Keeping your cool with Christmas travel December 13, 2011
Posted by janeefraser in Airlines, Australia, Events, Travel, Travel tips & trends.Tags: Christmas, holiday travel, Travel
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There’s nothing like a long airport queue or crawling traffic to test your Christmas spirit, so here are some tips to surviving Australia’s busiest travel period.
If you’re flying
For domestic flights, the peak days are expected to be December 22 and 23, with January 19 the predicted busiest day on the other side of Christmas.
A spokeswoman for the airport, Tracy Ong, says passengers travelling during that period should plan to arrive early, check the latest information on what they can take through security and use internet check-in if possible.
You can check in online up to 24 or 48 hours before your flight, depending on the airline, then all you have to do is drop off your bags. Checking in online can also allow you to choose your own seat, which could save you the dreaded middle seat on what is sure to be a full flight.
If you’re planning to drive to the airport, reserve some parking now, as many options will be booked out ahead of Christmas.
The Sydney Airport website, sydneyairport.com.au, is a good resource for other options for getting to and from the airport, including taxis, shuttle buses, buses and trains.
Another tip if flying is… (click here to keep reading this article by Jane E. Fraser)
Space travel: don’t start packing just yet November 28, 2011
Posted by janeefraser in Adventure travel, Airlines, Hotels, Travel, Travel technology, Travel tips & trends.Tags: KLM, space hotels, space tourism, space travel, Travel, Virgin Galactic
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We seem to have been hearing about space travel for a long time and the stories keep getting better. Space flights, space “hotels” and the ability to zoom from one side of the planet to the other in a matter of hours are all being promised as entrepreneurs fight to be the first to bring “space tourism” to the people.
The executive chairman of the CAPA Centre for Aviation, Peter Harbison, says it’s “definitely going to be the latter for quite some time”.
“It is not something that is going to be commercially viable in the short term,” he says. ”Quite probably by 2030 or 2040 we will be starting to see some [wider] consumer benefits from it but it’s highly unlikely it will be before then.”
One of the big talking points of space travel has been its ability to get travellers from Sydney to London in less than two hours. It was this concept that made the headlines when the formula one racing tycoon, Michiel Mol, recently announced his aim to launch sub-orbital flights in three years. Mol, who has teamed up with the Dutch airline KLM, expects the first flights to take off in 2014 with a price tag of £60,000 ($94,000).
The bigger picture is… (click here to keep reading this article by Jane E. Fraser)
What’s new in travel apps? November 8, 2011
Posted by janeefraser in Airlines, Hotels, Travel, Travel technology, Travel tips & trends.Tags: apps, Hotels.com, Travel, travel apps, travel technology, TripAdvisor, UrbanSpoon, Webjet
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From a trickle to a torrent, the release of new travel apps has become such a regular occurrence, it is hard to keep up. Destination information, booking services, trip planners and niche travel apps are lining up to challenge App Store favourites such as TripAdvisor, Urbanspoon and Webjet.
Apps for booking
Hotels.com recently launched a user-friendly iPad app that allows travellers to search and book about 140,000 hotels around the world in a choice of more than 30 languages.
The free app provides fast access to about 20,000 last-minute deals, more than 2.5 million user reviews and last-minute bookings based on location, so it should prove a strong rival to other hotel booking apps.
The emerging trend for hotel booking apps is… (click here to keep reading this article by Jane E. Fraser)
Pacific Islands, here we come October 14, 2011
Posted by janeefraser in Adventure travel, Airlines, NZ & Pacific Islands, Travel, Travel tips & trends.Tags: Air New Zealand, Air Pacific, Cook Islands, Fiji, hot destinations, New Caledonia, pacific islands, Samoa, Travel, Vanuatu
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If you find yourself daydreaming of beaches and palm trees, you can blame the marketing efforts of the Pacific islands.
Destinations in the region are upping the ante with Australian travellers, recognising a market with a strong dollar and keen desire to travel. With visitor numbers from Europe, the US and other markets mired in economic troubles, Australian travellers are being targeted to fill the gap – and are snapping up great deals.
“The Pacific islands are selling like hot cakes,” says the general manager of travel.com.au, Lisa Ferrari. “Fiji has always been a favourite for Australians but we are also seeing a lot of interest in regions such as Samoa, Vanuatu, the Cook Islands and New Caledonia.”
The ramped-up promotional efforts are being helped by more flights from Australia. The Cook Islands now has direct flights from Sydney, operated by Air New Zealand, and Air Pacific is preparing to almost double its services between Sydney and Nadi, Fiji. From early next year, the airline will operate 13 flights a week to Nadi, giving travellers a choice of morning and afternoon departures and same-day connections to Fiji’s outer-island resorts.
Cook Islands Tourism says its marketing campaign is its biggest ever in Australia and has been timed to maximise the benefits of the Air New Zealand flights, which also prompted the opening of a full-time tourism office in Sydney. ”We found that most Australians didn’t know… (click here to keep reading this article by Jane E. Fraser)
World’s busiest airports September 12, 2011
Posted by janeefraser in Airlines, Travel, Travel tips & trends, UK & Europe.Tags: airports, aviation, Dubai, Heathrow, Travel
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Think busy airport and you probably think London Heathrow, which can be right up there on the enjoyment scale with having teeth pulled. But Heathrow is sliding down the airport rankings, while other airports are gearing up to handle vast numbers of passengers in coming years.
Heathrow dropped from the second busiest airport in the world to the fourth busiest last year, overtaken by Beijing and Chicago, according to Airports Council International‘s World Airport Traffic Report. Total passenger numbers at Heathrow actually dropped compared with the previous year, although at 65 million-plus passengers a year, it certainly still qualifies as busy.
Heathrow does remain the busiest airport in terms of international passengers but, it seems, it won’t be for long. Dubai (currently the fourth busiest airport for international passengers) has announced a massive $US7.8 billion ($7.4 billion) expansion to boost its capacity from 60 million passengers a year to more than 90 million by 2018. The project figures are astounding, with one stage of the expansion alone adding twice the footprint of Heathrow’s colossal Terminal 5.
The chief executive of Dubai Airport, Paul Griffiths, says the expansion plans and growth trends set Dubai “firmly on course to become the world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic by 2015″. This is backed by analysis by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, which predicts Dubai will move into second place for international traffic before the year is out.
In terms of total passenger numbers, the busiest airport in the world last year was… (click here to keep reading this article by Jane E. Fraser)
Is Tiger Airways here to stay? August 22, 2011
Posted by janeefraser in Airlines, Australia, Travel, Travel tips & trends.Tags: airlines, aviation, budget travel, cheap travel, flying, Tiger Airways, Travel
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The low-cost carrier has convinced authorities its planes are safe to return to the skies but there is work to be done to repair its service reputation.
Not only will the safety question float in travellers’ minds for some time; the airline has an awful lot of work to do on its service reputation if it wants to convince us it is here to stay. I can place my trust in the Civil Aviation Safety Authority when it comes to the safety aspects but I would still take a lot of convincing to book a ticket.
I took my first flight with Tiger just before it was grounded and experienced, like so many others before me, the blunt end of the airline’s “customer service”.
I booked an overnight trip between Sydney and the Sunshine Coast and it was certainly cheap, with fares of $39.95 each way, although the total bill came to $104.90 by the time I had paid $5 each way to choose my own seat and another $15 “convenience fee” because I didn’t have an “Australian-issued MasterCard debit card” (I wonder how many people do?).
Still, at about $50 a flight, we’re definitely talking cheap. And this is, of course, Tiger’s main selling point, as it has been keen to remind consumers.
But then came the catch… (click here to keep reading this article by Jane E. Fraser)
Stepping aboard the Dreamliner July 11, 2011
Posted by janeefraser in Airlines, Travel, Travel tips & trends.Tags: 787, aircraft, airlines, ANA, aviation, Boeing, Dreamliner, flying, Travel
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Will the long-overdue Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft really “change the way we fly”? It certainly gets points for trying.
If you sat down and made a list of the things you hate about flying – from jet lag to not being able to find any space in the overhead bins – you would find Boeing is a step ahead of you on most of them. The manufacturer has addressed many common gripes in the design of its long-awaited Dreamliner, which is finally ready to take off after numerous production delays.
The first 787 has been delivered to its launch customer, the Japanese airline ANA, for final testing and Boeing claims it will represent the start of a new era of flying. The environment will certainly benefit from significant reductions in fuel use and emissions. But there will also be noticeable changes for passengers, in a concerted bid to bring back the enjoyment of flying.
“We as human beings are fascinated by flight but we don’t like to fly today,” says the regional director of passenger satisfaction for Boeing, Kent Craver. “The big, big goal of this [Dreamliner design] philosophy is really to reconnect people to the magic of flight.”
The most noticeable change for passengers stepping into the Dreamliner will be… (click here to keep reading this article by Jane E. Fraser)
My top travel tips July 11, 2011
Posted by janeefraser in Adventure travel, Africa, Airlines, Asia, Ask Jane, Australia, North America, NZ & Pacific Islands, Products I love, South America, Travel, Travel tips & trends, UK & Europe.Tags: Travel, travel advice, travel tips
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I love the feeling of leaving everything behind when I travel – and that includes most of my belongings. Lugging big suitcases around is not fun and I always figure if you’ve got a passport, some money and a travel insurance policy, you’ll survive.
Which is why my No.1 piece of advice is about learning to pack light. You’ll thank me when you don’t have the right coins for a luggage trolley at the airport. Or when a taxi driver drops you three blocks from your hotel.
Pack light, buy local
Toiletries can be the killer when you’re trying to pack light. For longer trips, I usually take only what I need for 24 hours and buy the rest on arrival. I also swear by two multitasking skincare products: Cetaphil for a face and body wash and Bio-Oil as a head-to-toe moisturiser (both inexpensive and available from chemists).
Buying local can also be a good policy for clothing and shoes if you’re going to a different climate. Try to travel with only one or two pairs of shoes – yes, you can do it – and make sure all your clothes mix and match, no matter how boring it might seem. For women, beads and scarves can transform a basic wardrobe and for men, a polo shirt is a versatile option if a collar might be needed.
Never carry an item that only goes with one outfit or will only be worn for one occasion.
Water is life
Staying hydrated makes a huge difference to how you feel but leaving a trail of plastic bottles is far from ideal. I recently discovered a water bottle, Fill2Pure that removes 99.9 per cent of contaminants, including heavy metals and bacteria such as e-coli and giardia.
I haven’t tested the claim that you can safely fill up from a muddy puddle in India but the bottle has been tested by laboratories and armed forces. Each filter works for hundreds of litres of water so it is a cost-effective way of sanitising your water and you don’t have to put up with (more…)
What’s hot, and not, in online travel July 6, 2011
Posted by janeefraser in Airlines, Australia, Hotels, NZ & Pacific Islands, Travel, Travel technology, Travel tips & trends.Tags: online travel, PhoCusWright, Travel, travel research, travel trends
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Online bookings account for more than a third of all leisure travel bookings in Australia and New Zealand, according to research undertaken by the travel analysis company PhoCusWright. The online share of the market is expected to reach 38per cent next year, up from 28per cent just three years ago.
The PhoCusWright report says the Australia-NZ market is now almost on a par with the US and Europe in terms of maturity and is ahead of the rest of the Asia Pacific region in terms of penetration. Online booking growth is consistently outstripping overall market growth, with an estimated 12per cent increase in online bookings in Australia and New Zealand this year and a further 9per cent anticipated next year. (These figures include leisure travel and ‘‘unmanaged business travel’’, or business travellers who make their own bookings and therefore cannot be tracked.)
PhoCusWright says the economic downturn of the past few years has accelerated the trend, with consumers going online to hunt for deals and suppliers turning to online travel agencies to help bolster sagging sales. Online channels made ‘‘remarkable’’ gains even when the overall travel market was in decline, the report says.
However, all is not equal in the field of online travel bookings, with some sectors surging ahead and others languishing. Those who book their car rentals online may be surprised to discover… (click here to keep reading this article by Jane E. Fraser)
