14,000 staff banned from flying BA because they threatened to bump the CEO’s daughter from a flight

Let me ask you a question? What would you do if, as CEO of a very large and influential company and your teenage daughter and her friend were intially bumped from an over-full international flight but placed back on the flight when you protest?

Complain? Sounds kinda reasonable.

Seek compensation? Perhaps, if you want to make a point. But maybe you’re still not satisfied…

Decree that none of your 14,000 employees will fly on the airline for business? Well naturally. Acorrding to The Times that’s exactly what an angry Chris Bell, chief cigar-chewer at UK bookmakers Ladbrokes, has done. British Airways, the airline at the center of the storm, claim to have offered the two girls, who were returning from a holiday in the Bahamas with Bell, £250 each in compensation. Mr Bell, however, is quite rationally having none if it. The Times claims ‘the private dispute, which has ratcheted up into a corporate row, could cost BA up to £2 million in business and has forced Willie Walsh, BA’s chief executive, to intervene personally in an effort to defuse the situation.’

For their part, Ladbrokes claim ‘the way Mr Bell had been dealt with was only one of a number of issues the bookmaker had with the airline’.

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[Image by zen]

Jetstar Sale

Just a heads-up about a new Jetstar ’sale’, although it’s a bit of damp squib compared to recent deals (perhaps we’ve been a bit spoilt…). I couldn’t see too startling so I didn’t bother copying the whole schebang. Let me know if you think otherwise.

Routes:

• Melbourne to Bangkok or Singapore (via Darwin),
• Sydney to Vietnam or Japan, and
• Queensland to Japan or Christchurch

Sale runs until Wednesday 21 May 2008 for travel 24 May – 24 Jun 08.

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World Listed

If you have a few moments or are in need of travel inspiration the TripAdvisor Destinations Awards are worth a quick once-over. They were apparently ‘determined by a combination of TripAdvisor’s travelers’ favorite places and overall popularity on TripAdvisor’.

New Zealand takes out a quinella, with Milford Sound and Queenstown the two highest ranked destinations. Sydney, Cairns, Byron Bay, Melbourne, Port Douglas, Noosa, Perth, Cape Tribulation, Fremantle, Alice Springs, the Margaret River, Airlie Beach and Hobart were the Aussie inclusions. With regard to the USA California dominated, with Lake Tahoe the hightest rated, and in Europe it was Rhodes. Thailand managed six mentions. One slightly bizarre inclusion was Nadi, which may be a gateway to heaps of Fijian goodness but which is a pretty ordinary destination in itself.

Can anybody tick all of them off?

[Image of Milford Sound via Anita Gould]

Air New Zealand Sale – One Way $219 From Australian East Coast

Air New Zealand has a 72 hour sale running until Wed 14th of May. Deals to New Zealand (Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch) include

• Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane & Gold Coast one way from $219
• Adelaide one way from $339
• Perth one way from $499

For travel July to September 08. Prices include taxes and surcharges.

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[Hat tip: OzBargains. Image via sea-bass]

AirAsia Gold Coast – KL $199

Stupidly overlooked this AirAsia sale the other day because I assumed it was inter-Asia only (!). I’m especially annoyed because it looks to be an excellent deal, especially as fares include taxes, surcharges and fees. Don’t know if there are any seats left (presuming there were many to begin with…). Runs until 7 of May. Let us know in comments if you snag a deal!

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Oodles.com – Australian car rental comparison engine

Oodles.com is a comparison site for car rentals in Australia and New Zealand which will search for prices from Hertz, Budget, EuropCar, Avis and Thrifty. My only criticisms are that I had some difficulty getting results the more complex searches for one-way rentals and it’s unfortunately not possible to search for cars from several suburbs simultaneously or locations in an area of the city. Still a very worth while tool.

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[Image from wauter de tuinkabouter on Flickr]

Qantas Aussie Getaway Sale

Qantas domestic sale on now until midnight (AEST) Monday 5 May 2008. Price includes a minimum 1,000 Frequent Flyer points.

These great deals are available for travel between:

• 20 May and 26 June,
• 23 July and 17 September, and
• 15 October and 10 December 2008.

Sydney to	One-way from
Canberra	$85
Brisbane	$95
Gold Coast	$95
Melbourne	$99
Adelaide	$120
Hobart	$125
Cairns	$169
Alice Springs	$198
Ayers Rock (Uluru)	$198
Perth	$209

Canberra to	One-way from
Sydney	$85
Melbourne	$95
Adelaide	$105
Brisbane	$115

Melbourne to	One-way from
Adelaide	$75
Canberra	$95
Sydney	$99
Hobart	$99
Brisbane	$119
Alice Springs	$179
Ayers Rock (Uluru)	$185
Perth	$198

Brisbane to	One-way from
Sydney	$95
Canberra	$115
Melbourne	$119
Cairns	$129
Adelaide	$135
Alice Springs	$209
Perth	$299

Cairns to	One-way from
Brisbane	$129
Sydney	$169
Alice Springs	$229

Gold Coast to	One-way from
Sydney	$95

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Loose Change – A round-up of recent travel tips from around the web (26th of April)

Travel Tips of the Week

Gadling: Big in Japan: 5 mistakes made by first-timers in Japan

In a country where using the word “no” displays ‘as much social grace as a bovine’ and “toilet slippers” should be kept out of the kitchen some cultural tips come in handy.

General

National Geographic has a list of the world’s top guided tours. Continki gets nary a mention.

Patronising quote of the week goes to Flight Centre’s marketing manager in The Age’s tips for using budget airlines to get around the place:

“We have people who have spent time on the internet to put their own itineraries together, and then come in to talk to our agents,” Bowman says. “That’s when the agent might say, ‘Are you aware that flight to London goes in to Luton and not Heathrow?’ The response is usually, ‘So what does that mean?’

“That’s when we need to explain all the details that the customer has not found on the internet.”

In our experience workaday wage slaves simply LOVE receiving bulk emails from you gloating about the simply wonderful time you’re having in exotic climes. If that hasn’t been you’re experience Traveler’s Notebook has some tips for writing emails the folks at home will actually want to read.

Intelligent Traveler has a guide to guides; five tips on how to pick a guidebook. Vagabondish goes one better with four alternatives to let you dispense with the darned things for good.

MSNBC makes taking children on a plane trip sound a marginally less complex operation than Dunkirk, while the Perrin Post has the Top Ten Toyless Ways to Occupy Kids on Planes without alcohol OR Prozac.

‘To have tasty and nutritious food on board, and be the envy of your fellow passengers, you need to bring your own. With advance planning, you can eat like a King or Queen on the plane.’ How to eat well at 30,000 feet via Beat of Hawaii featuring lots of Tupperware.

James Wysong has some tips for navigating customs: no fruit, no jokes, no phones and no porn are apparently the secret to avoiding being patted by down by your friendly neighbourhood customs officer. Hardly seems worth it.

Vagabondish has 12 clever and creative uses for a digital camera on the road.

The Americas

The Times recommends six destinations in the United States, while Intelligent Travel has an excellent guide to taking teens to NYC. 10 free things to do in LA from Frommer’s.

Toronto is oft-overlooked even by travellers to Canada. Peter Greenfield has an introduction to its lesser known attractions.

Get closer to nature with five gems for the eco-tourist in Costa Rica.

Europe

The New York Times spends 36 hours in Naples where incredible history, garbage and toxic mozzarella meet.

About.com has a list of the five worst wookie rookie France travel mistakes. You’ll feel like Captain Cook with PeterGreenberg’s secret spots in Paris and The Times Undiscovered France: Poitiers. Alexander Lobrano reckons it’s possible to eat well in Paris. We remain unconvinced.

The Guardian’s Blog by Blog section has some really interesting and unusual tips for things to do in London

The Telegraph has published a Madrid city guide, and claims to have a list of Madrid’s best budget hotels (£44+). To get there the Independent has some tips on tourist trains in Spain.

Eurocheapo has five free things to do in Krakow.

Whether or not to get a Eurorail pass can be a difficult business, here are some tips as to when it is likely to represent a decent deal.

Asia

Business Week (of all places) has a list of India’s top five yoga centres.

Seth Mydans has some tips for Singapore hawker fare, street food heaven.

Viator has some tips for Kuala Lumpur.

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[Contiki image via Glenn Ross on Flickr, Toronto image via Photofusion on Flickr, Krakow image via astilly on Flickr, yoga image via premasagar on Flickr]

The travel danger everyone ignores

Most travellers conscietiously ensure they’ve had the necessary vaccinations before leaving, check travel warnings and avoid tap water/ice/street food, etc. Yet very little attention is paid to a very real danger when travelling which is much more difficult to prevent against – traffic accidents.

Travelling by road is something that many travelers do frequently and without a second thought. In the last twenty-four hours five British tourists were killed in Ecuador and fifteen were injured. Over the past weekend people throughout South East Asia have been celebrating the new year. Thais are celebrating Songkran – this site has some photos. As with many festivals it is a particularly dangerous period to be on the road; the Bangkok Post reports that ‘Some 1,220 accidents were recorded on Friday and Saturday, with 1,411 people injured, in addition to the deaths’. The tradition of drenching passersby with water during this festival in Thailand (including those on motorcycles) helps to add to the danger.

I’m certainly not suggesting avoiding travel by road; traffic accidents are a fact of life everywhere – and travelling by bus may be much less dangerous than just crossing a major street. A representative of the company that arranged the Ecuador trip described the risk as ‘inherent’, which is pretty much spot on.

However, taking the obvious precautions of travelling with a reputable bus company, avoiding bus travel at night, during busy festival periods or on routes known to be dangerous and taking extreme care when driving overseas are no less important than anti-malarials or vaccinations. Tragedies such as those in South America put into perspective some of those dangers travellers spend an inordinate amount of time stressing over.

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