Today British Airways will increase its fuel surcharge on long-haul services, but there will be no increase on short-haul services.

World Traveller and World Traveller Plus tickets will increase by £12 per sector (£24 return). First and Club World tickets will increase by £17 per sector (£34 return).

The airline blamed the rise on a ‘substantial’ increase in the price of oil and a 14% rise in the spot price of jet fuel since the last fuel surcharge increase only two months ago.

The change will mean:

· World Traveller flights over nine hours will increase to £88 per sector. On flights of less than nine hours the increase will be to £75.

·World Traveller Plus flights over nine hours will increase to £106.50 per sector. On flights of less than nine hours the increase will be to £85.

·First and Club World flights over nine hours will increase to £125. On flights of less than nine hours the increase will be to £105.

Volcanoes grounding flights, snow grounding flights and stopping trains, strikes galore – 2010 has not been the best year for the travel industry, but in this run down of some of the top stories covered in the Villaseek blog throughout the year I’ll include these and also try to find some good news to include as it wasn’t all bad!

January started with the controversial full body scanner trial at Manchester Airport.

There was the awful Haiti earthquake which sparked calls for aid from holiday makers nearby and help from airlines to deliver aid packages.

The full review of the Eurostar travel delayswas revealed and spared no one.

Easyjet and Ryanair fought it out in a battle over an unflattering advert.

There was some increase in the business travel economy.

The year was plagued by strikes by British Airways cabin crew in a battle over pay and working conditions, the first were in March.

The BA and Iberia merger was agreed in April.

Perhaps one of the biggest pieces of travel related news was the volcanic ash cloud which closed down airspace across much of northern Europe and cancelled the travel plans of millions of people throughout April and May.

A coalition government was formed in the summer and one of the first things they did was to scrap the planned third runway at Heathrow.

There were more BA cabin crew strikes in May, the first for 5 consecutive days.

Despite the strikes and ash trouble, some good news for the aviation industry came as a study showed growing satisfaction with airlines.

A new campaign was launched in July to make passengers more aware of their travel rights, which made for a very informative read.

A study found that three weeks in a holiday villa is the perfect holiday!

Which? revealled airline processing fee rip offs in September.

Airbus’ with Rolls Royce engines got an awful couple of months of bad press after a mid-flight emergency on a Qantas flight.

The year ended with festive gridlock at airports and across the country’s roads due to the snow.

So, it’s been an eventful year indeed! If you want to catch up on the year’s UK travel news, then check out the 2010 review on our sister site, Holiday Cottages.

In a bid to boost tourism, Ireland has decided to reduce its air passenger duty from  €10 to €3 starting in March 2011 until the end of the year when it will review its effectiveness.

However,it says the tax will be increased unless the airlines give “an appropriate response”.

Minister for finance, Brian Lenihan said: “I do not want to see the reduction in the tax being used by airlines as an opportunity to raise their fees and charges.”

The tax, paid by passengers departing from Irish airports, was introduced less than two years ago.

Ryanairchief Michael O’Leary said the reduction would do nothing to reverse a drop in air traffic as it was outweighed by a hike in airport fees.

What do readers of this blog think about the reduction? Will it make you more likely to visit Ireland?

Rome is planning to go ahead with an accommodation tax on 1st January 2011.

The city council said the ‘Contributo di Soggiorno’ would be introduced despite the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) expressing concerns about how the money would be collected.

Councillor Frederico Guidi said: “In order for the city of Rome not to tax Romans, we have decided to tax the tourists.”

The tax will be €3 per night for guests at four and five star hotels and €2 per night for guests staying in all other accommodation. Children under 2 and youth hostels are the only exemptions from the tax.

 The maximum number of nights taxable per stay is 10. Guests will be advised about the tax upon arrival by written notices and must pay for it upon check-out.

UK tour operators can collect the money on their clients’ behalf in advance, but the ETOA said: “‘This is like being on a plane and being charged extra to leave. As the Comune will be extracting money with an ‘instant’ tax, tour operators should not be expected to do this work for them”.

It has not been clarified if the tax attracts IVA (VAT). Alessandro Vannini, President of the Commission for Tourism and Fashion, conceded that the first few months could be chaotic.

This final confirmation of the tax is unlikely to come before the 20th of December however, and it may yet be challenged in the local courts.

Flight comparison website Skyscanner gives its top 5 ways to limit the impact on your wallet when the Air Passenger Duty (APD) fees are increased on 1st November. Increases of up to 55%  are due to be introduced which could mean an addition of around £700 for family holidays.

The new taxation will see the following charges:

Destinations 2001-4000 miles away**: economy £60 (up from £45)/ upper class £120 (up from £90).

Destinations 4001-6000 miles away: economy £75 (up from £50) / upper class £150 (up from £100).

Destinations over 6000 miles away: £85 (from £55)/upper class £170 (up from £110)

Skyscanner’s CEO Gareth Williams says “Although APD may be increasing it doesn’t need to dampen holiday plans; travellers just need to plan carefully and hunt out the best bargains.”

The top 5 tips are as follows:

1. Check your distance – flight distance is calculated from London but this mileage is difficult to determine so some destinations could have some surprising results with regards to which bracket they fit into. See the HMRC website for full taxation details.

2. Consider destinations closer to home – Skyscanner recommends swapping destinations such as: swap Sydney for LA, New York for Barcelona or Egypt for Tunisia.

3. Consider indirect flights – this will increase flight times but could save a lot of money as flying through continental European hubs rather than direct from or transiting through UK airports will not have increased APD charges.

4. If you don’t fly remember to claim back your taxes – many people don’t realise that you should only pay the charges if you actually fly, but as charges are paid for when the flights are booked it’s often forgotten about.

5. Travellers are being invited to take a stand against APD and lobby Minister of Tourism, John Penrose. E-mail Minister.Tourism@culture.gsi.gov.uk with your thoughts.

A recent Which? report reveals household travel names such as Ryanair, Bmibaby, Easyjet, Monarch, Emirates and Thomas Cook Airlines (among others) have been hugely overcharging on credit card fees and says customers are being “ripped off” by the inflated processing fees. It adds that Irish Ferries and Brittany Ferries are also profiting from a £5 flat fee on credit card bookings.

Banks charge companies around 10p to process debit card sale yet companies routinely ask customers for £5 or more according to the report. Credit card processing also costs customers enourmously. Profiting from debit and credit card processing is out-lawed in many parts of Europe.

Banks will typically charge 0.8% of the value of the transaction of a credit card.

Bmibaby charges £4.50 per flight when bought with a credit card and £3 with a debit card; Ryanair requires £5 per flight booked for both booking methods; Monarch asks for 3.5 % on a debit card and 5% for a credit card booking and Easyjet charges £3.50 plus 2.5% (minimum £4.50) on a credit card transaction and £3.50 for a debit card booking.

Companies have previously blamed the high fees on the banks, but the Which? research shows it is just a diversionary tactic to boost profits.

“People don’t like card surcharges and it’s no surprise when the costs they pay don’t match those incurred by the retailer. There can be no justification for high card surcharges. While companies may want to recoup merchant fees, these charges need to be fair and transparent, so consumers know the real price before they begin a transaction.” said Which? chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith.

A new report by Mintel indicates that VAT increases and higher fuel costs which will make holidays more expensive from next year could cause another dip in the market.

“Recovery is not a word that can be applied to the holiday market in the coming five years,” it warned.

“Higher holiday prices due to high VAT will hurt the market as the costs of low-cost flights are increased.”

The spend on overseas holidays is forecast to rise by 17 percent over the next five years, this is much more than it has risen in recent years but this will be because of higher holiday costs.

“In constant price terms, expenditure on holidays will decline by 1.6 percent between 2010 and 2015,” it said. “Changing exchange rates and higher fuel costs will play a major role in holiday prices in the coming years and higher prices will limit volume growth.”

The report also suggests that if low-cost flights disappeared, those most likely to cut down on their travel would be the ABC1 pre-/no family group. The two markets that would be most affected would be overseas city breaks and holiday homes.

The report concluded: “In the coming years, while beach and family holidays will continue to dominate the market, more diversification will be seen in holiday types. Niche products/destinations will see the fastest growth.”

European travellers will have to pay an extra $14 from September for electronic visas to visit the US.

Known as Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (Esta), the visas have been compulsory for UK tourists and other European visitors since January 2009 but have been free so far.From 8th September the US will start charging $14, or around £9 based on the current exchange rates.

The European Union has criticised the move, claiming that it could deter or complicate travel and consumer groups are advising people planning a trip to the US to apply now to beat the charges as the Esta lasts for two years, or until a person’s passport expires.

“Anyone even mulling over going to the USA should urgently go and fill in their Esta right away.

“It is rather strange this fee is mainly going to promote US tourism. You would’ve thought keeping it cheaper to get in would help more – after all, it’s free for most Americans to come here.” said Martin Lewis, MoneySavingExpert.com creator.

Visit USA said although it did not support any taxes on tourism, it was relieved at the price set.

“We had expected it to be around $17-20, so we were pleasantly surprised that it is $14, which comes in at around less than £10 a head with the exchange rate,” said a spokesman.

The price is set at $14, so consumers should be wary of bogus websites charging higher rates.

What do readers of this blog think about this tax? Is it something we should adopt too or will it complicate or deter people from travel as the EU points out? Comment below.

A recent survey by a travel website found that nearly 75% of holidaymakers said they plan to fly with smaller bags or just hand luggage in order to avoid charges and possible fines.

Over 40% of the respondents to lastminute.com’s survey said they are now confused by new rules on taking bags onto an aircraft, and a fifth said they had been caught out by new regulations and been fined accordingly.

Have any of you been caught out by the new rules and regulations? We’ve tried to cover news of such regulations on the blog as they come to light to prevent travellers from being stung by avoidable fines. A blog that continues to be relevant includes recent airline price hikes and also tips to beat or lower them, view the full blog here.

Below is a chart showing the average costs of carrying a single bag within the hold on a low cost airliner (flying short haul) sourced from MoneySupermarket.com April 2010. The figures are for return flights.

Jet 2 £24

Thompson £23

Flybe £20

Easyjet £18

Monarch £26

Aer Lingus £8

Thomas Cook £16

BMI Baby £28

Ryanair £40

Average £22.55

£28million are wasted by tourists who buy euros at UK airports a recent survey by the Royal Mail Group states. This equates to around £16.60 per family in low exchange rates.

Sarah Munro, Post Office Head of Travel Money, said: “We compared rates at five UK airports with those available in Post Office bureaux de change branches and found that tourists buying at the airport would get far fewer euros for their pounds. In fact families changing £286 into euros at the airport face losing over £16 – enough to buy a round of drinks and eight ice creams in Portugal, summer 2010’s best value destination.”

The pound has rallied by almost 10 per cent against the euro since it sunk to a 2010 low in March, and is now worth four per cent more than a year ago.

Euros are available over the counter at 8,700 Post Office branches, while over 70 currencies can be pre-ordered for next day branch collection at all 12,000 Post Office outlets or online at postoffice.co.uk. Home delivery can also be requested online.

Money Saving Expert has created its own impartial website to compare exchange rates for different places, it also includes tips for travel insurance and cheap flights.