Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

At the start of 2023, I asked the aviation data analysts, Cirium, for the top 20 airports by unique destinations. This week, I asked the brainy boffins to crunch the numbers to the final three months of the year, and the results are intriguing.  This podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter. Subscribe now to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...

One of the most familiar names in travel over the turn of the century is back – with a very different proposition. First Choice offers flight-free travel and backpacking experiences including camping and hostels stays, in an attempt to lure younger travellers who currently are more likely to put together trips independently.  This podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter. Subscribe now...

The weekend saw a hugely destructive earthquake occurring in Morocco, with thousands unfortunately losing their lives. One of the worst-hit areas was Marrakesh, a longed-for destination for travellers. The earthquake and repercussions as Morocco tries to find survivors and recuperate has left many wondering what they should do about bookings that are still going ahead. Simon explains the situation...

I speak with the joint CEO of Cosmic UK, Kate Dodson, about how augmented reality might change travel in the future and whether AI is going to be used for marketing destinations. This podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter. Subscribe now to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m speaking to one of the leading lights of the travel industry: Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive, Advantage Travel Partnership – a members' group of about one in five of the travel agents in the UK. These independent travel agents sell everything from cruises to business travel. Does Julia agree with me about the scale of disruption in the travel industry this summer? This podcast is free, muc...

How many more things can go wrong this summer? Floods, staff sickness at Gatwick's air traffic control, and missed flights and ferries due to a manhunt. All exogenous events – but are they getting worse? This podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter. Subscribe now to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recently we saw one of the busiest travel days of the year and a complete failure of the National Air Traffic Service. This meant that controllers had to reduce their workload to just 15%. With thousand of cancelled flights and hundreds left stranded, I've gone through the key events to try and get everyone some answers. This podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter. Subscribe now to have i...

They say “no” – all the charges are published and highlighted, and these are optional extras. If you’re prepared to travel with just a small bag and don’t mind where you sit on the plane, then the fare you see is the fare you pay. My view: it’s perfectly fair to charge people extra for the extra cost of providing services. In the UK easyJet started that in 1995 when they started charging 50p for a...

No fewer than four British Airways flights turned back after take-off from London at the weekend – on one occasion flying two-thirds of the way to the destination before making a U-turn. The considerable disappointment of the passengers will be assuaged by hundreds of pounds in compensation. But what happened, and should passengers be worried? (Spoiler alert: No) This podcast is free, much like my...

I'm at Euston today for the latest national rail strike. I've counted that it's the 16th month since the strikes began. I spoke to Mick Whelan, general secretary of the Aslef trade union. He says that national rail workers have run out of capacity and considering that they have gone for five years without a pay rise the strikes will continue until they get what they want. This podcast is free, muc...

I’m approaching Copenhagen airport on a driverless train, and enjoying what the Danes ever did for travellers – making journeys intuitive and smooth. This podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter. Subscribe now to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're still feeling the effects of the air traffic control fiasco that crippled flights into and out of the UK on the bank holiday with little in the way of answers. After speaking with Martin Rolfe, the managing director of National Air Traffic Services (Nats), I've found out a little more - and importantly what everyone is trying to do to fix the problems people have encountered with flights sin...

Hundreds of thousands of passengers booked to travel to or from the UK have had their flights cancelled or delayed after the air-traffic control system was hit by a technical issue. The National Air Traffic Services (NATS), the country’s leading provider of air traffic control services, said it had applied traffic flow restrictions on Monday to maintain safety. The company announced later that the...

This week will see much debate about plans to close railway station ticket offices – including the wider question about how passengers with disabilities are to be helped. Yet in Scandinavia, this has already happened: the final three ticket offices in Sweden’s three biggest cities closed during the Covid pandemic as a cost-saving measure. In Finland, too, online booking is the norm. This podcast i...

Bank holiday travel chaos arrived earlier than expected, with thousands of travellers stranded in various parts of Europe after large-scale cancellations – particularly on British Airways to and from Heathrow and easyJet to and from Gatwick. The cause: a combination of air-traffic control hold-ups and adverse weather. But whatever the cause of a cancelled flight, the airline has clear responsibili...

I predict that we're about to see the busiest holiday since 2019 this bank holiday weekend and it won't be helped by the train strikes. Over ten thousand trains are going to be out of service. Watch out if you've booked a weekend in Cornwall as you may be heavily affected. However if you're travelling through Greater Anglia you're in luck. Either way make sure you check your journey in advance. Th...

Today I am celebrating the news that not one but two airlines will be flying from Luton to Cairo this winter: easyJet and Wizz Air. With the much-delayed Grand Egyptian Museum, finally looking as though it will open its doors in the next few months, the great Egyptian capital will be more appealing than ever. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Twenty years ago, the world’s only surviving supersonic airliner was on her final lap of honour. The Concorde era ended on 24 October 2003, when British Airways retired the plane on commercial grounds. It was also arguably a flying environmental disaster, burning astonishing amounts of fuel and carrying an implausibly vast noise footprint. But at the BA heritage centre near London Heathrow, I talk...

For today’s travel podcast, I’m on the train again, from London Bridge to Gatwick Airport – making the most of the opportunity of rail travel ahead of the next round of national strikes across England on: 26 August RMT, the main rail union 1 September Aslef (train drivers) 2 September RMT. Thousands of trains will be cancelled every day. Check before travel. This podcast is free, as is my weekly n...

50 years ago after Tony and Maureen Wheeler first published  Across Asia on the Cheap –  the first book in the Lonely Planet guidebook series. The pandemic clobbered travel publishers harder than pretty much any other businesses – and with so much travel information available online, guidebooks are surely endangered species? Not so, according to Tom Hall, Vice President of Lonely Planet....

It’s A-level results day, which means some young people may be having a bit of a rethink about their future. One option for which the academic requirement is simply six GCSEs (including Maths, English and a science subject) is becoming a pilot under the new British Airways Speedbird Pilot Academy.  To find out more, I’ve been talking to senior first officer Genevieve Pearmaine, who is a Briti...

After an elderly couple was hit with a £110 admin fee for failing to print out their boarding passes for a Ryanair flight, I've been sifting through all the responses – along a spectrum from "terrible airline, why does anyone fly with them?" to "you just need to follow the rules". This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Subscribe  here  to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted...

Last Friday morning, retired doctors Ruth and Peter Jaffe arrived at London Stansted in good time to check in for their flight FR2668 to Bergerac in southwest France. They knew that Ryanair requires passengers to check in online ahead of travel. But inadvertently, they went through the process for the inbound, not outbound journey. The couple were charged £110 for their honest mistake. My thoughts...

The Trans-European Race from London to Istanbul is over – with all manner of surprises along the way. I’ve been talking to race director James Finnerty from Lupine Travel about the fastest, the slowest, the cheapest and the most countries visited along the way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guide to unexpected items in the billing area, after a British tourist at Lake Como in northern Italy was charged €2 extra for cutting his toasted sandwich in half. US resort fees top my list of unfair charges. This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Subscribe here to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.