Friday 25 March 2016

4 tips to help you plan the best family Easter holiday

Easter is the holiday to spend quality time with your family, so make sure your Easter break is more successful and imaginative than ever before with these 4 helpful tips.

1.) Get the children involved


Don’t worry children with budget or duration, let them explore and find out what works for them as a holiday – an adventure holiday, activity, with family, or a beach holiday slightly out of season. Let them explore the web, you’ll get them excited before they even go!

2.) If you’re not booking into a hotel, consider renting a holiday home


Holiday homes are much better value during Easter than during the summer holidays. Remember you can negotiate a much better rental rate when you contact them directly.

3.) The temperature is ideal for adventure holidays


Decide what activities you want to be doing while you’re on your holiday. Based on that decision, you can choose your destination. For this time of the year, cycling and hiking is ideal.

4.) Choose a destination where Easter is celebrated differently


For example in France, they celebrate Easter time with seafood and lots of chocolate, but instead of chocolate eggs and bunnies everything is in the shape of seafood. Anyone feel like a chocolate fish or prawn?

Let the whole family join in on the Easter break planning, plus put these tips to good use, and you’ll be sure to have the best family Easter holiday.


Friday 18 March 2016

You can save money by flying First Class!

Your friends are hosting a ladies night weekend in Vegas, but as you do the math on airfare costs, you notice something – a first class ticket doesn’t cost THAT much more than flying coach. Sure, it is a bit of a splurge, but maybe it is worth it? Here are five reasons why it just might be…

YOU NEED TO TAKE A CAB TO THE AIRPORT
Nowadays, a lot of airlines actually provide first-class passengers with a complimentary ride to the airport. Some high-class airlines even offer VIP pickups in cars ranging from Mercedes-Benz to Porsche.


YOU’RE PLANNING TO CHECK A BUNCH OF BAGS
Think about it, you could end up shelling so much more extra in baggage fees alone. Most of the first-class tickets come with one of the best air travel perks there is: free bag check!


YOU ALWAYS BUY FOOD AND DRINKS ON THE PLANE
Put away your credit card, because when you fly first class, food and drink typically comes included with the ticket price. Who wouldn’t want free drinks and delicious snacks?


YOU’RE TRAVELING WITH YOUR KIDS
Major US airlines will soon offer on board nannies to first class passengers (Etihad Airways already does). Hard to put a price on that, right?



YOU’RE ALL ABOUT STATUS

By booking first-class, you’ll accumulate “status points” at a much faster rate. Those points can be put toward airfare, upgrades and more. 


Looking for a cheap, speedy way to or from Cape Town International Airport? Contact Airport Shuttle today and we can get you where you need to be comfortably and on time!

Friday 11 March 2016

Cape Town – Design Capital of the World


If you can’t make up your mind where to travel to, well there’s good news; Europe and Africa had a kid and its name is Cape Town! This South African hotspot is truly the best of both worlds, from classic architecture and a jaw-dropping landscape to a thriving variety of different cultures – Cape Town has it all.

Where to Stay

STEENBERG
Just outside Cape Town, as you enter the beautiful wine country, lies this 17th century farmhouse and never-ending vineyard. Steenberg is luxurious, comfortable and totally relaxed, with lush gardens and funky antiques. Be warned though, you may not want to leave after all the unbelievable food, wine and spa treatment.


CAPE GRACE
Located on the V&A Waterfront, the Cape Grace hotel is unbeatable because of its amazing views and classic Capetonian flair. Service is top-of-the-line, with a BMW waiting to take you on adventures through the Mother City.


GRAND DADDY HOTEL
If you’re looking for something with a bit more quirkiness, The Grand Daddy Hotel is a historic yet modern hotel. You can even choose if you want to stay in a sleek suite or a designer Airstream trailer on the roof.


What to Do

DE WATERKANT TO BO-KAAP
Forget about those wooden giraffes and zebras you see all the time on the side of the road. You’ll fine even better treasures in the historic De Waterkant area. Then take a walk over to the Bo-Kaap district to watch the sculptors at the Street Wires studio.


WOODSTOCK
Packed with vintage finds and trendy hidden cafes, Woodstock is the place to be. On Saturdays wake up early and visit The Old Biscuit Mill where you’ll find nearly 100 gourmet food vendors and pop-up art. Come extremely hungry, since this is your chance to eat a much as humanly possible.


VICTORIA AND ALFRED WATERFRONT (V&A)
The gateway to the city’s historic style is the V&A Waterfront. Take a slow stroll and take in the buildings, African performances, delicious foods and the hundreds of shops, including 150 boutiques for African design.


Where to Venture

CAPE PENINSULA AND THE WINELANDS
Take a quick road trip to the charming beach towns of Kalk Bay and Noordhoek, make sure not to miss the penguin colony at Boulders Beach.  If you’ve got an extra day or two, travel further towards Cape Point and you’ll find a secret spot, Diaz Beach, which many say is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Otherwise, head north to Stellenbosch and Franschoek to test the famed vineyards.


Where to Eat

AFRICA CAFÉ
The country’s first “African restaurant”, Africa Cafe, offers a seasonal cuisine from places such as Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa and Morocco. It’s so authentic and exotic, you’ll feel like you’re in the middle of the village.


THE DOGS BOLLOCKS
You can’t go wrong with a burger joint, especially when the burgers are almost the size of a soccer ball! The Dogs Bollocks is an unexpected gem in a converted garage that offers mouth-watering food and a hip environment.


CAFÉ CAPRICE
Located on the iconic palm-lined beach stretch of Cape Town’s Camps Bay, Café Caprice is the ideal spot for cocktails. Make sure to try the stand-out Granadilla Lolly and the Botanical Garden.


What to Pack

A WIND-RESISTANT TRENCH
Cape Town is at the edge of the continent, so it gets really windy. A wind-resistant jacket is your new best friend.


A SOUTH-AFRICAN ADAPTER
If you’re not from South Africa, then you’ll need to order up a South-African specific adapter and you’ll be up and running in no time.


Whether you decide to shop for local-made furniture in Woodstock, eat bacon on Bree Street or relax at one of the picturesque beaches, make sure you see Cape Town the right way.

Friday 4 March 2016

NEVER eat these foods and then get onto a plane!

If you ask anyone, they’ll give you a list of reasons why flying is stressful, from tiny seats and fat people to extra-long delays and demonic flight attendants. So with all this rushing through your mind, do you really want to make your flight worse by eating the wrong food? Here’s a few you should never touch before stepping on-board a plane.

     ´        Fried Chicken
If you’re obsessed with fried chicken (most of us are) then now is the time to be strong and turn down the dirty bird. It’s a real oily mess of a meal. Greasy and pungent, the planes filters can only handle so much. As a matter of fact, it’s not only fried chicken that should be avoided, but any food that has more fatty oil than a teen’s forehead. The fact is, once you’ve eaten anything fried, the fat just sits in your stomach, turns into acid and gives you heartburn.


     ´        Alcohol
A liquid lunch isn’t technically a food, but it should still be avoided. Alcohol apparently has many medicinal benefits when it comes to flying. Some say it gets rid of their fear of flying, others say it helps them sleep on a long flight and teenagers swear it makes them look really cool! Yes, some of this is true, but it actually disrupts sleep and teenagers are never cool, plus it’ll be hard to stay hydrated meaning you’ll get drunker quicker, resulting in an awkward flirting encounter with the passenger next to you. Apart from that, do you really want to wake up with a terrible hangover?


     ´        Baked Beans
These little packages of pure evil will have you losing friends faster than a hostile game of Monopoly. It’s best to avoid them, even at the best of times, although everyone loves good ol’ beans on toast! But if you’re going to be stuck in a plane with anxious flyers and short fuses then you don’t want to turn your flight into a catastrophic nuclear accident. Soluble fibre is to blame for the beans explosive properties; broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage are also chief culprits, so it’s best to avoid those too.


     ´        Fish
Leaving fish off a plane should be a no-brainer and this includes nearly every morsel from under the sea. And before you start to argue, yes, this includes sushi, mermaids and the Loch Ness Monster. The smell of fish alone is unpleasant, but it’s also risky. One bad prawn could leave you in the plane’s toilet for the rest of the flight!


     ´        Curry
Curry is one of the greatest foods, but it’s one of the worst foods to eat before your flight. Spicy foods can cause indigestion and disrupt sleep; and it does this with the help of a cheeky ingredient called capsaicin, which is found in chili peppers. It basically works like broken thermometer and messes up your body temperature. It has also been linked to those horrible trips to the bathroom and the dreaded ring sting.


     ´        Dairy
Your milkshake may bring all the boys to the yard, but don’t bring them on the plane. Too much dairy, like stuffing down a whole wheel of cheese, has the potential to curdle your stomach and it can also cause problems if you have IBS. Dairy is also one of the most common causes of food poisoning. So maybe give the jumbo chocolate milkshake and the ice cream sundae a skip.


     ´        Caffeine
Caffeine has its health benefits, such as improved memory and the ability to turn half-dead employees into hyperactive machines. However, one of its benefits is also one of its pitfalls – you’ll be awake and unable to sleep. This is completely fine on short flights, but on long hauls, its best to avoid any sort of caffeine. Keep in mind there is a surprisingly large amount of stuff with caffeine in it, including some chocolate, ice cream, weight-loss pills and painkillers.


If you want to avoid being stuck in a giant metallic bird thousands of miles above the earth with an upset stomach, food poisoning, a hangover or much worse – NEVER eat these foods and then get onto a plane!

Looking for a reliable shuttle service to get you to and from Cape Town International Airport? Airport Shuttle is an affordable option, plus we take pride in getting you where you need to be comfortably and on time!