Gordon Brown spends less than Tony Blair

Taxpayer waved farewell to a fortune to fund Tony Blair's final tour but Gordon Brown is keeping travel costs down

Late travel deals: July 23

A cottage for a week in Ireland from £399; seven nights in a wing of a French chateau for eight people from £456; eight nights in...

Neofile - clubbing in the Maldives

£700 out of pocket on the villa that never was

Lax background checks have highlighted the vulnerability of holidaymakers using online villa-rental sites

Measles risk for Brits in Italy

British children face "a significantly increased risk" of contracting measles in Europe this summer

News in brief - Sunday, July 20

My hols: Oliver Chris

After I got my first acting job and proper salary, I canvassed friends for advice on the best place to go on holiday

Government puts brakes put on airport expansion

Plans are in disarray as the Government unexpectedly delays greenlighting decision on expansion at Stansted Airport

Emirates flies the paperless plane

Removing airline magazines and other seat-pocket paper that adds up to an extra tonne of weight will save on fuel

Families blame lax safety for airline crash

Families of the victims of the Phuket air disaster are joining a £125m lawsuit which could shed harsh light on budget airlines

BAA invented ‘green’ jumbo to help case

Heathrow operator used low emissions figures of a non-existent green to bolster the environmental case for third runway

How to haggle for your holiday

What happens when you ask for a discount? A brazen Mark Hodson found out that fronting up works

10 last-minute family holidays

Posh camping in France from £566 for ten nights, Florida theme parks for £999, Egypt for £729 and more travel deals

Ryanair makes huge cuts and suspends operations

Number of weekly flights from Stansted airport will fall by 14%, which the budget airline blames on rising fuel costs

Welcome to Iraq - enjoy your holiday

A marked drop in violence has encouraged tourist operators to start marketing Iraq as the new hot holiday destination

Switch from air puts Eurostar on right track

Rising air fares and faster journeys helped Eurostar to record an 18.3 per cent increase in passengers in the first half

Forget texting, a gloating postcard is best

Despite the retouched photographs of drab resorts, the picture postcard has never been more popular