How Can You Lessen the Odds of the Airlines Losing Your Luggage When You Travel?

 It is estimated that more than a million bags are lost by commercial airlines each year in the United States alone.  How much luggage that get lost in the whole world is anybody’s guess.  Here are some tips that may help you recover your bags if they are ever lost. 

Attach two or three tags with your name, home address, and phone number to the handle and the zipper-pulls of each bag that you are checking.  There is less of a chance that all of the tags could get torn off during transit.  You should make sure that you have removed any old airline tags that are still attached to the luggage you’re checking as they could confuse the baggage handlers. 

Be sure to place the same contact information, including a copy of your itinerary and your destination address inside each piece luggage.  That way, if they do get lost and are found in time, they could be forwarded to your hotel.

If you can, pick luggage with preferably a bright or odd color that will stand out from all of the black and brown bags.  Know the brand name of the luggage that you own and attach a colorful scarf or ribbon to the handle to make identification easier.  Stick a few decals or a contrasting colored tape to all of the sides of the bags so they can be easier to see as it goes around the carousel.  Remember these details, or even better, take a digital picture of your luggage just before you leave and bring it with you.  This will also help the lost luggage airport staff in finding your bags if they become lost in transit and turn up at their office.  It will also help if you have to make a claim.

It helps to make a list of what you have in your luggage and carry that list in you carry-on bag.  The chance of your luggage getting lost in transit increases dramatically when you have connecting, or delayed flights.  Always pack all of your valuables, including your laptop or Blackberry, travel documents, prescriptions, etc., in your carry-on bag.  It makes sense to pack only the things you can afford to lose in your checked baggage.  Most analysts believe that the airline industry’s problem of lost luggage is not going to be resolved anytime soon. 

What should you do your luggage gets lost?

Go immediately to the baggage claim office and file your claim.  Many airlines have a twenty-four hour window of time starting from when your flight arrives to file a claim and be eligible for compensation.  Get a claim receipt and check the tracking of your luggage with the airline by phone, or on the airline’s website.  Make sure you keep all your flight documents until the lost luggage problem has been resolved. 

How can you guarantee that the airlines won’t lose your luggage?

There are some companies like FedEx, UPS or DHL, that can send your luggage in the U.S. directly to your hotel or street address for a very reasonable cost.  If you’re staying at a hotel, your luggage will be taken to your room by a bellboy.  When you consider that in the United States alone, over a million bags are lost by the airlines each year, this service is well worth considering.  If you are planning to travel by air throughout Europe, FirstLuggage.com, provides a similar service.

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Travel for Seniors

Travel for Senior Citizens and Baby Boomers

There are numerous travel programs available to seniors and baby boomers today.  Deals are available for senior couples, single senior travelers and senior groups.  Travel to Go is proud to offer the following information about a few of the services we recommend for seniors interested in travel. 

The National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Pass for Seniors

One of the easiest and best ways to save money for seniors is to visit the National Park Service website and purchase the America the Beautiful – National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass – Senior Pass which costs only -.  As age and residency must be verified, the pass must be purchased in person at a participating Federal recreation site or office.  For a list of frequently asked questions click here for the official FAQ page.

The National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Senior Pass is a lifetime pass for U.S. citizens and permanent residents who are aged 62 and over.  The pass provides access to Federal recreation areas that charge an entrance or standard amenity fee. It also admits the pass holder and passengers in non-commercial vehicles that charge a per vehicle fee and for parks and recreation areas that charge a per person fee, the pass holder and 3 other adults are admitted (children under 16 are always admitted free).  The pass also provides a 50% discount on some expanded amenities fees to include camping, swimming, boat launching and specialized interpretive services. 

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)

The AARP offers one of the most comprehensive discount programs available anywhere which includes extensive travel discounts.  For an annual membership fee ranging from only .00 for one year to .00 for five years, members can enjoy discounts not only on travel but on virtually everything from shopping, dining, fitness and wellness to health care, home auto and technology.  Click here to see their homepage for more information.

Misc. Transportation Discounts

The New York City Transit Authority offers half price fares using your Medicare identification card.  Seniors can also acquire a Reduced Fare Metro Card which enables individuals to transfer for free from a subway to a bus or conversely from a bus to a subway.  To acquire an application individuals can call 1-718-243-2499 or ask for an application at any police precinct house, Department of Aging office, public library or subway toll booth.

Amtrak offers a 15% discount on most fares for riders 62 years of age and older.  You can click here to see their website for more information on their senior discount program. 

Greyhound Bus Lines offers an unrestricted 5% discount for seniors.  

Airline Discounts

Many airlines offer regular discounts fares that are actually cheaper than their senior fares.  However, senior fares typically are sold at only a few dollars more than other discounted fares but offer fewer restrictions than other discounted fares.  For instance, senior discounts apply to last minute travel deals and are refundable even if you have to cancel your flight.  So for many, the airlines’ senior discount programs are the best option. 

Below is a sampling of some of your options with the airlines:

Delta Shuttle offers senior fares for travelers age 62 and above. Delta Shuttle operates 16 daily flights between New York and Boston, and 15 daily flights between New York and Washington, D.C., Monday through Friday (and reduced weekend schedules).

American Airlines, American Eagle and American Connection may offer senior fares in some domestic markets for seniors age 65 or older.

Southwest Airlines: travelers 65 years of age or over may get details on fares, limitations, and any restrictions via reservations on the Web site, from a reservations sales agent or a travel agent.

United Airlines offers travelers age 55 and older saving along with several of its travel partners and as much as 50% off at participating luxury hotels and resorts by joining its Silver Wings Plus program.

Northwest offers senior discount fares in select markets. Identify yourself as a senior when proceeding through the booking process on www.nwa. com

Continental offers senior fares to select travel destinations for passengers who are 65 and older.

Find Cheap Airline Tickets And Use Instant Discounts Or Cash-Back Rewards To Visit Shows When You Travel To Las Vegas

Traveling has always fascinated the people but most people do not want to travel as they have to spend a lot of money for these tours but now traveling to different places is that hard and you can easily go anywhere in an economical manner in which you would not have to spend a lot of money. Traveling to Las Vegas can be very exciting as you can get to see many shows over there. Usually the cost for entering into these shows is high and you would not want to pay a lot of money of yours on these shows. Instead you can purchase the cheap airline tickets and can have immediate discounts. There are also cash-back rewards offered by these airline that allow you to free of cheap entrance in to the shows that you would want to see in Las Vegas.

The cash rewards can be in the shape of anything and can be redeemed for many different things but the best way for redeeming your discount which comes from the cheap plane tickets is to get the tickets for the shows that happen in Las Vegas. These discounts allow you to go to the extravagant and luxurious shows without paying much of your money for the tickets.

You can easily search for the best travel deals in order to get huge discounts. As soon as you travel from certain airline, you would get instant discounts and the cash backs which later on can be used for purchasing many different things too. This is considered to be a great way when you want to save your money and want to have the best thing from your money. You would not have to worry about these price paid for the travel as you would be getting it back in the shape of some other thing.

You can easily reap more of the benefits with the help of trading your airline tickets and can use them in the later time for purchasing different items. These discounts and cash backs can be redeemed for different purposes such as for free car rentals and hotels too but when you are traveling to Las Vegas and want to enjoy your trip to that place to its full then you must go and see the shows of Las Vegas. The entrance to these shows can be expensive so the best redemption of your airline tickets can be the purchase of the tickets for visiting the shows that occur in Las Vegas in order to enjoy the life of this fun filled place to its maximum.

Budgeting for Low Cost Travel Around the World

The Phenomena of the Low Cost Budget Airline has certainly come of age in the last couple of decades and unless you happen to have been on the moon for the past 10 to 15 years you will have been aware of the rapid increase in the number of these travel operators.

Nowadays some air line brand names such as Easy Jet and Ryannair sit alongside the major brands such as British Airways and Air France.

The trouble in the past was that the majority of the low cost carriers only serviced the smaller domestic markets of Europe. Now they appear to be almost everywhere and the distinction between Travel Company and Airline has become distinctly blurred in recent years.

But alongside the likes of Southwest Airlines in the United States, other low cost airlines have begun to appear on a regional basis worldwide.

However it is in Europe that the Low Cost Budget Airline reigns supreme.

At the last count and when we carried out a quick survey recently we found that there were approximately fifty such airline operations throughout Europe flying to an ever increasing and varied range of destinations.

In Europe the main Low Cost Carriers an certainly the best known are Easy Jet and Ryannair. Easy Jet claim to be the most “webbed” airline in the world and no this doesn’t refer to strange aspects of the staffs feet (I am sure they are not webbed honestly) but rather that due to the fact that every Easy Jet plane has a massive web address “easyjet.com” plastered along its fuselage just in case you were one of the unfortunate ones and forgot their web address – as if? Apparently nearly 90% of its bookings come via their web site and this brings about it massive reduction in costs of scale.

The main routes that Easy Jet covers are from their main hubs at London Luton and Gatwick airports. Now here is an interesting if not slightly “anorakish” fact and that despite the size of the Airport, the amount of Traffic it handles, Easy Jet is, apparently the second largest Airline and London Gatwick Airport!

Easy Jet has hubs at Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, Nottingham East Midlands, Liverpool, Newcastle, Bristol, Belfast, Berlin Schonefeld, Dortmund, Geneva and Paris Orly.

In Ryannairs case as well as now being quite dominant within their own Hub at Dublin, Ryannair now have hubs based at London Stansted and London Luton, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Nottingham East Midlands, Prestwick in SCOTLAND, Shannon in the Irish Republic, Brussels, Frankfurt Hahn, Stockholm, Bergamo (nr Milan) Rome and Girona (nr Barcelona).

It would appear that gone are the days when it was nothing more than a cross between a massive rugby scrum and a slightly contained riot trying to get onto a flight with one of the Low Cost Carriers.

Situations have improved and gone are the days (hopefully) when the likes of Ryannair would just hurl you out of the plane and then in an attempt to make up time, hurtle down the runway in search of the next airport……and forget to unload the existing material and content from the cold hold! This last part is based on a true story; a Ryannair aircraft did once hurtle out of an airport in an attempt to make up time etc only to discover that they had forgotten about the property and belongings for their recently disembarked passengers left in the hold!

Still as we have said, things are definitely improving (or so we hope) so perhaps we will no longer be hearing these sorts of stories any more.

Hope so!

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10 Green Travel Tips for the Holidays

The holidays are synonymous with family and friends. Chances are your family is scattered across the country – Aunt Mae and the cousins are in Nebraska, Grandma and Gramps spend their winters in Florida, and your best friend finishing school in Oregon – making it almost inevitable that someone is going to travel to be near their loved ones during this festive season. Whether it’s you going to see them or them coming to you, green travel can help offset the carbon footprint we leave when we’re on the road.

1. Seek out eco-conscious airlines. Air travel is the quickest but not always the greenest. Try to find cheap tickets with airlines that promote recycling. Southwest Airlines not only offers discount airfare; it recycles cabin waste, was one of the first airlines to offer electronic airline tickets, and has retrofitted its Boeing 737s with additions to the plane wings that are supposed to reduce fuel consumption by 3 percent per plane.

2. Use online airline tickets. If discount airfare is what you’re looking for you’ll be best served by booking on the Internet. Online tickets cut down on paper and make for more convenient check-in when you get to the airport.

3. Take non-stop flights. Hands down, one of the easiest ways to cut down on your carbon emissions when traveling is book non-stop airline tickets. Certain search engines specialize in tracking down cheap airfare for non-stop flights, including Lowfares and Cheaptickets.

4. Cram a year’s worth of travel into one vacation. There’s no better excuse to travel than for the holidays. You can cut back on your carbon footprint, and probably score some cheap flights, if you piggyback a personal vacation onto your holiday travel. Spend a few days with the fam then meet up with some friends for a ski trip in the Rockies before heading home.

5. Offset your carbon emissions. Even if you manage to book a cheap flight, you can still benefit from offsetting your carbon emissions. Sites like treeflights.com will plant trees to absorb the carbon footprint from your travel ventures.

6. Pack light. The less you take with you, the less the fuel is used to move your stuff. Keep in mind that you don’t need much stuff if home is where you’re headed for the holidays. Consider doing your holiday shopping once you get to your destination so you don’t have to add gifts to your luggage.

7. Use green travel search engines. Gogreentravel.com has created a travel search engine that claims to donate 50 percent of its ad revenue to environmental organizations and help you find cheap airline tickets.

8. Opt for a volunteer vacation. So visiting your family may not be the picture-perfect holiday you have in mind. Why not take the opportunity to lend a hand and expand your national and global horizons with a volunteer vacation; this way you’re at least giving back to a community to help make up for your not-so-green travel to a far-off destination. Plus, some volunteer vacation programs partner with certain airlines to make sure you’re able to find cheap airline tickets.

9. Pack a snack. If you’ve snagged the best deal on airline tickets you’ve got to find a way to keep down your costs on the rest of the trip. Bring your own snack on the plane. Even the discount airlines still charge for food and specialty drinks.

10. Rely on public transportation. If you were lucky enough to find some cheap tickets for your flight home for the holidays, you may not be so lucky as to arrive at a convenient time for your family or friends to pick you up. Instead of taking a cab try out the public transportation for a green alternative.

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES NAMES NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Executive Changes Announced After Annual Shareholders’ Meeting DALLAS—May 21, 2008—Today, Southwest Airlines Board of Directors elected Gary Kelly, Southwest’s Chief Executive Officer, as its Chairman of the Board. The airline announced that Kelly will also assume the title of President when Colleen Barrett’s employment contract expires on July 15, 2008 making Kelly CEO, Chairman, and President at that time. Additionally, the Board of Directors elected Executive Vice President Ron Ricks to fill Barrett’s vacated position of Corporate Secretary. “The awesome task before us is to ensure the continued prosperity of Southwest Airlines—one of the greatest success stories in American business,” Kelly said. “We all pledge to continue to keep the LUV alive and the Warrior Spirit strong that Herb and Colleen inspire in all 34000 Southwest Employees.” Herb Kelleher ceremoniously passed the gavel to Kelly at Southwest Airlines’ annual Shareholders’ meeting today at the Company’s headquarters. More than 300 Shareholders attended the meeting where Kelleher and Barrett were honored for their more than 40 years of service to the airline. Both Kelleher and Barrett will remain full-time Southwest Airlines Employees through July 2013. Additionally, the airline redefined the roles of its three Executive Vice Presidents. Bob Jordan, Executive Vice President Strategy and Planning; is responsible for strategic planning, technology, airport …
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Discount Air Travel and Carriers for Your Benefit

Over the years, air travel has declined significantly. Bad economic times, acts of terrorism, and the overall high cost of flying have deterred many travelers from flying the friendly skies. Instead, they’re opting for local travel that doesn’t require flying or selecting other methods of transportation such as driving, taking the train, or going “Greyhound”. As a result, the major airlines are making less and less each year, forcing some to close up shop and call it quits.

However, bad economic times and acts of terrorism aren’t the only things affecting the major airlines and the air travel industry as a whole. Discount air carriers who offer limited yet discount air travel rates have put a huge dent in the business of the major airlines. These airlines, such as U.S. based Jet Blue and Southwest Airlines, can undercut the major players in the air travel market because of lower overhead and less labor costs. Since the discount air travel carriers are smaller and often only have one type of aircraft (compared to bigger airlines that have full fleets of varying plane types), they have more flexibility with their pricing and can offer discount air travel deals more often then their much larger counterparts. And when combined with the decline in overall air travel, the discount air carriers are winning out over the larger airlines, causing the major players to rethink their game plan and, in many cases, start offering discount air travel through dynamically priced fares.

Using Discount Air Travel and Carriers for Your Benefit

For the most part, discount airlines operate within their country of origin. In other words, many don’t offer flights abroad. So if you need to fly domestically for business travel or a family vacation, a discount air carrier is the way to go. However, just because the discount airlines don’t offer overseas travel, it doesn’t mean you can’t get discount air travel deals on international flights. Remember, domestic AND international air travel has dwindled significantly over the years; so, the major airlines are often scrambling to fill overseas flights. As a result, the bigger airlines are starting to offer last minute travel deals and dynamically priced fares to try and fill their flights as much as they can. And since the discount air carriers are taking much of their previous domestic air travel customers, the larger airlines are desperate to make a buck any way they can.

Finding Discount Air Travel Deals

Some airlines offer last minute and discounted travel deals directly to the consumer; however, many work with online travel sites and supply them with bulk-rate deals on plane tickets. Either way, the key to finding discount air travel deals is to search the web and call the airlines. Compare prices and give yourself time to research your discount travel options. You may find that booking last minute will save you a bundle on your flight in some cases, but cost you twice as much in others; so be flexible and don’t purchase the first ticket you find. You’ll find a better deal on discount air travel if you shop around.

The discount air carriers have caused a significant shift in the air travel industry. There is more competition and less people buying, causing the industry to offer more discounted air travel deals than ever before. As a traveler, this means there are currently more ways to save on your air travel. All you have to do is go out and find those deals.

This is an excerpt from the February 11, 2009 episode of Late Show with David Letterman. Dave interviews 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover girl Bar Refaeli and discusses the Southwest Airlines 737-700 whose fuselage has been wrapped with her image to promote the issue.

Travel through Business class discounts for the Hobby Show Milano Event

Known for a bit of glamour and mystery, the capital and the financial centre of Italy, Milan is the happening spot for many fairs and exhibitions. Popularly known as the fashion city, Milan draws world tourists who travel through international airlines that offer business class seats to them. The city organizes several trade fairs, which are attended by the tourists from across the world. Hobby Show Milano is one such event that is most prioritized by Gifts & Handicraft Industry of Italy.

Travel industry especially, airlines are the key players in promoting this trade event across the world. Several airlines such as United Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines that offer business tickets and business class air travel on their air flights to Milan. The fair city organizes the event for 3 days, which are indeed the busiest days of the city. The leading brands of the handicrafts’ industry exhibit their products and services to all the visitors.

Hobby Show Milano undertakes various themes such as gifts, games, hobbies, and toys. Sometimes the event also covers themes like home furnishings and interior design, textile and fabrics. The show invites participants from world over to exhibit their handicrafts that presents the taste of Italy. These participants buy airline tickets well in advance and start the preparations with perpetual zeal. Italy’s national carrier Alitalia Airlines, to encourage the local participants offers cheap domestic flights to Milan.

Hobby Show Milano offers a platform to the world’s artisans to present their art and craft items in the possible way. The participants and visitors spend a leisure vacation as they can relax while they create the items for exhibitions. The majority of participants are independent manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and retailers who travel from across the world through airlines that offer cheap business class flights and inexpensive flight tickets to Milan.

The event also organizes training programs and workshops in textile art, decoration making, quilting, cross stitch and others for the young and upcoming artists of Italy and world. Several students who belong to the world’s renowned schools and universities also participate in this event. The airlines also encourage these students by offering airline tickets for cheap airfares. These discount airlines often provide air plane tickets at quite low fares to the deserving students who cannot afford the airways fare.

The show provides an amicable opportunity to the handicrafts professionals to advice the visitors and guests to be eco-friendly and also promote their exhibits. Milan is the city of fairs and keeps organizing trade fairs on regular basis. This makes many travel companies offer air tickets to the city. Fare Buzz, one of the leading travel company of America offers cheapest airline tickets that include the business class tickets round the year to all the visitors who visit Milan and other European cities.

Think Pink This Month When You Travel

October again which means daylight savings, longer evenings and lots of pink…that’s right, it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Each year, since it began in 1985, there are various ‘pink’ events, initiatives and products launched throughout month to raise awareness of the disease and raise funds for a prevention and cure.

Even the iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge get in on the action and briefly turn pink throughout the month.

And for travellers, there are plenty of pink options too. Everything from Mount Franklin water to keep you hydrated if you are on a flight, to travel mugs, luggage tags and key chains.

For the car, there are pink ribbon bumper stickers, window signs and even pink ribbon air freshners.

But the ultimate way to travel pink is on a pink aeroplane!

American carrier Delta Airlines have a pink and white Boeing 757 which they fly everyday in support of breast cancer research. Plus, during the month of October they sell pink lemonade on board for with 100% of the proceeds going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Although Delta doesn’t operate in Australia, there are lots of other ways you can support this worthy cause.

Check out The Pink Ribbon Shop and The Breast Cancer Site Store, as well as in your local supermarket where you will find lots of pink products for your travels.

Every little helps in raising money for this very worthy cause and, if you are going to buy certain products anyway, why not go pink. This month, it’s the new green…

Full sing of Delta’s popular “We love to fly and it shows” campaign jingle.
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Travel Nepal

Enchantment is everywhere in Nepal; be it in the cool and invigorating shade of the high mountains, or on terraced farmlands carved like stairways out of hill ridges, or still across waterfalls, creeks, rushing mountain rivers amidst gorges, valleys and forests teeming with a cornucopia of flora and fauna. There are lakes amidst breathtaking settings, strong-current rivers for rafting, Wildlife Safaris, the tallest mountains to climb, trekking across vales and dales, and, above all, warm, friendly, welcoming people. In this respect, Nepal becomes a perfect holiday destination for tourists, trekkers, mountaineers, writers, honeymooners, lovers, retired people and people interested in research.

Nepal Geography

As Nepal is sandwiched between two economic and geographical Leviathans, it is rightfully regarded as “ A Yam between Two Boulders” as While Nepal abuts on Indian border in the east, the west and the South, Tibetan Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China shares the vast Himalayan frontier with Nepal. The length of the county is 885 kilometers from east to west, and its breath varies from 145 kilometers to 241 kilometers from north to south. The total area is 147,181 sq. kilometers.

 Climate 

Nepal isn’t only the home of mysterious Yeti and elusive Snow Leopard, but also a constant cause of wonder for meteorologists for her simply amazing variations in climatic conditions. Divided into three different geographical regions, Nepal houses the snow-capped Himalayas in the north, a vast stretch of plains in the south and two chains of hills, known as Mahabharata and Churiya range, acting as a geological bridge between the northern and southern region.

The most astonishing thing about the geography of Nepal is that the distance between the tropical lowlands and the snow-capped mountainous region is very less. While the distance between the tropical and alpine regions in most of the countries around the globe is more than 1000 km, it is just less than 100 km in some places in Nepal.. The temperature varies between zero in the mountains to over 30 degrees Celsius in the valleys, and to mercury plummeting up to 38 degrees during summer in the lowlands.

Population

‘Unity in diversity’ is really the mot just for a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual country like Nepal. It had a population of 18,462,081 at the time of the 1991 census. The average population density at the time was 125 persons per sq km (329 per sq mi), although nearly half the people were concentrated in the narrow Terai region. In contrast, the 2003 population estimate was 26,469,569. The population has grown rapidly since 1950 when there were only 9 million people. In 2003 the population was increasing at an annual rate of 2.3 percent. Only 12 percent of the population lived in urban areas. The rate of population in the urban areas, however, has grown significantly thanks to a number of social, political and economic reasons.

Get in

You may need a tourist Visa to enter the country. A propspective visitor can apply for the visa from several embassies and consulates in most countries in the world. Nepal has diplomatic missions in

 Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Burma, Canada, China, Denmark, Finaland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Myanmar, The Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Phillipines, Spain , Sweeden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tibet, the United Kingdom and the United States of America that issue visas to the propective visitors.

Entrance/Egress

The following entery/exit points have been set by the government of Nepal for the foreign visitors:

1. Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu

2. Kodari, Sindhupalchowk (North)

3. Karkarvitta, Jhapa (East)

4. Belahia,Bhairhawa (West)

5. Birgunj, Parsa (Central Nepal)

6. Jamunaha, Nepalgunj (Mid-East)

7. Mohana, Dhangadi (Far-West)

8. Gadda Chauki, Mahendranagar (Far-West)

Via Air

Since there is only one international airport, Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, in Nepal, it is the Hobson’s choice for vistors to start their Himalayan voyage from the capital city itself. The following airlines company operate their services from/to Kathmandu:

1. Nepal Airlines (Run by the Nepalese government, it operates its service to/from Bangkok, Banglore, Calcutta, Delhi, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Osaka, Paris, London, Shanghai, Singapore)

2. Korean Air (Seoul)

3. Biman Bangladesh Airlines (Dhaka)

4. Air China (Lhasa)

5. Condor (Munich)

6. Druk Air (Paro)

7. Gulf Air (Abu Dhabi)

8. Indian Airlines (Delhi, Calcutta, Varanasi)

9. Qatar Airways ( Doha)

10.  Thai International (Bangkok)

11. Martin Air (Amsterdam via Sharjah)

Via Land

Although Indo/Nepal border is a porous one, you must enter the country by road from India through one of the border crossing points ( as described under the heading Entrance/Egress). If you are coming from Tibet, the route is Kodari, Sindhupalchowk. There is no national passenger rail service in Nepal, but there is a rail service operating from Calcutta, India. A train by the name Mithila Express plies regularly between Howrah Station, Calcutta, to Birgunj, one of the chief entry points to Nepal.

Contact

Although the comminication infrastructure of Nepal is not to the world’s standard, still the pincipal cities across the countries entertain almost all forms of sophisticated communication systems. These include:

1. Telephone: The international country code for Nepal is 977. There are two to three digit area code and six-digit local phone numbers. The communication system, operated by Nepal Telecom, a quasi-governmental organization, caters its service in almost all the seventy-five district of the country. But some off-the-map villages don’t have telephone facilities. However, the East-West optical fibre project, which is on the verge of its completion, is expected to cover all the villages and hamlets of the country within two to three years time. Besides Nepal Telecom, United Tele Communication Limited (UTL), a privately owned company, is providing its services in Kathmandu Valley.

2. Cell Phones

Mobiles are widely used, but due to the geoprphical constraints , some rural areas have only analog service, or no service at all. Nepal Telecom and UTL operate operate CDMA networks; Mero Mobile, a private mobile company, operates the only GPRS network. Travellers planning to bring their GPRS phones with them might do well to check that their handset supports the appropriate frequencies.

3. Internet

There are cyber cafes in almost most of the tourist areas all over the country. A trekker can surf the net in Solokhumbu, the entry point of Mount Everest Region. Nomal rate is Rs 20 to 30 per hours in the main cities like Kathmandu and Pokhara. New Pokhara Lodge Lakeside Pokhara offer free internet to hotel’s customers.

4. Mail

The snail mail system is there but, as a rule, it is not always speedy. Also, international parcel postal services can be costly. Furthermore, internationally acclaimed courier service providers like DHL and Fedex also have their branches in most parts of the country.

http://www.visit-nepal.com

Air Travel: the New First Class Dining Experience

With first-class air travel reaching enormous amounts in regards to cost, what are the airlines doing for their first-class passengers in exchange for such hefty dues? For one, they are upping the ante when it comes to the onboard first-class dinging experience. As we all know, airfare has sky rocketed recently as the average first-class round trip flight is around ,000. Yes, a much more comfy seat and more leg room may be worth the price, but airlines are beginning to do away with those pre-determined menus and beginning to go so far as to hiring their very own on-board chefs.

Yes, you heard it correctly. With several airlines, your very own first-class chef is available on your flight. Of course, much of this sort of activity is being done on more foreign flights, but it seems to be quite a popular trend these days. The number one and number two rated best on-board meals currently go to Gulf Air and Cathay Pacific (Gulf Air being the airline with the personal chef aboard, of course.) While this all may be a bit ‘overdone’, like a fresh egg made to order at Cathay Pacific, it really only costs the airlines about -50 per traveler. This all seems like a pretty good deal for the airline, as well as the traveler. That is, if this is what they expect out of a ,000 flight. But it does not end here.

Airlines, such as Singapore Airlines is providing first-class travelers heir choice of beverage, including champagne including Dom Perignon upon boarding the flight. This pleasant experience in accented with a lovely serving of world famous caviar with travelers’ meals. While all of this seems a bit overdone, one may begin to wonder if it is really a bit over the top. In the United States, many of us have not experienced such pleasantries on our flights. We are pretty lucky if we get a free box of snacks, like Southwest Airlines has been so kind as to provide on several flights. Are airlines going to be jockeying for such positions in the future in the US as they have been on foreign airlines? If so, then how far? Today it sounds as if our airlines are really having some trouble dealing with things such as oil prices and rising costs in order to do business.

It is actually a very interesting point in time in regards to the airlines as competition is heating up as well as airfare prices. How high will they go? Who knows? What I wonder about is if the first-class upgrades will really propel the airlines into better profits, ultimately cost them more money, or if they actually have more money than we think? All I know is this is getting very interesting; however, not interesting enough to raise prices for airfare even more just to suit the personal chefs on board. So, what will happen next with the airlines seems to be headed towards raising the bar in terms of quality of experience. But, how will this affect everyone? Hopefully, it will allow airlines to pick themselves up across the board and provide a pleasant flying experience for everyone in the air. For more information about great travel rates for everyone, please visit http://www.eGadCity.com for side-by-side reviews and comparisons on travel packages and rates available now.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 taking off from MDW (Chicago-Midway) headed off to PHL(Philly!).

Air Travel Security Issues

As a web developer, I tend to find the flaws in websites quickly and as part of my daily web-browsing habits. Some people may call this bad, others good.

Not too long ago, when I went to visit a friend in Texas and while flying with an unnamed airline, I noticed that they online check-in where you print your boarding passes is not very secure.

I explored things further and found that in a few simple steps, anyone with even the most basic computer knowledge would be able to modify any part of their boarding pass (from Boarding Groups, to seat assignments, even name changes).

When viewing your boarding pass, save the document to your local computer by clicking File > Save Page As once this is done, right click the file and open it in NotePad. Use the Find function from the Edit menu and find your name, seat number, flight number, date, or any other information you wish to change. When NotePad highlights it, just replace it with what you want, hit save and then double-click the file to open it in your browser. From there, you can just print it as if it were from the airline’s website.

I approached several of the major airlines to find out what their policy is on ticketing (boarding pass) versus system discrepancies. If a passenger has a printed-out ticket that has information that is different than what is in the system, what the policy is? How would the company proceed?

Airline Response

United Airlines – Whatever is on the Boarding Pass is what the gate agents and airline crew are supposed to follow.

American Airlines Up to the discretion of the airline representative at the airport.

Southwest Airlines There is no specific policy in place.

The results and information I received from airlines shocked me, so I dug further into the issue and found some disturbing facts;

The TSA does not check to see if you have a valid boarding pass, only that it matches your ID
The Airlines do not check to see if your ID matches your boarding pass
The Airlines do not validate your seat assignment when you board the aircraft

In this respect, someone may cross through security without a valid boarding pass, and not fly. Or even go through security with their real name while having an airline ticket with a fake one.

The argument will be made that that is why the TSA has a no-fly list, to prevent things like this from happening. The truth of the matter is, the airlines are the only ones with the no-fly list, so if you book under a fake name, and pass through security with your real name, real ID, and modified boarding pass, you can effectively and easily get around the no-fly list.

Now, I’m not going after anyone, I want to be clear, that my sole intention in writing this article is to bring to the attention of the passengers, airlines and TSA that there are some large security holes that have been created with printable boarding passes.

I personally prefer printing my boarding pass online versus having to stand in long lines to check-in like some time ago, and as such, I am not trying to stop the issuance of these passes, just to refine the technique and patch up potentially deadly security holes.

As a result, I do have some solutions, that would work wonderfully, ranging from a quick, cheap short-term fix to a much more secure long-term fix.

The short-term solution is to modify boarding passes to have them print and display as images with a watermark to prevent tampering. Of course this solves only half of the problem, on the airline side.

The TSA needs to step up (and given their history of spending sprees, they should have no problem funding this) and have the ability to link into airline ticket databases and validate your ticket at the same time as they check your ID. (I believe they already do this with the digital boarding pass on mobile phones).

The long-term solution would be to replace unsecure 2D barcodes with 3D barcodes that contain encrypted information so that tampering is almost impossible.

In closing, I wish to point out once again, that while this article is very critical of both the airlines and the TSA, it is written with good intentions.

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Packing and travel tips for your flight

Air travel is the most luxurious form of traveling that most people love. To have a convenient journey it is necessary that you are well prepared in advance. You should always book your seat in a good airline that provides satisfactory arrangements for your journey.

Packing and travel tips

1. While you arrange your suitcase and travel bags you should put your name and address both inside and outside it. If you already have this information, you should check whether it is the current one.

2. Leave all medicines, jewelry, eyeglasses, airplane tickets, money, passports, camera or other valuable out of the checked luggage. You should carry these items with you. Many airlines such as the southwest and other carriers don’t reimburse you for any loss of such items.

3. You should take a statement from your physician with details of nay particular problems like allergies and a copy of medication and eyeglass prescriptions. You should anticipate any medication you would require and carry it with you.

4. You should put cosmetics, nail enamel, shoe polish, perfume, liquor or anything that might break or spoil your clothes into a plastic or unbreakable container.

5. You should always convert cash into traveler’s check that could be reissued in case it is lost. Carry any serial numbers separately from the traveler’s checks. Airlines such as the southwest accept only American Express Travelers Cheques for purchase of tickets.

6. Make a list of the items in your luggage and carry the list with you. Also remove any hooks or pull straps before checking luggage to insure that they don’t come off while handling.

7. Never lock your checked luggage because they might require to be opened in case of an inspection. So if you lock your luggage and the TSA forcibly opens your bag via cutting your lock, you shall be responsible for any loss or damage to your luggage.

8. Most of the airlines are liable for loss or damage of checked luggage to a maximum of $ 2,800 only. You can purchase excess valuation insurance for a nominal charge.

9. When you leave the aircraft you should look around to make sure that you have all your personal items with you because airlines cannot be held responsible for items left on board.

For further details log on to southwest-airlines-guide.info

Travel Rewards Playing cards Can Give You Airline Discounts and Free Resort

The journey planner, a trusty e book on mattress and breakfast inns around the British Isles, led us to the West Usk Lighthouse located on the Bristol Channel, near Newport, Gwent, Wales. Designed by Scottish architect James Walker and inbuilt 1821, the lighthouse includes a central stone spiral staircase above a former amassing properly, now a wishing well. We all had beautiful wedge-formed rooms with water views. At one time, the lighthouse sat on an island where the Severn and the Usk run to the ocean, however since then land has been reclaimed and now the lighthouse sits by the Channel instead.

The West Usk Lighthouse provides unique options similar to a flotation tank, a chauffeured Rolls Royce, rooftop hot tub and BBQ amenities, an infrared sauna and varied well-being therapies. There’s also a Mongolian yurt, an eco-pleasant dwelling house, accessible for meetings and conferences. After being decommissioned in 1922, the lighthouse became privately owned but fell into disrepair and remained so until purchased in 1987 by Frank and Danielle Sheahan. Its distinctive and cozy type is a must see. Simply keep in mind: if you want scorching water, you may have to drag the cord.

Lighthouse lodging are featured in lots of areas of the world. From Maine to Washington and Lake Erie to Marathon, unique and historic inns are peppered all through the United States. The Large Sable Lighthouse in Michigan offers you a two-week stint as a keeper. Volunteers can sign up to be the keeper of the sunshine and undergo orientation to study their duties. The Whitefish Level Gentle Station is the oldest operational lighthouse on the far-east end of Lake Superior. The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald lies 15 miles northwest of Whitefish Level along with over 200 different shipwrecks out of the 550 identified to be on the backside of Lake Superior.

There are over 50 historic and replica lighthouses and bed and breakfast inns with keeper cottage accommodations in the U.S. alone. Other areas where lighthouses supply a singular visiting expertise are Canada, Scotland, the Caribbean, South America, Australia, the UK, New Zealand and Europe. Virtually everywhere on the earth, there are lighthouses to stay in or tour.

The Lighthouse of Bengtskar on the entrance of the Gulf of Finland has a wealthy historical past spanning a hundred years. The lighthouse was accomplished in 1906 after its design was unveiled on the 1900 Paris World Exhibition by architect Florentin Granholm. The distinctive granite construction boasts breathtaking sea views from the top of the 252-step spiral staircase. After the Soviet assaults of 1941, the lighthouse fell into disrepair and in 1968, the special petrol lamp was extinguished in favor of automated, unmanned operations. After years of repair, the lighthouse was reopened in 1995 and encompasses a lecture corridor, chapel, cafeteria and post workplace on the lower floor. The previous upper degree residing quarters supply convention rooms and lodging for 24. The Lighthouse at Bengtskar hosts 10,000 vacationers per year to see the archipelago’s most well-known feature.

Southwest of Istria’s southernmost cape is the islet of Porer situated within the Adriatic Sea, simply kilometers away from the mainland town of Premantura. The Porer lighthouse was in-built 1833 on this 80 meter cliff surrounded by robust currents and heat and funky water layers. The realm is rich in fish and attracts divers from everywhere in the world because of the surrounding area’s historic shipwrecks. Other spots of curiosity close to Porer include the dinosaur tracks of the islet of Fenoliga, the gorgeous bays of Unije and the nature web site of Kamenjak the place there are over 500 species of flora together with endangered endemic orchids. The year-spherical lodging of Porer are two flats: one with two double rooms with a kitchen and shower amenities and one other with one double room, one bunk mattress, a kitchen and bathe facilities. The islet takes a couple of minute to stroll but be sure to stay long sufficient to take pleasure in one of Porer’s stunning sunsets.

On the southwest coast of England simply six miles north of Land’s Finish is Pendeen Lighthouse. This operational landmark was built in 1900 and was automated in 1994. This contains the foghorn which sounds when mists transfer in to the area. Friends are forewarned to deliver their earplugs when visiting Pendeen. The lighthouse and cottages overlook the turbulent waters but are separated from the cliffs by a four-foot wall. Accommodations are for four visitors with two bedrooms and one tub, a sitting room, kitchen with eating area, corridor and washer and dryer. Company can stick near dwelling, go to the nearby beaches or drive the scenic, narrow roads of the southwest coast.

Look for cheap airline tickets and travel to this year’s Oktoberfest in Munich!

Germany is a beautiful country with many memorable places to visit and types of entertainment to experience.  With over eighty million inhabitants, Germany has the largest number of people living in a country within Europe; it is visited extensively by outside tourists, and cheap tickets can be found for airlines flying into and out of the country throughout the different seasons.

Germany has a temperate seasonal climate, with winters being relatively mild and the summers being cooler than most other places.  Although temperatures can reach beyond eighty-six degrees Fahrenheit, it does not occur for prolonged periods of time.  Due to the exceptional climate, Germany is often visited year-round, and many different festivals draw large crowds.  One of the most popular festivals in Germany is Oktoberfest, which is an annual celebration of different beers.  Cheap airline tickets can be found for travelling to these events, which will allow one to save money for other festivities such as hotel accommodations and souvenirs.

The festival of Oktoberfest itself is a tradition of the state of Bavaria in Germany that dates back 200 years.  The first Oktoberfest occurred in Munich on October 12th, 1810 and it was originally designed to celebrate the public commemoration of the marriage between Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese.  The event was planned around a horserace, and was so immensely popular they decided to repeat the celebration the following year.  For two centuries, the Oktoberfest in Munich has been a grand celebration of the German spirit and comradeship, a chance to taste fantastic beers and celebrate life.  Purchase plane tickets and organize a trip to this event, you will not regret it!

If you’ve Airline Travel Miles, Upgrading just became much more Fun

February and March – the time of the season when lucky business travelers all over the country who have just made it to their airline’s elite status, sit down to total up (and not to mention gloat over and brag about) their incidental earnings in qualifying airline travel miles; and when they dream about all the upgrades they look forward to. But they can gloat all they need; people just have more miles now that they may use these days. It all began last year; lots of airlines thought they could earn their premier customers’ custom by letting them qualify for miles when they shopped at specific stores or used specific credit cards. Everyone took this bait really enthusiastically. So now, if you earn your elite stripes the old-fashioned way putting in some hard flying all around, you’ll be sitting next to people who can just earn miles using their credit card to gas up. Why is this a problem? On many domestic routes, you will only find small regional jets usually, that don’t even have first-class. That the airlines just hand you free coupons for products that do not exist for most of the time, you could be forgiven for thinking of this as a sneaky trick. Specially when you learn that of the handful of seats that they do have to go around, airline employees have dibs on them most of the time.
So this is the way it is going to be for anyone who wants to redeem qualifying airline travel miles for elite first-class seats, now, and over the next couple of years. If you are not near the top of the elite program on your airline, the best those miles can do, is set you up for a good case of the “if onlys’. Airlines normally have at least three levels to their elite flyer programs; and if your airline is like Continental, there’ll be a new high level, a fourth one, like the Continental Presidential Platinum Elite. Typically, only one out of a hundred frequent flyers qualifies for elite programs on any airline; But they have been really handing out those bonuses recently, and those elite lounges are soon to be bursting full with five times as many members. 
With this a lot of people fighting over the few seats that are available on their airline travel miles, actually getting a choice seat can descend into undignified clamor. There are all kinds of factors that affect who gets an elite upgrade and who doesn’t. If for example, you have been buying full fare coach tickets, the airlines want to show you their appreciation, by bumping you up over all the other elites. But if the next guy happened to pay more on his tickets than you, well, he gets ahead of the line. If you happen to be a low- ranking elite, you may or may not get an offer – just the day of your flight. If you are a higher-ranking elite, you could be given three days’ notice. Sometimes, you can find yourself standing right at the check-in counter, glancing at the screen to see if your name’s being announced for an upgrade. There’s lots of smartphone Internet traffic that is generated by those who are just trying to check when they get to go, over and over again. At least the airlines are starting to return some dignity to the affair, by publishing an upgrade list.
Airlines should just realize that they can’t dangle this “incentive” or “reward” before you and have you snapped at it like a hungry animal, I didn’t feel any gratitude to the airline in the end. That is just not how people work.

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