Travelling Starfish

As I said back in February (I know, I’m a bit late here…lol) I’m going to do a bit of a critique every month or so on an airline, hotel or other travel-related venue and spotlight it on Travelling Starfish.

At the end of January, I flew from Israel into London Luton airport with easyJet.  My experience was great and really made me favour smaller UK airports and UK discount airlines.

I’m not 100% sold on the idea of flying discount but sometimes it makes sense.  The business strategy of these discount providers is to situate themselves far away from the other main hub airports and often the cities in general.  Luton, as an example, is quite far away from the centre of London and isn’t close at all to London’s two main airports – Gatwick and Heathrow.

That being said, I know in my heart that if I could fly through Luton again I would.  Since it is a small airport where many flights are domestic or short-haul, queues are often shorter (less baggage to check in and less customs hassles).

So instead of complaining about easyJet or Luton, I thought I’d sing their praises.

easyJet

As for easyJet, what’s to complain about?  The flight came in early, I didn’t get charged excess baggage (even though I was about 6 kg over) and the staff were shocking friendly to me.

When I arrived at the Luton airport, I was in a rush to catch a bus to Oxford.  If I missed that bus, I would have to wait two additional hours until 2:00 am – not ideal.  When I landed, I knew that my two roadblocks were immigration (my fave) and picking up my checked baggage.  As soon as I got out of the flight I charged towards the immigration area.  Since most of their flights are domestic, there was only one person in the “non-UK or EU” queue.  I was in shock.  In five minutes I was on my way.  Step 2: baggage.  I’m not kidding, but the bags came out in about 10 minutes.  I was well in time for my bus and didn’t have to bat an eye about staying up until 2:00am.

This is a snapshot of one moment in time, I know that.  However, I’m not complaining and I’m excited to book my next trip with easyJet via Luton Airport.

What do you think about easyJet & Luton?  Rubbish or Fantastic?

Over the past 10 years, I’ve taken a lot of flights – charters, discount and commercial airlines.  Even though many of us complain about the extra costs airlines are adding to flying today – excess baggage, charging for checking in and in-flight meals, the power really is in the hands of the customer.

To me, and as a marketer, I”ve always found discount travel very interesting.  When a lot of the airlines were going under, these discount firms stepped up their marketing efforts and created new, unique ways to compete.  You have to give them credit for that.  Not only did they begin offering a “no frills” option to consumers but they also forced other commercial airlines to lower their prices – making it a much more competitive market  Gotta love the power of supply and demand.

This short post isn’t about debating if discount airlines like Ryanair, Southwest or easyJet are really cheaper than the bigger airlines – I’ve actually already done that a few months ago and tested it too.  I want to now hear from all of you and understand who you think discount airlines are primarily marketing to?  Are they after students, the leisure traveller, families, convenience junkies or business travellers?

Looking at the 3 homepages from the discount airlines easyJet, RyanAir and Southwest above, who are they primarily speaking to?  Are they conveying the same message?

My thoughts - Ryanair and easyJet are going after the same market – the customer need is cheap and cheerful, no frills.  Southwest appears to be trying to change its focus slightly.  It appears that there is movement to a more sophisticated customer. I wonder why that is – without digging into the research, if anyone can enlighten me I`d be more than interested…do tell!

Now, I want to hear from you! What do you think? Of what you know about discount airlines and these 3 in particular, who are they marketing to? Tell me your thoughts & share this post so I can hear as many thoughts as possible!

Thanks Miriam

Over the years, I’ve done my fair share of crossing borders.

When I started travelling a lot for work when I lived back in Canada, I crossed the Canadian/US border quite a lot – like I’m talking weekly.  It got so bad, a year into spending 3 weeks per month for a year travelling back and forth from Toronto to California I got stopped by Customs and Immigration at the US border in Toronto.  Luckily, they let me in but I did get a warning that my employer needed to provide me with a letter explaining why they needed me to make so many trips south of the border.  Since I was in my mid-20s at the time, I was freaked out.

And so began my interesting adventures with the border patrol authorities.

I think all travellers have stories – some funny, some serious – of strange stories either they’ve experienced or witnessed while crossing the border.   All you have to do is watch an episode of Border Security: Australia’s Front Line to know about some of the odd ball stories that happen when you are crossing into other countries.

Entering Jordan!

When I went to Australia, I got stopped by customs officials as there were 5 almonds peaking out at the bottom of my bag.  I also remember the time I got stuck at Heathrow behind a flight that just got in from some small African country where each person had to be examined for hygiene.  Thank goodness they saw I wasn’t coming from that flight – I don’t need an “extra” check.

When I lived in the UK, I hated going through the border from day one. Every time I’ve entered I’ve felt nervous.  I find it quite humorous as – I’m a Canadian passport holder (and who doesn’t love Canadians, eh?) who is a professional.  Most people think I’m crazy for getting so worked up but it’s always been an interesting experience nonetheless.

Even though Canada is a part of the Commonwealth and still technically has links to the Queen via our Governor General there is nothing “special” for us when we got off that flight.  If I was Hungarian (which I technically am…but some may argue I’m not – again a long story!) I could walk right through a fast immigration check and off I’d go.  To the official, I may not even be asked anything or need to speak (demonstrating I can communicate in English) but I’d be free to live & work in the UK with no worries.

I could start a whole political debate her so for now I’ll just say – rant over…lol.

Anyway, of all my border experiences I must say some of the smoothest have actually been when I’ve flown or crossed in and out of Israel. Although some might be surprised about this, I have found that any questions I’m asked (which are few) are fair.  They are well trained in looking at behaviours more than anything else and the whole process is extremely efficient.

Note that when flying in and out of Israel there are no additional exit fees to pay when you exit the country.  I believe this is added onto your flight fare already so at least you don’t need to worry about bringing extra cash. At the land border crossings into Egypt and Jordan, you must pay a 96 shekel exit fee.  This goes to the admin costs of maintaining the border.

Also if you are travelling to other countries in the Middle East it is a good idea to ask for authorities to stamp a piece of paper vs your passport.  They will do this if requested nicely.  Some of the Arab nations do not accept passports with an Israeli stamp in it – including the UAE (i.e. Dubai, Abu Dhabi) and Lebanon.  You will have no issues in Egypt, the Maldives or Jordan.

The reason why I find going through the border in Israel fairly comfortable is because everything feels efficient.  I feel that when I’m asked a question, it’s to verify a legitimate query.  This is compared to my experiences with other services I’ve been through frequently (in North America and the EU) where I often had inconsistent experiences.

Eilat/Taba border

So if I could offer any advice to my readers about what to do when you’re going across borders, here it is:

1) Know what to expect – the internet is such an important tool for any traveller and it is at our fingertips.  It’s always worth it to do a google search about the border and understand about any additional fees and processes you may need to consider.

2) If your travelling is work-related – figure out if you are going to need a special visa in advance. Likely, if you are just attending a conference or office meeting you won’t need one but if you are visiting direct customers you may – so check it out.

And most importantly…

3) Come prepared – have your documents ready, know your local details (like addresses) and tell them what they ask – not less and definitely not more.  Trust me – that’s the way to do it – I will say no more!

Happy travels &  enjoy,

Miriam

A bug bear of most people who live on an island is getting on and off of it.

There are 2 main ways to do this in Jersey – by ferry or air.  Ferry is more reliable (most of the time) but air is way quicker.  To give you an idea, the “fast” ferry to England is about 6-7 hours from Jersey to Poole while a flight only takes 45 minutes to London Gatwick.  In my opinion, the ferry option is only the better option if you’re off for a visit to France – which is only an hour journey.

Flying in and out of the Channel Islands (CI) can be eventful.  The biggest challenge, from my exprience, of flying is the risk of fog – I’ve been impacted a few times because of this and it can be quite stressful.

The CI are serviced by a number of airlines – more than I ever knew.  Jersey, the biggest of the islands, has the most variety.  These include Flybe, British Airways, BMI Baby, easyJet, Blue Islands and Aurigny.  The first two do a lot of the main flights between the islands, mainland UK and Europe.  BMI Baby flies to specific destinations in the UK like Manchester as I mentioned in my post in July.  Same goes with low cost carrier easyJet which flies to Liverpool direct from Jersey.

Blue Islands and Aurigny mainly fly inter-island (between Jersey and Guernsey).  Even though it only takes an hour ferry ride to get between St. Helier and St. Peter Port, the flight between the islands is quite the ride.  I recollect a trip that I took a couple of years ago to Guernsey.  I went on Boxing Day, stayed overnight in Guernsey and flew with Blue Islands.  For a small airline, I was very impressed.  They have a cute lounge in the Jersey airport with free coffee, tea and biscuits. The crazy thing is the actual plane ride.

You’re greeted by the pilot personally and he actually gives you the safety overview on his own.  For those of us who travel on big commercial airlines it’s a different and great experience.  The trip over there was fine – a small plane but it still felt like a plane – for instance there was an aisle.  On the return, it was a different story.

When I checked in for the return, they were assigning seats based on weight so the plane could be balanced properly – I’m not joking.  I guess it makes sense, it’s just an adjustment to the norm.  Also in this plane, there was no aisle so you had to strategically sit down as there were 3 seats lined up in a row.  Good thing I used the ladies room beforehand – but there aren’t any toilets anyway:).

As we returned back to Jersey, I could feel the wind around the plane – it was blowing pretty hard out there.  While we flew, I had this moment as we floated above the clouds where I realized how we literally were a group of people just hovering in the air.  It was kind of surreal.  I don’t know if it was the size or shape of the plane – it just felt different than any other time I flew.  It was kind of scary to be honest but also kind of exciting – after that I could understand the attraction for pilots.

For anyone going between islands, I highly recommend flying just for the experience.  I know it’s only an hour ferry ride but the flight is definitely an experience you won’t forget.

Flying in and out of the Channel Islands can be a pain – sometimes overpriced and inconvenient.  As time goes on though I think it will start getting more competitive and easier.

One piece of advice from this Travelling Starfish – give it a try!!

I’m considering a trip over the Christmas period this year.  Typically I steer away from this time of year to travel – I’ve been a few times but I find it is quite hectic in the airports and an overpriced time to fly.  Plus, I don’t want to spend holiday time sitting in an airport when I could be spending it with friends and family.

However there is an obvious reason for why this is such a primo time to travel – many people have to actually travel to see their loved ones.  Since our lives have now become a lot less simple than they used to be with people jetting off to different places in the world to work, retire and live we all know that when the holidays come around it’s nice to travel to spend some time together.

Well…the trip I’m thinking about isn’t really about that.

It’s about escaping the cold weather and entering a bit of an oasis.  A few years ago I went to Australia over the xmas period (stay tuned for my post tomorrow to find out more) and it was a truly amazing experience.  Not only did I go from -30C to +30C in a day I also got to see how XMAS was celebrated in the southern hemisphere.  Forget about winter tires and log fires – we were having xmas day lunch over a BBQ (sorry, barbie) in the backyard.  And it was a hot one! It honestly felt like a completely different world.

For me, outside of the rise in prices and hectic airports, XMAS is actually a really good time for me to travel. You see, I don’t technically celebrate the holiday so none of my family does anything.  So in essence I’m not missing out on anything plus I’m experiencing something different at the ideal time of year to get away.

This year I’m thinking something in the Carribean or even Costa Rica – I haven’t decided yet.  I’ll likely be headed over there from Canada so it’s a bit closer than some of my usual sun destinations – like Spain.  I know it’s only August but I really love planning holidays (can you tell?) and at this time of year it’s quite important to get a head start early so I’m not paying through the nose.

With my years of experience and the bit of researching I’ve already done, here’s some advice –

4 tips on how to find a decent holiday over the XMAS break:

1) Book early or go last minute - for me I feel that there is really no in-between.  I’d say if you haven’t booked anything by end of September, it’s best to wait until a week or two before you want to go – I may go down this route.  If you are travelling alone or just with a partner this is quite easy to handle.  With kids, I would say it’s really important to plan further in advance to ensure you get what you want.

2) Do your research before you book – there is so much information out there online and offline.  Go and seek out as much information as you can on the destination and the hotel.  If you are planning on booking online, look at different search engines (like Expedia and Travelmatch) and travel consolidation sites (like HotelsCombined and Travelsupermarket).  I find looking at all of these options side by side really helps to ensure you are getting what you want, for the price you want and when you want it.

3) Test the waters – if you are price conscious, I’d also look at pricing holidays separately and as a package.  Look at how much a hotel or apartment costs on its own + the flights and then see how much you can get it for a package.  To be honest, I used to think it was cheaper to book a package but I’ve been proven wrong on a few occasions.  Do some of the math on your own to make sure if you are getting the best deal!

4) Most importantly, be flexible! - understand that there are millions of people travelling at this time of year and you are really fighting for seats on flights and vacant rooms in hotels.  The more flexible you are, the more likely you are to get the best price for your holiday.  Flexibility can mean anything from being willing to make a connection or two or accepting different types of accomodation than you normally would.

In the end, it’s great to get away during xmas time – it can be tiring and hectic but if it gets you closer to family or closer to a break in the sun it’s always worth it in the end!

I’ll keep you all posted on my plans for the xmas season…like I said, I love planning a holiday so you’ll be sure to hear more from me soon!