Category: Flights to

Cheap Student Airfares: Where To Find Them?

If you are a youth and want cheap air travel, you should exploit at least the status fares in the airline industry.

Just like other so-called status fares in the airline industry, student airfares are one way of getting a cheaper ticket airfare in the industry.

Typically, student airfares apply to student travellers under the age of 26 who are still enrolled in school.

This is one avenue of cheap air travel especially for youths. For the airlines, they could offer such cheap air travel discounts without worrying that they would be abused by other passengers looking for alternative way out to pay the normal high-published airfares in the industry, given the restrictions on age and student identification.

Apart from the discounts which could be 20%-30% cheaper, student airfares are also generally far more flexible than regular airfare tickets.

Still, if you are looking for cheap air travel tickets via this route, note that student or youth airfares tickets may not typically be available from your regular travel agents.

This is because such student fares are not usually included in the computerised reservation systems (CRS) used by the airlines.

As such, it is easier for you to search for such airfare options from those specialised travel agencies that deal only in student airfare markets.

Remember that not all airlines offer student fares as a cheaper air travel option, and also that their rules and requirements varies from one another.

The most important requirement is normally proof of age (identity card or driving license) and also that you must be holding a current and valid International Student Identify Card (ISIC) at the time of ticketing and when travelling on a student airfare ticket.

Further note that student airfares will not necessarily be the cheapest airfares option that you can find even if you as a student can take advantage of it.

Nonetheless, for a cheaper air travel alternative, they will still beat the usual regular published airfares hands down.

However, if you are looking at cheap air travel options for international travel, you may find that consolidator airfares are often cheaper than student airfares, especially to a country serviced by ethnic-based travel agencies.

Further, there are less student airfare options than consolidator tickets, and the airlines are less likely to offer cheaper student airfares if they can sell them already under the radar as consolidator fares.

If you are picky and a real cheap air travel fan, then note all the alternatives above.

For the airlines, to offer student airfares is good publicity gimmick at the least and also a way to at least sell these status fares at whatever higher fare they could.

Further, much of students travel is non-discretionary and also time-limited and predictable or in other words around their holiday semester break.

Some of these periods like during the year-end and summer period are high-demand period (you won’t get other cheap air travel tickets options much during these times also) and as such, airlines are not likely to be too generous on discounted fares then.

Further, some thinking in the industry is that nice parents are more likely happy to pay higher airfares for their little darling children to go for their holiday breaks.

All the above reasons partly explain why the market for discounted student airfares are served mainly by travel agency specialists who use techniques such as bulk buying, charters and even consolidator tickets itself for such cheap air travel fares.

Still, for a cheaper air travel bill, student airfares are excellent value on their own although you should still compare their fares with other types of cheap air travel options for the reasons given above.

Here are some specialised places that you could start your student airfare searching and research from.These sites list special discounts and deals that are limited mostly to student airfares only.

It is possible also to locate student airfares that are discounted directly through the airline, or through a travel agent, but as mentioned earlier, the ones that are devoted solely to student airfares will often give you a lot more cheap air travel options on this aspect.

Further, if as student and you are thinking of travelling to Europe or other holiday breaks places for the summer, or for a full semester, or for just spring break, these specialised student airfare sites often offer great cheap air travel deals on such itineraries.

These specialised student airfare sites also have automated booking and ticketing of student and youth fares on their site and are a good place to start your search from.

Alternatively, you can search more of these cheap student air travel options through the Internet search engines:

a) Council Travel (www.counciltravel.com) – This is the travel agency division of the Council on International Education and Exchange (www.ciee.org) and has long been the largest student travel specialist in the United States.

College students will find here the biggest cheap air travel bargains on international carriers, which typically offer student fares to Europe on a standby basis. If you’re under 26, you can also take advantage of low-fare charter and consolidator flights that are made available by CIEE.

b) STA Travel (www.sta.com) – This is one of the world’s largest student, youth and budget travel organisation. STA Travel specialises in cheap student airfares, hotels and hostels, student travel insurance and international student identification cards and you are likely to find a host of options here and their affiliated agencies.

c) Student Universe (www.studentuniverse.com) – Student Universe is an online private travel service that specialises in students airfares. By negotiating with the major airlines on their behalf, Student Universe is able to provide students with exclusive and significantly cheap air travel fares catering to them.

At the end of the day, remember that irregardless of which cheap air travel options you choose, always compare prices between sites and their requirements before deciding on the final choice.

Cheap Flights: Get Them Easily Online

Travelling to far off countries is possible only through air flights. Airlines can be domestic and international. Domestic airlines let you fly from one city to other within the boundaries of the country. International air flights allow you to travel long distances outside a country. So you can go from one part of the world to other in a few hours with international air flights.

The airline market is becoming highly competitive. These international air flights come with ample of discount options. The international air flights are really expensive so make use of the discount offers. But you need to plan your trip in advance in order to get the best discounts. The earlier you plan your trip and book your tickets, the more economical deal you get. You can also get free holiday packages online.

Travelling on flights has become common these days. Some people travel as they need some time for themselves from their busy schedule. Others travel because of business needs. So everyone have their own different reasons for travelling but one thing common is their wish to save as much as possible by availing cheap flight tickets. Who doesn’t want to make their trip economical?

Your vacation can be exciting if you get a cheap flight without standing in long queues. The numerous travel websites make your dreams come true by offering discounts or deals. After all, you want to save your hard earned money. He might me a person who has been taking care of your travel needs for years but if there is a better deal available in the market why would you deprive yourself from its benefit.

From the comfort of your home, you can easily book your air tickets and get very good discounts. You can choose from an extensive range of last minute travel deals. Select the one that suits your budget and make your trip cost-effective.

If there were no cheap flights, many would not have got an opportunity to visit foreign countries. The steps through which you can get cheap flight airline tickets are:

Book your tickets in advance. If you book your tickets well in advance, you would get maximum savings.

Travelling during off peak times is always cheaper.

Travel agents can help you get great deals.

Research on the internet to get fantastic deals. Great package deals are available with various flight websites.

So make prompt bookings as if you are late in making decisions, it may result in expiry of discount offer.

Its best to book flights as early as you can. When flights get booked, there are limited seats available which causes prices to rise. Also, booking early gives you better choice of seating. Surf multiple web sites and search for websites offering cheap flights. Travel agencies book the international airfares for you. You should also ask them for additional savings.

These days, it has become easy to get a cheap flight to anywhere in the world. Simply search for the websites offering discounted rates for virtually anywhere you wish to travel. If you have a low budget, you can get ample of options to book a trip. So spend your energy and time in exploring your choices and make the best of your hard earned money.

At times, finding cheap flights tickets can be a challenge. When you call to book your ticket, there are very less chances to get a discount. So it is wise to go online to book your tickets unless you have an emergency. Also compare prices from travel websites before you book your trip as many a times you’ll find another travel site offering a bit cheap fare.

Save your time and money by shopping around. Simply enter your flight details and you will find the best deal. Search for online travel agents and grab the deal that suits you. Get the best prices by researching. Compare the offerings of different airlines and sometimes you may get also additional savings.

Casting with a weighted fly

Casting with weighted flies can be hazardous to your health. Often called a “chuck and duck” method, it takes a different set of skills from dry fly fishing.

The first tip to keep in mind when casting weighted flies is to cast with an “open loop”. This means slowing down the casting stroke and having more patience in your casting.

Also, when casting in windy conditions, care must be taken to control the flight of the weighted fly. A weighted fly can cause serious injury by becoming embedded in your scalp or body. Always wear protective eye-wear when casting to protect your eyes.

You will need to modify your casting considerably when casting weighted flies. Try to minimize your false casting. A good bet is to just “load” the rod and “shoot” the fly, keeping to a minimum of false casting. You will find it more difficult to use a roll cast. It can be done, but will require perfect technique and more energy to accomplish.

For short range casting on moving water, you can load the rod by letting your fly drift past you and letting the downstream current load the rod. You can flip the line upstream against the downstream force that is being exerted on the rod. This will use the stored energy in the rod to propel the fly upstream with no false casting.

For longer casts, you will have to false cast, but never false cast more than necessary to load the rod for the appropriate distance. You can use the “double haul” technique to increase line speed and “shoot” the line to gain distance and minimize false casting.

See another article I have posted on Helium.com that explains the double haul in detail.

Weight flies such as nymphs and streamers must have the weight necessary to get down to the the depth where the fish are holding. It is a safe bet that 90% of the time, fish are feeding near the bottom of the stream. You will catch more and bigger fish using weighted flies. The weight can be incorporated into the fly by wrapping lead wire around the hook and the tying the fly a usual. an alternate method is to tie the fly without weight and adding a split shot of the appropriate size about 6″ above the fly on the tippet.

I like the split shot method because it allows the weight to tick along the bottom and the fly to float a few inches above it. You will also get fewer hang-ups on debris on the bottom. You will lose flies fishing weight flies on or near the bottom, but if you’re not losing some flies, you will not catch as many fish.

I love seeing a trout take a dry fly. It is the ultimate in fly fishing, but you’ll find that when fish are not actively feeding on top, you’ll take more and bigger trout on weighted nymphs and streamers.

Weighted flies require specific casting skills that are different from dry fly casting, but it is well worth the effort to develop these skills.

“Chuck and duck” is definitely worth the risk.

Searching for Cheap Flights Online

Searching for inexpensive flights online could prove to be a difficult experience for most people out there because you are going to encounter hundreds of websites that offer discounts on airfare. Many of these websites also offer cheap international ticket rates. You need to know that official international airfares are governed by IATA (International Air Transport Association) and it does not allow direct discounting of airfare. But there is a way of purchasing cheap tickets through consolidators and wholesalers. So lets find out how exactly you can find cheap flights online.

Many low cost carriers are not full IATA members. So they can lower their airfare whenever they want and offer discount packages to their customers. These local companies have set up their websites that not only help to find you cheap flights but also hotel reservations and car rentals. Some airlines also have student discount offers listed on their websites. Some search engines display a list of travel agencies that meet your itinerary criteria. You can then find the best of these sites and book reservations with their supplier. You will be able to find national as well as international travel agencies this way by searching on the Internet.

Airfare Watchdog is an online portal where you can learn about special deals and offers and much more information about other travel arrangements. The address is: www.airfarewatchdog.com. Similarly there are other sites that help you find local and international flight rates in particular seasons and useful information. www.travelzoo.com or www.airfarechoice.com are also two such portals.

Consolidators are sold tickets at very low costs. You can find any air travel consolidator in your area and find out about their pricing structure and other facilities they have to offer. Consolidators allow travelers to compare prices of different travel agencies and also help them in choosing the best time of flight. There are three types of air travel consolidators: destination specialists, wholesale consolidators and online travel consolidators. Destination specialists are able to draw discounts depending on a particular destination. Wholesale consolidators do not sell tickets directly but you can find out more about multi-stop specialists who come under this category. They might be able to help you out in finding cheaper travel agencies.

Online travel consolidators are the best way of finding the cheapest flights, national or international. They might not be the best in providing other services but when it comes to pricing, thats where they specialize. You will find a lot of online agencies like that, such as Travelocity, Skyscanner, Cheap Flights, Expedia, STA Travel and many more. Expedia and Travelocity are two of the most popular online travel agencies. They both offer special flight prices with many airlines all around the world. Consolidator fares can save you up to 70-80% of your airfare. Although they are the best to go around when finding cheap flights, many people still like to consider buying direct airline tickets because they are more reliable and offer more services than the consolidators.

Choosing the right time for booking your flights is also important. Sometimes the best deals are offered at the last minute of reservations. If you are traveling alone you might want to wait until the day of your departure. However, booking in advance is always safer and more reliable and you never know when your luck might take a turn and the airline might offer you tickets at a discount rate when you purchase them. Again, there are online travel agencies that offer discounts if your book in advance. A little search here and there will teach you how this system works. Also get in touch with travel agents to find out more about the advantages and disadvantages of early and late reservations.

7 Tips You Must Know Before Buying Cheap Airfares Online

It is a problem that most air travellers face – how and where to buy those cheap airfares online and what are the benefits in savings and drawbacks compared to buying the cheap airfares from the travel agent down the road.

If you travel by air, you would already know that airfares cost typically forms the dominant chunk of your travel bill be it leisure or holiday. And the savings can add up a lot i.e. if you know where to really get those cheap airfares.

But in the current world where there are a proliferation of travel agencies, sites and even airlines themselves advertising all sort of cheap airfares, if you buy those airfares online yourself and cut out the middlemen, the travel agents, then things could get confusing fast.

Without some guidance and understanding of how one of the world’s largest industry works (air travel), travellers are likely to find themselves short-changed for the more expensive airfares tickets or buying something they may not need that had already been built into the airfare prices.

Of course, every traveller would love it if they could just get those cheapest airfares or at least bragged to their relatives or friends how they managed to get those cheap airfares at 30%-50% cheaper than the next guy sitting on the plane. Is this possible actually?

Yes, you can do all these online yourselves but here are 7 important tips you have to know before buying those airfares online or searching for the best cheap airfare deal:

1) Know your priority first.
If cheap airfare price is everything and you can settle for some minor restrictions, then you are always better to go for the cheap consolidators’ airfares rather than that of the airlines’ own published airfares themselves.

On domestic US routes, some of the big online air travel consolidators you could check out are Onetravel.com, Hotwire.com, Priceline.com, etc.

On the other hand, if airfare price is not your top consideration (for example, you have this worry about foreign airlines reliability or security), you should then monitor your favourite airline’s own cheap airfare sales, which they have periodically every two to three months.

Or try to look for a complete package tour (which is likely cheaper in airfare ticket prices than just buying the airfare ticket alone) from the big published Internet travel agencies like Travelocity.com, Expedia.com, etc.

2) Do not waste time checking sites which have the same sources of cheap airfares.
For example, these sites may rely on the same computerised reservation system (CSR) that gives you options from the same set of published air fares.

There are less than 8 major CSR systems in the industry (you can check the sites on which CSRs are they using or ask their customer help desk) and it is better if you get your options from most or all of them to get the cheapest airfares.

Note that some sites may just be a portal or gateways to other main sites so it will be a waste of time to check your options on these sites together for your cheap airfare search.

3) Get the full itineraries available
Remember that airfare pricing are determined by a variety of factors such as dates, seating, routes (direct flights, stopovers or connecting flights for example), and their rules for cancellations, refunds or changes to the tickets.

You may find that the cheapest airfare tickets tend to have a lot of restrictions that may not be suitable to you.

For example, if you are on a rushed vacation where there are too many stopovers or connecting flights, these are likely to eat into your vacation time. Always check the fine prints before paying for any cheap airfares as there are tradeoffs to be made.

4) Always book and pay quickly on a good deal
Do not waste your time searching endlessly for the best cheap airfares deal. They don’t likely exist as airfare pricing are determined by many things as noted from above and the cheapest airfare tickets may not be suitable after all for your requirements.

If you do see a good cheap airfare deal, book and pay for it quickly.

Airlines typically may offer a few crash-down cheap airfare deals to pull in demands on limited seat availability and what you see in the advertisements may not be available to you in a few days or even the next hour unless you book and pay for those cheap seats quickly.

Keeping an eye open and putting yourself on the e-mail list of notifications by the airlines or travel agencies are a good way of spotting these cheap airfare deals.

5) There is no magical place or site to look, just the best comparison
Despite what some may claim, there are no one airline or travel site that will offer you the best available cheap airfare deal as it all depends on your requirements and travel preferences.

There are actually thousands of permutations of flights routes, prices, type of flights, seatings, timing, etc for any possible trip especially for those long-distance, lengthy, round-the-world (RTW)trips.

Hence, it is always wise to do comparison between airlines or travel agencies at all time for their cheap airfare claims or offers. Of course, just do not be a cheap airfare fanatic until you miss the forest for the trees.

6) Never assume anything on cheap airfares
The best advice is never to assume anything on the airfares that you have to pay as what is cheap could be obscured by hidden charges.

Make sure that the net cheap airfare price you have to pay have factored in other charges like airport taxes, surcharges, agencies charges, etc. before you pay or make a like-for-like comparison with other sites.

Also never assume that online airfare prices will be cheaper. Always check offline for example with the consolidators’ cheap airfares.

Also never assume that those cheapest airfares flight search function on any travel websites will actually get you the ever lowest discount fares.

They won’t as search robots are actually not exactly built that way and are quite rigid. For example, they may not disclose another cheaper airfare alternative say if you vary your destination or stopover a little bit, which brings us to a last point.

7) You need to invest some patience and efforts
Ultimately, to find those bargain cheap airfares, you still need to invest the time and effort to find them.

There are always different sites, tactics and sources to find the best possible cheap airfares (note not necessarily the cheapest) for any trips.

If you are unable to do so yourself, you could still find a trustworthy and reliable travel agent to search out those cheap airfare options for you for a small fee.

Just be sure that you ask all the relevant questions in this case as some agents may not likely be as helpful as you want them to be, to search for the lowest airfares or best itineraries for you.

In the end still, nothing beats a little time and effort to plan your trip yourself and get the best out of it at the least cost.

Cheap Flights Guide

General information on low cost airlines

Low cost airlines and their fares deeply changed the flight sector. A low cost (or no frills, or low fares) is an airline company that offers flights at very competitive prices (Cheap Flights) by not offering or by selling most of passenger services (like on-board meals, seats bookings, etc.). Cheap flights were born in USA in 1971 with Southwest Airlines, and started spreading in Europe at the beginning of the ’90s with Ireland’s Ryanair.

Statistics and history in brief

To point out the strong growth of low cost flights we will show a few stats: in 1994 about 3 million passengers flew low cost, most of them with Ryanair, and in 1995 they reached 17,5 million.

In 1995 British Airways founded their cheap flights division named Go, operating from London Stanstead airport in 1998. The same year Go started operating form London Luton as well. In the year 2000, Go was sold to EasyJet.com with an operational loss of over 21 million Pounds. In 2000 KLM also entered the low cost world with Buzz, which was bought over by Ryanair in 2003 with very high losses. Currently EasyJet.com and Ryanair are among the most successful European low cost airlines, and operate over several hundred routes.

Today’s market situation sees a strong and constant growth of the cheap flights sector, new routes being opened every day by all main airlines, In the future a strong growth of low cost companies it is foreseen also in the long range flights segments.

Why low cost flights are such

Low cost airlines are very flexible and efficient organizations with a cost structure that is very different from the one of traditional airlines. Cutting many costs allows them to offer very competitive prices.

Costs are optimized mainly in the following areas:

– Tickets sales are direct, Internet being the main channel. By shortening the intermediation chain, costs can be deeply reduced.

– Smaller and cheaper airports are used, that are also less jammed by traffic.

– On-board services and crews. No meals are served. Fewer crew members are used, and airplanes need less cleaning.

– Full usage of aircraft capacity. Airplanes always fly full charge and fly more often to amortize costs. They have faster load/download times (25/35 minutes vs. 2 hours of traditional companies).

– Newer and all equal aircraft. Low cost companies fleets are made all of the same make of planes, all new ones and easy to service, in order to have them all at maximum efficiency.

Characteristics of low cost companies

To operate cheap flights, airlines must have specific characteristics to allow them to keep prices as low as possible. The basic ones are:

– A single passenger class, with free choice of the seating place.

– A single airplane make (in order to optimize service costs), such as Airbus A320s or Boeing 737s (for instance: Ryanair uses Boeing 737 series, EasyJet favors both Boeing 737s and Airbus A319s).

– Airplanes have more seats (for instance, Lufthansa’s Boeing 737s carry 132 passengers, EasyJet’s ones carry 148).

– Lower weight allowance for both hand carried and stored luggage.

– No free meals or beverages are served on board, but they are available to buy.

– Crew members fulfill multiple tasks (mainly stewardesses and stewards).

– Intensive use of airfleets. For instance, EasyJet flies an average of 10.7 hours a day, while British Airways flies 7.1 hours. Airport stops are shorter (with a faster turnover, usually 25 minutes between flights), and flights are shorter too.

– Connections are made using convenient secondary airfields, often far away from town centers, without slot restrictions, little air traffic and lower airstrip fares.

– Straight peer-to-peer connections without luggage transfers to other coincident flights (separate check-in and check-out), no coordinate flight plans with other airlines.

– Expenditure savings trough direct ticket sales, especially trough the Internet and outsourced call centers, automated check-ins and, occasionally service fees.

– Certain offers (as low as 0.99?) are only valid for in-advance bookings or are limited offers, for a relatively low number of seats.

– Lean management (savings on staff). For instance, Germanwings in Cologne employs no more than 50 people.

It isn’t easy to be low cost: flops

There were new low cost companies that flew only a few months, or even only a few days, like Ireland’s JetGreen Airways, that stopped all activities in May 2004 after only one week without paying back about 40.000 already sold tickets.

– V Bird flew from October 23, 2003 to October 8, 2004 from Düsseldorf.

– VolareWeb, low cost daughter of Italy’s Volare went bankrupt on November 23, 2004. On October 30, 2004 they stopped at once their flights between Germany and Italy. In June 2005 they started to fly again, mainly to domestic destinations and a few European ones.

Several more or less known flops were: Minerva, Gandalf, Azzurra, Air Sicilia, ItalAir, Air Libertè.

When to book

It is usually better to book your cheap flights in large advance, at least 15 days before leaving. Better offers are for departures from Mondays to Thursdays: Better to avoid leaving on week ends. Always buy return tickets and be ready to take off at unusual times (early mornings or late evenings).

Canceling or modifying bookings

Before booking read thoroughly the company’s regulations about cancelling or modifying bookings! Usually cheap flights tickets not used on the booked flight are not payed back as recession rights for long distance travel do not apply to this kind of sales. About changing departure dates, every company have different regulations, which you better always check on the company’s site. Usually changing dates is not convenient. It is better to loose your old ticket and buy a new one.

How to pay

To shorten intermediation chains, thus offering competitive prices, low cost airlines use favor Internet and call canters (these may apply a small overcharge). Therefore be ready to pay via credit card (payments are secure, to verify be sure that Internet addresses change form http: to https:).

Cheap Flights Confirmation and check in

If you book on line, you will receive a confirmation mail at the e-mail address you specified. For telephone bookings at a call center, you will receive confirmation via fax, e-mail or, eventually by regular mail. In the last case, certain companies ask for a small overcharge if sending via messenger mail. If you are e-booking, that means if you buy your ticker on line, you receive confirmation via e-mail. It is enough to print it out and to show it at the booking counter at the airport.

Secure on line payments

On line payments are preferred by low cost airlines. To guarantee discretion in data transfer on the web, credit cards use the most advanced SSL (Secure Socket Layer) technology. When paying, if your browser uses SSL you just select Protected Mode and your data will be protected. If the browser has limitations, you can use Unprotected Mode. We recommend to get hold of the latest version to be able to carry out without problems all transactions.

Watch out for taxes and extras

Unfortunately, in offers of may low cost airlines there is a not yet regulated very bad habit of give only a partial price, not including overcharges and extras. So don’t be fooled by offers at 0.01 cents, always calculate global prices including taxes, overcharges and fuel costs. Sometimes there are huge differences in price.

Get organized for transportation

Low cost companies usually fly from secondary airfields that can be very far from final destinations (there are almost 70 miles from Stanstead to London), so make sure you know your way out (costs, timings and transportation time) and get organized to reach your destination.

Your luggage

Luggage transport is another point to pay attention to when flying low cost to avoid spending more on extra allowances than on tickets. Extra payload is usually very expensive and companies are very strict about it. So pay extreme attention to luggage overweight regulations and “weigh well” your suitcases.

This article is brought to you by http://en.europelowcost.com

The best fishing flies

Every one has a favorite fly for trout. It is usually the first fly that you used successfully. In my case, it was the Elk Hair Caddis. It is a very good dry fly and one of the best all around flies for searching and it floats extremely well.

Good flies are successful because they have certain “triggering” characteristics. They may or may not look like a familiar insect. Even if they are abstract and don’t look like any insect that you have ever seen, there is usually one or more attributes that are attractive to the fish. That may be the legs, wings or just the overall profile of the fly.

There are several classes of flies: dry flies, emergers, wet flies, nymphs, streamers and terrestrials. Each one imitates certain insects at a certain stage of their life cycle.

Most of the insects that flies imitate are aquatic insects. These include: may flies, caddis flies and stone flies. At times the fly fisherman will be successful with dragonfly, cranefly or damselflies.

In late summer and fall, terrestrials such as grasshoppers, beetles, ants and inchworms are more abundant and are good selections to imitate. After a rain, many terrestrials was into the stream and it is a good time to use a fly in that class. Likewise, San Juan worms are a good choice after a rain and sometimes even when it’s dry. Some worms are aquatic and therefore may be a good choice any time.

A good selection of flies for the beginning fly fisherman could include the following flies.

Dry flies – Elk Hair Caddis, Adams, Royal Wulff and Stimulator (sizes 12 to 20).

Emergers – This class of fly can include any fly that floats low in the surface film. You can modify a dry fly by clipping the bottom hackle so that it floats low and gives a good profile to the fish viewing it from below. Small emergers can be tied with closed cell foam at the head and the body actually suspends below the surface film with the hear floating above the surface (sizes 12 to 20).

Wet flies – Partridge and Orange, Quill Gordon, Renegade and Woolly Worm (sizes 10 to 18).

Nymphs – Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear, Pheasant Tail, Prince and Zug Bug (sizes 10 to 18).

Streamers – Mickey Finn, Muddler Minnow and Woolly Bugger (sizes 4 to 12).

Terrestrials – Dave’s Hopper, Joe’s Hopper, assorted ant patterns, foam beetles and inchworm imitations (sizes 8 to 16).

With a selection of these patterns in the recommended sizes and an assortment of colors, you will be armed to catch trout under most any conditions, in any location.

How to make an inexpensive fly book

It isn’t uncommon for fly fishermen to have 30 or 40 flies of different sorts and sizes. This can create quite a problem. Keeping them loose in a tackle box or creel is a great way to have an unwieldy mess that can make it difficult to find the fly you want, and almost invariably results in punctures from the sharp hooks. There is a way around this though, use a fly book.

When we talk about fly books, we aren’t talking about books about fly-fishing or on how to tie flies. In fact, we aren’t talking about printed material at all. A fly book is simply a place to store fishing flies so they can easily be selected, while helping to protect the flies from damage.

Fly books can be purchased, and many of the bought variety do a fair job, whether they are a magnetic sort or other construction. However, a good durable fly book can be created without much effort or expense, and this can last for years.

To make a fly book, you need:

1 8 inch x 8 inch square of fake wool

1 8 inch x 9 inch rectangle of leather (soft leather works best)

1 or 2 clothing snaps

Heavy thread

Leather needles

A leather punch (a knife can be used, but it makes the creation of the fly book more difficult)

Step 1: Punch or cut a hole in the leather to contain the male side of the clothing snap(s), and crimp the snap into place. The placement should be 1/4 to 1/2 inch in from the edge, along one of the eight-inch sides of the leather.

Step 2: Turn the leather over, and then sew the fake wool to the leather. It should be sewn all the way around, but flush on three sides so there will be a one-inch overlap of leather.

Step 3: Fold the material in half so the fake wool is on the inside, fold the one inch flap of leather over, and punch a hole or holes for the female ends of the snap so they can snap tight in the male ends. Insert those or that side of the snap. This will hold the book together to protect the flies and prevent them from coming free accidentally.

You should now have a completed fly book, eight inches long and four inches wide, to hold your flies. To attach the flies, simply unsnap the book and slip the hook into the fake wool, then snap it closed again. The fake wool holds the hook in place, yet you can easily remove it by just pulling on the hook.

A fly book made in this way isn’t very expensive, and the leather causes it to last for a long time. Better still, you can arrange your flies according to type and size. This means that by just opening the book, you (or the fly fisherman in your family, if you are making this as a gift) can easily find just the fly that is desired. Also, it means that simply opening the book and taking a quick glance, it is easy to see which flies need to be purchased or tied.

A fly book of this size is capable of holding a surprising number of flies, and since the fake wool is soft, it protects the fur and feathers the fly was tied from. At the same time, the leather protects the fly from the elements.

If you are a fly fisherman and have never used a fly book, you will quickly start to wonder why it took so long to try it. If you make your own book and see how easy it is, you may wonder even more. A fly book is something every fly fisherman can use, and unlike many other things they may have for fly-fishing, it is inexpensive, especially if it is home made. This leads to less time spent finding the fly you want, and more time spent in catching the fish.

Are Cheap Flights Becoming an Endangered Species?

A few years ago back when budget airlines like EasyJet and RyanAir were first on the scene we were all promised ridiculously cheap flights to all sorts of destinations from European city breaks to viable alternatives to ferries to Ireland. There seemed to be a growing market of flights that appeared to operate at a price lower than the cost to the airline itself.

This was all well and good especially after other destinations received discount flights like New York and even locations like India and Turkey. The problem is that in the past few years most people haven’t noticed the price of these flights has managed to creep up and now the moniker of cheap flights seems false.

Holidays site Travelocity has found that prices have raised by roughly 7 percent compared to last years prices, so why has this happened? Well the price has risen due to a number of different factors and depending on which airline you select you may have to pay considerably more on top of your flight cost.

One common raise has been the rise of fuel tax, with the airline industry receiving a lot of flak in the battle to make our lives “greener” air travel is said to produce one of the most destructive gases to our environment (as well as bovine flatulence, but that’s another matter) and so fuel surcharges has been increased to discourage people from taking flights.

Some people think that this initiative is a direct response to the cheap flights industry as many more people flew to destinations once cheap flights were readily available. Other than this cause there are a number of trivial extra charges such as aisle seats, the boxed lunches and with some airlines if you have more than one item of baggage checked.

So are cheap flights lost to the ether, an afterthought in the history of air travel? Well not necessarily there are a few ways in which you can help reduce the cost of your flights, such as booking as early as possible. A leading travel agent explained that flight prices gradually rise in the lead up to the summer holiday period and are at their most expensive during the period of March to September. They also advised that December is the optimal time to book your flights as this is when they are at their cheapest.

Apart from booking good and early there is a number of air fares monitoring websites that can track multiple flights companies so you can hunt down the cheapest flight possible and pounce on them when the timing’s right

EL AL is Best Choice for LA Flights to Israel

About El Al
El Al is Israel’s national airline. The airline was founded in 1948, shortly after the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel. Today, El Al and its Star of David logo have become synonymous with flights to Israel, high levels of in-flight and pre-flight security, and warm Israeli hospitality. These factors combine to make traveling with El Al a particularly relaxing and enjoyable experience. Passengers traveling on El Al flights can relax in their seats and enjoy the flight, knowing that their personal safety and comfort are being extremely well cared for.

El Al flies to over forty destinations: from Beijing in China, to Johannesburg in South Africa, and St. Petersburg in Russia. El Al is the only airline to operate direct LA flights to Israel. Other North American departure points for direct flights to Tel Aviv include New York, Toronto, and Miami.

El Al is also known for the spontaneous applause and sometimes singing that erupts in the passenger cabin upon landing at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.

LA Flights to Israel with El Al
Direct LA flights to Israel with El Al commenced in July 2006. It is an extremely popular route, and currently there are five weekly flights from Los Angeles International Airport to Ben Gurion International Airport. The flight time is approximately 15 hours. The route is served by the new Boeing 777-200 and the Boeing 747. Passengers on these flights can choose between three levels of seating: economy, business and first class.

In June 2008, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa arrived in Israel on an El AL flight to Tel Aviv. Mayor Villaraigosa was scheduled to meet EL Al Chairman Prof. Israel Borovich, and El Al President Haim Romano. There has been some discussion about the possibility of adding additional scheduled flights between Tel Aviv and Los Angeles.

New Aircraft at El Al
In 2007, El Al purchased two new Boeing 777-200 airliners. The 777-200 is the largest twin engine aircraft in the world, and has improved fuel economy. The purchase represents the company’s strategy of growth, and its commitment to the long-haul destinations, such as the LA flights to Tel Aviv. One of the aircrafts has been named Sderot, after the southern Israeli city that is under constant rocket and mortar shell fire from the nearby Gaza Strip. During his recent mission, Mayor Villaraigosa traveled to Sderot in order to show his solidarity with its residents.

El Al Security
El Al Israel Airlines is famed for its security, which over the years has evolved into one that is envied though no never equaled by other major airlines. The security envelope includes both pre-flight and in-flight measures, all of which make passengers on flights to Tel Aviv feel that their personal safety is paramount.