WalesCymru.com

Regular users of WalesCymru will have noticed more banner ads (like the one below) from today. We’re sorry if this has spoilt the clean uncluttered look, but with the credit supply taking longer than we’d like to recover, and faced with higher household bills we have to make money somehow.

Rest assured we are still thinking of our users, so are going to try and choose ads that are relevant to the site and the content. For this reason we have signed up to Commission Junction - one of the leading affiliate marketing services - as this allows us to select the ads we show.

For those interested in the business dimension, affiliate marketing (according to Wikipedia) is “an Internet based marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer they provide.”

Typically the return we see is relatively low, between 1 and 3% of the total value of a purchase, but hopefully the numbers will justify the decision to send our users off site.

I suppose time and user response will tell if this works, so please let us know what you think and in return we promise to keep you updated on the experience from our side.

It’s widely accepted by the finance markets that ’selling risk’ is a good thing. In fact the practice is so widespread it is recognised as one of the contributors to today’s credit crunch. Unlike major lenders and insurance brokers, we cannot spread the risk in the same way and have to rely on industry backed insurance schemes (ATOL, etc.) and our own insurance policies, which we now learn do not usually cover us in the event a ‘business failure’. So when the accepted methods for spreading risk fail, where do we turn?

One option (not to be taken seriously of-course) could be to bet on your travel provider failing before you complete your holiday. This way, even if you can’t claim money back from ATOL, your travel agent, or your credit card, you can always take a payout from your betting shop as partial compensation for your losses.

So if you’re still thinking of that oversea trip, perhaps a check of the latest odds of your carrier going into administration may be prudent.

These were paddypower.com’s odds as at 16:00 on Saturday 13 Sept; although they will no doubt have changed by the time you travel - they changed while I was writing this blog!

* Odds applies to the next airline to officially go into administration as published on the Paddypower.com website.

As the news of XL’s collapse hits home, those thinking of a late summer break to Barcelona better act fast. Budget airline Bmibaby announced it had scrapped Octobers’ flights from Cardiff to Barcelona.

The airline said that as a “summer route”, the Barcelona flights would normally finish at the end of October, but due to low demand and high fuel prices, they were suspending flights from October 4 instead.

A Cardiff International Airport representative said “It was important to note the Barcelona route is only suspended during October and has not been cancelled. Bmibaby has already announced the first part of the summer 2009 schedule which shows its dedication to the market of South Wales.”

For anyone from South Wales thinking of hitting La Rambla, admiring the Sagrada Família, or strolling in Gaudí’s Park Güell this year you’re advised to book now. Although flights are discounted, with a return flight including taxes & charges costing around £117.88, they are in short supply.

If Barcelona is not your first choice, don’t worry, bmi (and other operators) offer hundreds of destinations to choose.

The point is DON’T WORRY about the credit crunch, fuel prices or economic downturn - these are just part of everyday life. If you have the cash there are plenty of great travel deals going. Just make sure to book using your credit card, or buy the accommodation package so in the event something does go wrong you’re covered. However, if you feel the risks are just too great, you could also holiday in Wales!

Welsh holidaymakers have once again been hit by the collapse of a major travel operator. This time it’s the XL Leisure Group, Britain’s third largest package holiday operator.

Around midnight today (12 Sept 2008) the company went into administration, grounding all aircraft and cancelling all flights, leaving upwards of 67,000 passengers stranded and a further 200,000, who had advanced bookings, looking for alternatives.

XL’s Chief Executive Phil Wyatt, speaking earlier suggested the CAA had a role in today’s announcement and now face an immense and immediate problem in finding alternative flights for the thousands of passengers who are now stranded.

David Clover, a spokesman for the CAA, denied the CAA were responsible for grounding XL’s flights and said it was making arrangements to help customers of the four tour companies within the XL group, although some may find themselves paying again. While customers who booked package deals are covered by the CAA’s Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (Atol) scheme, those who booked directly with the airline or XL.com could find themselves having to pay a fee or even the entire amount for their return flights.

Among those affected are a 130-strong choir on tour to Canada from Wales who were booked on Zoom and lost £50,000 when it folded last month, and then re-booked with XL.

According to the XL.com website “The (UK) Companies entered into Administration having suffered as a result of volatile fuel prices, the economic downturn, and were unable to obtain further funding”; although XL’s German and French subsidiaries will continue to operate as normal.

However, not everyone looses, on the back of this announcements share prices in holiday firms TUI Travel and Thomas Cook were up 6% and 7% following the collapse of their rival.