Corporate Travel e-Newsletter - Dec 07

Every quarter we draw a winning name. The odds are miles better than winning the lottery (and cost you nothing!), so anyone who has not already done so, now is the time to subscribed to our free e-Newsletter, and be in with a chance of winning the subscribers' prize draw for the 4th quarter 2007!

Have you thouught of giving an away trip or holiday this year, as a gift with a difference?

Would you like some ideas and advice as to where might be best to go, within the budget you have in mind?

Then please contact our leisure consultants who will be pleased to help you.

Or perhaps you are looking for that new idea for a more modest present, but can't think of what might be most welcome?

Then what better than a Medway Travel travel voucher, which will enable the lucky recipient to enjoy something more in the way of a break than they might otherwise have bought for themselves? Vouchers come in any value from £20 upwards in £5 steps. Contact us for details. 

Terminal 5's car parks will have a number of high-tech services when they open next year. The terminal will offer more than 7,000 spaces, designed to "take the guesswork out of parking at the airport".

Among the facilities at T5's short stay car park (located within walking distance of check-in according to BAA) is a "Car Finder" service, aimed at helping customers locate their lost vehicles when returning to the car park. They will be able to input their registration details at kiosks, allowing CCTV cameras with number plate recognition technology to narrow down the vehicles location to a specific zone.

A similar service called Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) will help pre-booked customers gain quick access and exit from the car park, while BAA says that bay monitoring will enable drivers to pinpoint spare spaces and reduce queuing and congestion.

The short stay car park will have a total of 3,800 spaces, and will also offer Meet & Greet parking (if you are not familiar with this variation of Airport parking, please click here), allowing passengers to drop their car off on the terminal forecourt, and collect it from just outside arrivals. The remaining car park spaces will be provided in two off-terminal locations, which BAA says will be "a short distance from the terminal and served by frequent courtesy coaches".

There will also be space for 150 motorcycles next to the short stay car park, while for the more energetic BAA says it will provide free parking for bicycles, with new cycle paths connecting T5 to the wider world.

The announcement follows details of the new Heathrow Express service to T5  with BAA eager to promote services it believes will "help passengers arrive at the terminal relaxed and stress free".

The editor believes many readers will agree that this will be a welcome change!!

Restrictions on the number of items UK passengers can take on board aircraft are to be lifted in January, as Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly unveiled plans to ease bag restrictions, recently.

British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh had previously forecast that limits would be relaxed soon, and it is now official that travellers will be allowed to take two items of luggage on board from the January 7th.

However, restrictions on carrying liquids are to remain.

Restrictions limiting passengers to carrying a single bag into the cabin, were introduced after UK airport terrorist alerts in August 2006.

 BA increases fuel surcharges

British Airways has increased further its fuel surcharges on flights.

From November 15, surcharges increased by £10 per one-way medium-haul flights of less than nine hours, to £48, and by £15 to £58 for longer journeys.
 
Short-haul flight surcharges rose by £2 to £10 per flight.

BA said the rise "reflects new record oil prices and takes into account rising fuel costs".

But Ryanair condemned the measure as "unjust and unfair" claiming it was the only airline to guarantee no fuel surcharges.

It claimed that BA was fleecing passengers with unjustified fuel surcharges when it was getting its fuel at $75 a barrel, almost $20 below market prices.

Varig resumes flights to the UK

The Varig brand returned to the Uk recently, with the resumption of flights between London and the Brazilian cities of Rio and Sao Paulo.

Once Brazil's flagship carrier, all of Varig's international flights were grounded last summer following financial difficulties and subsequent restructuring under new owners Gol Transportes Aereos. But the airline (operating under the name VRG Linhas Aereas SA) has been steadily resuming flights to Europe, including the London Heathrow route which resumed on 30th October.

Flight RG8753 departs Heathrow daily (except Thursdays) at 2205, arriving into Sao Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport at 0815 the following day, before connecting to Rio de Janeiro where it arrives at 1000. The return leg RG8752 leaves Rio for London at 2030 (daily except Wednesdays), connecting in Sao Paulo and arriving at Heathrow in the afternoon of the following day.

Varig's competitors on the Sao Paulo-London route include BA and Brazil's TAM Linhas Aereas, which both offer a daily service.

New premium economy class from JAL

Japan Airlines is introducing a new premium economy class on international routes, with the London-Tokyo service the first to see the new seats from December 1.

JAL joins a growing list of carriers opting for a premium economy offering, with Virgin Atlantic recently announcing it would extend the number of premium economy seats on its 747 aircraft and Air New Zealand also extending its premium economy capacity to 39 seats (from a launch of 23).

The Japanese carrier will fit 44 of the new seats on its B777-300ER aircraft (which fly the London-Tokyo route), in a 2-4-2 configuration.

The new offering will feature its own cabin, with JAL's Sky Shell Seat including 120 degrees of recline, 48cm seat width and 97cm seat pitch, with 20 per cent more legroom than in economy class. The shell-shaped sliding seat back design means passengers will not encroach on those behind them when reclining. Each seat will include a power outlet, and in-flight amenities will be the same as in business class, while premium economy passengers will also receive an upgraded food and beverage service, and noise-cancelling headphones.

On the ground they will benefit from a priority baggage service, their own check-in counters at Tokyo Narita airport, and the use of JAL's business class check-in desks at overseas airports. Passengers will also have access to the recently revamped Sakura executive lounge at Narita.

EasyJet to buy GB Airways

EasyJet has agreed to buy the entire share capital of GB Airways, excluding its slots at Heathrow Airport. As a result, the franchise agreement between British Airways and GB Airways will come to an end from March 2008.

BA said it intends to start services on some of the routes operated under the franchise, from Heathrow to Faro and Malaga and from Gatwick to Faro, Gibraltar, Ibiza, Malaga, Palma and Tunis, from March 30.

The airline will also end its franchise with Loganair from October 25, 2008 and begin a codeshare arrangement with the Scottish carrier.

BA believes UK franchises have outlived their purpose. easyJet made an offer to buy GB Airways and this has enabled BA to end the franchise agreement early instead of exercising its option to buy GB Airways.

GB Airways will continue to operate as a BA franchise partner on their existing network to destinations in Europe and North Africa until March 29. Loganair will continue to operate as a franchise partner on Scottish routes until October 25.

The deal between GB Airways and easyJet is expected to be completed within eight weeks. The airlines said during this period flights will operate as normal and on completion, passengers can choose to be rebooked on easyJet or will be entitled to a full refund.

GB Airways operates 39 routes - 28 from Gatwick, six from Manchester, five from Heathrow - and operates 15 Airbus aircraft (nine A320s and six A321s).

Easyjet said the purchase gives it valuable take-off and landing slots at Gatwick and the opportunity to accelerate route development. Following the acquisition, easyJet will operate 24% of Gatwick's slots and will fly around 8 million passengers across 62 routes from Gatwick.

 

The 6th November marked the official opening of the newly restored St Pancras International by HM The Queen.
 
The ceremony marked the opening of the station building and launch of High Speed 1, allowing Paris Gare du Nord and Brussels stations to be reached in 2hr15min and 1h51min respectively.
 
It addition, it signaled the start of seven days preparation to move Eurostar's entire London operations overnight on 13 November. This enabled Eurostar to begin commercial services from St Pancras International on the morning of Wednesday 14 November, when the first Eurostar train left St Pancras International just after 11:00 
 
High Speed 1, the new line between central London and the Channel tunnel now enables Eurostar trains to travel at their full speed of 186mph (300km/h) resulting in journey times between London and the Continent being shortened by at least 20 minutes.
 
This witnesses a remarkable turnaround for St Pancras, which had seriously fallen out of favour in the UK's more stagnant rail years, but which has now come to symbolise Britain's re-emergence onto the European rail stage.

Our consultants will gladly research Eurostar for your trips to the continent, and compare the times, convenience and costs with other modes of transport, so you can select the best for your particular circumstances.
 

Hybrid cars and carbon offsetting are being made available by car rental broker Holiday Autos.

Prices for a hybrid car start at £23 a day, based on a seven-day rental of a Ford Focus in France. The vehicles are also available in the UK, Ireland, France and Sweden.

They can be bio-ethanol, or combine an electrical motor and a petrol engine. Hybrid cars available include the Toyota Prius, Ford Focus, Ford Focus C-Max, Volvo S40, Volvo V50 and Saab 9-5.

The company's 'carbonwise' offsetting scheme will be available from next month with costs starting at 14p per 100 miles for a hybrid Ford Focus. To offset a petrol hire car it costs 18p per 100 miles, based on the hiring a petrol Focus.

Customers will be given the option to offset their driving emissions and are taken through to a carbon calculator to estimate the emissions from their trip. More than 15% of customers are carbon-offsetting their travel, according to the company. 

Holiday Autos UK managing director claimed recently that seven out of ten cars hired by the company are the most fuel-efficient models, so the launch of hybrid cars and carbonwise are further extensions to their commitment to the environment.

Contact our consultants for your car rental requirements. We have access to many of the specialist car rental companies around the world and can find the best solution for your particular preferences.

The use of online check-in has doubled in a year to 20% of passengers at London Heathrow, according to the latest SITA Passenger Self-Service Survey. The survey, conducted at three major airports earlier this year, found the figure was 32% at Atlanta and 13% at Hong Kong.

The growth in the preference towards using self-check-in, when passengers know it is available to them (from 53% to 66%), is a critical pointer to the future, confirming that travellers are prepared to go to some lengths to avoid the airport check-in queues.

This must be good news for BA, as Terminal 5 at Heathrow can only be successful if a large proportion of travellers check in on line.

Do you or your colleagues attend any of the major (or indeed specialist) Trade or Business Fairs that are held yearly worldwide? We list a number of the largest International Fairs coming up in the next few months, on our website, but there are of course many others.
 
If so did you know that here at Medway Travel we have a specialist team to handle all such arrangements. Our consultants have a truly excellent understanding of what is involved and the ability to make your arrangements at best available rates, using our local ground agents where necessary. Thus we can ensure your trip is made in the most cost effective way, whilst catering for all your requirements.

Our normal practice is to "block reserve" the travel arrangements and hotel accommodation well in advance of the event.  At that time we would request a 20% deposit of the estimated cost.  These "bookings" can, usually, be amended up to one month prior to date of the event at which point details (such as names and numbers of attendees) must then be forwarded to the appropriate carriers and hotels. We can thus ensure that however heavy the demand, your travel arrangements are guaranteed, and you will have more convenient accommodation at the most advantageous rates for your travellers.
 
If you are planning to attend any such fairs within the next 12 to 18 months, the earlier you let us know of your intention to travel, the better will be the deals and choice we can obtain for you on airfares and hotel accommodation.  We would therefore strongly recommend you give us the dates of all the fairs your company intends to attend, as far in advance as you can, and our team will recommend when would be best for us to start the block booking process.
 
Please also remember that major savings are possible for groups of 9 or more travelling together, as we then negotiate special group rates with the airlines and hotels.

Every year we will notify you, at the appropriate time, when "block bookings" are available for the fairs in which you have shown an interest.
 
If you have any Group or Trade Fair requests please contact us and our consultants will be only too pleased to help with your enquiry.

 

Some readers may have spotted an article in a recent Sunday paper, or heard discussion about it, following a survey done into the unreliability of some Meet and Greet car parking companies.

It is perhaps not surprising that there are unscrupulous companies offering this service, which do not  look after the interests of their customers adequately.

For example, your car might be damaged while in their care, but they will have been careful not to record the car's condition when you checked it in - and they are not covered by insurance anyway.

Or their staff take it out for a joy ride with their family for the weekend you are abroad, and don't return it in the clean condition in which you handed it over on departure.

Perhaps they also incur a speeding fine or a parking fine when using it, leaving you to pick up the tab.

Maybe they parked it in their compound and didn't do any of the above, but vandals had easy access to it and damaged it.

All these horror stories can and do sometimes happen, if you are unfortunate enough to book with a cowboy company. However if we book it for you, you can be sure we only work with reputable companies with a solid track record of good service and are members of the Safer Parking scheme established some 10 years ago. Membership is limited to those companies operating secure, well lit and police approved car parks, with carefully vetted staff.

So do ask us to arrange your meet and greet (or other airport parking) arrangements for your next trip and experience the elation at dropping off your car at the terminal building as you depart, and when walking out of the terminal on your return, finding your car waiting for you in the hands of a well trained and friendly attendant! It saves so much time and stress at both ends of your trip!

Airline passengers will be able to offset their travel as they fly through a new scheme introduced by Virgin Atlantic.

The Gold Standard Carbon Offset Scheme is being run on board and online in partnership with Swiss charity myclimate to benefit projects in India and Indonesia.

The airline calculates exactly how much carbon is produced for each flight as verified through Greenhouse gas verification company, CICS.   Account is then taken of  the different weights of equipment and seats in each class of travel, and also the amount of cargo on each route.

Upper Class passengers will therefore pay more than those in Premium economy and Economy because their seat and in-flight entertainment monitors are significantly heavier. 

Endorsed by 49 non-governmental organisations worldwide, including many environmental groups, Gold Standard credits are independently validated, adhere to best practice methodology. They only support renewable energy or energy efficiency technologies - no tree planting or gas flaring, according to the airline.

Virgin Atlantic claims to be the only airline to commit to Gold Standard projects because it believes this is the only offset standard that guarantees a positive additional impact on the local communities and the environment. 

One of the projects is based in India, with the money going towards supporting a power plant that runs on farming waste, such as sugar cane husks, turning them into electricity for the local community.  The other main project is a hydropower plant in Indonesia, where the money is going towards rebuilding of the plant, which will employ and provide new skills to the local community, as well as providing a source of clean and reliable electricity for them. 

The airline has a target to improve its fuel efficiency by 30% by 2020.

Nestled in the very heart of the summer estate in Wheeling, West Virginia, offering a significant 1700 acres of year-round recreational facilities to its guests and visitors, the Oglebay Resort & Conference Center has been in its service for more than a hundred years. This heritage hotel is renowned for hosting important corporate meetings and conferences.

Along with its near-perfection in providing proper business amenities and appropriate ambiance, the resort also embodies the popular saying, "in the lap of luxury lies comfort". From their exclusive room facilities to an indoor swimming pool, Jacuzzi, massage therapy, sauna and fitness room, the resort constitutes a paradise for both the corporate as well as the more relaxed leisurely tourists.

For those with a large group or family, the resort has 50 unique cottages with individual living room, two, four or six bedrooms and a kitchen. The lavish guest rooms are provided with all the significant requirements, including air conditioning, refrigerator, television with DVD player, microwave oven, et al.

Along with the 261 rooms and multiple facilities on offer, the hotel forms an ideal venue for conducting meetings and corporate events in their 15 exclusively constructed business rooms. The unique rooms are well equipped with individual light and sound systems to match status of the functions. The entire business space of the hotel spans over 20,000 square feet. Along with the practical facilities, the resort earns earns its reputation through its unparallel hospitality.

Oglebay also constitutes one of the most celebrated golf destinations in the region, with a row of championship matches held at the Speidel Golf Club, and the natural beauty of the estate can be savoured by taking a walk in the gardens and orchards spread across sixteen acres.

Our Groups & Events department will be pleased to advise and arrange your corporate events, and once we have understood your objectives and budget, we will shortlist a few a few of the most appropriate venues from the thousands of possible venues worldwide to which we have access. From these, you can make your final selection and we will then discuss the details of the event and make all the rest of the arrangements for you.

M edway Travel has access to one of the largest portfolios of specially negotiated contract fares open to any travel agent in the country. This means we can - subject to availability at the time of booking - offer unusually low prices for many long-haul and certain European routes.

This month's examples are:

If you or your colleagues have plans to visit any overseas trade fair in the future, please contact us as soon as possible about your arrangements for travel and accommodation, as the earlier we can make the bookings for you, the lower will be the cost of the airfares, and the greater the selection of hotel accommodation.
We would also suggest you take a look at our  website Trade Fairs page from time to time, to help with your forward planning.

Algeria - Algiers - PLASTICS:                                    3rd - 6th May, 2008

Australia - Sydney - HOSPIMEDICA:                         13th - 15th May, 2008

Australia - Melbourne - AUSPLAS:                            6th - 9th October 2008

Bahrain-FOODTEC 2008                                           19Oct - 21October 2008

Germany - Cologne - IMM:                                      14th - 20th January 2008
Germany - Dusseldorf - BOOT:                               19th - 27th January 2008
Germany-Dusseldorf-INTERPLASTICA                       29th January -1st February 2008
Germany - Cologne - DOMOTECHNICA:                    18th - 21st February 2008
Germany-Dusseldorf-EUROSHOP                              23rd - 27th February 2008
Germany-Dusseldorf-WIRE                                       31st March - 4th April 2008
Germany-Dusseldorf-INTERPACK                               24th - 30th April 2008
Germany-Dusselforf-COMPAMED                               19th Nov - 24th Nov 2008

India - New Delhi - TUBE INTERNATIONAL:              14th - 16th February 2008

Russia - Moscow - INTERPLASTICA:                       29th Dec 2007 - Ist Jan 2008

Singapore - IDEM:                                               4th - 8th April 2008
Singapore - ASEANPLAS:                                      26th - 29th May, 2008
Singapore-HOSPIMEDICA ASIA 2008                       17th - 19thSept 2008

Turkey - Istanbul - FOODTECH:                             24th - 27th October, 2008

Also, don't forget, if there are a number of you travelling together, there are major savings possible for groups of 9 or more, when we negotiate group rates with the airlines. Click here to see more about our Group travel.

Also, see the article in this issue which explains our forward block booking service, which enables you to secure convenient and good value arragements well in advance, without making any firm commitments until nearer the time of the event.