Air travellers who’ve had their property damaged by airlines or been frustrated in their dealings with impenetrable airline bureaucracy will enjoy watching these YouTube videos.

Watch Dave Carroll’s response after a year of pursuing his complaint with United

United Breaks Guitars – Inside Response from United Airlines

Only after Dave Carroll’s video received 150,000 hits and got airing on CNN did United make contact with him to try and resolve his complaint. The video is now doing about 3,861,954 hits (and rising fast) and has proved a public relations disaster for United while making Dave world-famous!

This whole episode is a salutary warning to airlines:  Be nice to your passengers, especially those who can sing!

On behalf of all air travellers who have suffered at the hands of callous airlines – Thank you Dave!

The moral of the story is - fly with good carriers.

Travel Signposts Blog

Springtime in Paris has never been cheaper for British travellers.  I stumbled upon Flybe.com’s specials to Paris where one-way tickets were a ridiculous GBP 35, plus taxes.  On top of that, people who book Paris flights during the offer period will receive a FREE Disney ticket, plus other deals.  The one-day Disney pass costs Euro 53 so that’s a saving of Euro 53.  If the offer is tempting, you’ll need to act quick as the offer is for a limited period only.  I did see low Paris fares from London departures, but they seem to have disappeared.  Departures from Manchester, Southhampton, Exeter, Glasgow and Wales are showing as available.

Eiffel Tower, Paris

And for your stay in Paris, there are some really good hotel deals available as well.  Some of the hotels  in the city centre cost as little as Euro 80 for a room, depending on date of stay.

To help you find the cheapest hotel deal available, our Comparison Hotel Guide  can do all the legwork for you in a matter of seconds.  Just enter your city destination, date of stay and the Hotel Guide will sift through hundreds of hotels, compare the various on-line booking sites and tell you who has the best deals.  You’ll see that prices can vary quite a bit between the different providers.

http://www.travelsignposts.com/resources/hotelchoice.php

With all the discount deals you should read the terms and conditions carefully before booking.  With some of these cheap offers there may be penalties for date changes or cancellations.  It’s a case of  Buyer Beware!

Good Luck!

Travel Signposts Blog

A very important part of any holiday planning is making sure that you have a nice place to stay at your destination.  Unless you have buckets of money, then finding the right place and at the right price requires quite a bit of research.

Fortunately, these days many of the on-line hotel reservation websites make things a bit easier for you.  There is usually a map provided and you can refine your hotel search to your preferred location, and the price range that fits your budget.

Where to look and why is location important?

If you’ve not been to the destination before and don’t know which location to be close to, then check out where the main tourist attractions are and look at places in the vicinity of these sights.  Do not sacrifice convenience of location for a place that’s cheap, but which is miles out of town.  Some of the cities do not have good public transport or if  available, it may not run in the evenings or the service is very limited.  Before you think of jumping into a taxi, consider if this is going to burn a hole in your budget.

Finding a nice hotel room

The biggest benefit of having your hotel closer to the heart the city’s attractions is that you can be out all day sightseeing, come back to your room in the late afternoon for a rest and then be out again for dinner or to enjoy the city’s nightlife.  Believe me, when your hotel is way out of town, you’ll not feel like going out again at night after a busy day out.

Finding a good hotel made easy

On our Hotel Choices page are few of the larger on-line hotel booking sites.  All these are reputable companies that offer a huge range of hotels, villas, apartments and other rented accommodation that you can book online.

The Comparison Hotel Guide is a nifty service that will do all the initial legwork for you.  When you enter your destination city and the dates of your stay, hey presto, in less than a minute it searches all the leading hotel reservation sites and direct hotel sites to find the best available hotel deals for you!  You’ll see that there can be a marked difference in prices quoted for a particular hotel and this Guide sorts it all out for you.

There are thousands of hotels from the various hotel sites and to make your search more targeted, you should refine your search criteria by distance and price.  There’s no point looking at hotels that cost Euro 500 if your budget is no where near this.  The greatest part of this Comparison Guide is that it finds for you specials that a particular booking site may have on offer.  You may get lucky and find a great hotel at a price you’re willing to pay.

A bit of pre-holiday hotel research helps ensure that you don’t get nasty surprises on your holidays.   Besides, finding the right deal could also mean that you’ll have more money for that extra shopping, always a good incentive!

For our Hotel Choices page, click here.  Happy Hunting!

Travel Signposts Blog

Eurostar is celebrating the 6th anniversay of its £59 return fare* special to the Continent. So if you’re in London and planning a trip to the Paris or Brussels, this is your big opportunity to take advantage of this bargain fare. Even if you’re not planning on a Paris or Brussels trip, this fare is well worth considering for yourself, or as a gift for friends or family!

Booking Tips

You can currently book fares up to three months in advance. Here are some tips from Eurostar on how to find the £59 return* to the Continent…

* Travel on the first or last trains

* Skip the crowds and come back on Monday

* Travel out mid afternoon and be there for pre-dinner drinks

Looking at current availability, there seems to be plenty of seats available.

Why travel on the Eurostar

The trip from London St Pancras to Paris Nord takes 2hrs 15mins each way, whereas the trip from London St Pancras to Brussels Midi takes just under 2hrs. The great thing about travelling on the Eurostar is that it takes you into the heart of your destination city. There’s no check-in hassles that we all so hate at London airports, Eurostar check-in is at least 30 minutes before your scheduled departure. There’s the added bonus of no expensive rides into the city from the airport.

Whether it’d be for a lovely breakfast on the Champs-Élysées or free beer tokens at the De Biertempel, the best specialised beer shop in Brussels, the tempation is just too great!

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

London is a popular destination for New Year’s Eve celebrations, especially amongst the younger crowd.  It’s New Year’s Eve fireworks and countdown to the New Year are world famous and London is now firmly established as one of the centres around the world for which the countdown is televised.  Crowds estimated at around 700,000 flock to traditional central London areas and to the River Thames where the annual fireworks and lighting display at the British Airways London Eye take place.  It was this publicity and scenes of people having a fabulous time that got me interested in seeing what it’s like  to be part of this celebration, at least once.

Charing Cross Hotel

Hotels around Trafalgar Square are very popular at this time as they are smack in the middle of where the action is and allows easy access to the Embankment and the Thames where much of the celebrations take place.  When we were there, I chose the Charing Cross Thistle Hotel as it was relatively affordable and being next to Charing Cross tube, it was convenient for us to move around for the time that we were in London. Thinking that it was the winter season, I expected hotel rooms to be easy to obtain, but that was certainly not the case.  I had a look last week and most of the hotels around Trafalgar Square are fully booked for New Year’s Eve.  So, if you’re thinking of spending New Year’s Eve in London in the future, plan ahead!

Charing Cross Hotel Bar

Since our stay at the Charing Cross Thistle, the hotel has been bought over by the Guoman Hotel Group and was totally refurbished, and now more expensive.   The Charing Cross hotel has an interesting history, starting life as a Victorian railway hotel back in 1865. In front of the hotel stands a 70 feet replica of the Eleanor Cross. It originates from the hamlet of Charing, where King Edward I placed a cross as a memorial to his wife, Eleanor of Castile. Charing Cross is also recognised as the centre of London, that is, distances to London are measured to the location of the original Eleanor Cross.

We found the Charing Cross Thistle Hotel a little old and tired when we were there, but after its multi-million pound refurbishment, it must be pretty comfortable now.  Its location is great.  A short walk away are restaurants, shops and the theatres of the West End.  Then there’s Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, 10 Downing Street, the Houses of Parliament, Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street, all within easy walking distance.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

London is an expensive city when it comes to finding good central hotel accommodation and this is especially so when your home currency is at a huge discount to the British Pound.

A Lucky Find at the Mostyn Hotel

You can sometimes get lucky though, as we were on this one trip. We were starting our tour from the Thistle Marble Arch Hotel at 5:15 a.m. in winter. A 5:15  a.m. start in any season is hardship for non-early risers like us and in winter, the thought was unbearable!  We could have stayed at the Thistle Marble Arch, but I didn’t fancy paying GBP 190 for a few hours sleep.   When searching for a hotel that was as close as possible to the Thistle in Bryanston Street, I had stern warnings from Tony that “we don’t want to be dragging our cases in the streets in the cold of the winter at 5:00 a.m.” I found the Best Western Mostyn Hotel at number 4 Bryanston Street, which according to their map looked quite close to the Thistle. At GBP 64 for the night, I figured we had plenty of spare change to afford a cab if it turned out that the Thistle wasn’t within easy walking distance.

Mostyn Hotel - London

A Pleasant Surprise at the Mostyn

We travelled by tube from Heathrow to Marble Arch and by the time we arrived it was already dark … and cold! When we reached the hotel, we were pleasantly relieved that the back entrance of the Thistle is exactly opposite to the Mostyn entrance. Phew! what a relief for me.

We did the usual check-in formalities and were given directions by the check-in clerk as to how to get to our room – straight down the corridor, turn right, turn left, go through a door, etc. etc. As we were trying to remember his lengthy instructions, we felt certain that we were headed towards the dungeon of the hotel. At GBP 64 a night this could well be the case for such a well-located hotel. When we finally reached our room opened the door, we had our next surprise, a beautiful room with plush velvet curtains, richly furnished lounge, magazines and books and a tea chest that was filled with a nice variety teas, hot chocolate and coffee. As I was looking around the room in disbelief, I heard a cry from Tony, somewhere from above me. There was a staircase leading to an upstairs room. We had in fact been given a lavish suite that occupied two levels and was quite luxuriously furnished, all for GBP 64.  What a lucky find!

Mostyn Hotel - London

About the Mostyn Hotel

The Mostyn Hotel is part of the Best Western Group and is located just off from Marble Arch and right by the famous shopping area of Oxford Street. The hotel building itself has an interesting history. It was built originally by John Adam as a stately home for a certain Lady Black. This was in the early 1700′s when Lady Black was a lady-in-waiting to the court of King George II. Many of the original Georgian features of the building remain today such as the ornate ceilings in the restaurant and the conference rooms.

Well we enjoyed our luxurious suite for the night and didn’t want to leave the next morning. We said to the Desk Manager that the room was fantastic and he said “Yes, the normal rate is GBP 300 a night”. Gulp! It’s no wonder the room was so plush and  comfortable.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

One of our readers suggested that we consider providing information about river cruising for the disabled.  She was particularly interested in a cruise holiday in France and has not been able to find ships that accommodate people who use wheelchairs.  Even the more recently built ships do not have any elevators or stair lifts.

The above observation is correct as we too have been through the exercise of searching for river cruise ships with wheelchair access when we were taking my mother-in-law on a river cruise in Europe.

Canal cruising

 From our experience, the river boats are built to a width so that they fit through the lock system in Europe.  They want all passengers to have rooms with views, so the passageway is quite narrow to accommodate rooms on both sides of the ship. It’s not impossible to include an elevator in the boat build, however I guess if the demand increases, then we may see future boats that cater for travellers requiring wheelchair facilities. 

When we took my mother-in-law on the Amsterdam to Budapest river cruise in 2005, we resorted to booking her a stateroom that was on the same level as the restaurant so that the need to climb stairs was limited.  Her stateroom also had French windows so that she was able to enjoy all the views and the sunshine from the comfort of her room.  In December, we’re taking her on a Northern Lights Cruise and the Hurtigruten ships do have a few rooms especially designed for passengers requiring wheelchair assistance.  Whilst this is not a river cruise, it neverless cruises along the coast of Norway.

If you search the internet or make enquiries with river cruise companies, it is possible to find some boats that cater for disabled travellers.  In my quick search on the internet I was able to find a couple of companies that advertise that they have rooms with wheelchair access:

Special Places Travel run canal cruises in France, Belgium, England, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Scotland and Italy.  I checked their French canal tours and a couple of their boats do have wheelchair access.  The boats look quite flash and I wouldn’t mind doing one of their trips at some stage, especially as my mother-in-law herself has espressed an interest in this kind of holiday – www.specialplacestravel.com.

EuroRiverCruises.com is the other crowd that advertise wheelchair accessibility on a couple of their cruises.   Their canal boat the “Reine Pedauque” is designed specially to accommodate passengers with physical challenges and is fitted with a lift for wheelchairs and a stair lift for access between decks.  The doors are wide enough for wheelchair access on all decks. Of their river cruise fleet, the M.S. France has a couple of cabins equipped for the disabled.

Peter Deilmann Cruises – One of their ships, the M.S. Dresden has 1 two-bed outside stateroom for passengers in wheelchairs.  The company’s website indicates that their staff can offer clients every assistance to ensure mobility around the ship, however it needs to be noted that their ships do not have lifts to transport guests between decks. Guests are able to take their own wheelchairs on board.

Impending travellers would be wise to discuss their specific requirements with the cruise company before making bookings on cruises.  This will ensure that your needs can be met and there’s no last minute surprises or misunderstandings in regard to wheelchair access.  The people at www.disabilitytravel.com/accessible-cruises.htm also provide advice and service for disability travel.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

We were on a mission to get some Ukrainian hryvnia this morning and our guide brought us to the Londonskaya Hotel on Primorsky Boulevard.  Did other people wonder, as I did, as to why we would change money at a hotel?  Don’t they normally offer the worst exchange rates?  Anyway not knowing the Ukrainian system nor our way around at this early stage, we obediently followed our guide’s instructions. 

Money Exchange at Londonskaya

As we approached the hotel, it got a little bit more bizzare, the Londonskaya has a huge casino sign flashing beneath the hotel name.  This would be a first for me, changing money in a casino?  We entered the dimly lit lobby, and to the right of the staircase landing, we saw our dimly lit exchange window where a single lady looked after all our exchange needs.  You didn’t have to produce any passport and it was all done quite quickly and efficiently.  The only problem I had was not being able to read the faint receipt that I was given.  Tony actually had to brighten these photos for the gallery.

Londonskaya Hotel, Odessa

The Londonskaya sits on a site that was originally occupied by a private residence in 1826. The building was designed in the style of early Italian Renaissance by  Francesco Boffo, an architect who was responsible for designing many of the classical buildings in Odessa at the time.  Jean-Batiste Karuta, a well-known French confectioner and food connoisseur transformed the building and became the first owner of the hotel. Apparently all the “patriotic” French names were already taken by other hotels so Monsieur Karuta looked to Great Britain and decided to call his hotel “Londonskaya”.  It seems a bit contradictory to go from a choice of patriotic French names to something that is English-based. 

Londonskaya Hotel Lobby, Odessa

The hotel has a beautiful staircase and the grand chandeliers in the lobby are reminders of the charm of the hotel.  During its glory days, Londonskaya Hotel played host to famous artists, ballerinas and influential writers.  Its guest list included famous personalities from the Ukraine and all over the world including Anton Chekhov, Marcello Mastroianni, Louis Aragon, Robert Louis Stevenson, Isidora Duncan and many others.  According to the hotel’s literature, Londonskaya has also played host to many presidents of nations.

The hotel seems to have seen better times and today, there was not a soul in the lobby except a group of tourists in search of hryvnias.  If looking for a room in Odessa, this would be a great location as the hotel is within easy walking distance to the Opera and Ballet Theatre, shops and the Old part of Odessa.  The hotel now has free Wi-Fi internet which is a plus in the Ukraine.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

Prior to our trip to the Ukraine, I was looking for information on airport formalities in Odessa and especially airport transfers. I had read that customs and immigration processes at Odessa airport can be slow and one got the impression that some officials are still wrapped in the cobwebs of Communism.  Some people have recommended that pre-arranging your airport transfers is advisable so as to avoid taxi touts at the airport.  I made enquiries with a few internet companies that were offering airport transfers.  Their websites looked professional and they made all the right noises, but when I submitted my requirements, none of them responded, in spite of followups.  I sensed that internet fraud was a big issue and that the companies prefer that you phone to confirm that yours is a genuine enquiry.

Finding current information on airport transfers in Odessa was a challenge. Many sites were promoting dating Ukrainian women or apartment bookings, for which they will throw in the airport transfer for free. I had just about given up when we had an email from one of the companies, the day before we were due to leave for the U.K.! Ours was not a straightforward requirement as we needed to be picked up from Odessa airport and delivered to our riverboat and then we were leaving from Kyiv (Kiev). Not knowing where these places were and not speaking the language made it tricky as we weren’t going to a hotel.

Our motivation for arranging our own transfers was because the river cruise company wanted outrageous prices to provide the transfers. So what was our experience? We used a company called UkraineFare.com who charged USD15 to transfer us from Odessa airport to the seaport terminal and USD40 from Kyiv sea terminal to Kiev airport. Their drivers in Odessa and Kyiv were there right on time at both destinations with our name placard and the transfers went really smoothly. The drivers did not speak English, but they knew where we needed to picked up and transferred to. Their cars were comfortable, but not airconditioned, but for a saving of a few hundred dollars, we were not complaining. We also felt secure to book with UkraineFare.com as they used PayPal for their payment system.

If we were going the Ukraine again, we would be happy to pre-book our own airport transfers again. Immigration and customs procedures at Odessa and Kiev were slow due to their manual processes, however we did not have any problems at all. Contrary to advice, we didn’t have to declare how much money we were bringing in or out of the country.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

Our Malev flight to Odessa, via Budapest, departed London at 7:50 a.m.  We had to spend a night at an hotel in Heathrow and the only hotel that is within the Heathrow Airport terminals is the Hilton.  Much as we loved the idea of having direct access to Terminal 4 via a covered walkway, £115 for a brief night’s sleep was a bit pricey. With a bit of research, I managed to find a deal at the Renaissance Heathrow Airport at £65. 

Apparently Heathrow hotels, and there are many of them, are not allowed to offer free complimentary shuttles. However fixed route “Hotel Hoppa” buses operate to several hotels and it costs £4 per trip, no matter how close or far your hotel is along the route.  What is not well publicised is that there is also a free local bus service linking nearby towns to all the terminals.  These buses are free as long as you get on or off the buses on the perimeter roads of the airport, which is where many hotels are. Even if you went past the perimeter roads, the maximum fare is £2.00.

We decided to give this free bus transfer a go and it worked very efficiently.  Some of the services run 24/7 so there’s no problem if your flight is an early one as ours was.  We were leaving from T5 and managed to explore this new terminal.  It is huge and impressive and our only issue is that there are no trolleys to be had.  It’s not very passenger friendly as there’s usually quite a bit of distance to be covered when you’re getting from point to another.  Anyway, this Heathrow experience was much than any others that we had in the past, so that’s a positive.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog