By JOAN SCALES
Cashback with SAS
SAS Scandinavian Airlines are bringing back Cashback for Business from October 1st to December 31st, when companies spending a minimum of €1,000 on fares will receive up to €50 back for each business class ticket and €30 for Economy Plus.
Register with your travel agent for the campaign by September 30th. SAS also have a sale on fares to Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm until Friday, with each-way fares from €52 including baggage, taxes and fees, in November and December. See flysas.ie.
Toggle your number
Keep the cost of communications on the road down with a sim card that carries numbers for a range of countries in Europe.
The ToggleMobile sim comes with a permanent UK number and the option to add a selection of other country mobile numbers, including an Irish number.
Callers can use a local number and low call rates of 15p a minute, SMS are 9p per message and internet browsing costs from 15p per MB. Incoming calls are free on Toggle numbers in over 100 countries. Details from toggle mobile.co.uk.
The Caley is back
Edinburgh’s landmark hotel the Caledonian reopened last week under the Waldorf Astoria brand after a refurbishment costing £24 million (€30.1 million).
The 241-bedroom hotel, formerly a Hilton, has relaunched with two restaurants under the management of Michelin-starred chefs Chris and Jeff Galvin. The Caledonian is expected to take the crown in a city that has had many new hotel openings in recent years.
Waldorf Astoria will be adding to the stable during the autumn with a new build hotel in Berlin at the Zoofenster Building near the Kufürstendamm.
Lufthansa wings it
Germanwings, the domestic subsidiary of Lufthansa, is being integrated into the mother ship from January 1st, with the potential to cut costs and achieve economies of scale.
Germanwings, headquartered at Cologne, has been operating low-cost services for 10 years in Germany and to other European cities. Little baby brother Eurowings, based at Düsseldorf, will also be brought into the fold. We may see a new name for Lufthansa’s budget offering next year.
County Car win franchise for Sixt
County Car Rentals in Dún Laoghaire has won the franchise for Ireland for the Sixt car rental brand. County Car rentals, a business run by the Loughran family for the past 60 year, will create 23 new jobs over the next eight months.
Sixt is one of the biggest car rental companies and celebrates 100 years in business this year. There are 4,000 Sixt locations in 105 countries worldwide.
Customers of Sixt can earn airmiles with more than 70 airline partners and points with major hotel chains such as Starwood, Hilton and Hyatt. The Sixt franchise had been with Murrays car rental firm.