June 06, 2007
1. Castle of the Month - Powderham Castle, England
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Due to its location and the Courtenay families’ allegiance to the royalist’s cause, Powderham suffered terrible losses and damage in the Civil War of 1642-6
Powderham Castle in Exeter, Devon is a typical medieval styled castle consisting of a long hall with six tall towers, only one of which remains today. The castle that greets today’s visitors is largely the result of renovations carried out by the Victorian architect Charles Fowler who was also responsible for building Covent Garden in London. Powderham was also mentioned in the Domesday Book and became part of the estate of the Courtenay family through the marriage of Hugh de Courtenay, son of the first Courtenay Earl of Devon in 1325 and to this day has remained with the same family.During the War of the Roses, Thomas Courtenay, 6th Earl of Devon, was captured, stripped of his titles and executed after the battle of Towton near York in 1461. His younger brother, Sir Henry of Topsham, regained some of the estates, but was forbidden from inheriting the title and was himself beheaded for treason in 1467. The youngest brother, John, who was restored to the Earldom in 1470, was killed at the battle of Tewkesbury in 1471 bringing an end to the senior line.
Due to its location and the Courtenay families' allegiance to the royalist’s cause, Powderham suffered terrible losses and damage in the Civil War of 1642-6. In 1645 there was a major Parliamentarian assault on Powderham from across the River Exe which was unsuccessful. Exeter was eventually recaptured in 1646 as the Royalists holding the City had lost public support, illness was rife and morale low, forcing them to surrender. For Exeter, and for Powderham, the three years of bitter conflict was over.
Between the 18th and 19th centuries considerable restoration work on Powderham Castle was undertaken. During this period the original chapel was converted into a library with a new chapel being built near the northwest tower and the Belvedere Tower was built in 1771. The Music Room which was designed by the famous architect James Wyatt was added during 1788.
In 1835 William Courtenay, son of the Bishop of Exeter who was himself the son of the younger brother of the First Viscount, inherited the title as the 10th Earl of Devon from his cousin the third Viscount Courtenay 9th Earl.of Devon. William was responsible for the State Dining Room, and at the same time changing the main entrance from the eastern side to the western, creating the viaduct and courtyard with the medieval style gatehouse.
William died in 1859 and the renovations which he had begun were completed by his son, William Reginald, 11th Earl. During these renovations the chapel built by the 2nd Viscount was demolished, and in 1861 the medieval Grange was converted into a family chapel.
Today, as tradition dictates, the present Earl and Countess have stamped their mark upon the continually changing face of Powderham castle.
2. Medieval England
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William was known as an innovator and was the first to establish a strong centralized administration which was staffed by his supporters. After subduing the south and east of the newly conquered island he set about quelling the rebellious northern lands. During 1069 and 1070, William swept across a broad swath of land from York to Durham burning and destroying everything insight. The resultant carnage left the area depopulated for centuries to come.
One of the ways that William insured he held onto his newly acquired (conquered) lands was the building of castles. These where often hastily constructed of wood and designed around the continental styled “motte and bailey" and these ancient castles where built with forced local labour on land confiscated from English rebels. The castles were given to Norman barons to hold for the king. In theory every inch of English land belonged to the crown and William's vassals had to swear fealty directly to the crown.
After quashing the last rebellious stronghold, William turned his sights on the church and began to replace the Anglo-Saxon clergy with those of his choosing. Under the administration of Lanfranc, Norman Archbishop of Canterbury; new monasteries were founded, while rules and discipline were enforced more stringently. Church and lay justice were separated; the bishops were given their own courts, allowing common law to evolve independently. William retained the right to appoint bishops and impeach abbots.
During the early days of a united England the first national consensus was undertaken and it came to be known through out history as the Domesday Book. It was a royal survey of all England for administration and tax purposes. Inspectors were sent to every part of country to note the size, ownership, and resources of each hide of land. Contrary to popular belief, some small areas did seem to have escaped the assessors notice, but for the times the Domesday Book represented a remarkable accomplishment giving historians a clear and wonderful insight into early Norman English life.
Next month - William II and Henry I
3. Medieval Life
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4. Travel Tips
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The Difference Between Finding a Cheap Domestic versus a Cheap International Airfare By Kai Vorpahl
While US domestic airfare is a lot more volatile (i.e. prices change a lot more frequently) the price difference between major travel sites such as Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, and the airlines sites is often no more than 10-20%. There are exceptions where going with a lesser known carrier such as Allegiant Air or US3000 Airlines can save you substantially more but by and large for most of US domestic travel this remains the case. Sellers of domestic airfare pretty much fall into 2 categories: (1) the airlines and (2) online travel agencies. There are a few niche players but they service a very small market. Therefore, when shopping for domestic airfare deals the "when to buy" is commonly more important than the "where to buy."
The opposite is true when securing an international airfare bargain. The "when to buy" is still important (as in don't wait until the last minute) but the "where to buy" is a lot more important. This is because airfare to Europe, Asia, Africa, and South & Central America are somewhat less volatile (may not change as frequently) but the price difference between different vendors can sometimes be as much as 50% or more. There are several reasons why that is but the two major reasons are (1) the type of fares that are offered and (2) the number of players in the field.
The Type of Fares
Without getting very technical there are basically 2 types of international airfare; published and unpublished. In the domestic market 97% of leisure fares are published (give or take). A published fare you can refer to as a retail fare. The airline creates the fare and the rules associated with that fare and then publishes the information through a clearing house called ATPCo (Airline Tariff Publishing Company). ATPCo then distributes the fare to the global distribution systems. Online and offline travel agencies in turn retrieve these published fares via one or more of these systems. Everybody has access to the fare. An unpublished fare (also referred to as a negotiated fare) is still being released via ATPCo but part of the "fare rules" is an indicator of what seller is allowed to access and sell the fare. It is essentially a private fare. One other difference is that published fares have to be sold at the price determined by the airline (no mark-ups or mark downs) while a private fare can be marked up. That is why you see online and offline agencies add a service charge of anywhere between $5 and $50 to a published fare ticket. With a negotiated fare the airline will receive a set amount and the seller is allowed to mark up (add his/her margin) to that fare. So, a seller may negotiate a $300 fare from New York to London with airline X and then mark it up and sell it for $345. Another visible difference between a negotiated and a published fare is the fact that on many (almost all) negotiated airline tickets you will not see the actual price you paid for the ticket. Instead you will either see a much higher fare or only tax information. A published fare tickets will show exactly what you paid for the ticket (excluding any service charges). As a general rule, negotiated fare tickets are frequently cheaper than published fare tickets (There are instances when an airline may have a "fire sale" that undercuts the fare levels of negotiated fares) and that is why "the where" is more important than "the when" when it comes to buying international airfare.
Sellers of Travel
Sellers of international airfare fall into the following major categories:
(1) Major Airlines
(2) Charter Airlines
(3) Online Travel Agencies
(4) Offline Travel Agencies
(5) Global Consolidators that sell to the Public
(6) Global Consolidators that do not sell to Public
(7) Ethnic Consolidators or Destination Specialists
(8) Student Travel Consolidators
(9) Tour Operators
Major Airlines
These are the carriers we are all familiar with such as American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Lufthansa, British Airways, KLM and many more. They offer airfare via their own website and many of the other sellers listed above. They may offer web specials on their own site. They do not charge a service fee.
Charter Airlines
In Europe this type of airline is a lot more common than in the US. A charter is basically when a tour operator "rents" or "charters" an airplane to fly vacationers from their departure gateway airport to the destination airport. There are a few airline companies that offer service from/to the US that have their roots in the charter business. They regularly offer year round or seasonal service to/from a few select US airports to a single country. They are FAA approved and must meet all airline safety rules & regulations. What sets them apart is their business model that allows them to commonly sell seats cheaper than the majors. Some of these alternative airlines are LTU, Condor, FlyGlobespan, or Martinair to name a few. They usually also do not charge a service fee.
Online Travel Agencies
Players in this category are Travelocity, Orbitz, Cheaptickets, Expedia, Priceline, Hotwire and so on. They sell published and unpublished airfare. They charge a service fee. They also habitually try to sell you other travel components such as hotel accommodation, car rentals, attraction tickets and/or travel insurance. If you are going overseas for a vacation buying a package (where the seller will bundle an air component with one or more land components) can be an option and may save you money. In a future article I will cover the advantages and disadvantages of packages.
Offline Travel Agencies
Also referred to as brick and mortar travel agencies, these are the traditional agencies that you would walk into, sit down and book your travel. Depending on size and target market they may also double as an ethnic consolidator or destination specialist. They also have access to consolidator fares not offered directly to the general public. Brick and mortar agencies almost always charge a service fee.
Global Consolidators that Sell Directly to the Public
Many times these are travel agencies that have decided to "cut out the middleman" and go directly to the airlines to negotiate their own private fares. This allows them to then re-sell them at a lower price without loosing their margin. In order to get decent private fares a global consolidator would have to offer $100 Million+ in annual agency sales. Most of the negotiated tickets are sold without a service fee. If a consolidator sells a published fare they regularly add a service fee.
Global Consolidators that do not Sell Directly to the Public
In the days prior to online internet travel very few agencies would act as their own consolidator. Instead they worked through middlemen (consolidators) that negotiated deals with the airlines. A consolidator would negotiate that same $300 deal mentioned above, add his margin and then sell it to a retail agency. The retail agent would then add her margin and sell it to the public. As the Internet took shape, agencies could reach a much larger audience and therefore gained the clout to negotiate directly with the airlines. Nevertheless, there are still many agencies, offline and online that offer middlemen consolidator airfares. Due to the sheer volume consolidators can offer to an airline these fares could still be a bargain even after several mark-ups.
Ethnic Consolidators or Destination Specialists
These are probably one of the least known (by the general public that is) sources for inexpensive airline tickets. They are also some of the hardest to find. The US is a nation of immigrants and ethnic consolidators have traditionally serviced their ex-patriot or immigrant community. They were and still are the cheap sources for airfare back to the home country. Unlike global consolidators that can turn over $250 Million+ in sales a year these ethnic outlets may only turn over $2-5 Million a year but most of that can go to 1 or 2 carriers. They are highly specialized and have long-standing relationships to their preferred carriers. These long-term, reliable relationships are the reason why some ethnic mom and pop operations are able to secure airfare rates that are 20-30% lower than any of the online mega agencies. Destination specialists are similar to ethnic consolidators in terms of size and style. They have become true experts in a country or region and have built relationships. The difference is that often they are targeting the foreign independent traveler (FIT). Like I mentioned, the airfare bargains some of these outlets can offer are often hard to beat but the challenge is finding them. Google and Yahoo and any of the other search engines often do not find them.
Student Travel Consolidators
As the name suggests these are agencies that target students (and in some cases faculty). Just like a global consolidator, they approach the airlines and negotiate special discounts or private fares. The difference is that according to the agreement with the airlines they are only allowed to sell to bona fide students (and faculty) only. Frequently, the students have to be enrolled in an accredited college or university and high school students are not eligible. The same is true for faculty. Some agencies are better than others in ensuring that the person buying the ticket actually is a student.
Tour Operators Tour Operators are entities that sell vacation packages such as all-inclusive, etc. They negotiate deals with airlines, hotels, ground operators and so forth, package them together, mark them up and then sell them as one product to the public. On occasion they will sell just the airfare (at rock bottom prices) in order to fill empty seats on the plane. Since they have a fixed price that they have to pay the aircraft operator, any empty seat is a missed opportunity. The best chance to get one of these cheap seats is usually to the Caribbean or Mexico.
Sources for international airfare bargains are plentiful. Finding the right one at the right time may make all the difference in whether you get a good fare or a great deal. While getting a domestic airfare deal is often the result of (lucky) timing getting a great international deal is frequently the result of knowing where to look.
Kai Vorpahl has over 15 year travel industry experience of which the last 10 years have been in the online travel industry. He has worked in leadership positions for companies such as e-Travel (now part of Amadeus Global Travel Distribution), StudentUniverse (an online travel company focused on student travel) and CheapFlights (an online airfare directory displaying offers from their advertising partners) just to name a few. Kai has an undergraduate degree in Travel &Tourism Management and a Masters in International Business. He has researched and studied the online travel industry for the past 10 years. He has traveled extensively within the United States as well as internationally. He has recently published a Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Best Airfare on the Internet describing insider tricks and tips on where and how to find the best airfare deals. He operates http://www.bluemarblescout.com where you can find destination information & travel deals.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kai_Vorpahl http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Difference-Between-Finding-a-Cheap-Domestic-versus-a-Cheap-International-Airfare&id=511524
5. Readers Story
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6. Nexts Months Issue
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I hope you have enjoyed reading issue 28 and If you have any suggestions or comments about any part of the newsletter then please feel free to contact me.
As always, if you have a story,photos or questions you wish to ask or share with our readers then please email me and I will be happy to include them in our next edition.
All submissions should reach me by no later than the 20th of June
Best Wishes and Happy Reading
Stuart