Cheap Travel to Europe Is A Luxury

Cheap travel to Europe or anywhere else is a luxury. The luxury, however, will not be found in plush pillow-top mattresses or five star hotels. The luxury derived from cheap travel is one of the basic elements that we have on the earth, whether we realize it or not. That commodity is time.

We say that "time is money." This is true in every sense of the word when buying travel. We will pay more for flights that work out during the time we are able to travel. If you don't believe this, try to buy a ticket during Thanksgiving or Christmas where you don't travel on the holiday itself but still maximize your time away and get back in the last hours before work. Buy a ticket leaving Wednesday late and arriving back "home" late Sunday night of Thanksgiving weekend. If you don't buy months ahead, you'll pay a premium to have the maximum amount of time away without adding days off work. Take days off and you are proving once again that time is money as you suffer deductions on pay or paid days off.

I must confess that over the last few months, my focus has been kept by busy day-to-day activities and my penchant for finding cheap travel has been squeezed out. Other than a couple ventures to find cheap travel in Europe for family members, I have not given it too much thought.

A major part of that is the lack of the luxury of time. My family wanted tickets for Easter weekend and didn't have much time on either side to give or take. They wanted to travel direct and only from one specific city. Almost all options were taken off the table. This is not a good scenario for cheap travel to Europe or in or around Europe (or anywhere in the world). It's bad, unless you are driving your own car, and last time I checked, the bridge between the New World and the old Continent is not done!

Maybe you're wondering about cheap travel to Europe this summer. If you haven't already booked, it's getting late. It's May, already. However, if you keep all your options on the table, you can still make a big difference in your bottom line.

You want a concrete example? So would I. With just six weeks advance notice and in the midst of the high season, you can still get some reasonable deals on travel to Europe. June 12-19 gives mid-week travel days which will save you a few dollars each way. Have your heart set on going to London from Chicago? You are going to pay a minimum of $1294 on the cheapest of cheap flights. You can save money if you have the LUXURY of changing your cities and going to Dublin instead of London (see the entry on Gateway Cities). Dublin will be just as good of a choice as London if you are traveling on to Europe. How much money will you save? How does $350 sound? That's right. $946 from Chicago to Dublin on Air Canada. Disclaimer: Air Canada isn't paying me for this. In fact, I'm not making any money yet on anything! Did we mention you also get to see the Ottawa and Toronto airports (luxury!) on the way?

What can you do with the $350? Probably nothing, because you probably didn't have it in the first place! But at least you got cheap travel to Europe! Send us a postcard from Dublin, or where-ever you go to from there on Ryan Air!

Forbes Billionaires. Microcosm of Global Values. A Multinational Interest

Global Issues

Stratospheric Finances Roosting in Most Every Nation

Standard for Fair Taxation: Weigh Wealth against Poverty Levels

Louis IX. When have peasant's interests won, for long. Here, at launching port, Crusades. Aigues-Mortes, France

Whether you are a traveler who sees the footprints of the hyper-wealthy in every country abroad; or just curious about which countries spawn the Forbes Magazine annual billionaire's list. Join this categorical romp through the top 50 or so of the  http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/.   

Bankers

Safra Brazil Banker

Fridman Russia Oiler- also Telecommunications- also Banker

Fossileers; Industry

Ambani India Fossils:  Petrochemical, oil, gas

Usmanov Russia Steel/ also Investor

Mittal India Steel

Repeat: Fridman Russia Oiler- also Telecommer- also Banker

Dangote Nigeria Cement, Flour (who doesn't need that?) Obesitor (sugar)

Akhmetov Ukraine Steel/ Coal (what chance of renewable energy sources there?)

Computing, Telecommunications, Internet, Feeders Off the Cloud

Gates United States - Computing (Microsoft) now probably diversified

Helu Mexico Telecommunications

Ellison United States Happy Marriage Hardware-Software (Oracle)

Thomson Canada Media -- tentacles in all you use to communicate, be communicated to

Repeat: Fridman Russia Oiler- also Telecommunicator- also Banker. Nice to have your own bank, like the NRA

 

Fashion, La Beaute – Trompe l’oeil, j’espere, j’espere. Non? Meh.

Ortega Spain Fast-Fashioniste (Zara)- retail therapy

Arnault France Brander (LVMH – Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy)

Persson Sweden H & M,  Hennes & Mauritz fast-fashionisti -- off the rack but good stuff

Betancourt France Beautification Facquerie (L’Oreal)  -- everyone can be a beauty.  Believe.

 

Multinational Conglomerates; “Diversified” Gurus (The Gang of Coy)

Buffett United States Multinational Conglomerateur (Berkshire Hathaway)

Koch I United States Coy  (“diversified”) Also undisclosed influence-peddler. Left view of right: Pro-corporate agenda of Koch, viewed from Left. Tweedle-dee.
Koch II United States Coy  (“diversified”) Also undisclosed influence-peddler. Tweedle-dum.

Li Ka-Shing Hong Kong Coy (“diversified”) read – ka-ching; various areas, including humanitarian, http://topics.bloomberg.com/li-ka--shing/

Lee Shau Kee Hong Kong Coy (diversifier) http://www.timeout.com.hk/feature-stories/features/48823/the-men-who-rule-hong-kong-lee-shau-kee.html

Blavatnik United States Coy (Diversifier), born in Russia, http://www.moneyedup.com/2010/11/billionaire-profile-len-blavatnik/

Cheng Yu-Tung China also Coy (Diversifier) http://www.therichest.org/nation/richest-persons-in-hong-kong/

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Hoi Polloi Targets (let us help you, little people)

Walton I United States (Walmart) Welcome to Walmart. Hey, is that smoke?

Walton II United States again Welcome to Walmart (our wages? Whatever we want)

Walton III United States who welcomes Walmart any more?

Walton IV  United States Good night, small folks, good night, Waltons. Good night, hopes.

Albrecht Germany Grocer (Aldi: Albrecht Discount) Beats Walmart.

Albrecht II Germany Grocer  (Aldi, Albrecht Discount) (see Schwarz and Lidl)

Schwarz Germany Retailer (Lidl, competor of Aldi, fight on, behemoths). More than grocer?

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Information

Bloomberg United States Global business and financial informationeer; now ads for his (people’s) causes

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Feeders of Addictions, Le gambleur, le sweets (some, like dark choc and good beer, good)

Adelson United States casino multiplicateur, also activity in Singapore, interested in Spain, see http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/casino-tycoon-sheldon-adelson-plans-35-billion-mini-las-vegas-706522.Dislikes investigations

Ferrero Italy Obesitor, but the dark choc is good

Lemann Beer Brazil (urp) (not an addiction but a necessity when real beer)

Mars I United States Obesitor.  Also Uncle Ben, pet stuff. http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/40/40297.html

Mars II United States Obesitrix

Mars III United States Obesitor

 .

Online marketing

Bezos United States Online Retail (Amazon)

Page United States Internet search and advertising technologies (Google)

Brin United States ditto Page (Google)

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Investors/ Leveraged Buy-outers

Icahn United States Buyout-leveragor (when management itself buys controlling shares in the company)

Soros United States Hedger – funds with limited partners using high-risk means

Alwal Bin Talal Alsaud Saudi Arabia investor

 .

Real estate

Kwok Hong Kong real estaters

 .

Miners – Dreadful sorry, Clementine

Gonzalez Mexico Miner

Fontbona Chile Miner

Rinehart Australia Miner

Velasco Mexico Miner

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To be added:  A work in progress

Mikhelson

Del Vecchio

Dell

Then:  What can little folk do to shift money to the common good, when there is so much money made from producing non-essentials, in all the fluff (but fun) that makes money -- fashion, beauty.  

Homework:  Pick a billionaire.  Look for balance. Search online for any humanitarian work it also touts for itself, and put how much is invested as compared to gross income from all sources derived. 

Then see what issues are important to you for a sustainable life, balanced in interest vs. exploitation. Ethical treatment of people and animals, labor, health:

• How to demote and get out of animal testing, exploited labor, pollution, disease, with so much stacked against success. Common good goals hit profits. Who can see a future for green with all this money in mining, gas, oil, the non-renewable.  Look at Fridman here:  a banker as well as an oil man and in telecommunications.  Try to examine that. NRA and its banking?  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/02/1191132/-Taking-On-The-NRA-The-Koch-Brothers-And-Billionaires-Funded-Groups-Head-On

• Use of telecommunications for the common good:  Is there a chance that the telecommunications people would use their resources to disseminate facts, educate, take fact-based stands. Even Louis Vuitton mentions on its site its humanitarian investments.  Hype or real? 

Next step:  A Value-Subtracted-Tax, for each non-sustenance-related product sold, with proceeds to go for global sustenance, health care, education for all. Is it time to wake up?