Q I'm sending my daughter and her friend to New York City as a 21st-birthday present. Could you advise me as to which areas I should look for a hotel that would be central and safe for two young women?

Name withheld

First, the glamour, joy and excitement of aviation evaporated – now the cherished perks of travelling executives, frequent-flyer points, could face extinction. On some trips from the UK, it now costs more, in taxes, fees and charges, to get a "free" flight than to buy a ticket on the open market. Frequent flyers who use their accumulated miles to fly from London to Amsterdam and back could find the passenger in the next seat with an ordinary ticket has paid £11 less for the same trip.

Chicken or fish – the age-old options for economy-class airline passengers – are about to be supplanted by more exotic choices, as à la carte menus make their way from the front to the rear of passenger jets.

Q. I am visiting my daughter in New Zealand for two months during this winter. As a requirement of our household insurance policy with Churchill, we are required to turn off all services – gas, electricity and water. This would disable our burglar alarms and the central heating, risking frozen pipes. MB, by email.

Ground staff at London's City airport are to be balloted on taking strike action in a dispute over pay and working conditions, their trade union, the GMB, said yesterday.

Q. I travelled to South Africa for the World Cup, but my baggage never arrived in Johannesburg. I had to travel around South Africa for three-and-a-half weeks without any clothes, sleeping bag and other essentials. I never received any advice or offer of assistance. Every time I called, I was just told the bag had not been located. The value of items in it was in excess of £2,000. I had to purchase a pay-as-you-go phone in South Africa for £15 and a further £15 in airtime vouchers to keep chasing the whereabouts of my bag. I also spent £300 on my credit card for replacement clothing and toiletries. I logged a lost-baggage claim with KLM, as I had booked through its website. KLM says that as part of my journey was with its alliance partner Kenya Airways, the claim should be made through Kenya Airways and it is not KLM's liability. I booked through KLM, paid KLM and it was KLM who checked my bag in, so I consider my contract to be with KLM. KLM insists responsibility lies with Kenya Airways. My insurance policy states that any lost baggage must be settled by the airline. PS, Wigan.

British Airways, Air France-KLM and nine other airlines have been fined €779m (£672m) for fixing air cargo prices over a six-year period, while Germany's Lufthansa and its subsidiary, Swiss, escaped penalties for bringing the cartel to the European Commission's attention.

The Netherlands woke up to a full-blown case of Orange fever this morning after the national side beat Uruguay 3-2 to reach their first World Cup final in 32 years.

Air France-KLM group, the airline giant, could have to wait until 2015 to start replacing its ageing long-haul fleet.

KLM, the Dutch subsidiary of Air France, says it has flown a plane through the cloud of volcanic ash covering Europe without suffering any damage.