I’ve just been asked this question and for flights, I know that the answer is up to one year but I’ve checked and rail bookings have a surprisingly short selling period:
For Eurostar journeys to mainline Paris, Lille and Brussels stations, you can book up to 4 months in advance, minus 2 days
This applies to both French Rail, the UK arm of French SNCF railways and Eurostar. For the genuine links to both companies and for booking tips please visit my Eurostar Page
If you require travel today or tomorrow, the rail companies will quote you exorbitant fares.
Their assumption is that you will either be a business traveller attending meetings or making a multi-million pound sales pitch, or as a member of the general public, that you have to travel, perhaps in an emergency.
And they assume that in these scenarios, you’ll pay whatever they charge.
They take no account for leisure travel taken on impulse.
For some time now, it has been possible to undercut fares by booking separate tickets to intermediate destinations but that used to require an intimate knowledge of the routes taken.
A new tool from MoneySavingExpert.com provides the intermediate fares for same day or next day journeys, also known as walk-up fares.
Try the tool for yourself here
http://splitticket.moneysavingexpert.com/
To book these tickets, you can request them individually at the station ticket office. If you prefer to book online, be warned that some companies e.g. TheTrainline.com may charge a booking fee per ticket thus cancelling any saving achieved!
Our recommended company charges no booking fees or credit card fees – see our UK Rail link above, or book direct with the train operators
We highlight the main conditions:
The sale is for flight only and BA holidays
Bookings must be made by midnight Tuesday 25th September
All Long Haul travel requires a Saturday night stay (targeting “leisure” travellers”)
Euro Traveller bookings from LHR must be booked at least 14 days in advance
World Traveller bookings (except to Mauritius) must be booked at least 7 days in advance
World Traveller Plus (except the Americas and Mauritius, 21 days) also at least 7 days in advance
Club World and First Class from LGW must be booked minimum of 14 days in advance
Please select your flight dates from our British Airways Page, and see our booking tips.
If you require a hotel, do compare the BA Flight+Hotel with flight only and hotel separately using our hotel comparison site.
FREE CHAUFFEUR CARS WITH ETIHAD
If you book business class Etihad flights online, with, for example Opodo or Expedia, you may not be aware that you are eligible for free chauffeur transfers.
The online booking systems do not automatically offer you the service and you could miss out from several hundred pounds worth of free Etihad transfers.
You need to phone or email the online agent to request the transfers and you’ll probably have to deal with an agent in India so you’d better give clear and concise instructions, address and postcode and your mobile phone contact (for the chauffeur company).
My recent article provided details of the new chauffeur limits
http://www.bookingbusinesstravel.com/etihad-chauffeur-new-limits/
HOTELS
Our hotel search engine compares more prices than any other comparison site.
And with over 300,000 properties featured, you’re sure to find the ideal hotel at the lowest price.
See how much you could have saved on your last booking – or plan for your next!
Do try our Hotel Search from the menu above
You can accrue points on Etihad reward scheme with the following airlines:
Airline (Flight Prefix)
American Airlines AA
Air Berlin AB
Royal Air Maroc AT
Alitalia AZ
BMI BD
Virgin Australia DJ
Air Seychelles HM
Malaysia Airlines MH
All Nippon NH
Air New Zealand NZ
Czech Airlines OK
Asiana Airlines OZ
Bangkok Airlines PG
Ukraine International PS
Brussels Airlines SN
Air Lanka UL
Virgin Australia VA
Oman Air WY
Jet Airways 9W
We recommend that you use our comprehensive flight search tool to obtain the best deals. Click on FLIGHT SEARCH above.
And
Our hotel search engine compares more prices than any other comparison site.
And with over 300,000 properties featured, you’re sure to find the ideal hotel at the lowest price.
See how much you could have saved on your last booking – or plan for your next!
Do try our Hotel Search from the menu above
Travel Agents, both online and offline tend to use one of the four major computer reservation systems: Galileo, Amadeus, Sabre and Worldspan.
The Amadeus reservation system can book up to 360 days in advance, almost a whole calendar year, whilst the other major system, Galileo will only offer bookings up to 332 days – a difference of 4 weeks.
Amadeus powers the online agency OPODO so you can book 12 months in advance using their website here.
But other well known companies such as Expedia cannot book this far in advance.
As different travel agencies use different systems, one agent may say that you have to wait before accepting bookings, any travel agent using Amadeus, for example Capable Travel, Telephone 020 7489 8787, will be able to help you.
Golf Clubs are permitted as checked baggage with a maximum weight of 15kg
This is in addition to the free checked in limit of 30kg
And the cabin baggage (combined) allowance is 12kg (2 pieces permitted)
Our hotel search engine compares more prices than any other comparison site.
And with over 300,000 properties featured, you’re sure to find the ideal hotel at the lowest price.
See how much you could have saved on your last booking, or plan for your next!
Try our Hotel Search from the menu above this article
If you are travelling business class with Etihad to Australia, is it worth signing up to their loyalyty scheme?
We took the following example
Etihad business class to Melbourne Australia
One round trip in Business Class at the lowest fare type (W class) earns 27,700 miles which is enough to buy a pair of Oakley ANTIX sunglasses (21,214 miles)
If you want to redeem miles for flights, an economy class ticket to Dubai requires 62,043 miles
Useful links:
Where you can fly to with your Etihad miles calculator:
How many miles will you earn from an Etihad Flight
See my related article:
Emirates Skywards or Etihad Guest loyalty schemes – Which is more generous?