Travel Clever » Flights

Top Yoga Exercise Tips when Flying

b-travel — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:53:41 +0000

A four-hour flight can be very challenging, even if you’re staying in business or first class. You could read, watch television or listen to music while in the air but it can get boring sometimes. It’s even possible to experience back and neck pains after the flight because you have to stay in a single position for nearly four hours.

But there’s actually a way to prevent flight-related muscle and joint pains. There are yoga exercises that you can do while on flight. Think of it as your in-flight exercise program to stay in shape and prevent different types of pains.

Neck Rolls

The simplest yoga exercises are sometimes the best while in flight. A good example is neck rolls, where you simply move your head in the circular motion. Neck rolls can prevent neck-related pains as well as the shoulder ache. To do this exercise, just make sure that your ears almost touch the shoulders.

Padadhirasana

Padadhirasana is a very simple breathing exercise that can be done while sitting. The trick is to simply sit straight. Make sure that your back is straight without touching the backrest. Place your hands in a cross position in your chest and slowly inhale and exhale. This will allow your body to distribute the oxygen evenly.

Sukhasana

This is the most popular yoga position and is also known as the “lotus position”. Simply cross your legs, place your hands on top of your lap and sit up straight. This is also another type of breathing exercise that can help you relax your body and prevent any type of muscle pain.

Travelling Tips: How to avoid Jet Lag

b-travel — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:23:42 +0000

Travelling on long-haul distance flights which usually cross a number of time zones often has a common side effect: Jet Lag. This is usually a state of discomfort with symptoms such as insomnia, irritability and alteration of gastroenterological habits. It is especially annoying if you end up being jet lagged for as long as two days and may be the reason to spoil a long planned and deserved break.

Although, you can get jet lag travelling either from east to west, you are more likely to have symptoms when travelling in an easterly direction rather than westwards. This is because our body adapts better to an extension of daytime cycle, which occurs when travelling from one time zone to another, rather than the opposite.

So, how can we avoid jet lag symptoms? Here is a list of precautions and tips that can make the difference:

You can anticipate the change in the day-night cycle and adapt to the time you are going to be in after your journey by going either earlier or later to bed, depending on the direction of your trip.

Discomfort in the bowel activity is typically due to the air pressure in the plane cabin. So, make sure you do not overeat before travelling and try to avoid gassy foods.

It is better to sit on the aisle side during the flight so that you can stand up and walk along more frequently because it is very important to get your body as much exercised as possible.

Do not drink coffee or tea while flying. Other than giving you excessive nervousness, these drinks may cause dehydration and alter you body equilibrium. Instead, make sure you drink plenty of water.

Try to switch as quick as possible you eating habits to the local time, even though you might feel more like having breakfast instead of dinner.

Finally, as soon as you are on the plane, set your clock to the local time of your destination. This will also help your body getting accustomed to the change.

Tips to reduce the airline baggage fees

b-travel — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:52:03 +0000

Months ago when the world was experiencing record price hikes on fuel, the airlines reduced the baggage allowance. Before the increase, a single carry on and two checked in bags might have costed you nothing if the airline offers a special rate. Today, your second checked in bag will cost you no less than $25.00, even more if they are overweight. If you are travelling as a family with kids, your excess baggage alone could cost you no less than $100. Even though the fuel prices are down, the airline
still has an excuse – global recession and less customers.

But that shouldn’t be the situation. Here are some tips on how you can save on baggage fees:

Be informed – visit the airline website so that you’ll know the baggage allowance per traveller and its weight. This should give you a good idea on what you need to bring during your travel. If you can weight your bags before you leave, do it so that you’ll know if there are additional fees you should be expecting.

One bag for all kids – instead of bringing individual bags, pack your kids’ belongings in one large bag. Convince them to take a minimum amount of toys. Multiple excess baggages will cost you more than one excess, overweight bag.

Hotels with reimbursements – to entice more travellers to their hotel, there are hotel companies today that offer reimbursements for your baggage fees. Your final total price upon check out will be deducted by the excess baggage charges.

Go light – if you don’t want to pay for something extra, don’t bring a large bag. It might even be a better idea to just wash your clothes while travelling rather than paying hundreds of dollars for excess baggage.

France tried to seduce tourists

b-travel — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:02:05 +0000

France is still the number one tourist destinations in the world. From the beautiful and romantic cities to century-old structures and churches, France seemed to have them all. Because of the wide variety of tourist destinations in line for its visitors, it’s no wonder why the country is the best in the world when it comes to tourism. In 2007, a whopping 82 million tourists visited the country. This easily translates to billions of earnings from the country’s visitors.

But this is only in terms of the gross earnings from its travellers. The countries on second and third place are Spain and USA are only opened its doors to more than 50 million travellers each only. However, even though their tourism industry is a lot less compared to France, their net income is a lot more compared to France.

To answer this problem, France decides to push their tourism sector further. Among the agenda: revamp their tourism logo.

A few weeks ago, the French Tourism Agency revealed their new logo which practically captures what France is all about. A logo was presented featuring the French Revolution symbol Marianne on blue and red with the name France as her body. Below the logo is the new tag line for the country, “Rendez-vous en France” which has a loose meaning of “Meeting in France”.

The new symbol is actually a revision of the original proposal which actually shows her breasts. But this was deemed “too seductive” for tourists and was later changed to a more subtle version.

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Knowing more about frequent flyer rewards

b-travel — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:26:06 +0000

Frequent flyer rewards are offered by airline companies and other businesses to entice customers to do business with them on a consistent level. After the necessary number of points has been achieved, the traveller will usually opt to free their next domestic flight in charges.

Swapping free domestic flights for your frequent flyer points is actually the simplest you can do. But they are not necessarily the smartest option to get the best out of your frequent flyer points. If you really wanted to have the best for your frequent flyer, consider an upgrade to a business or first class.

Let’s consider the facts: a domestic ticket from New York to California will usually cost you around $350 and the first class ticket will cost you no less than $2,000. If you use your frequent flyer for a free flight, you will be rewarded with only $350 if converted to cash value. But if you upgrade, your frequent flyer reward will be more than $1,000 worth. The only difference between these deals is that you may have to pay an additional $50 fee for an upgrade. It will still require the same number of frequent flyer points.

But there’s a catch – airlines doesn’t offer this type of upgrade for frequent flyers freely. If you really want to get the almost free upgrade, opt for flights that will not be fully booked. These flights are red-eye flights (flights that leave at night) or midweek flights. You can easily upgrade to these flights to business or first class since they are rarely fully booked.

Refund tricks on an airline price change

b-travel — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:35:45 +0000

A good way of save on your airline ticket is to book your flight at least two months before the travel date. This will assure you of the lowest fee possible with few schedule changes.

But this setting is not necessarily true. Sometimes, you will find out that the same flight is actually being sold online in a lower fee. This is not actually a rip-off. There are times that you purchased the second or the third cheapest airfare and after some cancellations, the lowest fare has become available again. It might also be possible that the flight route is not that popular so the price has been changed to entice more travellers.

Unfortunately, the price difference will not be automatically refunded. There are even airlines that don’t offer price refund. American Airlines will downgrade the fare but you will be required to pay $150 for the change. That means if the price difference in AA flights is no more than $150, it’s not even worth it. Here are other rules in price change in other airlines: reimburse vouchers for price difference with no fee – United, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue. Reimburse vouchers but with fee upon use: Continental Airlines, Delta, US Airways, Northwest. Absolutely no reimbursement if ticket is non-refundable: AirTran, Spirit.

The buzz about Keystone Cops

b-travel — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:57:04 +0000

The common sentiment of the passengers going through Newquay airport is disappointment and frustration. The authorities of the airport are even dubbed as “Keystone Cops” because of their inability to move ahead and prevent any problem for happening in the airport. Airlines and passengers are accusing the airport authorities of gross negligence. Newquay Airport is being controlled and owned by Cornwall County Council and because of their inability to handle certain requirements; the airport will be temporarily closed from this month.

Cornwall County Council was unable to secure any license to operate from CAA or Civil Aviation Authority. Cornwall County Council has reported that the airport could be fully operational again on December 19 this year.

Airlines operating in this airport are the ones that will be highly affected. Thousands of passengers have to be informed of the new flight plan and would have to make some adjustments to accommodate complaints and requests for schedule changes. According to one of the airlines, they were only given four days to prepare for the immediate shut down of the airport.

The passengers that will be departing and arriving in the airport will be temporarily transferred to the nearest airport which is in Plymouth. It is highly advised to get in touch with the airline as soon as possible to ensure smooth transition although it is expected that flights in the alternate airport will be slightly delayed because of traffic.

So if you want to travel clever, avoid Newquay for the time being.

Refund tricks on an airline price change