Travel Horror As Qantas Aircraft Is Forced To Land

Everyone has good trips and bad trips – travel doesn’t always go smoothly, whether it’s business travel or just for leisure but this morning there were reports of what could have ended as a real travel catastrophe. Next time you’re upset because your flight is delayed by fifteen minutes think back to what the plane full of passengers travelling from London to Melbourne must have felt when their holiday or flight home was brought to a frightening halt. Passengers claimed to hear a loud bang and soon after air rushed into the cabin.

Most passengers never pay much attention to the safety demonstrations before their flights, but most of these unlucky travellers certainly will if they have any desire to fly again; the cabin lost pressure and all on board had to wear oxygen masks as the plane made a rapid (and undoubtedly frightening) emergency landing. The aircraft landed safely, and it was found that the problem was a huge hole in the baggage compartment of the aircraft (almost 3 meters in width). News sources say passengers were, unsurprisingly, terrified and many were ill after seeing the damage done to the aircraft outside.

Of course this isn’t a regular event, but it’s a reminder that there is always a worse scenario when it comes to air travel.

How to Combat Jetlag on Holiday

As if both business travellers and those heading off on holidays didn’t have enough on their plate dealing with long waits at the airport, flight delays and cancellations, jet lag is simply another added misery that can really make or break a trip. Especially on short business trips, travellers often don’t even get a chance to recover from jetlag and are already sitting on the plane back home before their body clock adjusts to the new time zone, causing disruption to work and seemingly unavoidable stress for those affected.

But there’s good news for travellers who have grown weary of dealing with the unpleasant experience a long haul flight can bring. Recent findings seem to point to a simple way of dealing with the problem of jet lag – simply don’t eat the food offered on the flight. This is because it seems that the body has more than one clock working to manage sleep cycles. One, of course, responds to the time of day and natural light levels. The other, surprisingly, is managed by what one eats.

So by avoiding food until the last minute, preferably after you have left the plane and have retrieved your bags, perhaps even until you reach your hotel, your body will have a far easier time adjusting to the considerable time difference. This second clock was studied in mice, and seemed to override the other, keeping the animals awake until they could find food.  While this knowledge may come in handy for anyone travelling on long haul flights, there is no way to combat the problem completely.

Methods such as using sleeping tablets are discouraged these days because with the swelling of limbs associated with long haul flights these can cause serious circulation problems which could even prove deadly in the most severe cases as these pills cause an almost comatose state of sleep which means less movement, something which is vitally important before, during, and after a flight.

A few other tried and tested methods to help travellers avoid the draining and unpleasant effects of jetlag include shifting their sleeping and eating patterns at least a few days before even jetting off to their destination, but this isn’t always possible as most people have a schedule to stick to, a job and other commitments which mean that any major changes are unfortunately not possible, so this new discovery could give those who are severely affected by jet lag a new hope for reducing the discomfort associated with a swift move through different time zones instead of spending the first few days of their holiday feeling stressed and uncomfortable.

Why You Should Use Travellers Cheques When On Your Holidays

Holidays are supposed to be a relaxing and care free time of the year. However, unfortunately something things go wrong. One of the worst things that can happen is for you to lose or get your money stolen. This is because without money there is not a lot you can do and chances are that you’ve spent a lot on booking your holiday in the first place so can’t afford to just get more money out.

 

Travellers cheques are a much better option than cash when you are on your holidays because if they get lost or stolen they can easily be replaced. This means that you won’t have lost all that money that you worked so hard for. Although it will still be a bit of a downer on your trip it won’t be the end of the world and you won’t lose any money.

 

Travellers cheques are a much safer way of carrying money around and it won’t be the end of the world if you lose them or they get stolen.  With the majority of travellers cheques you can get free replacements for them if they get lost or stolen within 24 hours. This is much better than simply losing all of your money because this could completely ruin your holidays and you may even have to come home early.

 

There was a time when you could only exchange travellers cheques for cash in banks whilst on your holidays. However, as they are now being used more and more by holiday makers, most shops and restaurants accept them as a form of payment and will give you your change in cash. This means that not only can you have the peace of mind that if they get lost they can be replaced, but you also know that they are nearly as easy to use as it would be to pay in cash.

 

Another advantage of using travellers cheques whilst you are on your holidays is that you can get a better exchange rate from them. Travellers cheques benefit from a better exchange rate than the banknote rate for foreign currencies when you make a purchase.

 

With so many advantages of using travellers cheques, it would be silly to take cash with you on your holidays. Not only are they easy to use but you can get them replaced should they get lost or stolen. This means that once you have got them back you can go back to enjoying your holidays like you should be.

The Importance Of Travel Insurance

Holidays are an exciting time of the year because it means a week or two of relaxing and having fun without the normal stresses of everyday life. However, unfortunately, sometimes things do go wrong even when you are on holiday. Flight cancellations, lost luggage and illnesses can all make what should have been a relaxing time into a very stressful one. This can be made even worse for those who thought that they wouldn’t need travel insurance.

 

It’s very easy to think that you can get away with not buying travel insurance and most of the time this probably is the case. However, it simply isn’t worth it if something does go wrong because you can be left with a bill for thousands of pounds and in some countries you won’t even get medical aid without any insurance.

 

You may not even get a chance to get on the aeroplane before you find yourself needing your travel insurance. Sometimes due to unforeseen circumstances flights can get cancelled. This means that you lose money on your accommodation, car rental and chances are you are going to need to stay in a hotel until you can get on another flight. This doesn’t just make a bad start to your holiday because it is very frustrating, but you also stand to lose a lot of money. Whereas it won’t make up for lost time at least you know if you have travel insurance that you can claim back the money you lost which is a bit of compensation.

 

People tend to be a lot more relaxed on holiday and do things that they normally wouldn’t do. For example, water sports are very common on holiday but it is unlikely that you would do something like that at home. This means that the chances of you getting injured are a lot higher and if you need to go to hospital for any reason you can be left with a large bill if you haven’t got travel insurance.

 

You can find some great deals for travel insurance nowadays because there are so many different companies competing against each other for customers. This means that you don’t have to spend an absolute fortune on it so even if you don’t end up using it it’s not a major loss. Unfortunately there are lots of things that can go wrong while you are away on holiday or are travelling. It is definitely worth paying a little extra money for the security of knowing that you will be covered if something does happen.

How To Find Cheap Holidays

Not many people have a large disposable income but it is still nice to treat yourself to something every once in a while. This is especially the case when it comes to the summer and everyone is jetting off on their holidays. You’ll be surprised at the kind of holidays that you can find that won’t break the bank if you know the right places to look and take a few shortcuts.

 

One way of seriously reducing the costs of cheap holidays is to find a friend or family member who has a holiday home. If they are really generous they may let you stay there completely free of charge but even if they do charge you chances are it’s going to be a lot less than what you would pay to stay in a hotel. Another option is to visit friends you may have abroad who don’t mind you staying with them. Offer to repay the favour one day and chances are that they will be more than happy to let you stay around. Not paying for accommodation can save you an absolute fortune and could probably half the total cost of what you are spending on your time away.

 

If you don’t know anybody who lives abroad or who has a holiday home, then a very cheap form of accommodation is camping. Most people instantly dismiss the idea of camping because they imagine being in the middle of nowhere with no running water and toilet facilities. However, nearly every country you go to now has campsites that provide showers, toilets, shops, entertainment and even bars. As well as this, trying new experiences is fun and if you have children they are bound to love staying in a tent. If you are looking for cheap holidays then camping is an option that you should seriously consider because it is so much cheaper than staying in a hotel.

 

If it’s cheap holidays that you need then hostels may be your answer. They used to have a bad reputation of being dirty, smelly and crammed full of young teenagers. However, in recent years they have gone more upmarket and sometimes they can even be mistaken for hotels. If you are looking to go really cheap then you can opt to share a room with other people. If you prefer your own privacy then you and your guests can get your own rooms for an extra cost. Even by having your own room though you are still going to paying less than you normally would for your accommodation.

 

Cheap holidays are very easy to find if you are willing to compromise on a few luxuries. However, this doesn’t mean that you still won’t have a great time because you can still do all the things you would have done, the only difference will be where you are sleeping at night.