Author Archives: bookingbusinesstravel

British Airways Sale ends Midnight Tuesday 13 November

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The British Airways sale is advertised as the “Luxury” seat sale but you’d be wrong to dismiss it as being the same as some previous sales.

This time the fares include European routes and some offer club Europe business class seats at less than economy prices!

Bookings must be made before midnight Tuesday.

Valid for travel as follows:

Europe, from City airport for travel 15 December 2012 to 31 January 2013
Most other worldwide destinations are for travel 14 December 2012 and 4 January 2012 (except Orlando, Tampa and Caribbean through most of 2013)

I’ve seen Amsterdam at £139 return, Zagreb £159, Dubai at £999 including tax

Use this Lowest Fare Finder find the best fares.

How to extend Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles expiry date

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A traveller friend of mine has some 36,000 miles and a silver status about to expire because she hasn’t flown recently.

I telephoned Virgin Atlantic yesterday to check, because their website isn’t 100% clear regarding extension of miles.

Please note that we’re discussing miles here, not status. There’s nothing you can do about your status.

The cheapest and most effective way to extend the life of your Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles is to logon to your account and DONATE 1,000 miles to “Free the Children”

Yes, that’s correct, not “save” the children but “free” the children!

Such activity will renew your account for another 3 years.

There are alternatives. You can buy miles but at £30 for 1,000 that’s very poor value. Or you can spend miles at Virgin Wine for example – 12,500 miles provides a £50 voucher

But we believe that the donation avenue is the most cost effective.

STOP PRESS!
If you travel Premium economy or Upper class with Virgin we have access to fares that may be cheaper than online. Contact us.

Single fare Milan-London £500. Is this the most expensive easyJet fare ever?

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A company has contacted us to ask to verify the unbelievable.

Yes, it’s Friday and they’re arranging flights for travel on Monday so it’s at short notice.

London to Venice on Monday and Milan to London on Wednesday

The cheapest outbound flight is with British Airways, at £340 which is high, but not ludicrously high, unlike the only option on the return, which is with easyJet at £500! Or EUR591 plus a booking fee plus a checked in baggage fee of 15 Euros for 20kg

Two suggestions from this rant!

1. ALWAYS book as far in advance as you can – I have never seen a “last-minute” bargain on any of the no-frills or full service airlines.

2. Don’t call no-frills airlines or web-airlines “low-cost” airlines, because they’re not low-cost when you need them. They’ll charge as much as they can. They’re in business to make a profit. Yes they may dump some seats at £9.99 in advance but that shouldn’t earn them the “low-cost” badge.

How to find the lowest fares on British Airways

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We have provided booking tips on the British Airways booking page that will help you to find the lowest air fares when booking specific dates.

But if you are flexible with your travel dates, British Airways has an excellent calendar display that will help you find the cheapest dates at a glance.

Although this function is aimed at leisure travellers, bookers of business travel may find it useful when planning meetings well in advance

Visit the We have provided booking tips on the British Airways booking page that will help you to find the lowest air fares when booking specific dates.

But if you are flexible with your travel dates, British Airways has an excellent calendar display that will help you find the cheapest dates at a glance.

Although this function is aimed at leisure travellers, bookers of business travel may find it useful when planning meetings well in advance

Visit the Lowest Fare Finder here

We also recommend that you price flight+hotel and compare against the hotel prices offered on our hotel comparison page

Ramada Hotels just £20 per night Book by Sunday 21 October

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The Independent newspaper is offering a promotion at 35 Ramada hotels including the Docklands in London.

See the article here

Stay anytime between 8 November 2012 and 7 November 2013

You’ll need to print out a token to present upon arrival.

A dropdown list of hotels and the availability is available here

www.ramada.co.uk/£20

Maximum 3 bookings per person!

Hilton Sale – Book by Midnight Wednesday 17th October

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A flash sale by Hilton group including Waldorf Astoria and Conrad has been announced

For Europe, it is only available for weekend stays (Friday, Saturday, Sunday nights) but for other destinations, any day of the week.

Valid for dates up to 29th December, discounts of up to 40%

Book directly through Hilton.com but remember to also compare rates via our comparison site.

Roomkey hotel booking site

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Roomkey is an online hotel booking engine.

It has been created by a collaboration of the following hotel chains:

Hilton
Hyatt
Intercontinental
Wyndham
Marriott
Choice hotels

And Roomkey recently signed up agreements with:
La Quinta
Millenium Hotels & Resorts
Leading Hotels of the World

It’s important to recognise that Roomkey is not a hotel comparison site. All it does is drive visitors to the above hotel’s websites.

It attracts visitors by popping up if you close your browser on one of the above hotels without having made or completed the booking

And it tries to entice you back, to one of the above properties

So whilst Roomkey is an innovative produce we do not recommend using it for hotel price search as you’ll only be provided with the rates as advertised on the hotel’s own websites.

Our hotel comparison site however, compares these rates with hundreds of others so you can rest assured that you’ve got the best deal.

Heathrow Express Discount October 2012

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We compare the lowest prices on Heathrow Express every month.

The normal online price is a steep £34 return and £18 single.

ANA All Nippon Airlines has the best discounted fare:

£30.60 return and £16.20 single.

… beating the price offered by Virgin and British Airways (£32.30 return and £17.10 single) !

Use the ANA link here. You’ll still be booking direct with Heathrow Express – simply at a discount.

We earn nothing from providing this advice.

We also help with flights and hotels, using the best search technology available, so please peruse or come back and visit when you next need to arrange travel.

All Eurostar services Brussels cancelled Wednesday 3 October

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Due to a national strike in Belgium due to take place on Wednesday 3rd October, no Eurostar service will operate to Brussels between 10pm on Tuesday night to 10pm Wednesday night

6 shuttles will operate as far as Lille.

Lille is 112km from Brussels and a 1½ hour drive.

There is a bus service from Lille Europe station to Brussels Airport taking 1 hour 40 minutes operated by Luxembourg company Sales-Lentz

Bookable online at www.flibco.com

And major car hire companies: Avis, Hertz and Europcar are represented at the station

Stansted Express Discount September 2012

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The normal online return fare is now £29.50 and the single is £21.50

Book a Stansted Express discount fare through Ryanair and you’ll pay just £25.50 return and £18 single.

The prices are actually in Euros (20.49 single and 29.03 return) so depending on the exchange rate that your bank applies, you could achieve a price of approximately £16.80 and £23.79 respectively using a rate of 1.22 to the pound

Book on the Ryanair website here

You do not need to be a Ryanair passenger and surprisingly, there are no extras!

We earn no commission from this information.

We’re just happy to find you the best deal.

That’s our policy – impartial advice – which is why you’ll benefit if you use our flight search and hotel search pages.

Remember, we’re good for leisure and business travel

 

 

How to redeem British Airways On Business Points

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It makes sense to get the best value that you possibly can from your British Airways On Business points.

You must compare the fare you would otherwise have to pay before redeeming points

EXAMPLE

London-Glasgow-London costs 1,560 points return plus tax.

The equivalent flight at the full economy fare is £432 therefore the value per point is 27p and that is about the highest value that you can achieve.

The lowest restricted fare is just £68 therefore the redemption value would drop to just 4p per point.

To make bookings and for other booking tips please visit our British Airways Page

 

Best airline reward scheme

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If you are a UK based company then it is likely that of your business air-travel, British Airways comprise approximately 50%

Business travel agents also report approximately 40% to 50% simply because British Airways is the dominant carrier.

So it makes sense to sign up to a very rewarding loyalty scheme for all that travel, regardless of whether BA is a “preferred” airline or not.

We recommend that all companies sign up to the British Airways On Business Reward Scheme.

Before you begin, decide who will be the company authoriser and the administrator for the account. Have your company registration number to hand and an estimate of your annual travel spend.

Also, if you work with a travel agency, you’ll need their details and IATA number

Points are rewarded for most fare types starting at 60 points upwards and we calculate each point to be worth between 10p and 30p depending on how you redeem them.

 

 

Redeeming BA On Business Points Marriott Copenhagen

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Copenhagen does not appear to be listed in any of the three Marriott categories, on the British Airways On Business Award Voucher offer

European Classic Award
European Signature Award
European Premier Award

Malmo in Sweden is offered, and as a Premier category despite being cheaper than the Copenhagen (room rates approximately £167 compared to £224)

The points required are 2,000 3,000 and 4,500 respectively therefore the value per point is 3.7p which is very low compared to a value of up to 27p for flights.

 

SAS Cash back Scheme

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This scheme is only worth registering for if your company will fly to Scandinavia in business class several times between now and the end of 2012

The scheme is for travel from the UK to Scandinavia and Finland with SAS, Widerøe or Blue1

Tickets have to be issued by a travel agent and you’ll need to spend at least £1,000 air fares (not tax/fuel surcharges etc) before you receive a payment.

Each business class flight earns £20, Economy Extra £15 and standard Economy just £2 in cash back

A CMP code needs to be entered into the booking by your travel agent.

Register by 30th September for travel 1st October to 31 December

 

Heathrow Express Discount September 2012

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The normal fares for Heathrow Express are £18 single and £34 return if you book online on the Heathrow Express website. The one-way fare increases to £19 if you buy at the station but the return fare remains the same.

We’ve researched the reduced fares to save you the time and effort. We earn no commission by doing so. We simply enjoy helping you get the best deal, and hope that you’ll show appreciation by using our choice of industry leading flight and hotel comparison sites.

You can buy reduced fares on Heathrow Express of £16.20 single and £30.60 directly on their site but you need to go there via the link supplied by ANA All Nippon Airways on their website here.

That’s a discount of 10% and the lowest fare currently available

You’ve probably booked your flights already,  but why not see just how much you could save on hotels by testing our hotel comparison page?

 

 

Sorry these redemption options are not available

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You wish to redeem points for flight tickets on your BA OnBusiness account but there is no search option, just a message stating:

“Sorry, these redemption options are not available”

The client had over 5,000 on the account.

We’ve discovered that the reason for this message is that only one traveller has accrued points to date whilst the scheme requires a minimum of two travellers.

So you need to wait for a second passenger to contribute points before you can start to redeem them.

If you appreciate this information, please use our flight and hotel search, Thank you!

 

How far in advance can I book Eurostar?

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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

Reduce your UK train fare by splitting tickets

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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

 

 

British Airways Go After The Games Sale

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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.

 

Etihad Chauffeur with Opodo or Expedia

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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

 

 

Etihad Frequent Flier Flyer Agreements

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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

 

How far in advance can I book flights?

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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.

 

 

Are Golf Clubs allowed Etihad checked baggage in Pearl Business Class

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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