Ash means cash for hotel industry ABC Online
Travellers say hotels are cashing in on the hundreds of thousands of airline passengers stranded around the world as clouds of volcanic ash keep airspace closed over Europe and the UK.
Tourists stranded in Singapore, en route to the United Kingdom and Europe, say they are looking at paying at least $300 more than the normal rate for a one night hotel stay.
And that is if they can find a hotel with a vacancy.
Kate Edmondson was set to fly from Sydney to Dublin via Singapore on Thursday. She told ABC News Online she has made it as far as Singapore and will be kicked out of her hotel this afternoon.
Ms Edmondson says she is frantically trying to find somewhere else to stay.
"I've got a few leads with people and I've got my friends and family and the church in Australia trying to find me somewhere," she said.
"I think it will be resolved but it is scary to know in half-an-hour I'm going to go and sit down in the lobby for a while and think about what I'm going to do."
Australia.TOSummer in SaratovSummer brings a holiday air, and seasonal jobs, to the Volga city of Saratov, observes Olga Bakutina in this Letter from Russia. But the underlying economic problems remain, and the autumn promises to be hard It's summer in Saratov and the street cafes
