British Airways is making a new safety video which will be released in September. In the meantime the airline has release the director's cut featuring lots of well-known faces. Celebrities are seen auditioning in sketches in front of comedian Asim Chaudhry. The video is being made to support charities through Comic Relief. Celebrities taking part include Rowan Atkinson, Gillian Anderson, Gordon Ramsay, Rob Brydon, Sir Ian McKellen and Thandie Newton. You can watch it here.
US airline group starts bag-tracking campaign
US regional airlines group Airlines for America have joined forces with IATA for a year-long campaign to improve baggage loss during transit. Less than one half of one per cent of bags go missing out of four billion, so still a substantial number. By next year airlines have committed to fully implement Resolution 753 which mandates the full tracking of bags during the entire journey. In future if bags do not arrive there will be much more information to ensure a quicker reunion.
Website brings travellers up to speed on wifi
Wifi is such an important part of travelling that people would put it higher than a comfortable bed. A site that ranks hotels by the speed of their internet connections is a good way to find out what to expect. The information is crowd-sourced from travellers who use the site to gauge their internet speeds while at a particular hotel. So you can help too when travelling by checking speeds. On hotelwifitest.com it is interesting to see where the highest speeds are. In Dublin the Holiday Inn Express in Northwood has a speed-defying 197mps, the nearby Crowne Plaza is 48mps, the Trinity City is 45mps. In New York The Mark is a whopping 230mps and the High Line Hotel 93mps. Check it out onhotelwifitest.com.
Etihad launches early-bird sale
Start planning your long haul travel now and take advantage of the Etihad early-bird sale. Between now and July 31st there are big discounts on international travel between September 10th and May 30th. Business-class fares are available from August 14th to May 30th. It is the 10th anniversary of Etihad in Ireland. Fares to Abu Dhabi are from €460 and €1,995 business class; Sydney from €975, business class from €2,782; and Bangkok from €407 and €2,046. See Etihad.com and your local travel agent.