Checked baggage

I am away again, this time I have a sales conference in Prague immediately followed by an internal management meeting.in Palma. The clothing requirements for both are different and as a result I cannot get away with my usual hand baggage only regime. As a result of this I have a suitcase and It has cost me an additional hour in traveling time today.


The check in desks open 2 hours before check in and close 45 minutes prior to departure. In order to make sure that I did not miss check in I was at the airport 90 minutes before departure and on the arrival in Prague the baggage took 30 minutes to arrive on the belt. If I only have hand baggage and used internet check in I would normally arrive an hour before departure and can walk straight out at the other end. Given that I take about 60 trips a year I save a working week and a half by not checking in baggage and my baggage never goes missing.

London Olympics

There is a lot that goes on behind the Olympics that is only seen by the country hosting the event. I believe the London 2012 Olympics will be a fantastic event and essential for boosting the UK economy. For two weeks the United Kingdom and Specifically London will be on almost every television screen all over the world. Assuming it all goes OK and it does not rain this will be a fantastic advertisement for UK plc.


In order to win the games a bidding city has to sign up to a large number of Olympic “ideals” which I first came across when I was working on the Athens International Torch relay in 2004. They have nothing to do with sport and an awful lot to do with corporate sponsorship. The bidding country must agree to change its laws to give a legal framework to the restrictions. The UK bill can be found at the following web link

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20081007160501/opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2006/en/ukpgaen_20060012_en.pdf

The one that really winds me up is that, as VISA is a corporate sponsor, anything to do with the Olympics can only be purchased using cash or a VISA card. This means Tickets, Merchandise and Food and Drink in the venues, My bank is a corporate sponsor of the games but they decided they were moving to Mastercard a couple of years ago and as a result I don’t have a VISA card and I shall not be partaking in this event …. Bah humbug.