Strenuous Stansted
Using Stansted airport on a Sunday is to be more difficult this winter. From today, you'll need to catch a replacement coach service from Liverpool Street, taking an estimated 90 minutes, while engineering work is carried out on the rail line. Coaches will run between 4.30am and 11pm from Liverpool Street, and between 5am and midnight from Stansted.

Hangover holiday
Newly formed Gulf Air Holidays (0871 222 3424) is offering a post-Christmas pick-me-up of seven nights in Abu Dhabi in January. staying at the five-star Beach Rotana Hotel on the Arabian Sea. Prices are from £579 a head for bed and breakfast.

African allure
South Africa offers the best value for bargain hunters because the rand has halved in value against the pound in five years, says American Express Foreign Exchange's annual long-haul currency report. Amex expects a weakening dollar to give trips to the US a boost in the coming months.

Book it yourself
A website has been launched by Made to Measure Holidays to allow independent skiers to book at least 150 hotels in Austria, France and Switzerland without leaving their homes or offices. The site address is www.skihotels.com.

Better connected
Heathrow airport has opened a bigger, £50 million immigration hall at Terminal One as part of a three-year project that will eventually see British Airways switching some of its long-haul routes from Terminal Four. The aim is better connections for passengers.