Have you got any amazing travel photos from the past?  Whatever the era, whatever you were wearing, wherever you were, we want to know!

Please send your photo (preferably one with you in it!!) with a explanation of where and when and what you loved about the experience.

Please send your entry to Emmalita@PulseTravel.com.au

The winner be announced in our January 09 Corporate Newsletter and will receive a $200 Travel Voucher!!

Check out the fantastic entries already received.......

Effective from 12 January 2009, the US Department of Homeland Security will introduce new immigration procedures for all passengers intending to enter the USA. Under the new procedures, travellers wishing to visit the USA under the Visa Waiver
Programme – which includes passport holders from Australia and New Zealand – will be required to “pre-register” their intention to enter America at least 72 hours prior to their scheduled departure.
This requires all intending travellers to apply online to the department of Homeland Security for a travel authorisation, prior to boarding an aircraft or vessel to the USA. Travellers who do not apply for and receive a formal travel authorisation ahead of their
intended departure date will not be able to board a flight or ship to the USA. This is not a regulation created by airlines. It is a requirement of the US Government, and unfortunately, where passengers do not have a travel authorisation, airline check in staff will not be able to resolve the problem. To avoid potential conflict between passengers and airline employees on the day of departure, or between passengers travel agents in the event of a denied boarding, we urge travel agents to be aware of this requirement now, and to ensure that the travel authorisation procedure is followed by intending passengers. To apply on line for a US Travel Authorisation, visit https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta. The application is free of charge and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. It is valid for two years for holders of a valid passport. Once travel authorisation is sought and obtained, passengers must update their travel plans online for subsequent visits to the USA, quoting their travel authorisation number.

Airlines have put on extra flights to repatriate stranded Australian travellers from Thailand as the on-going crisis continues to derail the country's tourism industry.  Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports remain closed to air traffic as the protests have entered their eighth day.
Thai Airways has been forced to use the military base at U-Tapao airport, operating 18 outbound and 13 inbound flights - one each from Australia.  Qantas will operate a special service from Phuket tonight for Australians.  Emirates and Etihad have also been operating flights out of U-Tapao.

Our super cruise consultant Terri Bettany has turned into a globe trotter, after experiencing Alaska, the Carribean is next on the agenda!!

Click here to find out about Terri's travels and to get her tips on travel to Alaska.
 

Jetstar has introduced a new campaign, the JQ Price Beat Guarantee which means that any passenger who finds a lower internet fare with another airline at a similar date and time, will be offered 10% off that fare price when booking with Jetstar.  Passengers can call the JQ Price Beat Guarantee hotline, and subject to verifying the competing fare, and the JQ flight being available, the passenger will be offered the 10% saving.


Qantas has just announced that it will be grounding ten planes as well as completely halting all domestic growth plans for its Qantas and Jetstar brands, and warns that its profits will not be as high as expected. It will also be lowering capacity gradually, though it has not yet named which services will be cut.  This will result in a 4% capacity cut in the next six months.


Air New Zealand A320 operated by XL Airways in Europe disappears.  Three Air New Zealand staff are feared dead after an Airbus A320 operated by XL Airways of Germany was lost in the Mediterranean.

The aircraft, owned by Air NZ, has been on lease to XL for the past 30 months and has apparently crashed during a flight to Frankfurt, where it was due to be handed back to Air NZ for a ferry flight back to New Zealand.

Air NZ ceo Rob Fyfe said the carrier had been notified that three of its staff "may have been on board the aircraft as passengers.

"Naturally, this is an extremely difficult time for us all and the full resources of the airline are being put into investigating what may have happened," Fyfe said.


AirAsia X to London.  Low cost long haul carrier AirAsia X says it's aiming to undercut the fares of full service carriers by 40-50% after launching its new flights between Kuala Lumpur and London Stansted.  The lead-in one way fare for the A340 flights, set to debut in March, is £99 and the average cost is expected to be about £150.  There are also special fares from Perth, Melbourne and the Gold Coast to KL being offerred in conjunction with the London launch, meaning it could cost less than $500 for a flight to the UK.


Vietnam has a new airline in its skies following the launch of Indochina Airlines, the third domestic carrier there.  Indochina Airlines operates four daily flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi using B737-800s.


Air Austral is one sale.  Fares for the new Air Austral flights from Sydney to France via Reunion went on sale on 27 Nov, leading in at $2126 return in economy class.  The 777 services are now set to launch 14 Apr 09 and also provide the first direct link between Australia and Reunion and the only single-aircraft link to France.

 

Officials in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (East Timor) have entered into an agreement with Brisbane-based SkyAirWorld to form a new national carrier for East Timor.

President Jose Ramos-Horta officiated at the signing of the historic deal in Dili this afternoon, which will see the new airline, named Timor Air, utilise an E-190 aircraft provided by SkyAirWorld.

SkyAirWorld will also provide management support as well as the training of East Timorese cabin crew starting in Jan 2009.

Timor Air is scheduled to commence operations in Feb 2009 with daily services linking Dili with Darwin and Denpasar, and further routes are expected to be added during 2009.

SkyAirWorld said it would operate a new 94-seat Embraer E-190 on the route, which will be based in Darwin. The carrier said it would also commence a connecting Darwin-Cloncurry-Brisbane service in conjunction with the Timor Air flights.

Jerry Desousa, inaugural ceo of Timor Air said: "The creation of Timor Air is the result of a true partnership between Timor-Leste and Australia. This new airline will help take our country forward, increase tourism and create employment opportunities for the Timorese people".

Climate Neutral Network (CN Net) has welcomed its first airline member NatureAir, the world’s first carbon neutral airline.

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) introduced the CN Net to encourage low-carbon economies and societies through global sustainable practices – it currently consists of members who have set the highest greenhouse gas reduction goals in the world.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director welcomed NatureAir and pointed out that each year the amount of greenhouse gases the airline industry contributes is “nearly as much as the entire African continent”.

NatureAir Founder and CEO Alex E. Khajavi attributed the company’s success to its “commitment to environmental and social responsibility, its safety record and its reliability with a region leading 93 percent on-time-performance record for over four years”.

In the past three years, NatureAir has reduced aircraft weight, improved flight planning and used a twin-engine fleet, as a result improving overall fuel efficiency - the company’s subsidiary fuel company has even converted the entire ground fleet to biofuels.

The Costa Rica-based carrier operates daily in 17 destinations across Costa Rica and Panama, with over 60 percent of its passengers landing within 10 k's from ecotourism destinations.

The year 2021 will see Costa Rica celebrate its 200 years of independence by which time it aims to be climate neutral.

 

Don't miss out on the following fantastic events:

Cirque du Soleil - Brisbane - 27 Nov 08 - 4 Jan 09
Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race - 26 Dec 08 to 1 Jan 09
Formula One Grand Prix - Albert Park Melbourne - 26-29 Mar 09
Brisbane International - Qld Tennis Centre - 4 - 11 Jan 09
2009 Australian Open Tennis - Melbourne - 19 Jan to 1 Feb 09
Monet & The Impressionists - Sydney - 11 Oct 08 to 26 Jan 09
WICKED the Broadway Musical - Melbourne - till 21 Dec 08
Big Day Out - Gold Coast - 18 Jan 09
Cathay Pacific Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens - 26 to 30 Mar 09
2009 Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix- Melbourne - 26 to 29 Mar 09
2009 Formula 1 ING Malaysian Grand Prix - 3 to 6 April 09
Wimbledon Championships 2009 - London - 22 - 30 June 09

You can combine any of the above events with a fantastic accommodation package, please contact us for details.

Tourism Australia believes Baz Luhrmann’s epic movie AUSTRALIA is just the right tonic for the challenging times ahead facing the tourism industry.

Speaking at a special screening of the outback tale for the world’s media, Tourism Australia MD Geoff Buckley said “we needed to create a bit of movie magic to compel people to travel here, and that’s just what AUSTRALIA does.”

Mr Buckley said the big screen romantic adventure has already created a world-wide buzz about the country and that publicity it has received so far has already exceeded expectations.

“Around the world, more than 100 million people have already heard about AUSTRALIA the movie with stories running on Oprah, Good Morning America and Entertainment Tonight in the U.S. and on BBC TV and radio in the UK".