2009 Travel News Roundup

Well December was a rough month for some travellers; being stuck in a Eurostar for seventeen hours is no fun and having some joker try to immolate himself on your flight is a downer on Christmas Day. Add some bad parking in Jamaica and it’s a bad show all round. With Globespan going bust many were stranded overseas relying on other operators, already working to maximum capacity, to get them back. Winter blues across the United States means that some of us on the road missed connections and had to suck up a little pain. Don’t forget to read the article on “7 tips to cope with travel delays” in my previous post for ways to pass the time and make things a little easier.

The holiday season always put a choke hold on room availability however some destinations had plenty of capacity due to political and environmental issues; Honduras and Mexico for example had good deals and will continue to be good value in the near term. Perhaps with many would-be travellers staying at home for the season it may have been a little easier all round.

So what did December bring us? No presents from Santa unfortunately as he couldn’t deliver in the cloud forest but for others, last month had a few ups and downs.

Surf’s not up

Hopes for a year round surfer’s paradise in budget friendly Kovalam in Kerala India are under scrutiny after protests from local fishermen were lodged regarding the building of an artificial reef in their fishing grounds. Ethical tourism is a big focus nowadays however it seems that money still talks and the first the fishermen knew was when the reef material started showing up to be dumped offshore. It’s always difficult to balance tourism against traditional industries and we will continue to see these clashes of culture as new markets develop.

Low cost airline have a smaller carbon footprint

Not my words but with Copenhagen’s dismal results it would be nice to have some good news. Figures from Liligo.com have outlined several areas where low cost airlines beat traditional carriers in the carbon stakes.

• Budget airlines put more seats on identical planes compared to traditional airlines (I think we all knew that one!).
• They fly at higher passenger capacities; compare EasyJet at 85% and BA at 75% on similar routes (always been full on my recent flights).
• They tend to fly newer planes with better emission controls
• The ASK (available seat kilometre – never heard that one before) is often a third of major carriers

So do some research and make your transport choice wisely.

Travel search engines get a boost

Although traditional travel agents are supposedly getting a larger market share this year, the online booking websites and aggregators are doing very well. Skyscanner.net had a whopping 283% rise in traffic after the collapse of Globespan with travellers scouring the net for alternative flights. Despite scraps with RyanAir and a few other budget airlines over screensrcaping practices (some airlines believe they lose vital advertising revenue when you use the aggregators to search for flights) sites like this and kayak.com are a vital tool for travellers looking for cheap flights.

Over 60’s benefit from new InterRail pass

Travel knows no bounds as far as age in concerned, and although the perception is that budget travel, hostel stays and rail passes are the possessions of youth, in reality a whole spectrum of ages inhabit the budget world. InterRail/Eurail group has seen the light here and from this month (January 2010) seniors over 60 will be able to benefit from a pass targeted specifically at them with prices starting from 224 Euros. Germany, France and Italy continue to be the favourites among rail explorers with Italy claiming first spot for the individual country passes.

A great resource for those on the tracks is Mark Smith’s cracking website www.seat61.com with information about almost every fabled train journey in the world.

Beam me up Scotty

I love travel, it’s obvious, but how much can we really budget for those dream trips? Splurge a grand on a Borneo trip, go diving in the Galapagos or, if you really have the moolah, $200,000 for a trip in Virgin Galactic’s new spaceship the VSS Enterprise (you have got to love that). Unveiled this month by Richard Branson the VSS Enterprise will reach 110km in 30 seconds and passengers will have the thrill of a real low orbit space ride. Over 300 people have already made their reservations, which will include pre flight training with the first flight in 2011. Trips will last for about two hours with speeds of Mach 3.3 - that should be enough for the adrenalin junkies. Branson hopes to eventually have over 50 spaceships however the initial budget is for five. I am saving my spare coins now.

Charge that card please

The card you use to pay for flights and hostel/hotel rooms online can end up being quite pricey with extra charges being levied on certain brands by websites; the Visa Electron is usually a good one to have as it is quite often the lowest if not free. RyanAir, pioneers in trying to make a buck out of you through alternative means (Michael O’Leary really did want to charge one pound to use the loos while in flight and says he is waiting for the right technology), have recently announced a change in that policy. Pre paid Mastercard users will pay no fee at all and Visa Electron users will be charged. The only way around these charges is to have an assortment of cards for each country or use. Pre paid cards are on the rise and offer a great way to avoid fees and lessen the effects of having a card stolen or lost. Providers such as www.fairfx.com are particularly useful for Dollar and Euro cards.

So that was the ‘News’ for 2009…. Let me know what was important to you.

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