One for the boys

Some Ryanair customers, travelling on the specially scheduled flights to and from Lyon for today's match, have been charged €150 for a single item of check-in luggage.

Tens of thousands of Irish fans have voted. — they are ‘remaining in Europe’. The rest of us are figuring out how to get there.

Olé, olé olé olé! Like the rest of us, football fans are still battling with short nights and wet weather, but a sense of summer is already in the air as more travel packages for Euro 2016 were announced yesterday.

The FAI have officially confirmed Ireland will be based in the historic city of Versailles for next year’s European Championship finals in France.

Sun-seekers have been beating the summer blues here with one travel agency confirming that early bookings for 2015 sun breaks were up 30% and helped drive revenue growth.

Loyal Ireland fans who traipsed to Tbilisi and Gelsenkirchen should be rewarded with tickets for the Scotland game next month, according to Martin O’Neill.

Playa Blanca, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

With just a week to go until it all kicks off, last-minute packages and flights are still available for Ireland’s Euro 2012 journey.

Ticketless Irish fans intent on travelling to Poland next month have been given a boost by the prediction that tickets for some games could flood back onto the market.

It was Giovanni Trapattoni who made the decision that Ireland would not play a friendly game against Albania during their forthcoming pre-Euros training camp in Italy.

Giovanni Trapattoni’s team could be boosted by having as many as 20,000 Irish supporters in attendance at each of their three group games in the European Championship finals in Poland.

HOP ON YOUR HOBBY HORSE

ABBEY ON THE BALL WITH EURO 2012 FOOTBALL DEALS

DISNEYLAND 2OTH PARTY DEALS

THERE’S no doubt about it, Irish people are taking fewer foreign holidays.

THE PERFECT PLACE TO CHILL OUT

THE Football Association of Ireland last night issued their ticket details for next year’s European Championships.

SUPPORTING Ireland at Euro 2012 won’t be cheap, but it will be cheaper than a trip to Ukraine would have been.

An FAI Fan Sales Portal will be set up on www.uefa.com from December 12 until February 29, 2012 for fans wishing to purchase Euro 2012 tickets.

TWO countries and eight cities will host Euro 2012.

THE FAI moved swiftly yesterday to reassure their season ticket holders that they will get the full benefit of ticket price reductions for upcoming internationals announced by Abbotstown on Tuesday.

VALENTINE’S Day isn’t all about chocolates and romantic meals out, especially for the many singles out there.

THE Shandon Travel Group has recently launched a wedding gift registry website enabling guests to give couples the ‘gift of travel’ called www.myhoneymoon.ie.

CAMPOTEL have been around for 30 years and have built up an enviable reputation in the world of continental travel. There may be doom and gloom in some areas of the travel industry but the Ballinasloe, County Galway-based experts are looking forward to a good 2010.

IRISH long-haul travellers will be pleased to note that Etihad Airways has expanded its routes with the provision of indirect flights from Dublin to Tokyo and Nagoya in Japan from early next year.

LD Lines has announced that it will introduce a new direct Ireland — France ferry service between Rosslare and Cherbourg starting on September 19.

Abbey Travel has packaged a five-night trip which combines magical Rio de Janeiro and the Iguassu Falls.

Uwalk.ie have retained their most popular walking destinations for 2009 and added some new walks in Slovenia and Austria.

THOMAS Cook Sport, one of the four official, licensed operators for the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa next year, has put together a Freewheeler package for Irish fans; those who like independence and want to avoid transfers through London.

SOUTH African specialists, Slattery Travel, offer an expanded programme for the 2008/2009 season.

SUNWORLD HOLIDAYS are boasting unrivalled value on winter holiday prices to Lanzarote from Cork this winter.

IRISH-based Aloha Holidays appears to have struck gold in its selection of hotels in Hawaii.

LEE Travel has teamed up with UK-based agency Enjoy Travel to present Craic on the Cruise, Ireland’s only Floating Fleadh!

ETIHAD Airways will soon operate direct flights seven days (up from five) a week from Dublin to Abu Dhabi (the UAE capital) following what chief executive James Hogan has described as an “unprecedented positive reaction in the Irish market” to the recently launched service.

THOMAS COOK SPORT is about to launch a series of package deals on the Irish market for next year’s British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa.

ABBEY Travel has released the latest selection of high-quality holidays to Dubai and Oman, with an additional destination to Abu Dhabi. That’s not surprising since the relatively recent start-up of flights from Dublin with Etihad to Abu Dhabi and beyond.

ONE of Ireland’s leading tour operators, Slatterys Sun, is to operate to three sun destinations from Galway and Waterford airports.

SELECT Hotels of Ireland have launched a deal to encourage Irish families to check out undiscovered regions of the country.

LEE TRAVEL is promoting a week-long tour in Poland, with a Cork departure on July 15, titled “Follow in the Footsteps of Pope John Paul II”.