US implements new security rules for travellers

I wrote a while ago about the planned tighter security controls on flights to the US. These arrangements came into force last Thursday. The new rules were introduced after the US wanted to introduce a laptop ban on all flights to the US. They subsequently agreed with the EU to implement a different security protocol due to concerns about lithium batteries in the aircraft hold.

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have also ramped up security requirements for domestic flights. Travellers must now remove all electronics larger than phones from their carry-on luggage into separate bins for X-ray machines.

The new measures will not all be visible to passengers. They include extra surveillance of aircraft and departure gate at the airport as the US is concerned about airport insiders handing explosive to passengers airside. The more obvious steps will be more explosives trace checks and passenger interviews. These type of interviews have already been in place for some time for US airlines. They do ask some odd questions, some of which can seem quite personal, so don’t be surprised. These checks will either take place at check-in, the lounge or the gate depending on whether you are checking luggage, transferring or have hand luggage only. None of the airlines seem to be applying the changes in exactly the same way with some indicating the interview may, in fact, be a form for passengers to fill in.

Have you travelled to the US since Thursday? Have you noticed any difference? Let me know in the comments below or on social media.

25% off Heathrow parking with Good to Go

I have written about Good To Go Parking a few times before. Good to go Parking is the official Heathrow Airport leisure parking. It is usually cheaper than booking through Heathrow Airport’s main parking direct but you do need to stay a Saturday night to use Good to Go. Good to Go uses exactly the same car parks as Heathrow Official Parking. They offer the following services:

Good To Go Drop & Ride – Drop off your car and take a quick a fast, regular shuttle bus to Departures.

Good To Go Park & Ride – Fast, regular shuttle buses to terminal.

Good To Go Meet & Greet – They park your car for you while you take a short walk to Departures.

Good to Go have a new promotion when you book before 12 November 2017 and enter the car park before 17 November 2017. You will get 25% off their usual rates with code 25OFF. You can book and find more details here.

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FHR parking 20% off

FHR is my preferred booking site for airport parking with a wide range of parking companies to book with and frequent special offers. They are currently offering up to 20% off Airport hotels and parking. They cover most major UK airports including Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

I usually book ‘meet and greet’ parking through FHR.  FHR offer a variety of parking options, including several meet and greet companies. The 2 companies I have used are Business Meet and Greet and Meteor. I have been happy with the service from both companies. I mainly use Business Meet and Greet which are part of Purple Parking. You simply park in the short term car park, hand your keys in at their desk by the lifts and then you are on your way in a few minutes. Some other companies meet you at the terminal, but I find this more annoying as you have to phone them during your journey to the airport at a precise time. On your return, you have to phone again and often end up hanging around for your car.

The Voucher Code for the discount is SUMMER. This voucher code means that you can’t combine the discount with cashback. The promotion ends on 31st August 2017. You need to visit this page to book and enter the discount code.

good to go Parking Heathrow

Heathrow airport own good to go parking, which is generally cheaper than the official Heathrow parking website. It uses exactly the same official Heathrow car parks. The catch is that it is aimed at leisure travellers, so you have to stay a Saturday night to use it.  It offers both the meet & greet parking as well as long stay parking.

There is a new 10% discount code for bookings made until 18 June 2017. Just use the code FLYAWAY to get 10% off eligible bookings. The good to go parking website is here.   Parking starts from £4.66 a day at Heathrow.

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Swiss First and Business class sale plus discount code

Swiss have an offer for £25 off from flights departing from London Heathrow or London City to Geneva on SWISS flights only (no codeshares). The voucher code you needs is SWISSUKGVA17. You enter this on the payment page under ‘voucher redemption’. The code is valid for bookings until 15 July 2017 for travel between 8 May and 15 September 2017. You can find the Swiss UK website here.

There is also a very well priced sale out of Italy on Swiss. Although they are Star Alliance members so you wouldn’t be able to collect Avios, their First Class product is excellent. You must book by 22 May 2017 and travel before 28 February 2018. The US is not included but there are plenty of bargains to the South Africa, Far East, India and South America. The catch is that 2 people must travel together. Prices start at £1100 for business and £2110 for First Class. I was not a huge fan of the Swiss business class seat but when I flew Swiss First I was very impressed. I’m sure many of my readers may have experienced during the days of the BMI Diamond club! It may not have the ‘wow’ factor of the Middle East airlines First but the food and attention to detail was superb. The Swiss Airlines Italian site is here.

Heathrow Parking

Heathrow airport own Good to go parking, which is generally cheaper than the official Heathrow parking website. The catch is that it is aimed at leisure travellers, so you have to stay a Saturday night to use it.  It offers both meet and greet parking as well as long stay parking. If you book before 25 May 2018, you can use promo code GETAWAY to get 15% off. The code is valid for car park entry dates: 5 June – 7 July  2017 inclusive. You can find the booking page here.

British Airways Wi-Fi

British Airways revealed their plans for on-board Wi-Fi earlier this year, which I talked about in this article. Although with the threat of a European ban on iPad and laptops rumoured to be imminent, this may not be quite such good news.

When and where will it be fitted?

BA will be rolling out the latest generation of Wi-Fi across British Airways’ long-haul network. Although they have been very slow to adopt Wi-Fi, at least it means they are going for the latest technology with much better speeds and reliability.  BA currently has one B747 fitted with the technology, with a second due to be fitted in July. The plan is for 23 aircraft to be fitted this year. The aircraft due to get Wi-Fi are the 18 B747s that have the new cabins, all the B777-200s, the B777-300s, the A380s and the B787s. Short-haul Wi-Fi will start later in the year. BA will become the first airline to offer connectivity using Europe’s first ever 4G high-speed inflight network. The aim is to have 90 per cent of its total fleet connected by 2019.

You will be able to use your own device to browse the internet, access email and use social media. In addition, you will be able to stream videos such as Netflix and YouTube.

Pricing

With Wi-Fi being trialled on one of the B747s, the full pricing has now been revealed. You can choose from 2 options: Simply Connect or Connect Plus as well as the length of time. Simply Connect supports basic web browsing, email and instant messaging. Connect Plus provides a faster speed supporting video streaming.

Simply Connect

• 1 hour – £4.99
• 4 hours £10.99
• Full flight £14.99

Connect Plus

• 1 hour – £7.99
• 4 hours £17.99
• Full flight £23.99

This is similar to other airlines pricing, which is not cheap but reasonable if you will use it a lot. BA had said they would consider Avios as payment, but there has been no official announcement. There are no plans to make it free in the premium cabins at the moment.

What do you think? Is it too expensive? Do you plan to use it, if it is available?

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