Fybe takes on key north-south service

FLYBE has announced its plans to pick up the key Aberdeen to London City route, with twice daily flights starting in October. The news comes after British Airways announced that it would be withdrawing from the route at the end of the summer season.

Seats on the new Aberdeen-London City route are on sale at www.flybe.com from £49.99 one way including taxes and charges.

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The price is right!

THE success of Savor Sarasota Restaurant Week has led to a selection of the participating restaurants extending their price deals throughout August.

They are $29 (£17) prix fixe priced dinner menus and multi-course lunch menus for $15 (£8.80): www.savorsarasota.com

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The other side of Essex

ESSEX gets a bad press, but there’s much more to the county than what’s shown on TOWIE or reported in the Sunday tabloids. A free Rough Guide has been published to help you discover the magical coastline of one of Britain’s most beautiful counties. 

Essex - Wallasea Island seals

Not only is Essex’s coastline the longest of any county in England, but more than 70 percent of it remains rural – and all less than an hour’s train ride from central London. Make The Most of the Discovery Coast takes you on a tour of beaches, creeks and remote inlets, while stopping to admire the must-see sights.

The first Rough Guide about a single English county, it packed with local experts’ knowledge of the very best things to see and do around its shoreline.

It will be a surprise to many that Essex is a nature lover’s paradise. Wallasea Island, near Burnham-on-Crouch, is arguably the jewel in the crown from a twitcher’s point of view. The wildlife reserve is owned and managed by the RSPB and is one of the most ambitious conservation projects in Europe. Seals area a popular sight and can be spotted along the coast from Walton Backwaters in the north to Leigh-on-Sea near on the Thames Estuary in the south.

George Kieffer, chairman of Visit Essex, said: ‘Essex is only one hour from London, but so different that it could be hundreds of miles or an age away. There is much to discover, from vineyards and oysters, cockle-sheds and pubs, to one of the oldest chapels in England and the longest pleasure pier in the world. You can wander around Harwich and imagine yourself in the days of Samuel Pepys, who was the local MP, or Christopher Martin who sailed the Mayflower to America. The Rough Guide is an excellent start to your explorations.’

The guide is available from tourist information centres, and from www.visitessex.com/brochures

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Holiday health costs

MEDICAL claims while on holiday abroad average more than £1,000, according to Sainsbury’s Bank.

• ·       27% of holidaymakers who have gone abroad in the last two years have done so with a serious and/or long term medical condition, and 15% of these policyholders admitted they had not told their insurer about it
• ·       11% said they had gone abroad without any insurance at all
• ·       Spain, Greece and US are the countries with the highest number of medical claims
• ·       The US has the most expensive medical treatment, with average claim of £2,850
• ·       Accidents are the most frequent cause of medical claims
• ·       Treatment costs for heart conditions average £5,800

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Visitor numbers up for Philly

AS a result of efforts by the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, the city had 673,000 overseas visitors in 2013, marking a 13 percent increase over the previous year. 

The city has no sales tax on clothing and shoes.

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Syracuse opening

THE new Melia Syracuse Mare resort, scheduled to open next spring in Syracuse, Sicily, will have 235 hotel rooms, 140 self-catering apartments, an 18-hole golf course, and a private beach: www.melia.com


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Are you a luggage lout?

THE British might think they are considerate travellers, but research suggests otherwise.  It has found that 75 percent of us are fed up with the ‘luggage lout’ – someone with no spatial awareness, and who displays selfish, aggressive and clumsy behaviour when in charge of bags, suitcases or backpacks. 

The research by Rolling Luggage reveals that 40 percent of travellers have suffered a baggage-related injury in the last 12 months, and that mobile phone distraction is cited as the main cause of luggage rage.

The research shows the top loutish behaviours in the UK are:

1. Stopping with baggage in a crowded area without any warning 
2. Stopping to take an ‘airport selfie’ on a mobile phone while carrying luggage 
3. Running over someone’s feet with a wheeled bag 
4. Banging into someone with a backpack or not removing it when on a crowded train
5. Pushing in front of others to get to the airport carousel first 

Luggage rage is particularly bad when people are in a hurry with more than 10 per cent admitting they couldn't care less about their manners when in a rush and are more concerned about getting to their destination on time. 

The research also showed that families with young children are seen as the biggest culprits of luggage loutishness, with two thirds of respondents claiming that families are less than attentive to the needs of other travellers. Families were closely followed by groups of stag and hen parties, with 25 percent of respondents frustrated by their ‘safety in numbers’ luggage loutism.

Waseem Malik Khawar at Rolling Luggage said: ‘We have devised a ‘luggage code’ of simple etiquette tips to help people be considerate of others.’

LUGGAGE CODE - THE DOS AND DON’TS OF TRAVELLING WITH LUGGAGE

DO

• Respect personal space by checking around you when walking onto a crowded train, tube or plane - especially when wearing a backpack or heavy/large shoulder bag.
• If your suitcase has wheels, always be aware of people behind you so that you don’t accidentally trip them up or wheel your case over their toes.
• Plan your packing a few days in advance, not at the last minute. This will make sure you keep your luggage size and weight to a minimum.
• Small children will understandably be excitable when travelling, but this can lead to them running in to people. Reduce the impact your children have on other travellers by trying to keep them close to you.
• When walking the aisle to search for you seat, carry your bag in front of you and low to the ground. Holding it up or at your side will inevitably knock passengers on their arms, shoulders and heads.
• At the airport baggage claim, be considerate of others. Stand back from the carousel until you see your bag approaching, then step forward to get it and avoid knocking into others.

DON’T

• If you need to stop to check directions, get something out of your bag or check your mobile phone, make sure you look behind you before stopping to avoid causing a collision with other passengers.
• Take only what you can carry. Don’t rely on other people to help with your bags up stairs or onto the train or plane. 
• If you have young children who want to carry their own suitcase, let them do this outside the terminal as much as possible to avoid them accidentally running into people. 

Go Holiday editor David Kernek comments: Well said, Rolling Luggage! As someone who aims to travel with as little baggage as possible, I never cease to wonder at the tons of stuff carried in massive suitcases and backpacks that people insist on taking when they go on holiday. You’d think they were re-settling in a far-off land, not jetting off for a week in Benidorm. Airlines should make hold luggage prohibitively expensive; then there would be fewer suitcases being used as lethal weapons.

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