Hi there,
Here I am again with some insightful information for you travellers out there. This is summer season and this means a lot of people are either boarding a flight or alighting from one. Summer is virtually every one's choice season of travelling especially with the children since they have a longer holiday during this season.
This breakdown however means that more people are travelling and it becomes more difficult to get choice seats, choice in the area of fare, preferred airlines and route, remember we discussed this some posts previously tagged YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE. For a lot of people, travelling during summer is stressful and I can tell you as a travel consultant it is also stressful for your consultant. It increases my process lines and time spent on these processes. For you as a client, you get to pay more than probably budgeted for initially.
The reality of this season that you must know also is that airlines all over the world overbook their flights, it is almost like a norm that is allowed and there is no rule against it. They will not do more than to compensate you in whatever form they deem fit should they not allow you to fly.
Let me inform you that it is better you do things right rather than having to argue for your right, this is why this write up is very important to you as a traveller at this time.
MY POINT OF VIEW:
1) To have a relatively easy travel always especially during summer, I'll advise that you book your ticket(s) early enough, before all the 11th hour travellers will join the queue, this will ensure you not only have perhaps the cheapest fare available, you also have a long allowance in term of time to pay. The rule is the nearer your travel date, the lesser time you are given to pay especially when there are a lot more people trying to get the seat(s) you are holding.
2) When you book early, you have the opportunity to have the peace of mind that you really need. Now I've heard a lot of clients say things like if they book early, the ticket might be cancelled, well nothing like that will happen as soon as the ticket has been properly issued.
3) I also will advise that if possible, you should always check in online before you leave for the airport. Having done this you are 90% assured that you will not be disallowed flying
4) Having checked in online though, this does not give you the right to get to the airport late. Let me give you an insight into what the airlines do, the moment they realise that the craft is almost full and there are still a lot of travellers trying to check-in, they will then probably put in the issue check in time. By this you will not stand a chance on any argument with them since on the rule, you are late. I am therefore advising you to check in online so you can jump the queue when you get to the airport and be sure you'll fly.
5) Ensure that your travel consultant lets you into information like, check in tme, opening and closing. boarding time and especially flight time. A lot of travellers though frequent travellers cannot read their tickets for information like time, some even think that when the flight is 10am, it means they can get to the airport by 9:45 am. Please ensure you get all this information in readable and understandable format and never guess on anything, IN DOUBT, ASK QUESTIONS
6) Also, ensure that you board on time, these steps will get you to wherever you're billed to travel to on the day reserved. However should you still be disallowed to fly after doing all these, then the airline will have to compensate you as you have abided by all their rules.
These steps highlighted above are just my POINT OF VIEW.
We are a one stop travel company. Our main target is to give our clients peace of mind all through their journey with our use of high professionalism and experience in solving all their travel logjams.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
UNACCOMPANIED MINOR: WHO ARE THEY?
I read a very interesting story on the Internet a couple of days ago that has informed my writing this piece. Two teenagers and a 10 year old were allowed to fly by an airline in USA without an ID. In the first place one would probably never have heard about this if the kids didn't end up in a wrong destination. These children will probably have gone and come back without even their parents noticing their absence.
A lot of explanations has been given by the airline and all concerned as to why their was no negligence on the part of the airline, "two of the children were over 12 and the 11yr old was obviously been accompanied" says Bridget Brown, TSA also has this to say "no need for ID".
After reading through the story, I suddenly realised that the rules as we presently have it are all targeted towards parent ensuring that their children, between the ages of 12 and18 do not decide to make any journey on their, if they chose to, then there wont be any law against the airline allowing them to. Many airlines all over the world allow children to fly alone though they all have different rules guiding them.
MY POINT OF VIEW: As a travel consultant, I'll say putting your children on any flight unaccompanied should not be your first option if you can avoid it, but should you not be able to, I have some tips listed that can help you and the child in having a stress and anxiety free travel;
1) All airlines have their age limit for unaccompanied minor but I would suggest you do not put a child under the age of 8 on any flight unaccompanied as this child might be too young to attend to the issues that might arise during the journey.
2) Only put them on non stop flights so as to reduce the risk this child will be exposed to, risk of missed flight or wrong connection for instance. Should you however need to put a child on a connecting flight, make it an older teenager.
3) Ensure there is adequate identification on this child apart from the Identification given out to the airline, that is if any has been required by the airline for the flight in question.
4) Do not allow your travel manager put the unaccompanied minor on the last flight of the day for the destination as this could be very dangerous should the child miss his or her reserved flight.
5) Ensure your child is not only old enough to be alone for the number of hours this flight will be for, he or she must also be seen to be psychologically fit to be alone and be in charge of his or her affairs for that lenght of time on issues like baggage and immigration especially if the airline will not be giving any flight assistance.
6) Ensure you check the child in early enough and stay with the child till you cannot be allowed to any longer, however ensure the child boards in your presence and also wait till the flight takes off before you leave the airport.
7) At the destination however, it is very necessary that the person asked to meet with this child is a responsible adult who will be available by the time the child gets through immigration at the airport, this is to avoid unnecessary anxiety for the child.
8) Please ensure you lecture the child on the safety of all travel documents that might be in the child's custody throughout the duration of the journey.
9) Ensure the child has a copy of all contact information you have supplied the airline even if he or she is an older teenager.If the child is old enough to make a call, ensure you provide the child with the means to make phone calls.
As you do all the above listed things however, still remember that you only take all these steps when your child has not decided to take off on his or her own without your consent, this is only MY POINT OF VIEW.
A lot of explanations has been given by the airline and all concerned as to why their was no negligence on the part of the airline, "two of the children were over 12 and the 11yr old was obviously been accompanied" says Bridget Brown, TSA also has this to say "no need for ID".
After reading through the story, I suddenly realised that the rules as we presently have it are all targeted towards parent ensuring that their children, between the ages of 12 and18 do not decide to make any journey on their, if they chose to, then there wont be any law against the airline allowing them to. Many airlines all over the world allow children to fly alone though they all have different rules guiding them.
MY POINT OF VIEW: As a travel consultant, I'll say putting your children on any flight unaccompanied should not be your first option if you can avoid it, but should you not be able to, I have some tips listed that can help you and the child in having a stress and anxiety free travel;
1) All airlines have their age limit for unaccompanied minor but I would suggest you do not put a child under the age of 8 on any flight unaccompanied as this child might be too young to attend to the issues that might arise during the journey.
2) Only put them on non stop flights so as to reduce the risk this child will be exposed to, risk of missed flight or wrong connection for instance. Should you however need to put a child on a connecting flight, make it an older teenager.
3) Ensure there is adequate identification on this child apart from the Identification given out to the airline, that is if any has been required by the airline for the flight in question.
4) Do not allow your travel manager put the unaccompanied minor on the last flight of the day for the destination as this could be very dangerous should the child miss his or her reserved flight.
5) Ensure your child is not only old enough to be alone for the number of hours this flight will be for, he or she must also be seen to be psychologically fit to be alone and be in charge of his or her affairs for that lenght of time on issues like baggage and immigration especially if the airline will not be giving any flight assistance.
6) Ensure you check the child in early enough and stay with the child till you cannot be allowed to any longer, however ensure the child boards in your presence and also wait till the flight takes off before you leave the airport.
7) At the destination however, it is very necessary that the person asked to meet with this child is a responsible adult who will be available by the time the child gets through immigration at the airport, this is to avoid unnecessary anxiety for the child.
8) Please ensure you lecture the child on the safety of all travel documents that might be in the child's custody throughout the duration of the journey.
9) Ensure the child has a copy of all contact information you have supplied the airline even if he or she is an older teenager.If the child is old enough to make a call, ensure you provide the child with the means to make phone calls.
As you do all the above listed things however, still remember that you only take all these steps when your child has not decided to take off on his or her own without your consent, this is only MY POINT OF VIEW.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
WHY DO YOU DO YOUR SUMMER ABROAD
Hi there, this is your travel consultant again and today I'm asking you a question you probably haven't asked yourself ever before. You are perhaps one of the jones's of this world who make their choices on what every other person is.
Lets get down to business, why do you do your summer abroad each year or better still why do you make sure your children do.
Travel is wide and very interesting both as a client and as a service provider that I am. Travelling abroad which can be anywhere from europe to america to united arab emirates is a fad both real and immaginary for a lot of people and as a travel consultant, I obviously want to sell my services but for us at IDARE SERVICES sales is not the issue but the service that we provide.
During summer every year, some part of the world simply become an extension of Lagos Nigeria, you can be sure of meeting someone you'll know on the street of such cities.
MY POINT OF VIEW: Travelling is a very important part of man's life and growth that I think should be seen as a learning course. Travelling can be for leisure but it will be good especially for our children when mixed with knowledge acquisition. Before you choose where to travel to next summer, maybe it will be good to ask, what will I or my children gain from this choice of place for an holiday. In my years of been a Travel consultant, I've seen a lot of people go to europe and USA up to ten times and claim it's for leisure, this I think is boring and uncalled for. If you have to travel for summer, I think it should be weighed against the issue of why, why should I travel at all and why to this particular place and not some other.
I encourage Travel by all means but I believe we should do a little more of educational travels especially for the sake of our children but you know me, I'll always tell you this is only MY POINT OF VIEW.
Lets get down to business, why do you do your summer abroad each year or better still why do you make sure your children do.
Travel is wide and very interesting both as a client and as a service provider that I am. Travelling abroad which can be anywhere from europe to america to united arab emirates is a fad both real and immaginary for a lot of people and as a travel consultant, I obviously want to sell my services but for us at IDARE SERVICES sales is not the issue but the service that we provide.
During summer every year, some part of the world simply become an extension of Lagos Nigeria, you can be sure of meeting someone you'll know on the street of such cities.
MY POINT OF VIEW: Travelling is a very important part of man's life and growth that I think should be seen as a learning course. Travelling can be for leisure but it will be good especially for our children when mixed with knowledge acquisition. Before you choose where to travel to next summer, maybe it will be good to ask, what will I or my children gain from this choice of place for an holiday. In my years of been a Travel consultant, I've seen a lot of people go to europe and USA up to ten times and claim it's for leisure, this I think is boring and uncalled for. If you have to travel for summer, I think it should be weighed against the issue of why, why should I travel at all and why to this particular place and not some other.
I encourage Travel by all means but I believe we should do a little more of educational travels especially for the sake of our children but you know me, I'll always tell you this is only MY POINT OF VIEW.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
ROLE MODEL TOUR
The Tourism aspect of IDARE SERVICES organises a tour package for children and teenagers tagged "ROLE MODEL TOUR". This tour is geared towards bringing men and women with proven integrity in our society close to our children and teenagers in order to hear their stories, how they started, what they've gone through and where they are NOW. This is to encourage our young ones and teenagers to start having positive and realistic expectations of themselves, also to give them better options of role models, people they can see, feel and possibly touch, as against the choices of role models that abound for them because of the environment they are being exposed to. We are also aiming to give especially the less priviledged among them the chance to know that the sky is just the starting place.
Our desires at the end of this ROLE MODEL TOUR for each of the children and teenagers we come across is to see a new breed of children and teenagers who know exactly at an early age what life expects of them, to see these children discovering purpose early in life and also to inculcate new values of hardwork,patience,respect,motivation but above all the fear of God.
This idea is not politically or religiously motivated rather we are just interested in salvaging what is letf of our children's pride and promise.
Yours
Murele Adepeju
Our desires at the end of this ROLE MODEL TOUR for each of the children and teenagers we come across is to see a new breed of children and teenagers who know exactly at an early age what life expects of them, to see these children discovering purpose early in life and also to inculcate new values of hardwork,patience,respect,motivation but above all the fear of God.
This idea is not politically or religiously motivated rather we are just interested in salvaging what is letf of our children's pride and promise.
Yours
Murele Adepeju
Monday, August 2, 2010
YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE
We all know this phrase don't we, if yes which would you take. As a travel consultant in Nigeria, one of the things that have driven this industry in my part of the world is what I'll call MONEY VS COMFORT.
As a travelller, would you pick an airline that you know will almost always fall from the sky because it is cheaper to fly on it and perhaps risk your life? Also, if you put the price into perspective, must you pay so much to travel from point A to point B if you can do the same distance at the cheaper price though without comfort and style?
Some airlines having looked at these two options have come up with yet another option for us DISTANCE. Would you fly from point A to point B for 20hrs if if can cover the same distance in 6hrs?
MY POINT OF VIEW- As a travel consultant, my job is simply to list out all the options available to my client, analyze each as much as possible and allow my client to make the choice. Since I won't be the one to pay, neither will I be the one to fly, the choice must enrtirely be yours.
Also, all the three key words mentioned here as as important as the other, conserning the COMFORT, any airline can fall of this sky you know, experience has shown that. If we also take a look at the MONEY, if for any reason you cannot afford to fly the expensive airline then pls go ahead and fly without the comfort, you'll still get there anyway it's a function of our expectations. The DISTANCE is however very interesting to me because you'll get pampered on at least most of these airlines as you pay with the flight time. Lastly like I said, make sure it is YOUR CHOICE as you'll be the one to go all the way and this will still always be MY POINT OF VIEW
Yours
Murele Adepeju Mrs (DTTM)
As a travelller, would you pick an airline that you know will almost always fall from the sky because it is cheaper to fly on it and perhaps risk your life? Also, if you put the price into perspective, must you pay so much to travel from point A to point B if you can do the same distance at the cheaper price though without comfort and style?
Some airlines having looked at these two options have come up with yet another option for us DISTANCE. Would you fly from point A to point B for 20hrs if if can cover the same distance in 6hrs?
MY POINT OF VIEW- As a travel consultant, my job is simply to list out all the options available to my client, analyze each as much as possible and allow my client to make the choice. Since I won't be the one to pay, neither will I be the one to fly, the choice must enrtirely be yours.
Also, all the three key words mentioned here as as important as the other, conserning the COMFORT, any airline can fall of this sky you know, experience has shown that. If we also take a look at the MONEY, if for any reason you cannot afford to fly the expensive airline then pls go ahead and fly without the comfort, you'll still get there anyway it's a function of our expectations. The DISTANCE is however very interesting to me because you'll get pampered on at least most of these airlines as you pay with the flight time. Lastly like I said, make sure it is YOUR CHOICE as you'll be the one to go all the way and this will still always be MY POINT OF VIEW
Yours
Murele Adepeju Mrs (DTTM)
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