Travel Deals Review

Arriva Trains Wales
If you are aged over 55 you can now travel anywhere on the Arriva Trains Wales network for only £15 return. Tickets can be purchased at any train station booking office, or by calling ATW on 0870 9000 773. The offer ends on December 12th. For further details, visit arrivatrainswales.co.uk.

BMI
The airline is holding a sale until September 30th. Fly from London to Dublin (from £38), Amsterdam (from £40), Venice (from £42) and a host of other UK, European and worldwide destinations at reduced prices. Link: flybmi.com

British Airways
BA’s worldwide sale runs until September 22nd. Offers include return flights from London to New York from just £299. Link: britishairways.com.

Neilson
With the ski season almost upon us, Neilson is offering savings of up to £250 per couple on winter ski holidays. Link: neilson.co.uk.

Shearings
Shearings is holding a 72-hour sale (ends September 13th) for November holidays, with prices from £149 for a 5-day all inclusive break. Link: shearings.com.

More travel deals to follow very soon!

Here is a selection of last-minute deals from Jet2 Holidays:

Cyprus: Departing Leeds-Bradford, August 12th. 7 nights self catering at 2-star Lucky Apartments, Larnaca. £239 per person based on 2 sharing, excluding transfers. More info.

Turkey: Departing Manchester, August 10th. 7 nights B&B at 3-star Hotel Private, Icmeler. £250 per person based on 2 sharing. including transfers. More info.

Majorca: Departing Leeds-Bradford, August 16th. 7 nights room only at Africamar Apartments, C’an Picafort. £269 per person based on 2 sharing, including transfers. More info.

Costa Blanca: Departing Manchester, August 18th. 7 nights self catering at Evamar Apartments, Benidorm. £279 per person based on 2 sharing, including transfers. More info.

Crete: Departing Leeds-Bradford, August 18th. 7 nights B&B at Maria Apartments, Sissi. £299 per person based on 2 people sharing, including transfers. More info.

Costa del Sol: Departing Newcastle, August 20th. 7 nights self catering at 4-star Aparthotel El Pinar. £309 per person based on 2 people sharing, including transfers. More info.

All prices correct at time of publication.

Aer Arann

Aer Arann, the Irish short-haul airline, is offering 25% off all seats on all routes until midnight, August 3rd. Link: aerarann.com

Alamo

Get 10% off European car hire when you book with Alamo. Link: alamo.co.uk.

Brook Hotels

Brook Hotels has a selection of historic 3-star and 4-star hotels throughout England. When you book any 3 consecutive nights during August, you’ll only have to pay for 2 nights. Link: brook-hotels.co.uk.

DirectSki

Save up to 30% with the DirectSki pre-season sale, which runs until midday, August 13th. Link: directski.com

Expedia

Expedia’s ‘Everything Must Go’ promotion, with loads of holidays at discounted prices, ends on August 17th. Link: expedia.co.uk.

Les Charmettes

Save £100 per week between August 15th and August 29th at this privately-owned mobile home, which is situated at Les Charmettes holiday park in south-west France. Link: solsearch.eu/france.

P&V Holidays

P&V Holidays, which provides accommodation in France and Spain, is currently offering up to 20% off when you book 2 consecutive weeks between August 15th and 29th. Link: pv-holidays.com/august_holiday

UK and Ireland customers can also get an additional discount of at least 20% by using the booking code; 8258. Link: pv-holidays.com/beatstheeuro_ms

Shearings Holidays

Save £50 per person on selected European coach holidays when you book online with Shearings. Choose from destinations such as Austria, Switzerland, Lake Como and the Rhine Valley. Link: shearings.com.

Warner Leisure Hotels

Warner is offering savings of £100 per room on all August breaks at country locations. Book before August 5th. Link: warnerleisurehotels.co.uk.

As a follow-up to last week’s blog post about Holiday Crunch, I thought I’d highlight a few more travel offer websites:

ABTA

The Association of British Travel Agents represents more than 750 tour operators and over 5,000 travel agencies. Their website contains a comprehensive selection of holiday offers listed in chronological order.

abta.com/find-a-holiday/travel-offers

AiTO

Like ABTA, the Association of Independent Tour Operators also publishes a list of deals on its website. You can keep up to date with these by subscribing to the AiTO newsletter.

aito.co.uk/HolidayList.asp?type=special

Daily Mail

The Daily Mail’s editorial team keeps track of the very best travel deals.

dailymail.co.uk/travel/article…

UK Travel Offers

UK Travel Offers is the latest website from the creators of UKSeries, UKattraction and others. Despite being a ‘work-in-progress’, the site looks very promising.

uktraveloffers.com

Ski Concierge

With the rain pouring down it feels like winter is nearly upon us, so you may want to look at Ski Concierge which posts a fortnightly round-up of ski deals on its blog.

ski-concierge.com/blog/

The Times

The Times Online promises ‘the best last minute travel deals and bargains’, although it does tend to favour the long haul destinations.

timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article5314276.ece

Wanderlust

The Wanderlust magazine, aimed at independent-minded and adventurous travellers, publishes a weekly round-up of travel deals each Friday.

wanderlust.co.uk/hotoffers

Best Western

Save 25% when you stay at least 3 nights (20% for 2-night stays) at participating Best Western hotels before September 30th. Book by August 31st. Link: bestwestern.co.uk.

Casa Montana

Save 50% when you book a fortnight’s rental (August 16th-30th) at this Spanish townhouse in Bocairent. Link: casamontanaspain.iowners.net/

Ebookers

Ebookers is offering up to 30% off at selected hotels in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and several other destinations in the UK and Ireland. Book by July 31st. Link: ebookers.com.

Hostelbookers

Hostelbookers is offering up to 70% off European hostel beds in its summer sale which starts August 1st. Link: hostelbookers.com

National Express

If you are aged 60 or over you automatically qualify for discounted fares on National Express coaches, with up to 50% off during off-peak times, and up to 30% off during peak times. Link: nationalexpress.com.

Pegasus Airlines

Turkey’s leading no-frills airline begins a summer sale on July 29th. Fly to Istanbul (from £49.99 one way), northern Cyprus (from £79.99 one way) or a host of other popular holiday destinations. Link: flypgs.com

Premier Inn

Premier Inn is offering thousands of UK hotel rooms at just £29 per night, subject to terms and conditions. Link: premierinn.com

Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways is holding a summer sale until August 15th. Fly return from London to Dubai (from £229), Delhi (from £273), Hong Kong (from £297) and several other worldwide destinations. Link: qatarairways.com.

Virgin Holidays Cruises

Virgin has a ‘2 for 1′ Mediterranean cruise offer (2nd passenger travels free) on the Costa Serena or Costa Fortuna in 2010. Prices include return flights and Venice water taxi transfer. Book by August 7th, 2009. Link: virginholidayscruises.co.uk

If you are looking for the latest special offers from holiday home owners, then why not try Holiday Crunch? No, it’s not a breakfast cereal, but a website from the creator of goglamping and holidaypad.

Launched in March 2009, Holiday Crunch allows independent rental owners to highlight their offers via Twitter. And as the recession tightens its grip, some attractive last-minute deals have appeared on the website, with discounts of up to 40% or even 50% not uncommon.

Door2Door

A 2-day London break departing August 30th costs just £59 per person (single room, 2 people sharing) including accommodation and travel. Single rooms are also available at £77. Link: door2tour.com

Hoseasons

Book a family break at a UK holiday park before July 31st and save up to £50. Link: hoseasons.co.uk

Irish Ferries

Get an extra 10% off all Irish Ferries routes with the ‘X1AUG9′ discount code. Enter this code into the promotional box when you book online. The offer ends on August 7th and is valid for travel until December 31st, 2009. Link: irishferries.com

Olympic Holidays

Olympic Holidays has a number of last minute deals available, including a 7-night all-inclusive break to Rhodes, departing from Manchester on July 22nd, from £399 per person. Link: olympicholidays.com

RailEurope

Save up to 75% on first-class travel on the French rail network. Fares start from £17.50 one way. Book by August 23rd. Link: raileurope.co.uk

Shearings

Get £20 per person off the brochure price when you book a European Christmas markets trip online. Link: shearings.com

Somak

Enjoy 2 weeks at a 4-star hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, for £1,399 per person. The price includes flights, plus a free private beach dinner and massage. Departures in November 2009 and April/May 2010. Link: somak.com

Thomson Holidays

Thomson is offering a 10% discount on all holidays departing in July and August from Birmingham, Cardiff, East Midlands, Manchester and Newcastle. Link: thomson.co.uk

Virgin Holidays

This weekend Virgin Holidays is offering 10% off all bookings departing between November 1st 2009 and April 30th 2011. The offer runs until 10pm, July 21st. Link: virginholidays.co.uk

As children across the UK break up for their school holidays, it is a good time to think of those families who can not afford to go away together. The Family Holiday Association (FHA) has been helping families like these for over 30 years. Thanks to the efforts of the charity, around 1,600 deprived families were able to enjoy a holiday in 2008. The FHA hopes to help a similar number this year.

To be elegible for FHA assistance, families must meet the following criteria:

• must be on a low income
• must have at least one child aged between three and 18.
• must not have had a holiday within the last four years

The FHA was founded in 1975 by Joan and Pat Laurance. The charity’s patrons include the Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathon Sacks, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and the former Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor. To find out more about the FHA or to make a donation, visit their website at fhaonline.org.uk.

Related Links

chicks.org.uk - Country Holidays for Inner City Kids helps disadvantaged children enjoy an activity break.

dreammakerschildrenscharity.com - holidays for children who are seriously or terminally ill.

happydayscharity.org - holidays and days out for young people with special needs.

mangoholidays.co.uk - group holidays for single parent families.

singleparent.travel - escorted holidays for single parent families.

Bmibaby

The no frills airline is holding a summer sale for travel in July and August. Flights cost from £9.99 including taxes and charges, subject to availability. Book by midnight, July 14th. Link: bmibaby.com

easyJetHolidays

Get £75 off an easyJet holiday with their promotional code, ‘PACK4SUMMERSALE’ (enter this into the promotional code box when you book online). The code expires on July 15th and is valid on holidays departing between September 1st and October 22nd inclusive, subject to terms and conditions. Link: http://holidays.easyjet.com

Eurostar

The Eurostar summer sale is now on. Save up to 50% on a Eurostar + Hotel package to Brussels or Paris. Link: eurostar.com

Lastminute

Lastminute has up to 50% off hotel rooms in cities throughout the world. Flight and hotel packages are also avaialble from £84 per person. Link: lastminute.com

Opodo

Save up to 40% with the Opodo summer hotels sale which ends on August 17th. The choice of worldwide destinations includes Bangkok (from £27), Dublin (from £30) and Las Vegas (from £19). Link: promos.opodo.co.uk

PGL

PGL currently has some interesting offers available, including savings of £150 per child on selected 7-night UK multi-activity holidays. Link: pgl.co.uk

P&O Ferries

Enjoy a day trip to France for just £2 per person with P&O Ferries. The offer is valid for foot passengers travelling on the Dover-Calais route (depart after 8.25am, return before 9pm the same day). Extra supplements apply on Fridays and at Weekends. Book by September 29th for travel before September 30th. Link: poferries.com

P&V Holidays

P&V holidays is one of the leading providers of holiday accommodation in France. The company is currently offering an exclusive voucher code (’8258′) to UK and Ireland cutomers. Quote this code during the booking process, and you will get 22% off all residences during July and August. The code may be used in conjuction with other offers. Link: pv-holidays.com/beatstheeuro_ms

TransIndus

TransIndus has cut the price of its 16-day tour of northern India by £1000 to £1994 per person. The offer is valid on departures until September 15th. Link: transindus.co.uk.

Virgin Atlantic

To celebrate its 25th birthday, Virgin Atlantic is holding a special worldwide sale. Many offers available, including ecomomy flights from the UK to New York from £259, Boston from £279, Orlando from £308 and Nairobi from £359. Book by 10pm, July 14th. Link: virgin-atlantic.com

Leading price comparison website Skyscanner, which until recently concentrated solely on flights, can now offer its users hotel and car hire search as well. Powered by Australian company HotelsCombined, Skyscanner’s hotel search tool provides access to over 200,000 hotels thoughout the world. The Ireland-based website CarTrawler is behind the new car hire facility.

Frank Skivington, commercial vice-president of Skyscanner, said: ‘It’s all part of the strategy for Skyscanner to become a one stop shop for travel, building on our already immensely popular flight search engine.”