Monthly Archives: January 2012

easyJet to include flight admin fees and credit card charges in their headline prices

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Finally!

The low cost carrier now includes their fees in the initial quote, rather than further down the booking process. They shouldn’t be charging as much as they do for using plastic, but at least they are now being upfront about it.

Meanwhile, Ryanair has introduced yet another fee of typically £2.00 per flight to cover the cost of the European Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme.

Ryanair says that the EU stealth tax will damage traffic, tourism, European competiveness and jobs. Really? Can £2 per flight do that much damage?

Ryanair still leave the additional credit card fees of £6 per passenger per flight until the final page of a booking.

Booking Business Travel recommend using our flight comparison page for easyJet and Ryanair flights but remember that you’ll need to add £12 per return flight per passenger on Ryanair for a true comparison

Visit the UK’s most popular search engine here

 

Heathrow Express Discount January 2012

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Two train services serve the Paddington-Heathrow route. We compare both.

HEATHROW CONNECT

Save £16.20 by taking the cheaper and slightly slower alternative.
HEATHROW CONNECT costs £17.80 return compared to Heathrow Express at £34.
Even lower fares if you use a railcard.

If you’re taking the first train of the day, the journey time is only 24 minutes compared to Heathrow Express’s 15 minutes

Departure from Paddington at 04.42 arrives:
Terminal 1 & 3 at 05.04
Terminal 4 at 05.10
Terminal 5 at 05.33

Normal Journey Times:
Paddington – Heathrow Terminal 1 & 3 =             32 MINUTES
Paddington – Heathrow Terminal  4         =             49 MINUTES
Paddington  – Heathrow Terminal 5         =             43 MINUTES

Schedules
Full schedule information available from Heathrow Connect Website

HEATHROW EXPRESS

The online fare is now £34 return and £18 single, an increase of just over 6% on last year.

The cheapest Heathrow Express fare we have found online is from the BMI website here

We’d appreciate any comments below, especially if this information becomes outdated. I last checked on 1st February 2012

Also, take a look at what we consider to be the very best discount hotel search engine here

Booking Business Travel provides impartial advice. We earn nothing from this particular article but hope you’ll revisit us and consider taking our advice when you next need a hotel, a Eurostar ticket or international flight.

 

Stansted Express Discount January 2012

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Here is the most up to date and impartial guide to discount Stansted Express fares.

The normal return fare is now £29.50, almost as much as the Heathrow Express Service

And the one way fare is £21.50

Stansted Express through Ryanair is just £21.60 return, saving £7.90 (EUR24.59 converted at today’s rate)

And one way is just £14.40

Here is the direct link to discounted Stansted Express Tickets courtesy of Ryanair. You do not have to be a Ryanair passenger to take advantage of this fare

easyJet also offers a discount but more expensive, at £28 return and £19.80 single

We’ve also researched and host the very best hotel comparison site. When you need a discounted hotel booking, please use our hotel search engine here

Booking Business Travel provides impartial advice. We earn nothing from this particular article but hope you’ll revisit us and consider taking our advice when you next need a hotel, a Eurostar ticket or international flight.

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British Airways Upgrade Offer January 2012

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British Airways is offering free upgrades from Business to First Class.

The offer for travel up to end March 2012

Bookings apply to “published fares” only, i.e. fares that are displayed on the ba.com website.
If you book a “restricted fare”, bookings must be made by 31st January 2012. Restricted fares are booked in C D or R class.
If you are booking fully flexible club word tickets, the offer will be available until 31st March 2012
Fully flexible fares are booked in J class

The offer is a choice of upgrade on either the outbound or inbound journey.

Bookings can only be made via a travel agent or the British Airways call centre.
British Airways telephone number: 0844 493 0787. Travel agents will also be in a position to compare with alternative airlines. Try a specialist agent such as Capable Travel on 020 7489 8787

Upgrades are limited in availability so book as soon as you can!

EXPEDIA buys TRAVELDOO Technologies

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Most people know Expedia as an online travel agent for leisure bookings but the company also operates a Travel Management Company by the name of EGENCIA.
EGENCIA has acquired TRAVELDOO technologies, founded in France in 2000
TRAVELDOO provides booking management technology to Travel Management Companies.
Their products assist travel clients with Travel planning, Online Bookings, Data capture and reporting.
TRAVELDOO have their own clients in addition to Expedia, numbering some 4,000+
We think this is important news as technology becomes a more and more important factor in the decision making process of which TMC to use.

Airline Sale Expiry Dates January 2012

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Major airlines including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Emirates and Air New Zealand have January 2012 sales

Book before 24th January 2012:
British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines and Qantas all require bookings to be made by Tuesday 24th January 2012

Cathay Pacific Sale to Australia must be booked by 15th January 2012
Air New Zealand Worldwide Sale deadline is 31st January 2012