Skyscanner is our favourite search engine for economy flights worldwide, so we feature it under our Flight Search page (see above)

It is especially good for European fares because it offers direct availability from low-cost-airlines that may be omitted by many travel agent systems. That’s because most of the low cost carriers have a direct sell policy and don’t “distribute” their flights via the global reservation systems that travel agents use.

Unfortunately, there are no Business Class fares on Skyscanner.

UPDATE 22nd October 2014. SkyScanner includes business and premium economy class but you need to edit your search after using our search form.

Because of the complexity of business class fares, we recommend that you focus on two companies, namely Expedia and Opodo.

Both offer the reliable service that Business Class requires.

We provide search forms for both companies here on our site under the Expedia and Opodo headings above, together with some useful booking tips

The Heathrow Express App is a very simple application for booking full fare tickets on your mobile.

The most annoying feature is the date selection. Instead of a user friendly calendar , you need to select from a date wheel. It does not help by providing the days of the week, so you need to make sure that the date you request is the correct day.

Furthermore, as only “full fares” are offered, you could do better by booking discount fares as advised in our blog articles.

Search our site for Heathrow Express and you’ll be directed to the most up to date online discounts.

This article is written to help you find the best easyJet discount fares, impartially. We do not want to sell you a ticket!

easyJet and the travel trade

Unlike the Ryanair policy (see my article here)  easyJet do work with travel agents, travel management companies, both online and offline.

They facilitate the booking processes and in the case distribution through Travel Management Companies reservation systems they charge a small fee of perhaps £3 per flight

From our experience to date, unlike the traditional airlines (Air France, Lufthansa, etc.) easyJet do not offer discounted fares via the travel trade.

Some online agents package easyJet flights with hotels and add a mark-up. You can do better by booking your flights independently of your hotels. The only factor to consider is that you’ll not have the benefit of ATOL protection should everything go wrong.

So, where do I find easyJet discounts?

For an impartial search of easyJet flights and all the other airline options (including some that you may not have considered before), our flight search tool is invaluable, saving you time and money.

But always choose to book direct. Never select the online agents that are included in the comparison, because, by the time you complete the booking, extra charges and fees will increase the total fare.

In this article, we discuss the variety of sources of Ryanair discount ticket prices in 2012 .

Ryanair fares are offered by travel agents, package holiday companies and the airline itself.

1. Travel agents and Travel Management Companies (TMC’ s) simply book direct on the Ryanair website and charge you a transaction fee to do so. This is the case for online and offline companies. Unless the agent has marked up the fare, you’ll pay exactly the same as booking yourself online although if you pay the agent by credit card, you’ll pay two credit card surcharges (the Ryanair and the Travel Agents merchant fees). And you may incur problems because you haven’t booked direct and you may not have been informed of all the baggage and other restrictions.

2. Package Holiday Companies (online and offline) will bundle hotels and flights together, add a mark-up and sell that online or through brochures. Ryanair does not offer discounted prices to these companies. They may claim to offer a discount but you can achieve better prices if you follow our summary advice below.

3. Ryanair Direct. Michael O’Leary is disliked by the “travel trade” in general, because he does not want to work with them. Instead, the airlines distribution model is to sell only direct to the public. Indeed, Ryanair has taken some trade companies to court to try and stop their unauthorised access to his reservation system. An exception to this situation is our flight comparison search facility, on our Flight Search page (see above).

So, to summarise, the fact is that you will never find a discount Ryanair ticket cheaper than that offered by Ryanair direct.

Always use our authorised Ryanair Flight Search because you will be offered live Ryanair prices at Ryanair.com prices AND alternatives such as British Airways.com , easyJet, WizzAir, Jet2 etc.

Even if you know that Ryanair is your choice, you may see an airline that you had never considered before.

And for the cheapest hotel rates, with a low price guarantee, our comparison site will find you the best deal. See our Hotel Search above.

British Airways says “book before 10 July” but we always check the small print. You can book up to 23:59 GMT on Tuesday itself.

Travel is generally from 10^th September through to dates as far in advance as March or even June 2013

Changes to booked tickets are allowed at a fee but refunds are not permitted.

Please see our British Airways page for more details and for British Airways booking tips

We have been asked to find a hotel near to or within walking distance of the Council of European Union, Justus Lipsius Building, Rue de la Loi 175, Brussels.

The closest and best standard appeared to be the Renaissance Brussels but the normal rate was EUR239 and well above the European Body guideline rate of EUR140 per night.

Even the EU Government rate for this hotel is EUR189.00

By using our comprehensive “Hotel Search” as above, we found promotional rate of just EUR 69.00 including tax, per night. This rate applied to midweek too. NB Rates subject to change, exchange rate fluctuation and availability.

Business travel needn’t be expensive – try our Hotel Search engine to see. And remember, the site works just as well for your leisure trips and holidays.

The hotel nearest to the Eurostar terminal in London is the Renaissance St Pancras but the standard rates in July 2012 are currently £390 or advance purchase £354 (including VAT)

Compare the rates via our Hotel Search but currently the hotel does not appear to be discounting their published tariff. We did find discounted rates of £311 including VAT during September 2012

For a lower price, we recommend the Hotel Russell which is located in Russell Square, towards London’s theatre land , a short walk from the Eurostar Terminal. Rates start at £135 including tax

Even better value is the St Giles Hotel in a similar location and with a stunning pool!

We’ve had to search everywhere to find exact times for the RAF flypast on Tuesday 5th June.

Firstly, please allow me to say that our site is dedicated to helping you to find the lowest air fares and hotels, online.

So, inevitably, we impartially direct you elsewhere, just as we do in this article.

But we hope you’ll keep coming back to us as we feature the UK’s most popular flight search tools and a fantastic hotel comparison engine – our clients have saved over 30% on hotels alone.

Please visit our Hotel Search page.

Now; Details of the Queen’s Jubilee Royal Flypast on Tuesday 5th June 2012

The Queens flypast will occur over Buckingham Palace at 3.30 pm (1530 hrs).
The formation will include Battle of Britain Spitfires, Lancaster and Hurricane aircraft.

The aircraft usually fly from East to West over Hackney to line up with the Mall
If you’re in central London, you’ll hear before you see!
The drone of the approach is fantastic so I hope you enjoy as much as I will.

More information is available from the RAF site here.

We hope you’ll come back when you next need to book travel!

UPDATE 14th JUNE 2013

For this year’s flypast details please read my article here:

http://www.bookingbusinesstravel.com/flypast-time-5th-june-2013/

Fly from LHR-KUL (London-Kuala Lumpur) and stop-over, option to take a train from KL to Singapore, return,

Fly KUL-DPS (Kuala Lumpur to Denpasar, Bali)

Travel overland from Bali to Jakarta

Fly JKT-LHR (Jakarta-Heathrow)

All the above flights are available with the superb Etihad Airlines, for under £1,100

Currently, the closest Hyatt Prague is in Berlin which is disappointing as I have consistently found reasonable rates for Hyatt elsewhere.

Use our hotel comparison site to locate the best rates at alternatives to a Hyatt Prague – I recommend the following:

Sheraton Prague Charles Square
Hotel Esplanade
Savoy Hotel

Qatar Airlines frequent membership scheme is called the Privilege Club and the registration has to be done online here:

Use your own email address if you administer this for the traveller or enter his/her details.

You’ll need the travellers date of birth

First and Business Class customers in Doha are serviced via their Premium Terminal in Doha where they are provided with a personal chauffeur driven transport to and from the plane. And a bell-host service will take care of luggage

But Qatar Airways do not offer the “free chauffeur service” to and from airports that Virgin or Emirates do.

We searched for a First Class fare to Dubai with Qatar Airways

Qatarairways.com priced at £3,637
Expedia online quoted £3,389

Discount Flight Specialist, Capable Travel of Old Bailey, London EC4 offered £50 off the Expedia fare, including credit card charges and they were able to “hold” seats whilst a decision was made.
They also offered Emirate airlines at a slightly higher fare with chauffeur cars at London and Dubai with the benefit of direct flights.

Telephone Capable Travel on 020 7489 8787 or email sales at Capabletravel.com

The cycling facility at St Pancras Station may deter you from visiting the station and travelling onwards by Eurostar.

The bicycle park is in a dimly lit NCP car park a long walk at the rear of the station.

When I visited St Pancras station on 15th March 2012 there were only 11 “Sheffield” style bicycle stands – adequate for just 22 bikes – and all were used.
And there were police notices warning about locking bicycles and avoiding theft which suggests to me that theft may be an additional problem.

What a sad city this is!
A superb station, fantastic facilities and amazing Eurostar.

But for bicycles?

What is it about the British mentality that refuses to incorporate bicycles into city planning?

Visit Amsterdam central station and you’ll see hundreds if not thousands of bicycles clearly visible at the front of the station….