Mediaboss Marketing

LONDON, May 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Leading scheduled leisure airline, Monarch, last week announced it is to introduce additional frequencies and a new route from Birmingham airport this summer, plus launch a new base and flights from East Midlands airport. These flights will be on sale from Friday 18 May 2012.

The routes, which have been announced in reaction to the news that bmibaby is to close, include new flights from East Midlands airport to Malaga, Alicante, Palma and Faro, plus additional frequencies from Birmingham airport to Malaga, Alicante, Faro, Palma and the new flights to Rome. There will also be a new route between Birmingham and Barcelona. The flights from Birmingham will operate in addition to Monarch's existing network of services to Alicante, Almeria, Bodrum, Dalaman, Dubrovnik, Faro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Grenoble*, Heraklion, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Larnaca, Madeira*, Majorca, Malaga, Menorca, Milan, Munich*, Paphos, Rome, Sharm el Sheikh*, Tenerife and Venice.

Commenting on the new Midlands' services, Managing Director of Monarch Airlines, Kevin George said, "Monarch is delighted to be launching the new and additional services from both Birmingham and East Midlands airports, which will support travellers in the region left without flights to some of their favourite leisure destinations once bmibaby closes. The services, which account for 25% of bmibaby's existing routes from the Midlands, will commence this summer and provide customers with a quality alternative for all their holiday flights."

Monarch's new and additional flights from Birmingham and East Midlands airports will be available to book via http://www.monarch.co.uk from Friday 18 May, when full schedules and timetables will be published.

*Flights launch autumn/winter 2012

Note to editors

Monarch, the leading scheduled leisure airline, has to date operated flights to Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Gibraltar, Greece, Italy, Portugal Spain and Turkey from Birmingham, London Gatwick, London Luton and Manchester airports. In addition to year-round low fares, Monarch also offers a bespoke "build your own class of travel" range of products and services both on the ground and inflight. Monarch has always aimed at offering high quality service - all customers are allocated a seat at check-in, but for those wishing to select where in the cabin they sit to ensure that families and groups are seated together, seats can be pre-booked from 5.99 per one-way flight. For customers looking for added comfort, extra legroom seats are also available offering up to six inches of extra space from only 9.99.

Monarch recently launched 'Air Packs' enabling customers to build their own flights through transparent and pre-packaged optional extras, starting from just 20 per person per flight. The two new Air Packs are offered alongside the airline's traditional "build your own class" product and are designed to give customers full visibility on price from the beginning of the booking process. Customers are able to choose between two Monarch Air Packs: an Essentials Pack and a Premium Pack, combining extras such as allocated seating, hold baggage and access to online check-in.

Customers can also take advantage of MFlex, which provides improved flexibility for customers when booking flights on Monarch's scheduled network of flights. Charged at only 2.50 per person, per flight, the new MFlex product must be added at the time of booking. Once added, the customer is free to make one change to their booking up to 15 days prior to departure, which includes a date change or a route change, without incurring an administration fee*. What's more, if a customer selects MFlex when booking, but makes no subsequent changes to their booking, Monarch will refund them the value of MFlex in the form of a credit voucher, which can be used as part payment towards a future scheduled flight with Monarch.

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Monarch's New Midlands' Flights on Sale From 18 May 2012

European Union countries already had a data roaming cutoff law in place to prevent bill shock after your next Balearic vacation, but the price of the data in question should get much cheaper very soon. The European Parliament has just voted 578 to 10 to cap the price customers pay at no more than 70 Euro cents (91 US cents) per megabyte starting from July 1st, with that price eventually dipping to 45 Euro cents (58c US) a year later and just 20 Euro cents (26 US cents) in 2014. Voice and text price caps are going down to as little as 19 and nine Euro cents (25 and 12 cents US) in that two-year span, and if you're visiting from outside the EU, you'll be glad to hear that the anti-bill shock rule will apply to you this year as well. So, while you still might want to avoid uploading large videos from your phone while in Spain, you'll at least have the option of checking in on Foursquare without having to take out a small mortgage.

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Europe votes to cap data roaming prices, will make it cheaper to tweet from Ibiza

If you're pining for a summer vacation but worried about costs, consider how Wayne and Pat Dunlap of Del Mar, Calif., managed to tour 51 countries over two years, marvel at the Egyptian pyramids, scale a New Zealand glacier, and visit Laotian Buddhist monks all for lessthan $100 a day."We often stayed at guesthouses and hostels, ate at local family restaurants, took public transportation, and in some cases, traveled on cruise ships offering reduced rates," says Mr. Dunlap, author of the travel book "Plan Your Escape." This yearamid price worries and higher summer airfares, especially to Europe such ingenuity could prove essential.Here are five cost-cutting strategies that can help:

- Margaret Price,Correspondent

Locales closer to home, from nearby beaches to national parks, can offer value as well as great times for adults and children. Overseas, Americans can get exceptional deals in Brazil and countries in Eastern Europe, thanks to favorable exchange rates against the US dollar, reports Christy Grimste, editor of Destinations Uncovered, a digital magazine based in Tampa, Fla. In Spain, especially in the Canary Islands and Ibiza, and along the southwestern coast of Turkey, summer hotel rates are as much as 30 percent lower than they were last summer, she reports.

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Top 5 ways to save on your summer vacation

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Balearic Islands of Mallorca, Ibiza, Minorca and Formentera, along with mainland cities such as Barcelona, Valencia and Marbella, can now be added to Europe's established 'charter' destinations.

With the longest summer season in Europe, and reliable sunshine from April through until late Autumn, these exclusive destinations can now add as much as 75 days to the European cruising season - this now brings a season that incorporates Easter through until the famous "Club closing parties of Ibiza" and the late Autumn sunshine on the southern Iberian peninsula. The Balearics and Spain now join the top cruising destinations of the Cote d'Azur, Costa Smeralda and Amalfi Coast on the charterers' calendar.

Due to an exclusive agreement recently signed by International Yacht Register (IYR), charter yacht clients now have the freedom to choose these exclusive locations, not available since the mid 1990s. Yachts such as the new Feadship "AIR" and the Norman Foster designed Ocean Emerald, among other famous yachts, are available to charter in Spain.

Not only does this offer the beauty of new cruising grounds, but also exclusive access to some of the famous events of the region, such as the Ibiza 123 Festival in July, the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, and the ability to berth in Valencia for the Grand Prix of Europe.

One of the most sought-after locations in Europe is now on the map!

For further details contact William Molloy William.Molloy@iyr.net Tel: + 33 6 72 17 37 86

2 Avenue de la Madone BP 144 98003 Monaco Cedex

Website: http://www.iyr.net

Luxury Yacht Charter Worldwide

This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com.

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Spain's Balearic Islands Now Open to Charter Yachts

Couple stroll the French capital hand-in-hand after a romantic lunch

By Kerry Mcqueeney

PUBLISHED: 12:51 EST, 29 April 2012 | UPDATED: 12:52 EST, 29 April 2012

She wed her toyboy husband six months ago.

And today it was obvious Spain's Duchess of Alba and her younger, dashing husband were still very much enjoying married life as they stepped out for a lunch date in Paris.

The eccentric billionairess, 85, held hands with her 61-year-old toyboy as they strolled the streets of the French capital.

Love's young dream: The eccentric Duchess stepped out with her younger husband Alfonzo Diez in Paris

Sheltering from the rain: The quirky billionairess shielded her all-in-blue ensemble - which included eye liner, dress, stockings and shoes - under an umbrella

Dressed head to toe in several different shades of blue - which included a hairpiece, shoes, dress and stockings - the quirky duchess clung to her husband's arm as they browsed a book shop.

The couple married in a flamboyant ceremony last October; the bride, an eccentric billionaire with more titles than Queen Elizabeth II while her groom was a mere civil servant young enough to be her son.

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Duchess of Alba steps out in Paris with her toyboy husband after six months of marriage