.

You will not find discounted Eurostar prices through travel agents or online websites below those offered direct from the official Eurostar site.

However; we do recommend that you compare fares with those offered by Rail Europe

Rail Europe is the UK representative of French Railways (SNCF) and they use the French reservation system which may offer availability at prices that Eurostar may have sold out of.

Both official search engines are provided on our Eurostar Page

There are benefits of booking Eurostar direct:

• Option to book Rail + Hotel for further discounts
• The system warns you if there are less than 10 seats
• Fixed £4 credit card charge, debit cards are free
• Choice of window/aisle/solo seat preference, or
• Specific seat selection at the 3rd booking stage
• SMS text message option in case of delay/cancellations
• Print ticket at home (or office) option, free of charge, and go direct to check-in!
• Ticket on departure, free of charge, but collection by the card-holder only
• Telephone support: 08432 186 186 from 8am to 7pm Mon-Fri, 9-5 Sat/Sun

For your convenience, we provide both Eurostar and SNCF search forms on our Eurostar Page

Booking Tips to reserve a train to Europe

For booking a train ticket to Europe to stations other than the Eurostar mainline stations: Lille, Paris, Brussels, we suggest you use Eurostar to price your through journey first.

Then compare the through journey with Rail Europe

Through tickets are more convenient as you will make one online booking, with little chance of making a mistake. However, it may be considerably cheaper to split the booking into two:

Price the ticket as just as far as the Eurostar mainline station with Eurostar, and, separately, using Rail Europe (SNCF), or German Rail (DER), price the onward domestic ticket.

You may reduce the fare considerably.

An alternative to Rail Europe and worth taking the time to check, is French railways SNCF direct, but you must use the French Language Site*

Booking Tips for Booking French Railways French Language Site

If your French is really poor, use Google Chrome as your web browser as there is an automated page translator which will help.

You will be asked, “Sélectionnez le pays de réception ou de retrait des billet” which translates as “Select the country of receipt or withdrawal of the ticket”

If you choose Grande Bretagne you will be redirected to a Rail Europe site which may cost you more.

Choose FRANCE

Choose e-billet …“Imprimez ou modifiez votre confirmation e-billet en ligne quand vous voulez”  which translates as  Print or edit your e-ticket confirmation online when you want

You can even choose to book now and pay later! (Ou posez une simple option et payez plus tard)

Eurostar Prices

You will not find discounted Eurostar prices through travel agents or online websites below those offered here through Eurostar.com

However; we recommend that you compare fares with those offered by Rail Europe.
Rail Europe is the UK representative of French Railways (SNCF) and they use the SNCF reservation system which may offer availability at prices that Eurostar may have sold out of.

Benefits of booking Eurostar direct here:

• Option to book Rail + Hotel for further discounts
• The system warns you if there are less than 10 seats
• Fixed £4 credit card charge, debit cards are free
• Choice of window/aisle/solo seat preference, or
• Specific seat selection at the 3rd booking stage
• SMS text message option in case of delay/cancellations
• Print ticket at home (or office) option, free of charge, and go direct to check-in!
• Ticket on departure, free of charge, but collection by the card-holder only
• Telephone support: 08432 186 186 from 8am to 7pm Mon-Fri, 9-5 Sat/Sun

For more details, visit our Eurostar Page

 

Heathrow Express Discount June 2011

Our promotional discount of Heathrow Express Tickets has ended but we still recommend that you purchase round-trip tickets rather than single journeys, that you book in advance online and save money compared to purchasing onboard.

UPDATE December 2011

Heathrow Express discount of 25% for bookings in December 2011 and outbound travel up to end January 2012
The normal online fare for Express Class Return is £32 but the sale fare saves £8 at a price of £24.00
To obtain the discount Heathrow Express fare you have to click on a Google advert, otherwise you will be charged the normal fare.

Simply Google “Heathrow Express Sale”

If you appreciate this advice please subscribe to my site to receive occasional money saving travel advice

Discount Heathrow Express Tickets

Our promotional discount of Heathrow Express Tickets has ended but we still recommend that you purchase round-trip tickets rather than single journeys, that you book in advance online and save money compared to purchasing onboard.

UPDATE December 2011

Heathrow Express discount of 25% for bookings in December 2012 and outbound travel up to end January 2012
The normal online fare for Express Class Return is £32 but the sale fare saves £8 at a price of £24.00
To obtain the discount Heathrow Express fare you have to click on a Google advert, otherwise you will be charged the normal fare.

Simply Google “Heathrow Express Sale”

If you appreciate this advice, please subscribe to my blog for occasional travel advice and deals

Check out our best hotel search engine

Ryanair to cancel flights to Alicante

Ryanair is axing 31 routes to Alicante, including flights from Oslo, Stockholm and Cork, and reducing frequency on an additional 27 routes – including London Gatwick and Stansted, Manchester and Birmingham.

Onward flights Alicante to Morocco (Fez and Marrakesh) are also being axed.

Full details here

Murcia (44 miles away) and Valencia (80 miles away) will be the only alternatives for many passengers.

Queen’s Birthday FlyPast Route Maps 2011

It took some time to research information on the Queen’s Birthday Flypast over Buckingham Palace at 1pm on Saturday 11th June 2011, so I decided post my findings….

Described by the CAA as a large formation of aircraft, including the usual Lancaster and Spitfires, flying west up The Mall from Trafalgar Square then turning right over Hyde Park.

Here is the official flight path description:

The Flypast itself will form up at Southwold, Suffolk and route via Ipswich, abeam Colchester, Chelmsford and enter the London City CTR South of Stapleford; the formation will overfly Buckingham Palace and route via RAF Northolt, RAF Halton and disperse in the RAF Brize Norton area.

Here is a very easy-to-read RAF map of the previous year(s) route

Other informative links regarding the royal route flypast 14th June

(All links open in new windows, for your convenience)

Royal Air Force 7th June 2011 update

This must be the most authoritative update. Details of the 25 aircraft taking part, and an interesting plan of the aircraft formation.

Training & Rehearsal Information

Official co-ordinates of rehearsals:

Official CAA Circular with route maps

I hope this information has been helpful and it would be great if you’d come back to my site when you need to book travel, or subscribe to my travel blog.

If you need a hotel this search engine will save you money

How to avoid airport tax

If you’re flying to Sydney you could stopover in Europe for more than 24 hours and save £73 UK departure tax! (the Europe tax-band is applied)
However, the fare with a break of journey may cost considerably more than the saving!

What is feasible is to stopover in say Dubai with Emirates and you’ll save £25 tax which you could use towards against your hotel bill!

For details of airport tax see my article here

How much is airport tax?

Book an economy flight to Europe and the air fare maybe £9.99 and “taxes” £90.

But the actual government tax is just £12 and it is airline charges, airline “fuel surcharges”, fees and airport charges that make up the difference.

So don’t blame the government entirely!

Here are the actual government tax amounts:

Trip distance        Economy Class Tax    Business Class Tax 

0        - 2000 miles      £12             £24
2001 -     4000 miles      £60             £120
4001 -     6000 MILES      £75             £150
6000+                      £85             £170

 
2,000 mile limit: North Africa, Turkey and Russia
4,000 mile limit: East Coast USA, Gabon, Middle East, Russia East of Urals
6,000 mile limit: West Coast USA, South Africa, Thailand, but not Singapore, Beijing
6,000+: Australia, New Zealand,

See my article on how to avoid airport tax

British Airways Low Business Class Fares

The BA sale is directed at leisure travellers as all tickets require a Saturday night stay.  The airfares are non refundable (although government tax and airport charges of up to £270, included in the fares below, are refundable)

Canny business travellers who stick to their travel plans, and maybe add a weekend holiday to the beginning or end of their trips, thus staying a Saturday night, can benefit from these prices too.

Bookings generally need to be made in advance – by as much as 28 days before departure.

Example return fares in Business Class:

New York            £1,869

Mumbai               £1,750

Hong Kong          £2,447

Bangkok             £2,650

This offer is for travel through to 31st December 2011 and should be booked in advance to avoid disappointment!

British Airways do not discount these prices through any travel agent – or any online agent. The price you see is the price you pay except for a £4.50 charge should you choose to pay by credit card.

Visit British Airways direct to book online.