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# Wednesday, 09 January 2008
British Airways passengers are likely to see fuel charges on longhaul flights top the £100 mark for the first time. The rises come as the airline struggles with rising oil costs. The rise follows an increase in November which saw the fuel surcharge on a longhaul ticket rise from £76 to £96. A family of four would now have to pay £464 in fuel charges on a return trip to Hong Kong.

posted on Wednesday, 09 January 2008 12:27:11 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Tuesday, 08 January 2008
Air passengers could face chaos because of confusion over plans to relax baggage security rules. As of yesterday ministers are allowing airlines at some airports to allow passengers to carry two pieces of hand luggage. However, other airports have not been given permission to relax the security rule. This article has a useful guide listing the main airlines and their current baggage allowances as well as airports that do allow two bags. It all seems a little complicated at the moment but its worth checking out the list before you fly.

posted on Tuesday, 08 January 2008 19:02:40 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Monday, 07 January 2008
With the rising cost of rail fares you might be better off calling a taxi and sharing the cost with some of your fellow passengers that’s according to this report. The report says that a standard single from Euston to Birmingham New Street now costs £61.50 whereas Rosebery minicabs will take four passengers at a cost of £140, a saving of £26.50 per person.

posted on Monday, 07 January 2008 19:12:45 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Saturday, 05 January 2008

blogoftheweek Happy New Year! We apologise for not having a travel blog last week, but the staff at PC2Paper had a well earned break for a week over new year. Our first Travel Blog of the week for 2008 is The Cranky Flier, a blog focused mainly around (you guessed it!) airline travel.

The blogs author goes by the name of Brett and calls himself "an airline dork" who has had and obsession with the airline industry since he was a boy and became a travel agent by the age of 12!

Brett's blog gives anyone interested in particular airlines or airports a good overview of past problems and things to expect, quite useful if you are booking flights in an area you have never been before. A rather useful aspect is if you are booking flights with an airline that might be nearing bankruptcy.

posted on Saturday, 05 January 2008 20:57:33 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Wednesday, 02 January 2008
New Year price increases will mean that the cost of some rail tickets will rise by nearly 15%. This is despite the fact that many services have problems with chronic overcrowding and punctuality. One of the biggest increases is on the Southeastern Railway's weekly season ticket from Hayes, Kent, to London, which will rise by 14.5%, from £24.80 to £28.50.

posted on Wednesday, 02 January 2008 21:05:30 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
The Unite and PCS unions have cancelled the planned one day stoppage that would have closed seven UK airports. The strike was called off after BAA managers agreed to negotiate any changes that are made to the firm’s final salary pension scheme. Two further strikes could also be called off if a deal is reached by union representatives in a meeting planned for Thursday.

posted on Wednesday, 02 January 2008 15:19:24 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Friday, 28 December 2007
Talks aimed at stopping industrial action by airport staff have failed. Seven of Britain’s airports will now be closed by industrial action next month. The first 24 hour walkout will take place on January 7th with more strikes taking place on January 14th and January 17th. Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen will be affected. If the strikes go ahead the airports will close because they will involve crucial workers such as firefighters, maintenance workers and security staff.

posted on Friday, 28 December 2007 18:31:00 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Thursday, 27 December 2007
Around 40,000 customers of Travelscope have been told that their holiday bookings can no longer be honoured after the company went into administration. All customers will get a refund but many who were due to depart in the next few weeks are angry that they have not been given time to make other arrangements.

posted on Thursday, 27 December 2007 18:25:54 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Sunday, 23 December 2007

blogoftheweek_thumbThis weeks Travel Blog of the week is Cheapest Destinations written by Tim Leffel who has also written a book with the same title. Tim is a regular columnist for Transitions Abroad magazine and is also editor of the online magazine Perceptive Travel.

His most recent post talks about how the expansion of The Schengen Zone will mean it will now be easier for travellers to move around Europe with just a passport. Basically the agreement means that you can now travel from Tallinn in Estonia to Lisbon in Portugal without any border controls.

rei_mug Another post highlights six travel gifts that can you purchase for $30 or less, perfect for those last minute Christmas presents. Among the gift ideas are the REI vacuum coffee mug which can keep your coffee hot for several hours and a mini shortwave radio perfect for journeys to remote locations and camping trips.

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The blog also contains lots of useful information that should help save you a bit of cash whilst travelling, as well as links to other sites that can help you with planning your trip. In particular this article about Honduras provides a wealth of useful information from sites that have information on local events to links to good hotel guides and dive shops.

posted on Sunday, 23 December 2007 17:03:30 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
Union members at BAA have voted for strike action in a dispute over changes to pension rights. The Unite union has called for 24 hour strikes starting at 06.00 on 7 and 14 of January and a 48 hour strike starting at 06.00 on the 17th of January. The strikes will take place at seven of the UK’s airports including Heathrow, Gatwick and Edinburgh and are expected to affect around 1.3 million passengers.

posted on Sunday, 23 December 2007 13:49:19 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
Work has begun on a new transport system for Heathrow Airport. The system will include a Personal Rapid Transit System with low energy battery produced vehicles. Initially there will be 18 of the driverless guided vehicles which will take people from the new Terminal Five to the business car park. The system will be on trial before it is rolled out across the rest of the airport.

posted on Sunday, 23 December 2007 00:08:30 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback