Why is it then that our friends all seem to be able to go away on holiday without any problems and then come back and bore us all stupid with their holiday slide shows…? I am hovering between booking two weeks in Majorca in July and wondering whether to stay put and hire a caravan on the beach somewhere close. I tell you, if only the bloody sun would shine here it would make the decision a whole lot easier!

As travellers begin to arrive back the UK from all around the globe the compensation claims are ready to start flowing in, there will be some justified claims of course but for those people who paid a mere £10 for a ticket with a budget airline like Ryanair their hopes for being compensated hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds will be simply that – hopes. Ryanair is refusing to refund a penny. An airline that carries passengers paying less than a hundred pounds a ticket is not going to be able to afford huge across the board payouts, if the airline is forced by European regulations there is a good chance you will be waving bon voyage to your favourite way to get to the Spanish Costa’s.

I feel sorry for those people; they went on holiday and ended up in a nightmare spending money they did not have, sleeping in airports with small children, paying thousands to greedy car rental companies to get themselves to ferry ports across France and Spain, but honestly what do these people expect…? they would have been flying on tickets that cost anywhere from £10 to £40 and yet they expect hundreds if not thousands to be refunded to them for their troubles. Do you want budget air travel to continue or not ?…go ahead and sue for what you think you are entitled to but you can then kiss goodbye to your el cheapo trips to Tenerife and Salou because the airlines will simply close up shop.

The same goes for those who bought bottom end of the market travel insurance from companies like ‘Insure and Go’ for next to nothing and then complained about the poor service and exclusion clauses…what do you expect when you pay peanuts? how many people actually check their exclusion clauses before travelling – not many obviously but I bet they will in the future.

Cancelled Flight, stuck at the airport:

You are entitled to claim meals and refreshments at the airport from the airline as well as two free phonecalls or emails and a hotel room if you have to wait overnight for another flight. But the airline does not have to pay for other lost parts of your holiday such as hotel or car hire. If you decide not to fly, under EU regulations, you are entitled to a full refund from the airline within seven days. However, these regulations only cover flights to or from an airport in the EU or with an EU airline.

Missed connecting flight:

If your flight is late or cancelled, resulting in you missing a connecting flight, the airline responsible must make sure you get on the next available connecting flight. If you arrive on time for your connecting flight, but it is cancelled, you can decide not to continue with your journey. In this case, that airline should repay the total price of your tickets and provide a free flight back to your original departure point.

Delayed Flight…?

You have the right to be reimbursed the cost of your ticket if the delay is more than five hours and you decide not to travel. But you will not be reimbursed for any other elements of your trip you have lost as a result.

Bumped off your flight…?

If an airline does not have space for you on the flight, you must be compensated. Provided you are at an EU airport or an EU airline is involved, and you have your ticket, confirmed reservation and have checked in by deadline, you are entitled to a refund or another flight. The airline must also pay compensation based on the length of the flight and how late you will be. The minimum amount is £114 for flights up to 930 miles and up to two hours late. The maximum is £545 for more than 2,170 miles and more than four hours late. Meals, phone calls and overnight accommodation must be offered.

The travel company/airline has gone bust and I’m ready to leave!

If you booked a package with an ATOL-bonded tour operator, you must be reimbursed for your holiday ‘ flight, hotel and transport costs. But if you booked your flight through the operator, you are not covered, even though it was bonded. However, don’t expect ATOL to repay you quickly if a big company failed.

Getting your money back:

If you paid by credit card, the company must repay you the total cost of your lost holiday ‘ even if you only paid the deposit with it ‘ provided it cost more than £100 and less than £30,000. With family holidays it is the total price of the seats, not each individual one that counts. So if you book four seats for your family at £50 each (total £200), you are covered. Tell them you are claiming under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. And if it costs more to buy another similar holiday, you can claim that back, too. If you paid by Visa debit card, you can ask it to repay you under the charge-back rules. But you will get only the amount paid with the card, and it’s not a legal right. You must claim within 120 days.

The 20million customers of First Direct, HSBC, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland that issue Maestro debit cards do not have charge-back rights. Some travel policies will cover you.

But as for Easter: bearing in mind that we have the big trip later on we dont want to travel too far for just three days so we have narrowed it down to either Glasgow or Edinburgh, but I would prefer Glasgow as I haven’t been there yet and it looks as though that city has all the things I like.

Accommodation in three-star hotels is included, as well as flights, and travellers can go where they like – as long as they are within three hours of test centres where they can provide blood and stool samples if they are struck down with a stomach upset. The trips are being billed as ‘almost like going on a package holiday’, and recruitment clinics are opening up in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Belfast, Glasgow and even Reading. All they have to do is wear a patch on their arm for six hours, three weeks before they go away, followed by another the week before travel, then take their holiday as planned and see if they get sick.

The vaccine has already been tested on American volunteers who travelled to Mexico and Guatemala, and results showed the drug reduced incidents of diarrhoea by 75 per cent.

Volunteers can find more information on the study at www.trekstudy.com. and if you are up for it then why not…?

Cabin crew have decided that going on strike from 22nd December to the 2nd January will get their message across nicely and completely stuff up the holiday plans of thousands of people this coming Xmas – and all over their already well salaried conditions of employment. I have a few words for these people…

Happy redundancy all of you. There are many people in this country who would give their right arm for the jobs that you have and on an average pay of £29,000 a year when Virgin cabin crew earn £14,000! Don’t expect sympathy from the general public when it is the general public who will lose out on all of this.
Secondly when you work for an organisation that is an national airline you don’t only let yourselves down but the country. You owe it to your country to serve the people who use that airline. If not you should leave, find another job. If I were BA I would sack all of you for the way you are behaving now, and at this time of the year too just as you all are ruining some people’s Xmas’s.

The Caribbean is also becoming a top choice for tourists in December and if you like the idea of Costa Rica travel around this time of year is not as dear as you think. Costa Rica is a primarily Catholic nation, and Costa Rican citizens observe Xmas with exuberance. Xmas in Costa Rica is a vibrant time: a celebration of the season, of lights and music, and of course, of family togetherness. The people there decorate fragrant cypress trees and even coffee branches and the Xmas season runs until the 6th January.

To me there would be only one place to travel just before Xmas and that would be to one of the wonderful Xmas markets held each year around Germany – only the budget wont stretch to flights and hotel stays – and I don’t fancy the drive due to the snow and the danger of an rv breakdown along the way. I have seen other’s suffer such a fate when we were living in France…

Good news – you don’t have to go to Germany this time round because there is the ninth Frankfurt Xmas Market being held in Birmingham of all places…and it is as authentic as you can get outside of Germany. The food stalls are as you would expect – plenty of bratwurst to be had among all else – and the stalls are operated by German people. The market is fun and friendly and really does have all the hallmarks of a traditional German market. But importantly, it does not take itself too seriously. For those used to Christmas marketplaces on the continent, they will appreciate the novelty on offer here without the hassle of flying to enjoy it. Just brush up on your German before you go.

So you are planning ahead for your next vacation – why choose British Airways? well, right now BA want you to know that The World Is On Sale and they want you to see your dream destination by taking advantage of not only their fantastic offers – by also by flying in the newly upgraded comfort and style which you deserve to be accustomed to. So long as you book by November 19th, to fly out of New York, the world is truly your oyster!

Europe is at your doorstep right now and coming up to Christmas one of the magical cities to visit is Rome, and for $749 for a round trip fare plus 3 nights B&B in a 3 star establishment you could do some serious sightseeing as well as some shopping at Rome’s stylish boutiques. The travel dates for these offers take in October 22nd through to March 28 2010 so you have a host of choice destinations for pre or post-xmas vacations – but do bear in mind that travel on most December dates will be limited availability so book asap if you want to travel during that month. If you have any problems deciding on a destination then let me assist you; if I were able to fly off somewhere using this great sale it would be to Tel Aviv – what better place to visit before Xmas than the country where it all began? Israel is one place I would love to see beyond all others as it is unique and so steeped in history that there is nowhere else on earth like it. Besides the locations you know so well there is also great shopping to be done and plenty of fine restaurants. You would definitely need your camera packed for such a trip!

BA also want their travellers to be assured that their flight will be thoroughly enjoyable – like flying used to be. Passengers will be pampered with complimentary food and cocktails while they relax in their ergonomically designed seat – and when was the last time you found air travel relaxing?… you will be provided with everything you need to make your flight the best one ever; eye shades, comfy socks, blankets, movies to watch and music to listen to – and all complimentary. Customer service has been upgraded at BA and they want to share their world class service with YOU.

Well, Qantas is now going to actively encourage queue-jumping but in a more legal manner. Qantas is attempting to cut in half it’s domestic check-in times by placing microchips in it’s frequent flyer cards. This will give holders their own permanent boarding pass and will thus allow them to jump the queue. In this new system passengers will be able to simply scan their card at stand-alone kiosks in the terminal and then proceed through security to their departure gate.

There will also be a simplified baggage drop service to ensure the smooth operation of this service. Smart move Qantas – this should see a larger uptake of their fidelity card from people wanting faster boarding times.