Travel around Miami

As you get older, don’t miss out on all the travel discounts. National Express offers a card for about £9 called Advantage50 which is a discount coach card that enables the user to purchase a concession of up to 30% – further concessions may be available to affinity groups such as British Legion. Also many local authorities/regional transport offer a “bus pass to senior citizens” usually available for free or concession travel within limited hours – eg. after 9.30 am. I also recommend Cheap Flights to help save money.

Did you ever choose an airline because of its food or movie choice, rather than because it offers the cheapest ticket or most convenient schedule? Of course not. That’s why it amazes me that airlines are spending millions installing seatback video screens and offering passengers an open bar. I’m not saying I don’t appreciate it, but I’d rather save $50 and bring my walkman and sandwiches. Airlines should give passengers a choice whether to pay extra for in-flight food and entertainment, or bring their own ? that way we’d see some real improvements, real fast.

Finally, the baggage reclaim. Monty Python weren’t the first to be worried about the baggage retrieval system at Heathrow, but things still haven’t got better. One in every two hundred suitcases still goes missing ? that’s four or five on every jumbo jet. And what does the airline do when it misplaces your clothing at the beginning of your vacation? Pay you compensation? FedEx the bag to you overnight when they find it? You must be joking. Call you a week later when it finally arrives and make you go back to the airport to fetch it, more likely.

Now imagine that flying was more like taking the train. You go to the airport, buy a ticket for the next flight, grab a sandwich, get on the plane, pick a seat far from the toilet and that loud family with the six-month-old baby, and settle down with a trashy novel and some Belle and Sebastian on your personal stereo.

Now isn’t that a relaxing way to start a vacation?