Fly Ryanair and gamble

Ryanair’s latest potential cash generating scheme is to provide in-flight gambling. No fills Ryanair already charge for the ‘frills’ such as food, luggage and movies, and, more famously ice if they could get away with it, are now considering providing gambling on board its planes. News reports say that gambling operators have expressed interest, although there are no formal talks underway.

Ryanair’s Chief Exec warns of reduction in low cost operators

Ryanair and easyJet are widely credited to have helped transform Europe’s low cost airline industry. Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O'Leary recently warned the World Low Cost Airlines Congress that “there will a bloodbath in Europe this winter” in the budget air sector. “The bloodbath will reach all the companies,” said O'Leary, who has previously predicted that only one or two large low-fares airlines will be left flying the skies of Europe in the medium term. Competition in the low cost, no frills airline industry is intensifying. In 2000 there were just five low-cost airlines in Europe, now there are 49, according to Wolfgang Kurth, president of the European Low Fares Airline Association and chief executive of TUI's no-frills carrier Hapag-Lloyd Express. Webster told the conference that low-cost airlines could take advantage of short-haul routes likely to be neglected by the larger, established carriers.

Ryanair adopts a school

Cause related marketing is a live and well. Ryanair’s Head of Communications Paul Fitzsimmons recently said: “It’s back to school time for parents everywhere, and we’re giving people an opportunity to grab a back to school bargain with flights for ONLY 10p on many of our routes from Stansted and at the same time help our adopted school Mountfitchet High School. We will sell 200,000 seats at this fare, which means we can donate £20,000.00 to the school. It is fitting that as http://www.ryanair.com is Europe’s biggest travel website, that Mountfitchet High School is to use our donation to further upgrade their IT facilities for pupils. We would urge passengers to book quickly as demand will be huge and to remember that not only will they fly with Europe’s No.1 low fares airline, but they will also be helping school children further their computer education.”

Announcing the support for Mountfitchet High School at a photo call in the school, Mountfitchet High School Headmistress, Jo Mullis said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by Ryanair as their adopted school. Ryanair’s support comes at an important time, because with this help we can buy computer equipment for our pupils, which will help us to achieve our goal of becoming an IT merited school. We hope lots of people will buy their Ryanair flight knowing that Ryanair are donating the entire fare to our school project.” Pass the sick bag, somebody.

Ryanair told to pay back EU subsidy

No-frills Irish airline Ryanair has said that it would repay EUR4 million in subsidies it received to operate from Belgium's Charleroi Airport, pending an appeal to the European Court of Justice. In February, European Union regulators told Ryanair to repay EUR3.9 million (USD$4.97 million) to the regional government of Wallonia in southern Belgium, which had offered Ryanair cheap rates at the region's Charleroi Airport. “(Ryanair) agreed to repay EUR4 million in an escrow account until Ryanair's appeal is heard,” the airline said in a statement. The money will go into a blocked account, to which Ryanair will regain access if it wins its appeal. “We remain very confident that we will win,” Chief Executive Officer Michael O'Leary told a news conference in Brussels. O'Leary said the airline reserved the right to quit Charleroi if an adverse ruling raised costs, but said he intended to keep operations at their current level until then.

Find the answers

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Stanley: I recently (September 2004) visited my friends in Veliky Novgorod, Russia and stayed in their flat for about a week. There is a requirement to submit a entrance document as well as an exit document upon departure. The exit document must be stamped on the back to be valid. My host in Novgorod took me to the local Russian Government office to take care of the necessary exit stamp and we were told that we must register at a local hotel where they will affix the necessary stamp on the back of my exit permit. The one night at a local hotel cost me 310 roubles for a room I did not need or use just to get the required exit stamp.

I discussed this procedure with my host who just shrugged and I understood that it does not make any sense but this is Russia! It’s best to be forewarned for tourists travelling to Russia. I had a Russian accompany me on two trips to the local government office to translate for me otherwise I would not have understood the procedure to acquire the necessary stamp on my exit permit. E-mail: Smsagara2@aol.com

Mac: Retired Military 81 year old Stanley Matachi Sagara has passed on to me these military tips and experiences. He has visited 66 countries. “I like to take capped ball point pens when I travel. It protects ink from accidentally soiling my shirt pocket (it ruined several shirts before I switched). Someone is always lacking a pen when its time to fill out arrival cards. I loan them my ball point pen but retain the cap so that I have some assurance of getting my pen returned. If not the borrower will have an ink stain in HIS shirt pocket.

Carrying buttoned and folded clothes to eliminate wrinkles in clear plastic zip lock bags makes it easy to locate an item of clothing and makes it easy to pack and repack when necessary. The air in these plastic bags kept his suitcase afloat when his suitcase onetime fell in ocean but did not sink. (In asking what travellers carry I find that zip lock bags is one item that is mentioned again and again) Sagara carries a suitcase with roller blade wheels with nylon bearings the one type that is dependable for easy movement over rough services.

He gave me a nylon bath body cloth that he likes. It is 14 inches wide and about '30 inches (l meter) long. It removes dead skin and is invigorating, comes in hard, medium and soft. He says it is long enough to scrub the back completely without having to shower with a friend. In Japan about US$6.00. In Taiwan and China for about half that price. Since it is made of nylon it can be packed damp in another one of those zip lock bags and it will not mildew.

I did not get this from Sagara but read elsewhere that some of the French policemen along Boulevard St Germain in Paris are now on rollerblades (roller skates) and that all trashcans in Paris are now plastic (zip lock?) bags.

Happy Travelling. Mac

We are sorry to say that Mac is not very well, but he is still e-mailing strong and recently sent the Beetle a collection of Mac reminiscences including those about a hotel room with a vibrating bed and an Indian astrologer.

I am reminded in my correspondence about travel of a vibrating bed I found one time on checking into a budget hotel in Hong Kong. I discovered after I had checked in that it was a rendezvous hotel for Chinese older citizens. No young people checked in but older Chinese that wanted a romantic interlude. I was slow to catch on. There were mirrors on the ceiling and on the wall and I thought gee this is unusual for a budget hotel. I laid down and thought I was switching off the light switch and I switched on the switch that started the bed to rumbling. I at first thought it was an earthquake. I am always slow to catch on.

I one time was on a bus in Mexico City when there was an earthquake and I thought it was just a rough road and bus with bad springs. When I got to my destination everyone was out on the street from that budget hotel. I knew a lady there that had been in same hotel in San Miguel De Allende. The hotel in Mexico City was run by a religious order something like the Quakers. She volunteered there and laughed when I asked her why everyone was out in the street to greet me! Incidentally the hotel in Hong Kong was called The Hilton. They swiped the name from the more expensive Hilton Hotel. It is like calling a hotel The Ritz when it is anything but the Ritz. I really liked that hotel though. It had windows you could open and look out on very busy street. I had been on a package tour where the four or five star deluxe hotel in Hong Kong that was included had been so cold and I could never get the air conditioning off. My cheap hotel had overhead fan which I liked better. The deluxe hotel had a mat in elevator that gave you the day of the week each day woven into the mat. They had a grand piano on a float in pond but for some reason I was never comfortable there so at the end of the tour I moved into the unusual budget hotel and was happy there. It was in a less touristy part of Nathan Road at maybe in the direction of Nathan Road. Just ask for the other Hilton.

I just read that a writer wrote that Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris is a “Third World Airport” It brought out some travel memories. After getting radiation for prostrate cancer I started travelling before I was completely well. At a stop on a tour bus in southern India I started to get up from my seat when I realized I had bled from my rear end onto the seat. I didn’t want to panic the Indian tourists so decided I would sit in my seat until they were all off and then run like hell. All were off but one Indian gentleman who stopped by my seat on way out and asked if I was alright. For some strange reason I blurted out my problem. It turned out he was an Indian doctor who was a cancer specialist at Sloane Kettering Cancer Hospital in New York City and just on vacation in India. He gave me some medicine to stop the bleeding and gave me address of where he was staying in New Delhi if I needed more help.

I continued on to Paris and at Charles De Gaulle airport I started bleeding again. Although I had a ticket on Air France for security reasons they would not let me use their toilet. I went down the street to a police station and by hand motions (not an easy thing to do) asked if could use their toilet. They did not arrest me for obscenity but directed me to their toilet that they evidently had criminals use. It had no door so they at desk could watch the prisoners when in toilet I guess.

I did not want them to know I was bleeding so had to wipe myself as far as possible out of their sight. I then went to a Protestant church (closer than Catholic) and by chance there was an American Protestant minister there and I asked him if there was a military hospital or American hospital. He tried to get thorough to American Embassy but couldn’t to ask them. By this time I had stopped bleeding and went back to airport and still made flight out. On that experience I too call Charles De Gaulle airport a turd world airport.

In New Delhi at the YWCA (they took men as well as women) I had to share my room with another Indian doctor. This time a dentist. He said he could tell my fortune but had to wait until the sun came up in the morning. He told me I had cancer and that I had been in the military and some other things that I had not told him (unless I talked in my sleep) That too was a little strange.

Another experience I had with Air France was that in South America they have a cheap flight from French Guinea to France. People from all over South American go to French Guinea to catch this flight. The flight started in Peru I believe but I picked it up in Northern Brazil (the town on the Amazon I cant think of its name) There was only three of us passengers on this huge 747 and all they gave us was a stale roll. When I asked if I could have a second one I was told they did not have enough. So much for French cuisine. Maybe they picked up their food in French Guinea along with most of the passengers.

I was only going as far at French Guinea. They had French Foreign Legion at their airport as guards. They wanted each of us three to go in separate taxis into town. I showed them my retired military ID and they let us all go then in same taxi. Maybe they thought I was an official. The hotels were full so we had to stay in a French whore house. People from British guinea would come over to use it. It was a hotel but the girls were upstairs. We could not get a room until three AM when night’s activities were over. I got to my room and I got a phone call and I was told I had to go to a doctor. I was told that the girl from that room was sick. I said there has been no girl in this room. They apologized. I went down stairs as it was now about six Am and there was the other two from airplane and we decided to walk into town to see if we could find open cafe. The other passengers were a European that ran a taxi in New York City. He would work long enough until he had enough money to travel and then he and his wife would travel. The other passenger was a European writer for Mad Magazine. He was delighted with our unusual hotel and said: “this is just like in the movies!” Travel can be fun, well, at least interesting!

If you would like to contact Mac, he is happy to answer e-mails: macsan400@yahoo.com

1. The Czech Republic has more Internet Service Providers than any other non-English speaking country.

2. Andorra has no unemployment, which is just as well because they have no broadcast TV channels either.

3. Andorrans live the longest, four years longer than in neighbouring France and Spain.

4. China's labour force stands at 706 million people, almost three times that of Europe and twice that of North and South America combined

5. China has the most workers, so it's a good thing they've also got the most TV's.

6. Clipperton Island wins our prize for the most unusual looking country.

7. Israel enjoys a GDP per capita 21 times that of the Palestinian West Bank and 33 times that of the Gaza Strip. Its military spending per capita tops the world.

8. North Korea spends the most of its GDP on its military.

9. Luxembourgers are the world's richest people – and also the most generous.

10. Indians go out to the movies 3 billion times a year.

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Avalon Travel Publishing announces the release of the 7th edition of Moon Handbooks Fiji, the original travel guide to the 322-island Fiji archipelago.

Since 1985, Moon Handbooks Fiji has been the leading travel guidebook to Fiji. Author David Stanley began writing about the South Pacific in 1979, and over the years tens of thousands of Pacific travellers have used his guides to Fiji, Tahiti, Tonga, Samoa, and the South Pacific.

Unlike the maps in other guidebooks which contain confusing numbered keys, the 53 maps in Moon Handbooks Fiji are clearly labelled. To allow for detail, three maps of Fiji's capital Suva are included, and two of the gateway city Nadi.

In this 7th edition, all local telephone numbers are increased from six digits to seven, reflecting a recent change by Telecom Fiji. Internet and email addresses are now embedded in the listings for ease of reference.

Rob Kay of FijiGuide.com has this to say about Moon Handbooks Fiji: “Packed with great maps it also has resources such as a comprehensive bibliography, and tips on local etiquette. More importantly, Stanley excels at getting accurate information on hotels, inexpensive restaurants and tourist sites. However there is another reason why his guide is valuable. Stanley does not simply list the properties in alphabetical order and expect the reader to determine what's best. Based on personal visits and feedback from visitors, he will actually offer you an opinion and the straight facts.”

Priced at US$17.95, this book is distributed in the United States by Publishers Group West, in Canada by Publishers Group Canada, in Europe by HI Marketing, and in Australia and New Zealand by Bookwise International. For more information, visit http://www.southpacific.org/fiji.html