It’s our last road and rail wrap for the year, folks! Which means if you’re planning a last-minute rail holiday, it’s either read this, or buy some toy trains and pretend.

Christmas comes early with Busabout’s end of year savings

This festive season Busabout is treating clients to a sack load of savings on some of its best-selling itineraries. Travellers can save up to 20 per cent off USA Hop-on Hop-off passes, 12 per cent off Small Group Adventures including the Croatia and Balkan Sailing options and 10 per cent off everything else!

All agents need do to reap the savings for their clients is call res and quote #HOHOHO or enter it in the agent portal when booking their client’s trip before the 27th of December 2018. Whether it’s sailing the crystal blue waters of the Mediterranean, travelling the West Coast of the USA on Busabout’s Hop-on Hop-off network or exploring the fragrant, floating markets of Asia Busabout has savings for every type of adventurer!

Those wishing to sashay their way across the USA can create their own adventure along the West Coast with Busabout’s flexible coach network. The West Coast Hop-on Hop-off Pass connects travellers to eight unmissable destinations such as San Francisco, LA, Las Vegas and South Lake Tahoe. Clients who’ve sailed the Greek Islands may opt for Busabout’s Balkan Sail. Eight days exploring Croatia & Montenegro, sailing the pristine turquoise-blue waters of the Adriatic between Dubrovnik, Cavtat, Herceg Novi, Kotor & Elaphite Islands should be the next stop on their travel bucket list.

A huge selection of Small Group Adventures across Europe, Asia & USA are also on sale! The hardest part is going to be picking an adventure – or two… or three! The Eastern Wanderer will have travellers spend 14 days discovering the grand palaces of Vienna, the ancient old town of split and the fairy tale architecture of eastern Europe as they travel between Austria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary and Poland.

Blue Train refurbishment and schedule

The Blue Train is undertaking a complete refurbishment, replacing all safety-critical components such as the brake system, coupler system, septic toilet system and structural components whilst attending to soft finishes such as new carpeting, upholstery, telephone system, air conditioning system, wooden panels, toilet marbles, roman blinds and brass shower mechanisms etc. This project should be complete before the end of 2019.

From 2019, the itinerary from Pretoria to Cape Town (and vice-versa) will include a two-night journey. Therefore the dress code has been relaxed a little – gentlemen are requested to at least wear a jacket or waistcoat (no tie necessary), elegant evening wear for the ladies and traditional attire for ethnicities.

Check out the schedule here.

Qantas Holidays launches new USA product range!

Qantas Holidays has recently launched brand new brochure content covering the United States of America. Launching for the 2019 and 2020 seasons, these two brochures combine to give travellers access to the very best of the USA with a brand-new brochure offering specifically dedicated to Escorted Coach Tours.

Produced in partnership with North America’s leading tour operator, American Tours International (ATI), the new USA Escorted Coach Tours brochure is an extension of the tours featured in the Qantas Holidays USA brochure and provides agents and clients with a full day-by-day itinerary of featured Tours.

The brochure, that operates as a comprehensive manual providing all details on the highlighted Escorted Coach Tours, features 20 Escorted Coach Tours in the USA, with some crossing into Canada.

The extensive day by day itineraries for each tour are featured over a double page spread allowing for a comprehensive and complete day-by-day itinerary, so both agents and clients can explore and know exactly what each tour includes. Showcasing a great range of popular tours, including small group and Premium Air tours, the brochure provides detailed itineraries, tour highlights, important information and available optional tours. From Western Highlights to Eastern Discovery and The Great America Crossing.

Rail Plus announces top five Great Train Journeys for 2019

Rail Plus has announced their top five Great Train Journeys for 2019, which agents can look out for and share with their clients heading to Europe and South America or travelling within Australia and New Zealand.

Featuring four new train journeys, agents subscribed to the Rail Plus newsletter have had the opportunity to tune in to the dedicated webinar on the topic last week on 13 and 14 December, where they heard first-hand about the experiences, services and destinations.

Starting in Australia, the Great Southern journeying between Adelaide and Brisbane will operate from 6 December 2019 – 21 January 2020. A 3D/2N itinerary from Adelaide to Brisbane, highlights will include exploring the Grampians, discovering the capital city of Canberra and enjoying a stunning beachside dining experience. On the return 4D/3N itinerary from Brisbane to Adelaide, travellers will also enjoy the beachside dining experience before exploring the Hunter region and seeing the Twelve Apostles along the Great Ocean Road.

Across the ditch in New Zealand, the five-hour Coastal Pacific is back in the Great Train Journeys portfolio after a two-year suspension due to earthquake damages. A daily service running until 28 April 2019 between Christchurch and Picton via Kaikoura, agents can note this is as the perfect connection to the TranzAlpine in Christchurch and the Northern Explorer via the Interislander service.