TRAVEL UPDATE !

Today at work I was surprised to learn that they were finalizing our schedule until end of March 2008. Usually they did the planning on a month per month basis and given that I had in mind my next trip around March I needed to decide quickly to take vacation days off right away or wait to see how it would go for April or later on.

I knew that Qantas Airways (Australia’s national airline) had promotions starting as low as €599 if booked before the 15th of November from BRU to Hong Kong so I rushed to see if any were left around the dates I wanted. After a bit of trial and error I found one set of dates interestingly priced at €620.82 that I instantly booked online or well after getting the green light from my boss.

So this time my second attempt at Asia starts with China…

From there on nothing has been planned yet besides my first night in Honk Kong. Since I arrive at 8 am this means I will have a minimum of two full days there. The cities of China that would appeal me the most to visit are Shanghai & Peking. The only problem with these destinations is that they have but slightly lower prices than Europe would. My Ibis Hotel room on HK Island cost me €48 and had but 3 rooms left (4+ months in advance). My plan is to compensate the somewhat high price of flying there by the cheap local cost of living. So I won’t be able to stay there very long with my kind of limited budget.

The rest of the mainland itself is much cheaper but the language barrier (since I am without any knowledge of Chinese) would make it very hard to get by. A recent discussion with the daughter (who is herself from Hong Kong) of a Chinese food takeout owner I’m used go to advised me on this.

The possibilities are vast from Hong Kong onto the rest of Asia. For Example after checking the online prices with Cebu Pacific air you can fly taxes included to: Kuala Lumpur for €116, Jakarta €107, Bangkok €102 or Manila & Cebu for €52.

If you decide to cross from HK over to Macao on a short boat ride (you will need to obtain a Chinese visa for that) you can then fly with the low cost airline Air-Asia to Bangkok for €35 or Kuala lumpur for €56. South East Asia is definitely the solution if you’re on a budget like me.

Most likely one week will be spent in Palawan where I will meet up with a friend (for french speaking viewers try this link).

Would you complain about electricity not being on 24/7 if you were paying for 2 from £4.50 to £6 a day to stay at at a place like this in Palawan ? I sure wouldn’t ! That’s what the Philippines is all about…

No idea where the rest of the trip will take me but it ain’t too bad of a start so far I would say.

Initial Travel Itinerary :

Flight Information:

Flight – British Airways (BA) – 391 Monday, March 17, 2008 Flight 391 Non-stop Class of Service: Leisure Traveller (S) Depart: Brussels National Arpt (BRU) Terminal Not Available 09:55 AM Monday, March 17, 2008 Arrive: Heathrow (LHR) LONDON Terminal 4 10:15 AM Monday, March 17, 2008 Equipment: Airbus A321 Flying Time: 1:20 Meal Service: Snack In-Flight Services: Non-smoking   Special Services Requested Status Passengers Ticket Numbers (E-tickets) Confirmed (HK) 1   Status Confirmed (HK)

Flight – Qantas Airways (QF) – 30 Monday, March 17, 2008 Flight 30 Non-stop Class of Service: Economy (N) Depart: Heathrow (LHR) LONDON Terminal 4 12:25 PM Monday, March 17, 2008 Arrive: Hong Kong Intl (HKG) Terminal 1 08:15 AM Tuesday, March 18, 2008 Equipment: Boeing 747-400 Flying Time: 11:50 Meal Service: Lunch, Refreshments In-Flight Services: Movie, , Audio programming, Duty free sales, Non-smoking   Special Services Requested Status Passengers Ticket Numbers (E-tickets) Confirmed (HK) 1   Status Confirmed (HK)

Flight – Qantas Airways (QF) – 29 Wednesday, April 09, 2008 Flight 29 Non-stop Class of Service: Economy (N) Depart: Hong Kong Intl (HKG) Terminal 1 07:35 AM Wednesday, April 09, 2008 Arrive: Heathrow (LHR) LONDON Terminal 4 01:30 PM Wednesday, April 09, 2008 Equipment: Boeing 747-400 Flying Time: 12:55 Meal Service: Breakfast, Refreshments In-Flight Services: Movie, , Audio programming, Duty free sales, Non-smoking   Special Services Requested Status Passengers Ticket Numbers (E-tickets) Confirmed (HK) 1   Status Confirmed (HK)

Flight – British Airways (BA) – 398 Wednesday, April 09, 2008 Flight 398 Non-stop Class of Service: Leisure Traveller (S) Depart: Heathrow (LHR) LONDON Terminal 5 04:30 PM Wednesday, April 09, 2008 Arrive: Brussels National Arpt (BRU) Terminal Not Available 06:40 PM Wednesday, April 09, 2008 Equipment: Airbus A319 Flying Time: 1:10 Meal Service: Snack In-Flight Services: Non-smoking   Special Services Requested Status Passengers Ticket Numbers (E-tickets) Confirmed (HK) 1   Status Confirmed (HK)

I had almost forgot to tell about this but after talking about wanting to go quite extensively to Madrid I’ve finally booked a flight to go there in March 2008 due to the latest online booking promotions.

How to reach Madrid Airport

For Madrid Term1 , Madrid Term2, Madrid Term3 or Madrid Term4:

Arriving or departing by car from the Madrid Airport

The airport is of easy access by the main roads from Madrid that is 14 KM/9 Miles away from downtown Madrid and the M-30 road.

Arriving from A-2 or via the N-II ( the Highway in direction to and from Barcelona). The exit of the airport is 14 km or 9 miles away.

You can Easily find your terminal as you approach by looking at the colored signs : Terminal 1 is orange, Terminal 2 Green & Terminal 3 red.

The ride will take you from the center of Madrid about 30 mins this of course depending on the time of day.
By Taxi

Load of taxis are available either from the the Barajas airport or Madrid itself .

The ride from the airport to the city will take about 30 mins depending on the time of day and traffic.

* Prices: it should cost you just under 20 Euros

With the Subway

By taking the subway rail from Madrid you can reach the airport. Bear in mind this means you will have to make a transfer on the way from downtown Madrid.

When downtown chose line 4 direction MarDelCristal. Once you’ve arrived in MarDelCristal take line 8 that will take you directly to the airport .

Subway runs non-stop every day from 06:00 am to 2 am.

If you are arriving from the airport the subway rail can be reached at Terminal 2.

travel time : more or less 40 minutes.

* Prices: 1 Euro.

By Bus

There is also a bus shuttle departing from the Plaza de Colon bus terminal that runs from 5 AM until 1:30 AM.

They leave at 15 minutes intervals until 06:30

Then its at 10 minutes intervals from 06:30 to 23:30

Starting 23:30 it runs every 30 minutes.

* Prices: 2.50 Euros.

Details for my Flight:

GOING OUT
From Charleroi Brussels(CRL) to Madrid Term1(MAD) Sat, 08Mar08 Flight FR5463 Depart CRL at 10:05 and arrive MAD at 12:15

COMING BACK
From Madrid Term1(MAD) to Charleroi Brussels(CRL) Mon, 10Mar08 Flight FR5464 Depart MAD at 15:40 and arrive CRL at 18:10

Whats always important to check when traveling with low cost airlines is how far the airport actually is from the city you want to reach. In some cases you can be as far as a two hours bus drive away!

PAYMENT DETAILS
*********0.02 EUR price for one Adult

********24.99 EUR Airport Taxes

*********0.99 EUR Aviation Levy charges

********26.00 EUR Total Paid

Thanks once again to Ryanair.com for those unbeatable price!