A Trip News

The budget airline has its sights set on infrequent flyers for its new Melbourne-Sydney service. Clive Dorman reports.
A new fare war will be waged this winter when Singapore’s Tiger Airways begins flying between Australia’s two biggest cities, nearly two years after it set up its domestic operation in Australia.
Until now there has been only a two-way contest on the Melbourne Tullamarine-Sydney route between Qantas and Virgin Blue, while Qantas subsidiary Jetstar provides additional competition (more…)

A FEW moments of stunned silence was the response from three-year-old Holly Foard-Whitelaw when she cast her eyes on snow for the first time at Thredbo yesterday morning. Then it dawned on her: where were all the presents?
The snow and the “Christmas trees” surely meant that Santa was nearby.
“She was really excited,” said her mother, Caroline Foard, “but then when we told her [it wasn’t Christmas] she was still pretty excited to pick it up and throw it around, and make snowballs … it’s a (more…)

LACE up your boots, shoulder a pack, and head out on the North Country Trail this month from its origin in Crown Point, N.Y., and you could journey westward straight through the summer, past autumn’s falling leaves, and hike miles nonstop every day until snow blocks the path.
Just ask Andrew Skurka, a legend of long-distance backpacking who did exactly that in 2004, spending six months walking west from New York thousands of miles to the trail’s terminus in North Dakota . “It (more…)

Stay a little longer
Singapore is working hard to persuade travellers to make a stopover rather than transit to other destinations. Its Fabulous Singapore Stopover Package has a range of discounts including six hotels dropping prices to $1 for the first night’s accommodation, a free prepaid mobile phone card and vouchers for purchases at the retail and food and beverage outlets at Changi Airport.
You can also avail yourself of free ground transfers to and from the airport and unlimited use (more…)

Pilots of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Thursday agreed to end their go-slow protest over pay which had forced the flag carrier to cancel dozens of flights, the government said.
After negotiations with pilots and PIA management at the defence ministry in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, both sides had agreed to revert to a normal schedule, the government said in a statement.
“The talks were held in cordial atmosphere. The issues were discussed at length. Both sides came to a mutual agreement, (more…)

On a seven-day bus trip through Extremadura, a wild, rugged corner of Spain snuggled against the Portuguese border, I fell in love with this land that gave birth to many of the conquistadors. Pizarro, Cortés, Balboa, and other conquerors fled this remote place of sweltering summers and sailed the oceans hoping for riches.
These ambitious, ruthless men, who “discovered” Peru, Mexico, and Panama, among other places, changed Extremadura, pouring their bounty into the region’s cities and building (more…)

Restoration work at three major cultural sites in Tibet will be completed this year, Xinhua has reported. An investment of CNY300 million (US$44 million) will see the Chinese government carry out restoration work at Norbulinka, the former summer palace of the Dalai Lama, the Sayga Monastery, the chief monastery of the Sayga Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, and the Potala Palace,
The renovation of the three sites began in 2002. Of 166 projects at the three sites, 150 have already been completed. The final (more…)

INTERNATIONAL air fares have hit rock bottom but there is unlikely to be any further discounting this year, the travel industry has warned.
In the past few months, increased competition for customers has forced airlines to slash fares up to 65 per cent.
Return fares from Australia to Europe have dipped below $1450, while a return ticket from Sydney to Los Angeles is less than $1000.
However, the cost cutting cannot last and consumers have been advised to book travel now.
Justin Montgomery, (more…)

WHO: Trish Gannon, 43, of Winchester, and Jean Mello, 43, of Dublin.
WHERE: Northern Ireland.
WHEN: Three days in October.
WHY: Gannon took the opportunity to visit Mello while Mello was living in Dublin as part of her job for a Boston-area bank. The two have been friends since attending College of the Holy Cross in Worcester.
GIANT STEPS: Because the weather was nice when Gannon arrived in Dublin, they (more…)

More than 30,000 free seats on flights across Australia are being promoted by a low-cost Singapore based airline.
Tiger Airways says it is commemorating ANZAC day by offering the seats across selected domestic routes.
The catch is the flights need to be taken between June and September.
The seats can be booked between Friday until Monday, or until sold out.
The routes include Melbourne to Sydney and return, Adelaide to Canberra and return, Adelaide to Hobart and return, Melbourne to Adelaide (more…)