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Two-day ATC strike next week
One of the bane’s of travel within Europe during summer is the insistence of French air traffic controllers to strike at the drop of a hat. All this feels very much like the boy that cries wolf, as travellers now have zero sympathy for them when they may be striking about something important. I remember in my former career being utterly astonished to visit an ATC unit for a meeting to be told that controllers were on a work to rule industrial action because management had told them they had to actually come into work when rostered, as sometimes they had been given free days off when overstaffed!
Next week a strike has been called for a different reason, chronic understaffing and poor management. This is affecting ATC around the world. In many places it is a combination of a bulge of retirements due to large amounts of hiring in the early 90s and also due to the significant disruption Covid caused to training and recruiting new controllers.
The strike is on 3 and 4 July. Even if you are not going to France, the chances are that if you are heading to many European destinations you may be affected as the flights will usually overfly French airspace. Usually, there are strict regulations on the amount of aircraft allowed in French airspace and into French airports so if it goes ahead there are likely to be significant delays. Negotiations are being held with controllers so we can hope that it does not happen. The good news is that there are ~5 ATC unions and this only involves one of them, but it is the second largest.
10,000 point Radisson promo
Radisson’s latest promotion could be very lucrative if you have a lot of Radisson stays planned for this summer. It focuses on trying different brands within the Radisson group with a total bonus of 10,000 points available.
Before you do anything, you must register for this promotion here. Only bookings made after registration are eligible, which is a bit annoying as most hotel brands say you just have to stay after registering, but not here.
Then stay at 2 or more different brands by 26 September 2025, and earn bonus points as you go:
- Stay at 2 different brands to earn 6,000 points
- Stay at 3 different brands to earn 8,000 points (cumulative)
- Stay at 4 different brands to unlock 10,000 points (cumulative)
An interesting free loyalty program with good discounts
Even if you don’t use Plaza Premium lounges except with a Priority Pass, their Smart Traveller loyalty scheme has some interesting offers for lots of different travel-related purchases. It is a free to join and until 30 June 2025 they have some special promotions such as:
- up to 25% on Global Airport Lounge Access
- up to 30% off Aerotel airport hotels when you book at least 7 days in advance for a 12-hour stay or longer.
When you join you also get some welcome gifts:
- 150 welcome ST points.
- 1-hour Free Lounge Stay Extension at Plaza Premium Lounge.
- 1-hour Free Lounge Stay Extension at Plaza Premium First.
- Complimentary access for 1 child (below 11 years old).
- 50% Off Companion Access
