flights (11)

If you are responsible for your own flight bookings and/ or don't have a separate travel department, then you can save some money by booking your flights and hotels via cash back website www.quidco.com.

Here you can get the referral commission advertisers normally get for referrals. Flights typically receive 1% cash back from well-recognised sites such as expedia.co.uk and ebookers.co.uk or virginatlantic.com.

Hotels also get higher returns giving as much as 10% cash back for agencies such as hotels.com and expedia.co.uk. The only thing to caution about is that hotels will be prepaid and may not have the same flexibility (a cancellation charge may apply) when compared to booking directly.

If you fly on Singapore Airlines to Asia or Sydney, then you will probably be eligible for a free Singapore stopover. You can also make use of a number of benefits offered by Singapore Airlines, such as discounted accommodation, special offers on shopping and food as well as a free shuttle bus up and down Singapore's famous Orchard road.

Australian national carrier Qantas has announced to the press that it will be launching its first A380 flights from October. Whilst the dates of flights are not fully confirmed as yet, the first aircraft is likely to fly some of the long-haul routes served by its current 747 fleet. Anyone wishing to travel to Melbourne from LA is expected to be the first to benefit. Singapore Airlines introduced a premium to those booking new tickets on the A380, however, they honoured the lower cost tickets bought before the announcement of routes. If you are buying a fully flexible ticket for this route, it may be a good idea to buy the ticket now, just in case they start charging a premium for the A380. Just make sure the flight is refundable if your plans change.

Recent airline failures such as Eos and MaxJet serve to remind us that cyclical industries such as airlines are subject to huge pressures when a slowdown in the economy occurs. Make sure you protect yourself from being caught short by paying by credit (not debit) card. Airline failures should be covered under section 75 of the 1974 consumer credit act and thus a refund can be obtained for services not received.

Take one booking reference, one surname and pop over to www.checkmytrip.com. Here you can check your flights, e-ticket number and even the seat you are going to have.

If you're in Hong Kong and you can take two days (or more) off, then travel agents on Nathan Road (Kowloon) can arrange a trip to Beijing (flights, hotel and visa) with 24 hours' notice. It's not so expensive and well worth the effort. Just one or two nights in Beijing are very rewarding.

Beware any dermatitis or inflammation on either of your index fingers. On entering the USA you'll be required to provide index finger prints as part of your proof of identity and if the skin of your finger tip is inflamed you may well inadvertently fail this test. At best this means a significant delay at Homeland Security Department. If possible check your index fingers a week, or more if there's an obvious problem, before travel and get some medical treatment to ease your journey!

BMI fly direct to Chicago from Manchester. Don't forget regional airports when flying abroad - when you take into account heavier congestion around the London airports, it may prove to be quicker to fly from the regions.

If you have to travel to the rest of the US from JFK, you may be presented with a number of airlines from your travel agent. However, as a low cost airline, Jet Blue may be overlooked from their option list. Don't forget to check out their flights on www.jetblue.com. They have a dedicated terminal at JFK so it's pretty well handled. You do lose out on connections though and straight-through baggage check in so it's probably best for when you are stopping over in NY first. Also, good if you are trying to save the company money! Particularly good if you are looking for one-way fares.

Air travel today is increasingly associated with long queues, dire customer service and delays on the ground and in the air. There is one airport that seems to consistently dispel this every time I travel there. That is, London City Airport. 22 minutes from Bank and about 12 minutes from Canary Wharf on the DLR, London City airport has flights to numerous European and domestic destinations. In addition, BA will be starting trans-atlantic flights (business class only) from London city in the summer!

Check-in (with luggage) can be done an hour before the flight and I've even managed it 20 minutes before the flight! Security queues are short and efficient.The airport does not have all of the facilities you would find at the larger airports such as numerous shops, lounges, etc, but at the end of the day it does what you want - helps you to get from A to B.