So I was not entirely surprise – but cautiously thrilled – to learn that the airline is now flying direct to two destinations that I’m looking forward to visiting. Firstly Marrakech, which is one I’ve been to a few times – but always through London which often meant the journey took over 8 hours. Also though, to Croatia.

And for those of you interested in Croatia I can thoroughly recommend this site:

http://www.croatiatraveller.com/index.htm

which has plenty of interesting information on getting good value out of this destination, as well as using ferries and buses to get around the country. It’s stuffed with adverts, but actually the site itself is really helpful. Think I’m going to commit a carbon sin and buy a £50 return flight to Zadar. Wish me luck!#

I was looking again on the Choice Hoildays Direct website who claim to be specialists on long stay holidays to Malta in the Winter. I’ve written about it before, but it’s worth stressing that spending a month or three in Malta during the winter period is a fabulous idea not only because it’s mild (being right in the Mediterranean) but also fairly cheap.

Add to the mix the perk of a free flight, and you’ve got yourself a deal! That’s what is being offered at the moment

http://www.choiceholidaysdirect.co.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=00825

Worth checking out if you’re thinking about a long stay in Malta.

Another alternative if you want to spend longer than 6 months on Malta is Dhalia.com which allows you to search through rental properties. Be aware though that the minimum rental period for these properties is 6 months. That website also has plenty of properties for sale which may be of interest.

Bored with business class? Have lots of time and money? Well, I’ve got an idea for you!

Seabourn is a cruise company that caters for the top end of the market in smaller, more intimate cruise ships. Actually, it prefers to call them ‘yachts’, and to refer to the experience as yachting. With a typical crew of 160 to assist 280 passengers, you know you’re going to get looked after. All cruises include seriously high-end dining, with free wine, champagne and spirits.

Their ships also have a unique self-lowering harbour which is used for watersports. Pretty nifty!

Anyway, I’ve been hankering for one of these trips for quite a while now, so when I found this trip on the VacationsToGo site, I nearly wet myself. 60 nights onboard one of these Seabourn yachts, starting in Rome and going all the way to Singapore, via Dubai, India, Thailand etc.

Just remember to factor in the detox bill from the Betty Ford clinic after all that indulging!

One week starts from around £147 per person, including flights from regional airports and staying in a four star hotel near the sea in Malta.

Choice Holidays who are offering these deals are taking advantage of Ryan Air flights, and combining them with their own hotel purchasing power to give people good deals. And I’m absolutely for it! If someone else has the headache of booking Ryan Air flights for you, then it’s not a bad idea to take advantage of it.

I’m not sure whether Choice have managed to negotiate anything with the airlines themselves. It’s not uncommon for travel agents to buy up large numbers of seats at a reduced fare, and then bundle them with hotel deals and mark them up. Since Ryan Air’s business strategy is so different from many other airlines, I’d be interested to know if that’s what’s going on.

However they manage to do it, it’s got to be a pretty good deal. Just remember to check out the TripAdvisor website before you book! Oh, and check on Kayak to make sure you’re not getting ripped off. At these prices though, that’s unlikely.

Choice Holidays > Malta deals

One of the most depressing things about 21st century travel has to be dealing with luggage. Packing it, taking it to the airport, unpacking it, lugging it up and down escalators — you get the idea. I’m constantly baffled when I see celebrities like Victoria Beckham and Joan Collins pushing trolleys at airports full of (albeit very expensive) luggage.

Surely far more civilised is to have your luggage sent ahead! A few times I’ve thought about using my courier account to send suitcases a few days in advanced to their destination. I’ve never actually gone through with it though. I did help one friend send his belonging back from Ireland where he’d relocated for six months — low cost airlines charge as much as £20/kg if you go over the limit.

The point of this post however, is to share with you Seabourne’s “Personal Valet” service. And long may it reign! Someone comes to your house, picks up your luggage and then essentially delivers it to your room, and unpacks everything. How marvellous! I really do think this is one of those added extras that’s worth paying for. Ok, Seabourne’s cruises (sorry : ‘yachting experiences’) cost upwards of about £3,000 but they definitely go the extra mile.

http://www.seabourn.com/PlanACruise/Personal/

I’m always watching the rather brilliant icelolly.com website for good deals – even if I have absolutely no intention of travelling. The deals they offer are somewhat staggering, although a quick flick over to tripadvisor reveals that many of the cheapest deals are in sub-standard hotels. Having said that, for cheap trips to Spain, you can do a lot worse than to check out this website first.

I found this rather tempting trip for only £60 per person, including return flights from Edinburgh and three nights’ hotel accomodation. Difficult to imagine a cheaper deal than that (bearing in mind that the flight alone would usually cost twice that).

http://ow.ly/1FmIk

This particular one is at the hotel Merce which gets a 73% thumbs up on Tripadvisor (pretty rare for a hotel in this category). Your £60 won’t cover the transfer from the airport to the hotel which is around 70km. Hiring a car would be a great way to see this fantastic part of Spain – much of which is overlooked by most tourists. However, it’s likely that your car hire would cost almost the same as the package. But then at £60, who cares?

Just to drum the point home about TripAdvisor, the next option up is the rather smarter looking Hotel Flamingo. It’s just £6 more for the trip and going by the photos the hotel looks immeasurably better. However a glance at the reviews on Trip Advisor show that it’s probably one to avoid, with 37 out of 86 travellers rating the hotel as “Terrible”. Not so good.

Think of India.

One other tip for those thinking of India as a holiday destination. Although airfares have come down considerably in the last couple of years with the increased competition, you can get an absolute steal by looking for trips to Goa around November. If you’re prepared to hop on a plane tomorrow, you can get a return flight to Goa from London or Manchester for under £200. More about that nearer the time…

Remember that volcano? Yeah – the one you couldn’t pronounce. Well, it was over a week ago now so no doubt you need reminding. A massive volcano errupted on Iceland and prevented tens of thousands of passengers from flying into British airspace. There was a lot of talk by the government to send the Royal Navy to go and pick people up from Spain. In the end, only one ship was sent.

At least that’s what I thought. In fact, Celebrity Eclipse was also sent in as part of a rescue operation, seemingly financed by Celebrity themselves. A pretty good gesture, Travelay thinks. The ship is due to launch this summer, and was doing a few days of showing off in British waters before being called into duty.

The ship actually looks stunning, and is the first at sea to feature a lawn on the deck. No doubt those stranded Britons deserved a martini or three for their troubles. I’m secretly dying to take a trip on this beast of a ship, not least because it also features an apple lounge, where you can hang out and play with Macs. Nice work if you can get it!

What’s more depressing than that old question “chicken or beef”? Start talking about airline food and someone’s bound to roll their eyes and start groaning. It’s rare to have a good culinary experience in the sky – partly because catering at 35,000ft is difficult but also because our taste buds aren’t as receptive at that altitude.

The site www.airlinemeals.net is a somewhat impartial gallery of airline food snapped by savvy travellers. Spot the difference between Air Lingus “lobster omlette” and some of the less palatable offerings from other airlines.

It’s pretty interesting, but leaves me thinking that the big advantage of sitting up front (i.e. business or first) is that you get proper crockery and cutlery. It’s not the food that I find so objectionable about eating in the cheap seats at the back, it’s the fact that there’s depressingly little space to manoeuver your cutlery.

Anyway, check it out – it’s interesting to compare different airlines.

Economy can be terribly uncomfortable – particularly on very long journeys. With that in mind, Air New Zealand (which runs some of the longest flights in the world) has launched a new product in their 777-300 aircraft. The way it works is to offer a couple the chance to buy three seats instead of two. The row then folds out and creates a mini bed. Not exactly the lap of luxury, but still a lot more comfortable than sitting up.

There’s also another neat feature that I’m excited to try out — ordering drinks from your seat-back TV. Just scroll through popular drinks, press the one you want and one of the lovely Air NZ cabin crew will deliver it to you on a little tray. How marvellous! Travelay approves!

I was inspired recently by the MoneySavingExpert website, which tried to see if it could save a businessman money. The chap in question was told where he’d be going the night before, and didn’t ever bother booking ahead. Instead, he just rocked up at the train station on the day and then bought the ticket on the platform.

What the MoneySavingExpert found was that even if you go online an hour before the train leaves, you’re bound to save money. In the example, there were plenty of saver return fares available for around £65, whereas the full fare on the platform was over £150.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets

My advice when booking between Edinburgh and London is always to plan ahead. If you can, start looking over three months before you’re planning to go – I know that sounds difficult! If you put in your dates and the fares haven’t been released yet, the website (Eastcoast.co.uk or TheTrainline.com) will notify you when the cheap seats go on sale.

Doing that, I’ve managed to get a return in standard class for £26 — the cheapest return fare on the platform would cost you around £90.

There’s also the option of  1st class, which can sometimes just be a few quid extra –particularly if you’re less organised when booking. Be sure to check both.

One last time, the EastCoast.co.uk website also gives you 5% off tickets and does not charge you for using a credit card or having your tickets sent in first class mail. Pretty good! I must say, I think the service has also improved since the line was taken into public hands.