The Eurozone heavily battered by the rise in the value of the Euro, is now back in favour as the Euro plummets on the currency exchanges.

The good news for UK holidaymakers planning trips to the eurozone is that the Holiday Costs Barometer reveals cost reductions in most of the eurozone destinations, but most notably in Portugal and Spain where the price crash is in the region of 40 to 42 per cent compared with a year ago..

If you’re planning a holiday in the eurozone, make sure you apply for a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). The EHIC will entitle you to state-provided healthcare in the European Economic Area and Switzerland.

You will still need to buy travel insurance to cover certain medical costs, travel delay and lost luggage. Insurewithease offers a range of affordable single trip and annual multi-trip policies.

This is good news, and with the cost of holidays to Spain and Greece from just £99, can you afford not to go for a week or so in the sunshine.

Non euro countries such as Turkey, Tunisia and the Red sea resorts of Egypt have become more popular because of Holiday makers decisions to avoid the Euro..

So now you have no excuse, not to sample the delights of Eurozone destinations without breaking the bank.

This is a Consumer travel advice & issues post by Cheaperholidays.com - Cheap holidays from the UK -

Eurozone travel and holidays back in favour

Ayia Napa Cyprus travel advice: Overview Once a just a small quiet fishing village in the south-eastern corner of Cyprus, Ayia Napa is now a loud blaring hot-spot for holidaymakers looking for a lively holiday.

• Search online for the latest Ayia Napa Cypus deals.

FIRST CHOICE Cyprus: Deals Jet off to Cyprus this year – holidays from £178

That being said – Older holiday makers may prefer to enjoy the resort during the ‘shoulder’ months (April, May, October and November), when the weather is still good, the sea relatively warm, but the tempo quieter.

Over 250,000 clubbers swarm into this party capital each summer and the phenomenal atmosphere in its scores of bars and nightclubs is nothing short of explosive.

Lets get the Negatives out of the way first..

Generally speaking Ayia Napa is clean, well ordered and favoured by all types of holidaymakers.

However if you do not enjoy loud noise and bright lights, we advise you to stay clear of the central monastery square area, which is where most of the popular nightclubs are situated.

The main clubbing season is between June and September, and during this period the resort is packed with young people from all over Europe.

The island can be windy, but the geographic locations of the surrounding beaches means that it is possible to find a sheltered beach even on windy days.

Nissi Beach tends to be overcrowded, but there are other beaches within easy reach where it is possible to enjoy peace and quiet.

Located in the centre of the market garden area of the island, Ayia Napa also boasts a string of superb golden sandy beaches and there is a Venetian decorated monastery fronted by a 600-year-old Sycamore tree, and a quaint harbour filled with colourful fishing vessels.

Just a few miles from Ayia Napa, the resort of Protaras is more restrained and is much more suited to family holidays. Both resorts have excellent beaches, the most famous being Fig Tree Bay.

Other popular beaches include Nissi Beach and Nissi Bay, two miles (3km) west of Ayia Napa; Cape Greco to the east, where the challenge is to leap from the rocks into the sea; and Konnos Bay, just past Cape Greco, where there is a beach café and speedboats for hire.

Shopping

Shopping in Ayia Napa as in the rest of Cyprus is pure pleasure for holidaymakers, with superb bargains to be had particularly on designer goods.

Top name watches such as Rolex and Seiko, plus sunglasses, clothing, cameras and jewellery are available at prices up that are at least 30 percent cheaper than in the United Kingdom.

Shops and boutiques are generally small and friendly, opening until 11pm every night except Sundays.

The local handcrafts make for good souvenir shopping, including beautiful embroidered Lefkara lace, original ceramic pottery, artistic silver jewellery, baskets, woven and silk goods and high quality leather wear. Major credit cards are accepted everywhere.

Restaurants

Variety is the spice of dining out in Cyprus and Ayia Napa is no exception, where countless restaurants specialise in a host of cuisines from around the world, everything from the romantic and traditional, to fast food and pub-grub being on offer, holidaymakers won’t be disappointed.

Whether it is a Big Mac, fish ‘n chips, a Chinese or formal French you fancy, you won’t have to go far to find it.

Visitors are well advised to try the Cypriot fare, however, particularly in the delightful, traditional tavernas clustered around the harbour.

Highly recommended is the typical Cypriot ‘meze’, made up of between 15 and 30 island dishes. Other local specialities include taramosalata, tsatsiki, moussaka, stifado (beef or veal stew), aphelia (pork and red wine), and loukoumades (doughnuts dipped in syrup).

Nightlife

Holidaymakers in Ayia Napa soon learn that it is essential to plan an afternoon siesta, if they are to make the most of the sensational nightlife for which the resort has become world-renowned.

The Cypriot’s appreciation for the good life and good times comes to the fore after the sun sets, with bars, discos, nightclubs and bouzouki clubs open well into the early hours of the morning.

Most hotels have their own nightly entertainment with a resident band, and Greek nights with folk dancing are offered. The resort’s clubbing scene is legendary with big name DJ’s appearing frequently at some of the popular clubs.

Ayia Napa holidyay Activities on offer.

The extensive, silvery sandy beaches along the coast of Ayia Napa are washed with warm waters that provide a myriad of opportunities for water sports, including water-skiing, windsurfing, sailing, canoeing, pedal boats, motor boats, para-sailing, scuba diving and snorkeling.

The Cyprus Tourism Organisation supervises the beaches, many of which have Blue Flag status.

Holidaymakers can take excursions from Ayia Napa to places like Agia Thekla, four miles (6km) to the west, with a small offshore island, Makronisos Beach, a cluster of three sheltered bays, or to the historical city of Larnaca, 25 miles (40km) along the coast.

Jeep safaris around the island itself are popular, with attractions like the Caledonian Falls and the Byzantine Monastery of Kykkos waiting to be explored. The island’s position in the Mediterranean also lends itself to making excursions to other countries, even Jerusalem or Cairo, for a night or two of sightseeing.

This is a Consumer travel advice & issues post by Cheaperholidays.com - Cheap holidays from the UK -

Ayia Napa Cyprus travel advice and Guide

Canaries Advice: The Canaries just of the coast of Africa and basking in almost continuous sunshine, we have superb MAY travel offers from just £164.

Have a browse of the latest Canaries hot offer deals..

We have picked out a few deals that caught our eye as being extremely good value, Tenerife and Fuerteventura.

Tenerife is currently Max Temp: 25°C (77°F), Min Temp: 16°C (61°F)
Fuerteventura weather – Tuesday: sunny, Max Temp: 24°C (75°F).

Tenerife Crowned by the majestic Mount Teide, the highest peak in Spain, Tenerife is the largest and probably the most diverse of the Canary Islands, famous for its delightful climate and contrasting landscapes. There are amazing differences between the islands sub-tropical vegetation and volcanic mountains, between its towering cliffs and beaches of volcanic sands

Castle Harbour

• Los Cristianos, Tenerife, Canary Islands
  £164 21-May-2010 Gatwick Airport 3 Self catering (2 max)

Fuerteventura The most unspoilt of the Canaries is an island of peace and tranquillity. There is nowhere else like it with its mile upon mile of untouched Carribean like sands, never ending sun, foaming surf and quiet turquoise coves. Fuerteventura is also a haven for watersports enthusiasts particularly scuba diving, surfing and windsurfing for which it regularly hosts competitions

• Atlantic Garden Resort Fuerteventura, Spain
  £171 12-May-2010 London Luton 7 Self catering (2 max)

This is a Consumer travel advice & issues post by Cheaperholidays.com - Cheap holidays from the UK -

Canaries travel offers May

Dubious Claims rise: Customers forced to cancel their holidays because of the volcanic ash or were left stranded are already trying to claim quite legitimately from their insurance firms.

But travel lawyers however, have claimed that travel consumers would now also start making dubious claims for claiming holidays they felt were spoilt, by the Volcanic Ash.

So to try and force through a claim, the range of excuses includes some rather dubious classics such as food poisoning or general dissatisfaction with the holiday…

The massive and rahter chronic rise in “distress and disappointment�claims are going to rise exponentially.. .

Holidaymakers whose trips were wholly unaffected by the Icelandic Ash cloud, but believed their holiday had been ruined because of worry about flight cancellations will try and claim for other issues.

It is inevitable that there will now be a rise in claims from those whose holidays were affected by the volcanic ash and from those whose
holidays were not.

Managing director at broker Rock Insurance Antony Martin agreed, saying: We have already noticed a sharp increase in claims like this, and there are so many consumer champions at the moment, these will definitely continue to rise.

Martin said claiming had been made easier because the legal system had made it more simple to fast track cases.

This is a Consumer travel advice & issues post by Cheaperholidays.com - Cheap holidays from the UK -

Dubious Volcanic ash claims rise

Thomas Cook advice: Thomas cook holidays has extended its payment window to force customers to pay an extra 2 weeks earlier, the balance is now due 10 weeks before, despite the trade fighting off a similar proposal by Tui Travel last year.

However the late deals with Thomas Cook have always been the cheaper option, so in reality this change makes very little difference.

This means any Thomas Cook deal within 10 weeks of departure will now require payment in full..
The revised terms demand payment 10 weeks instead of eight weeks before departure, and come into force on May 1.

A Thomas Cook spokeswoman said agents had been given “several weeks’ notice” of the change and the move to 10 weeks brought Cook in line with other operators.

Last year Tui consulted the trade about extending its payment window to 12 weeks from departure, but backed down in the face of stiff opposition.

This is a Consumer travel advice & issues post by Cheaperholidays.com - Cheap holidays from the UK -

Thomas Cook balance due 10 weeks before.

BA cabin crew: Can there be anything more stupid in this time of job losses for the UNITE union and its BA cabin crew members to unite in stupidity.

UNITE need to get real and accept, the reality that if you go on strike perks are going to be taken away, and we applaud BA for taking this stance..

The two sides have been at the negotiating table in recent weeks but as we reported earlier in the week, hit a stumbling block over the withdrawal of travel perks from cabin crew who went on strike during the seven days of industrial action in March.

British Airways cabin crew union Unite is advising members to vote against the airline’s latest deal but has not announced further strike dates.

Unite, which represents 12,000 BA cabin crew, said it would be recommending that its members reject the offer in the long-running dispute over pay and working conditions.

Unite’s Tony Woodley said: “Despite important progress made in a number of respects, management has refused to budge on victimising cabin crew who had their travel concessions withdrawn as a result of the strike.” Time to get real Tony..

The union said that the dispute would go on but would not call further strike dates at this stage while passengers remain stranded abroad due to last weeks volcanic ash crisis.

A ballot of BA cabin crew members on the latest deal will be conducted by Unite during the next week.

This is a Consumer travel advice & issues post by Cheaperholidays.com - Cheap holidays from the UK -

BA cabin crew Unite in stupidity

Travel compensation advice your rights – the Weather has caused travel chaos:
If your travel plans have been disrupted what rights do you have to travel compensation or refunds?

Flights have been disrupted by the weather at a number of UK airports causing frustration for many air passengers. Owing to the fact that any cancellations would be beyond airlines’ control, there is no automatic right to compensation.

However, you still have a contract with the airline to get you from A to B. So that means the airline must try to re-route your journey – even if that means a bus or taxi transfer to another airport for a flight with a different operator.

Airlines have a strategy in place for bad weather, but this does not always work out to a satisfactory conclusion…

• Alternatively, passengers can choose to have a refund.

The Air Transport Users Council says that airlines are usually quite swift to give refunds.

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If a flight is delayed, there are strict European rules in place, which mean that the airline is obliged to supply meals and refreshments, along with accommodation if an overnight stay is required.

Whether passengers qualify will depend on the length of the flight and the delay.

For example, for flights of 1,500km or less where there is a delay of more than two hours, a passenger should be given meals and refreshments, along with two free telephone calls, e-mails, telexes or faxes.

• If the delay is for five hours or more, passengers are also entitled to a refund of their ticket with a free flight back to their initial point of departure if this is relevant.
• People flying into the European Union from overseas are also covered by the rules, as long as they are travelling on a European airline.

The Air Transport Users Council offers help for those in dispute with an airline.

PACKAGE HOLIDAYS

For those who had planned to fly with the collapsed Scottish airline Fly globespan , only package deals guaranteed a trip back from destinations or a holiday refund.

But this cover for package deals also comes into force when bad weather forces a cancellation.

Operators must refund customers for the whole holiday if trips are cancelled, meaning they could not get to their destination.

In reality, operators tend to give three options to people on package deals.

• They are:
• deferring the leaving date of the holiday,
• transferring to another holiday of the same or similar value,
• or a refund of the amount paid for the whole holiday.

Independent travellers can also have a look at their travel insurance policy which might cover the cancellation of a trip owing to bad weather.

Those who spent more than £100 on each individual ticket using a credit card might be able to claim from their card provider.

EUROSTAR

The most high-profile effect of the weather on travel was the cancellation of trains on the high-speed rail service to the continent. Eurostar resumes Channel Tunnel train services. Eurostar services broke down because of the unprecedented cold weather in France, the company says.

A full refund will be offered to those whose journeys were affected. Passengers whose journeys were severely disrupted are also be given £150 compensation, out-of-pocket expenses, and a free return ticket in the next 12 months.

Others have been able to claim “reasonable” out-of-pockets expenses such as the cost of a hotel – up to three-star level, as well as transport and meal costs.

A compensation claim form can be found on the Eurostar website . The company says claims can take up to eight weeks to process.

This is a Consumer travel advice & issues post by Cheaperholidays.com - Cheap holidays from the UK -

Travel Compensation and refund advice

Holiday flights advice: Beware the budget airlines rip off. Passengers can pay 30% more for a flight on a no-frills Budget airline if they check in a bag and use a credit card, according to our research.

Prices from four of the UK’s major no-frills carriers – easyJet, Ryanair, bmi baby and Jet2 – were compared on flights to four destinations, including extra charges for paying with a credit card and checking in one item of luggage.

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The following figures are based on two passengers booking on a credit card and checking in one item of luggage between them.

The survey found that Ryanair charges an extra £50 on all routes for checking in a bag and using a credit card – representing an increase of between 8% and 29% on the advertised fare.

Flights to Paris and Malaga with bmibaby went up by 25% and 23% respectively with these charges.

EasyJet was found to have the lowest luggage and card charges of the four airlines, with an average of £26-£38 being added to the initial price.

Jet2 recorded the highest individual extra charge, £92.16, on a flight to Rome, but this was only 10% above the advertised flight price.

“It’s hard to believe that any airline could justify increasing the ticket price by almost a third just for checking a bag into the hold and paying on a credit card – two services that not too long ago were included in the headline price.”

This is a Consumer travel advice & issues post by Cheaperholidays.com - Cheap holidays from the UK -

Budget Airlines rip off

Travel discussion: Here is something to discuss if hotels are installing cost saving power sources, should you pay more or less for an Eco friendly or green hotel room.

A recent green survey poll of 8,000 people found that more than half (58%) say Eco friendly energy sources, such as wind, solar or hydro-electric power, should be used.

Almost half (48%) say hotels should use more efficient electrical appliances, like flat screen energy efficient TVs.

Nearly two thirds (65%) say all hotels should install low flow toilets designed to save water.

*More than three quarters(76%) are as conscious or more conscious of the impact they have on the environment when staying in hotels compared with their behaviour at home

*88% switch off the lights when they leave their hotel room

*65% reuse towels more than once

*52% still switch electrical equipment off at the base

So what do you think should hotel pass these savings on to you, or do you think they will be greedy and keep the prices up for the privilege of staying in a green hotel, and more to the point would you pay the extra..

This is a Consumer travel advice & issues post by Cheaperholidays.com - Cheap holidays from the UK -

Eco friendly hotels – would you pay extra?

Holiday advice APD: As Air Passenger Duty (APD) is set to rise on the 1st of November, a new survey reveals that most people believe it is time to reform this green travel tax.

If this is an environmental tax why is the Government not helping the countries that have been the most affected by climate change?

If the money is not being used for this purpose then where are the funds going? It is simply not enough to tax as a deterrent. It make no sense either for this tax to exempt cargo planes, they have the worst CO2 emissions, this Tax should be per aircraft and not per passenger.

The Government must show that it truly cares about the environment too.
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Britain’s leading travel companies say they will abandon their premium-economy cabins if the Government presses ahead with its plans to increase Air Passenger Duty (APD) on November 1st.

As the cost increase would be ridiculous with the Caribbean costing over £100 more..

Current rate charges £10 for economy class flights to European destinations, £20 for all other flights to Europe, £40 for economy class flights beyond Europe and £80 for all other flights to destinations outside Europe)

However from November 2009, most flights will go up by just £1 to £5 no big deal… The Carribean goes up £10 in economy. The Canaries are a £1 increase as is Spain – The Med – Turkey Tunisia.

The APD tax on a flight from Heathrow to Dubai will go up from £40 to £60 in 2010; the tax on a Premium Economy ticket from Gatwick to Barbados will go up from £80 to £150 and the tax on an Upper Class flight from Heathrow to Sydney will rise from £80 to £170.

APD rises: Distance to capital city from London From Nov 2009.

• Band A: £11 – Europe, Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, the Canary Islands, Moscow.
• Band B: £45 to Bermuda, Canada, Egypt, Gambia, Jordan, Oman, Russia (east of Urals), Syria, UAE, US.
• Band C: £50 to the Botswana, Brazil, Caribbean, China, India, Japan, Kenya, Maldives, Mauritius, Mexico, Seychelles, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand
• Band D: £55 to Argentina, Australia, Chile, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore.

Economy/Premium November 2009
Band A (less than 2000 m) £11/£22
Band B (2001m – 4000m) £45/£90
Band C (4001m – 6000m) £50/£100
Band D (6001m+) £55/£110

Economy/Premium From Nov 2010
Band A (less than 2000 m) £12/£24
Band B (2001m – 4000m) £60/£120
Band C (4001m – 6000m) £75/£150
Band D (6001m+) £85/£170

Private jets, cargo planes and foreign passengers are exempt from the charge.

It also seems that environmentally, the tax does not work as empty planes that fly are raising less revenue that full ones.

This is a Consumer travel advice & issues post by Cheaperholidays.com - Cheap holidays from the UK -

APD tax – Is no green tax