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Monday, January 25, 2016

Everybody needs a day off

And yesterday was ours.

We simply hung around the RV park here. I puttered about the motorhome and cleaned the windows. Ruth did some hand laundry and went for a little walk around the park. We played some yahtzee and backgammon and just relaxed.

We even had an afternoon nap!

So, a bit of a quiet day...but enjoyable nonetheless.

Oh, and we are currently enjoying an unlimited supply of internet so of course we spent some time online. I like to check out all of the travel deals whenever I can, and there are a lot of them just now!

Remember back in 2004, when the airlines were complaining of no profits and they began adding "fuel surcharges" on to their tickets? Well of course now the price of fuel is low and the airlines are racking up big profits. And most of them have yet to get rid of their fuel surcharge despite the lowest fuel prices since 2003.

But that's starting to change. Hong Kong has said that there will be no more fuel surcharging for any flights leaving Hong Kong airport as of February 1st. Other airlines around the world are sure to follow suit.

In the meantime, because of the big profits, many carriers can afford to be as competitive as possible and are having rock bottom sales on select routes, despite the fact that regular route pricing hasn't changed very much. Yesterday, I saw Vancouver to Dublin, Irelend for $565 CAD return. And then this morning, I'm seeing Los Angeles to Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam for $385 USD return. Had we not already had the rest of our winter planned, we would have been buying tickets to Vietnam! And just now, I see San Diego to Chicago for an amazing $80 USD return. (Edit: Yes, all taxes included in these prices.)

Great airfare prices are out there, and that will continue as long as the oil price remains where it is. You just have to be patient and not buy at regular route prices. Eventually, a great deal will come to you if you're patient.

Taken this morning, looking back at San Miguel de Allende.

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A fantastic deal on a 1,000 watt pure sine wave inverter with remote control and cables. I've never seen a pure sine inverter this cheap, and especially not with the remote. This is a great bargain, and the deal is just as good if you buy the more expensive 2,000 watt model.


And in Canada, the AquaPure drinking water system is heavily discounted. An expensive unit to begin with, but it gets great reviews...




17 comments:

  1. is the RV park you are in big enough for our 40' diesel pusher - how is the electricity?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, no problem regarding size. Possibly one tight corner, but I think you would make it. No personal experience with the electricity because we don't plug in. Standard 15 amp outlets, and our friends Paula and Jerry who were here the other day said that it was very stable and their surge protector didn't trip.

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  2. Where did you see the Vancouver to Dublin fare? I plan to go there in June.

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    Replies
    1. It was on flighthub.com and that price was only for September and October travel. No longer available this morning. Usually great flight deals don't last long!

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  3. Was Vancouver Dublin including tax? Because if it is a charter they have over $300 in taxes/fees to add on. The airlines are much like farmers complaining no matter what (we have farmers in the family and they do). The fuel surcharge drives me crazy - also Airport improvement fees do to. Vancouver has had one for years and years and are not taking it off anytime soon (hidden in the taxes on your ticket)

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    Replies
    1. Yes, every time I mention an airline price, it's the total price including taxes.

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  4. Airlines getting rid of fuel surcharge! That would be like Trump talking like an educated person. Ain't going to happen.

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    Replies
    1. I disagree. If fuel prices stay low, fuel surcharges will disappear. Trump is another story...

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  5. Gotta love the airline prices.
    The days off are wonderful we really enjoy them.

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    Replies
    1. We don't often have days off but when we do have them we enjoy them. ;-)

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  6. Our challenge is our beloved animals. My last work job involved a lot of European travel. I'd love to show Robin the sights and sites but we have 2 dogs and 2 cats. So, we enjoy the RV.

    As to fuel surcharges, they sure are quick to go up but real sticky down.

    Thanks for the post. Very informative.

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    Replies
    1. That is exactly why we found that RVing was a great, it is very easy to do when you have pets. After Whiskey died it opened up the whole world for us. We miss having a pet but we like the travel even more and we have lots of opportunity to enjoy other people's pets.

      It will be interesting to see what happens with that fuel surcharge in the near future.

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  7. Today airlines reached $18 Billion a year in service fees.

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  8. Whether/when airlines lose the fuel surcharge might depend on their fuel hedging, and how long term of contracts they locked themselves into. I feel like some of them might keep it to cover their hedging losses, then even if they lock in low prices, if prices are going up, they would blame it on that again. Of course, if there is enough pressure from other airlines dropping it, that could change things.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-airlines-usa-fueloil-idUSKCN0PX2QZ20150723

    There was an interesting article a while back in Fortune 500 magazine about Jon Ruggles trying to change up Delta's hedging practice.

    http://fortune.com/2014/06/02/secret-club-kate-kelly/

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the links Sarah and your opinions, you could be right, I guess time will tell.

      All we know is that at the moment there are some great flight deals out there and people are taking advantage of them.

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