Get cheap flights to Germany with easyjet in their Bank Holiday sale. easyjet are giving away over 250,000 seats from only £20.99 in their August Bank Holiday Sale.

It’s August bank holiday and here is another great deal on cheap flights from easyjet, one of the UK’s leading low cost airlines specialising in budget flights across Europe. If you book any flight to Germany departing from the UK you get up to 19% off.

The flights must be booked by 31st August and the cheap flights to Germany must be taken between 5th January 2011 and 26th March 2011.

The routes where the discount flights are available are:

Bristol – Berlin (Schoenefeld)

Edinburgh – Munich

Glasgow – Berlin (Schoenefeld)

Liverpool – Berlin (Schoenefeld)

London Gatwick – Berlin (Schoenefeld)

London Gatwick – Cologne

London Gatwick – Dusseldorf

London Gatwick – Hamburg

London Gatwick – Munich

London Luton – Dortmund

London Luton – Hamburg

Manchester – Munich

Stansted – Munich

Start the New Year in style with a trip for skiing in Germany or a cultural city break in one of Germany’s finest cities.

Remember to “buy before you fly” and get your travel size toiletries for your hand luggage that will pass the airport security checks for carry on luggage.

Buying your travel size toiletries online makes even more sense according to the latest study by Kelkoo. Online goods were found to be 12% cheaper than high street stores and are even 6% cheaper than the so called tax free shops in Europe’s 10 busiest airports.

With the summer holiday season underway, many UK travellers will be taking advantage of tax free shopping at the airport. More than half of UK consumers believe that tax free airport shops offer average savings of 20% or more compared to recommended retail prices on the high street, but a new report released by shopping comparison website Kelkoo, reveals that airport shops may not be offering the bargains you expect.

Contrary to popular belief, tax free goods in European airports are on average just 6.2% cheaper than those in local high street stores, with Heathrow Airport offering the worst overall discounts out of any major European airport (3.1%).

Tax free shopping across Europe is big business, with consumers spending over €2.8 billion last year alone, making savings of 6.2% (€185 million) compared to standard high street prices. However, by shopping online for the same goods, consumers could have saved a further 6.1% (€171 million) which would have equated to a total saving of 12% (€355 million) over high street stores.

The report, commissioned by Kelkoo, and produced by the Centre for Retail Research, examines the difference in prices between high street stores, tax free shops in airports and online retailers across Europe.

Save more on health and beauty products
Health & beauty (39%) along with luxury, fashion & electricals (31%) account for 70% of all tax free retail sales in Europe. While Europe’s airport tax free outlets offer savings against high street prices in these categories ranging from 6% to 10%, online discounts are typically higher at 12% and 13% respectively. In fact, Europe’s online retailers offer consistently higher savings on all categories except for tobacco!
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Ryanair are continuing their drive to persuade passengers to travel with carry on luggage only. They have now increased their charges for checked baggage by between £5 to £10 depending upon the number of checked bags you have and how you register them.

With Ryanair charges for a checked bag now peaking at £80 Chief Exec Michael O’Leary defended the move by stating:

“We don’t want your money, we just don’t want your bags!”

Ryanair encourages all passengers to travel with just one piece of carry-on baggage which has the effect of reducing their own operating costs and the aircraft’s turnaround time. Ryanair has a generous 10kg carry-on baggage allowance providing the bag does not exceed the maximum dimensions of 55cm x 40cm x 20cm.

However, you must ensure that all your travel size toiletries conform to the current airport security regulations and restrictions for the carriage of liquids in your carry-on baggage, otherwise you will be forced to check the bag into the hold and pay Ryanair’s checked baggage fees as shown below.

Ryanair’s Checked Baggage Fees
Each passenger is permitted to check-in up to 2 bags with a maximum weight of 15kg per bag. The increases apply depending on the date of travel with peak rate baggage charges applying for travel in July and August *.

1st Bag – 15kg allowance per bag, per One Way Flight

• £15 (*£20) if booked via ryanair.com
• £35 (*£40) if booked via a call centre or at the airport

2nd Bag – 15kg allowance per bag, per One Way Flight

• £35 (*£40) if booked via ryanair.com
• £70 (*£80) if booked via a call centre or at the airport

So make sure you have done your planning for your cheap flight well in advance. As if you have 2 bags that are not allowed onto the aircraft you could face up to £120 of additional Ryanair charges for checked in baggage if you are travelling between July and August!

British Airways passengers are threatened yet again with the misery of an impending strike. Meanwhile, Ryanair have launched another cheap flight sale whilst boasting of their number 1 position in the “on-time” performance ratings for over 1,000 routes.

Passenger bookings are down with BA as customers increasingly opt to book with budget airlines as they can be fairly certain that the flight will actually go ahead and also they will save money into the bargain! Of course the budget airlines are welcoming the disillusioned BA customers with open arms, and some enticing offers.

Ryanair has launched the sale of 1 million cut price air fares this Spring. Cheap flights are on sale for €5 if you travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in late March and April (excluding Easter week). These €5 cheap air fares will be available on over 500 of Ryanair’s European routes but must be booked on www.ryanair.com before midnight on Friday 26th Feb.

The €5 Seat Sale includes all taxes and charges. So remember to avoid Ryanair’s discretionary (additional) fees by paying with MasterCard prepaid card, only travel with carry on luggage, forego priority boarding and check in online (do not forget to print your Boarding Pass and take it with you to the airport!).

If you are travelling with carry on luggage only, remember that all of your travel size toiletries must be less than 100ml to comply with current airport security regulations for restrictions on hand luggage – if its more than 100ml it will end up in the bin!

Discount flights and air fare sale applies to all seats, all routes, every day in late February and March.

Ryanair have announced that it will slash up to 30% off all seats on all routes, for travel every day in late February and March. These discounted flights are only available up until midnight on Thursday 4th Feb.

The discount fares with the full 30% off include all taxes and charges. So remember to avoid Ryanair’s discretionary (additional) fees by paying with MasterCard prepaid card, only travel with carry on luggage and forego priority boarding.

That way you can book, check in online and get the full 30% discount air fare. The final reminder is to not forget to print your Boarding Pass and take it with you to the airport!

Remember that when you are travelling with hand luggage only, all of your carry on items and travel size toiletries must comply with current airport security regulations for restrictions on hand luggage – if its more than 100ml it will end up in the bin!

Holiday makers and travellers boarding flights to USA from UK now face delays, body searches and being confined to their seats for the last hour of their flight under new air travel restrictions introduced after the failed attempt to blow up a plane destined for Detroit on Christmas Day.

Aviation security experts an both sides of the Atlantic are now questioning both the relevance, and use, of advance passenger information that must be provided before any passengers are allowed to board flights to the USA. As in this, seemingly obvious, case there was no suspicion aroused. Hence the new airport luggage regulations and security screening processes have been quickly introduced.

The new airport security checks and restrictions are as follows:

• All passengers on flights to the US will be subjected to a body search by UK airport security.

• The new carry on luggage restrictions mean that passengers are only allowed one piece of airline hand luggage on any flights to the USA. Carry-on hand luggage will be restricted to one item, no heavier than 6kg. This will be inspected as part of the airport screening and security searches but there will also be an additional hand baggage inspection at the boarding gate.

• All passengers will be confined to their seats for one hour before landing, meaning that they are unable to use toilets or access their hand luggage in the overhead lockers. They are also banned from covering themselves with blankets for the hour before landing.

• In-flight displays are to be censored by removing the “flight map”. However, some airlines cannot do this and have had to ban all in-flight entertainment during flights across the Atlantic.

These airport luggage regulations and additional security screening checks only apply to US flights, non-US flights remain unaffected for the moment.

BAA, which operates Heathrow and other airports around the country, have advised passengers flying to the US to leave more time to check in and to limit the contents of their hand luggage.

Ryanair has launched a £99/€99 one way rescue fare (including taxes and charges) for Eurostar passengers stranded in London and Paris.

Although Eurostar are struggling to try and transport the thousands of passengers stranded by the recent breakdowns, Ryanair will operate special flights between London and Paris on 23rd December to help passengers return home for Christmas.

The Eurostar rescue flights will operate between London (Stansted) and Paris (Beauvais) airports and can be booked via www.ryanair.com.

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said “Seats are limited so passengers should book as soon as possible as these seats are likely to be snapped up”.

Always remember that in order to avoid additional charges on Ryanair you should check in online and print your boarding pass to take with you to the airport. To avoid paying additional charges for  putting baggage in the hold ensure that all of your travel size toiletries are less than 100ml so that your hand luggage will pass through the airport security checks for carry on luggage.

The High Court have just ruled that the 12 days of strikes called by the Unite union cannot go ahead.

The decision comes as a welcome relief for the million or so people who were set to have their Christmas travel plans ruined by such a lengthy strike.

Unite have condemned the ruling and say that they will hold a fresh ballot and seek support for a further strike. However, given the timescales involved it is unlikely that they will be able to disrupt the Christmas period.

British Airways have announced that they are to take legal action and try to prevent the cabin crew strikes set to begin on 22nd December.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh said “We do not want to see a million Christmases ruined”.

“Irregularities” had been highlighted by BA in the strike ballot which it believes makes the outcome of the vote invalid, including sending ballot papers to staff who had already left or were in the process of leaving the airline’s employment, and therefore should not have been balloted.

BA said it hoped the legal action would “protect customers from the massive stress and disruption” threatened by the 12-day stoppage.

British Airways staff have voted for a series of strikes over the next 2 weeks hitting thousands of Christmas flights and New Year flights. This will affect hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers and people flying home to be with their families and loved ones for Christmas and the New Year.

BA have expressed their “urgent need to reduce costs” as the airline industry continues to perform badly. The company reported a pre tax loss of £292m for the six months to the end of September and the trustees of its two pension schemes have just announced that there is a combined deficit of £3.7bn.

Last month, BA announced plans to cut a further 1,700 jobs, in addition to cutting the numbers of cabin crew on long-haul flights and freezing staff pay for two years. BA cabin crew are still said to be the best paid in Britain, with an average salary of £29,000 compared with £14,000 at Virgin Atlantic.

However, the Unite union has condemned the move and balloted its 12,500 cabin crew members in support of industrial action as part of the dispute over job losses and changes to working practices. The strikes will run from 22nd December until 2nd January.

The industrial action and disruption will be hugely damaging for British Airways in terms of both reputation and finances as it continues to struggle and lose money.

Ultimately the action could drive more and more customers into the arms of the budget airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair who will no doubt capitalise on the malaise suffered by BA.

However, when flying with the budget airlines be aware of the additional charges for placing baggage in the hold. In order to avoid these charges ensure that your travel size toiletries are all under 100ml so that they will pass through the airport security checks.