Here at Booking Business Travel we’ll keep you updated of travel news items that affect you, as a travel arranger, if you sign up to our blog. But here is our selection of the top UK travel publications, should you want more general information. Two all-round general travel trade publications are delivered weekly to most […]
read more »Ryanair – quite rightly, in our opinion, does not want online travel agents to sell their flights with a hidden mark-up, whether sold as flight only, or bundled with hotel accommodation. The airline prefers travellers to get the best deal direct and hopes that bookers will then purchase other peripheral items via the Ryanair website. […]
read more »Hilton is has a “flash sale” of 50,000 rooms worldwide with astonishing rates, but it is for weekend stays only, between 14 October and 16 December These rates are not displayed in the hotel comparison sites. Choose Hilton Hotels even if the rates appear higher, and check. You’ll be offered the discounted rates after you […]
read more »BA has reduced fares for departures from Gatwick by up to 20 per cent. 12 routes now cost less than £40 each way: Amsterdam, Bologna, Bordeaux, Edinburgh, Genoa, Glasgow, Malaga, Manchester, Marseilles, Naples, Turin and Verona Other reductions include flights to Faro and Innsbruck (from £49), Salzburg (from £59) and Marrakech £69) Unlike most “sales” […]
read more »Save £12 per person per return ticket by using the Ryanair Cash Passport card But be aware of the following: Prepaid cards are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Transaction fee of 50p applies on spend anywhere other than on Ryanair.com Inactivity fee of £2.50 every 6 months! Loading a small amount of […]
read more »From the 1st November it seems Ryanair intends to charge £6 per flight per passenger for paying by any card online. That amounts to a charge of £24 for two people booking a return trip. The airline has announced that it will provide reimbursement in the form of £6 travel voucher(s) if they use the […]
read more »Redspottedhanky appear to have scrapped their £1 per minute support line in favour of a freephone line Customer support is available 08:00 to 20:00 every day Telephone: 0800 377 7748 With no booking fee, no credit card charges and a loyalty scheme worth 1%, Redspottedhanky is the UK’s lowest priced rail booking service. For more […]
read more »Here are the most notable changes affecting business travellers: London – Paris: First train will depart at 0540 instead of 0525, Monday-Friday Two morning trains are now non-stop services: 0701 and 0831 0730 departure is now only on a Monday Paris – London An additional peak afternoon train departs 1743 Tuesday to Friday London – […]
read more »BA expects unprecedented demand for flights from around the world during the peak dates 16 July – 29 August 2012 We recommend that you make bookings for this period as far in advance as possible, although the airline has tightened its ticketing policy; All bookings made in advance (more than 90 days) must be paid […]
read more »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 […]
read more »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 […]
read more »The best ash cloud map with predictions which will help you see at a glance what flights may be affected is available from the met office site here An alternative and perhaps clearer forecasts are also available here You’ll see why Germany is suffering airport closures 0800hrs Wednesday and the UK is not. Also, we […]
read more »A study of thousands of fares offered by 20 airlines concludes that the low cost airlines add approximately 44% to the base fare, in fees and charges! Despite this, the overall savings offered by low cost airlines averaged 33% The report suggests that domestic flights only offered a 20% saving but that international flights saved […]
read more »The US Justice Dept has cleared Google to proceed with its purchase of ITA for $700 million. Google will have to allow other companies to use ITA’s technology but with Google’s dominant position in search, why will anyone go elsewhere to search for flights if Google provides the answers? Google in its blog said, “How […]
read more »EasyJet has flexi fares for bookers of business travel which allow changes to tickets free-of-charge, and to date, these fares are only bookable through Travel Management Companies. By end June however, these fares will be available on the EasyJet.com web site. See my article, EasyJet flexible fares – are they worth it about the pros […]
read more »EasyJet has launched a three times weekly service, departing Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. With a flying time of 5 hours, this is believed to be the outer reaches of time that passengers will tolerate a no-frills service. The fares are approximately half that charged by existing services – Royal Jordanian and BMI and can be […]
read more »and …Stavanger, Casablanca and Marrakech …are now available to book online for travel from April 2011 Earn Double destination miles with Diamond Club and double points with company rewards to Berlin and Vienna until 31st May 2011. Book direct with BMI here –
read more »Ryanair is to charge an additional €2.00 fee from the 4th April, to cover the costs of disrupted travel due to incidents such as the ash cloud, Air Traffic strikes and snow. We wait to see if this is per flight or just per booking. It will be described as a “EU261 Compensation Levy” because […]
read more »In July 2010, Google announced an agreement to acquire ITA Software, for $700 million. ITA provides search technology and connectivity between airlines and client-facing web sites such as ORBITZ and KAYAK. Acquiring ITA will empower Google to provide answers to consumers search queries itself, instead of leaving that function to the online travel companies. Ask […]
read more »BMI New Routes to Basel, Bergen, Stavanger, Casablanca and Marrakech are now available to book online for travel from April 2011
read more »easyJet holidays – is it cheaper to book a package?
read more »TRAVEL ADVICE The UK Government Foreign Office advise against all travel to Bahrain until further notice. For more details regarding the situation in Bahrain click HERE TRAVEL INSURANCE You may or may not decide to heed Foreign Office advisories, however it is important to be aware of the dangers and also that most travel insurance […]
read more »Skyscanner has bought an online company – ZOOMBU – which claims to provide “door-to-door” travel information. We look forward to seeing this technology added to the site as we believe it to be an exciting enhancement See our SKYSCANNER PAGE for more information on the travel industry’s leading search engine
read more »We’ve found a very helpful site which provides answers to your travel-related questions. Travellr.com (no e) Alternatively Mygola.com uses a real life team of human researchers to answer questions but after 3 free searches you need to pay … and the initial search process requires you to register. This is an obstacle as nowadays, we […]
read more »The UK rail booking company, Redspottedhanky.com no longer charges rail booking fees. It also offers free ticket delivery by first class post, free “ticket on departure” and appears to have scrapped credit card fees as well! Combined with their loyalty scheme, and brilliant website, Redspottedhanky.com is a serious contender for your business travel bookings.
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