After narrowly avoiding strikes over the summer holidays that could have disrupted thousands of families, Unite have announced that they could strike over Christmas again as ongoing talks between BA and the Union United have stalled again. A Union spokeswoman has said: “a new strike ballot was ‘always an option’ and that there would be a mass meeting of its members on September 6 to decide on future action.”
It thought that the British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association is hoping that a strike over the holidays will put enough pressure on BA, Duncan Holley, branch secretary of BASSA said: “It would be prudent for the travelling public to take this into account and make alternative arrangements to ensure their holiday travel plans are not wrecked. What we are trying to do is give people plenty of notice this time round. We are also trying to put pressure on BA by hitting their bookings during one of the busiest times of the year.”
The threat of more strike action could mean the number of passengers traveling with BA could be affected with many people refusing to now book with them just in case their travel plans are affected.
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For those who travel without children and enjoy a holiday abroad where the weather is warm and there is plenty to see or do when the schools have gone back then a Mediterranean cruise should fit the bill for you perfectly. The best part of a Mediterranean cruise is the different and diverse countries you get to visit along the way which offer a rich culture that you can experience and enjoy, from a stroll along La Ramblas in Barcelona, or enjoy Rome’s grand Trevi Fountain all in one trip.
If you take a Eastern Mediterranean cruise then you can take in the sights and sounds of Greece and the Greek islands, Turkey, Croatia, Cyprus, Malta and possibly Egypt as you make way with your journey, you can take in a mix of sights such as mosques and minarets in Istanbul, or rest up in a sleepy Greek fishing port such as Kusadasi. If you opt for a Western Mediterranean cruise then you get to take in the delights of Spain, France, Italy and North Africa, such as the beautiful island Capri, or glitzy resorts like Monte Carlo, Nice, St Tropez, Villefranche and Portofino.
With a Mediterranean cruise holiday there are many great cruise deals available which are either, a fly and cruise holiday or a cruise from a UK port.
With all the travel woes at the moment is staying in a holiday cottage in England or elsewhere in the in the UK a safe bet for your summer holidays? We keep hearing about travel firms going bust, talks of strikes both here and abroad and the poor exchange rate so there should be no reason to go abroad for a holiday this summer. Although we tend to be blighted by poor weather here in the UK we can get lucky and see some days of sunshine, however if you’re staying here in the UK your probably not interested in sunbathing all day on a beach or by a pool.
There are so many outdoor and indoor activities the whole family can enjoy. We have 15 National Parks to enjoy in the UK which cover beautiful areas of mountains, meadows, moorlands, woods and wetlands as well as an extensive coast line which covers little harbour villages to bright and bold promenades along the sea fronts.
If you like big city lights or quiet country retreats there is something for everyone, you can stay in luxury 5* hotels to simple hostels or enjoy the peace and quiet of a quaint cottage or canal boat for something a bit different.
Around 70,000 travellers have been affected after the collapse of Kiss Flights there are currently 13,000 holiday makers abroad with another 60,000 with forward bookings, which are with London-based Flight Options that traded as Kiss Flights. The company, which arranged holidays to Greece, Egypt, Turkey and the Canary Islands, ceased trading on Tuesday. Earlier this month travel company Sun4U collapsed leaving approximately 1,200 customers stuck abroad, most of them in Spain.
For those currently on holiday, the CAA said they would be able to get home on other flights that would be arranged for them and for those who had future booked trips with Kiss Flights they would receive refunds under the ATOL protection scheme.
A spokesperson for the CAA said: “Nobody currently overseas will have their holiday cut short and we don’t expect passengers to experience lengthy delays when they are allocated a new flight. We try to get people home on the same day they are due to travel.”
The London-based Flight Options was launched in 1995 as a small tour operator that offered holidays across the Mediterranean, since then it has bought a number of travel firms including Kiss Flights in 2009.
After the collapse of travel firm Goldtrail last month, it believed Kiss Flights took on a large number of bookings from that which at the time affected as many as 50,000 travellers.
Senior agent, for Top Class Travel in Cheshire Franco Renzulli said: “With the Goldtrail collapse we rebooked all our customers on Kiss Flights and so we have a massive flying problem. It’s going to give the industry a massive headache. It’s in the middle of the school holidays and we’ve got the bank holiday coming up. It’s going to be a nightmare.”
When you think of a cruise holiday many people tend to picture a sedate older passenger relaxing on deck or partaking in some gentle afternoon croquet as they travel around the Mediterranean or the Caribbean, however that’s not all cruise liners have to offer. You can experience places that you may never have thought about, experience thrills you have never tried before and also enjoy some of the world’s most amazing natural beauty.
A great cruise holiday for the avid traveller is a Far East Cruise, here you can travel to the Orient, which is steeped in tradition, customs and superstition, you can enjoy a mix of high flying faced paced urban life in the fast-growing cities of the “Tiger” economy such as Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Manila and Kuala Lumpur and fast-emerging countries like Vietnam. As well as the slow agricultural way of life in the many picturesque rural villages continues unchanged as it has done for centuries.
For those who like to enjoy the history their destinations have to offer a cruise holiday to the Falkland Islands will be just what you need, although best known for the eponymous war that took place in 1982, the island also offers plenty of nature and geological treasures as well as military history. The Falklands also make a great destination to visit by sea because you can easily explore many of the smaller isles such as Barren Island, Beaver Island, Bleaker Island, Carcass Island, George Island, Keppel Island, Pebble Island, Sealion Island, Speedwell Island, Weddell Island and the Jason Islands.
So if you fancy experiencing changing your views on what cruises offer then look for cruise deals to some far flung fun destinations.
Now is a great time to look for a last minute family holiday to Spain, many large travel companies are reducing their prices in the hope of attracting more British holiday makers to go abroad. Many have found that their bookings for this year have dropped because more people are choosing to stay here in the UK for their holidays. Spain is always a popular family holiday destination and at the moment you can find plenty of family holiday rentals in Spain at really great prices, not only that there are some good offers available for flights to Spain as well.
There are many popular family holiday resorts in Spain such as Gran Canaria, for family orientated entertainment, great especially if you have young children, or Barcelona, which has a great combination of culture, coastline and a great climate, and if you have older children and want to introduce them to the ‘real’ Spain then Andalucía where flamenco dancing and bullfighting where born will be the destination for you.
Self catering is the best way to make the most of Spain, you can go out and enjoy everything this amazing and diverse country has to offer, and you are free to come and go as you wish as well as being able to go out and sample the local cuisine. Holiday rentals in Spain are perfect for families no matter what the size, many villas and cottages can sleep up to 16 so you won’t be short of space and you will normally find that you have your own private pool too, so no battling it out for sun beds.
Sand dunes and sea - Gran Canaria
Picture courtesy of Vin Crosbie
When you’re travelling abroad one thing you must remember to arrange before you depart is travel insurance, there have been many people in the news recently who have not had insurance and have been caught with a heft hospital and repatriation bill after injury. Not only does your insurance provide you with cover against injury while away it also keeps you covered if you have to cancel before you depart for un foreseen circumstances.
It’s estimated that as many as one in six people from the UK holiday abroad without insurance, with the thought that nothing will happen especially with many just planning on having a quiet relaxing break away. A common misconception for those who are travelling in Europe is that all you need is a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) because that will cover you if you have an accident however it does not cover the cost of air ambulance repatriation.
Whether you travel many times during the year or just once in a blue moon insurance is a must and is not as expensive as many people think, you can get annual insurance if you travel frequently with good discounts or if you don’t you can get cover from as little as £9.00 but it is always important to read the small primnt to make sure what you are and are not covered for before you go.
So far this year we have had one of the wettest summers on record and although we have had muggy temperatures we haven’t seen as much sun as we may have wanted to, and as we head in to autumn and winter our chances are pretty slim. There are many holiday deals around at the moment for some last minute get a ways, however you can also get some good off-peak deals for a winter sun holiday to give you a much needed boost over the winter months.
Popular winter sun destinations include:
Buzios, Brazil which offers eight hours of daily sunshine
Bali & Indonesia which offers ten hours of daily sunshine
Goa, India which offers eight hours of daily sunshine
Reduit Bay, St Lucia which offers eight and half hours sunshine
Clearwater, Florida which offers eight hours of sunshine
The Caribbean is always a popular winter sun destination here you also get a good eight hours of sunshine a day with high temperatures of around 85.0°F or 30°C and a great way to experience the idyllic combination of sun-drenched beaches, endless swathes of blue cloudless sky and sparkling waters is by taking a cruise holiday. Not only can you spend time relaxing on board a fantastic cruise liner but also relax on private beaches or enjoy jeep safaris through tropical rainforests, swimming with stingrays or horse riding. On a cruise holiday your every need is taken care of and you won’t have to worry about a thing other than making sure you get enough rest, relaxation and most importantly sunshine.
If you book now you will find that there are many great cruise offers available so you can get your fix of winter sun, and prices are very reasonable especially when you think about how much you get to see and do, much more than a holiday in just one Caribbean resort.
Swarms of jellyfish have plagued the coastline of Spain forcing holiday makers off the country’s most popular beaches such as several on the Costa Blanca, north of Alicante it’s thought to be the worst invasion of the Mauve Stinger jellyfish for two years, which is why resorts have taken such drastic action as to ban people from the beaches and from swimming.
Although these bright purple jellyfish deliver only mild stings they have been known to cause severe allergic reactions and can even lead to heart failure in some people, at one point the Red Cross treated 50 people for the effects of stings in just half an hour on a beach in Denia, which mean it could reach the levels of 2008, when 4,000 people were needed treatment in Denia alone.
Each year around two million tourists visit the popular Spanish resort of Denia, with some 800,000 of them from Britain, with this new invasion of jelly fish its causing concern that tourism could be hit. There are Environment Ministry boats patrolling along the Mediterranean coastline on the lookout for swarms of the jellyfish.
Each year tens of thousands of holidaymakers require treatment for stings from various different types of jelly fish, including Box jellyfish, which marine experts have found to have increased in number this year along the Costa Brava. It’s thought that the numbers of Mauve Stinger jellyfish have increased over the last few years, due to the effects of global warming and overfishing of their natural predators.
On top of increase sightings of the Box jellyfish, the potentially deadly Portuguese Man o’War jellyfish was spotted off the coast of Asturias causing nine beaches along Spain’s northern Atlantic coast to be closed.
Professor Just Bayle who is head of marine sciences at the University of Alicante said: “’We are surprised by the sudden explosive growth in numbers of this species. They are concentrated in areas of lower salinity, such as is found off Denia, where freshwater flows into the sea.”
Man o'War jellyfish
Picture courtesy of scazon
If you’re looking for a holiday in the UK where you can enjoy walking, cycling, shopping, sightseeing, boat trips, canoeing, sailing or just relaxing on a beach, then one place where you can find all this is Norfolk. The gently rolling countryside of Norfolk is filled with ancient churches, windmills and picturesque villages with beautiful traditionally thatched holiday cottages to stay in. From here you can enjoy the woodland, forests, rolling chalk lands, coastline and the watery patchwork of the Norfolk Broads.
Norfolk has many great attractions dotted around the county, you defiantly won’t be short of things to enjoy and will probably wish you could stay for longer, whether your interests are historic buildings, wildlife parks, military museums or working steam railways. There are many fun adventures to be had for families with young children as well with zoo’s, sea life centres, nature parks, wildlife gardens and even a camel centre thrown in there!
There are some things that Norfolk is renowned for, such as the Norfolk Broads, which is a vast expanse of wetland and the third largest inland waterway in the United Kingdom, it is also one of the UK’s National Parks, although referred to as the Norfolk Broads, it also stretches into Suffolk, where it is known as the Suffolk Broads. The total area is 117 square miles, most of which is in Norfolk, with over 120 miles of navigable waterways, which make a great place to stay for a boating holiday.
If boating isn’t your thing and you prefer to travel by steam then can enjoy the railways and light railways of Norfolk, they include the Mid Norfolk Railway which is East Anglia’s longest heritage railway linking the market towns of Wymondham and Dereham. Or The North Norfolk Railway (The Poppy Line) which is a full size steam heritage railway which offers spectacular views of coast and country. As well as the Wells and Walsingham Light Railway where you can enjoy delightful countryside views of the North Norfolk coast.