Money blog: Flight prices will soar to record highs next year, expert says - here's why (2025)

ByOllie Cooper, live news reporter

Welcome to the next part of my series on fitness supplements - where I aim to discover whether they are helping you get ripped, or you're getting ripped off.

I've enlisted the help of performance nutritionistAndrew PettsandArj Thiruchelvam, personal trainer and head coach at Performance Physique, to analyse 12 different supplements every lunchtime over the next two weeks - and today we're looking at creatine.

Creatine

Creatine is considered essential for almost anyone with an interest in fitness - but is it actually worth it for the average gymgoer?

You can buy 1kg bags for as little as £30 (approximately 12p a serving if you take 4g a day), but pills or gummies can be more expensive.

Even at as little as 12p a day - is it worth it at all if you aren't a serious athlete?

What is creatine?

Creatine, a chemical produced by the body, is a natural source of energy that helps your skeletal muscles contract.

It's found naturally in the cells of your muscles, produced from the amino acids glycine and arginine.

About half of your body's creatine is made in your liver and kidneys from those amino acids, while the rest from the food you eat - especially red meat and seafood.

What does it do?

"The highly researched creatine supplement is incredibly effective for all sports and strength training, as well as cognitively, and the effects can be witnessed in just days for some," Arj says.

He's right - creatine has been researched extensively because of early suggestions of links to kidney damage and hair loss, which have been thoroughly disproved.

That being said, if you have any underlying kidney issues, do speak to a doctor before using.

Arj looked in depth at several studies and found that "creatine increases training load and muscle mass and improves strength, recovery from exercise, training adaptations, muscular endurance, glycogen storage and cognitive function".

Andrew is also a fan - and he explains why you may want to take more into your body in the form of a supplement.

"Creatine is the foundation of 'energy' - it combines with molecules in the body to produce energy.

"Therefore, the more creatine we have, the greater opportunity to do more 'work'."

By work, he means activity - be that lifting weights in the gym, sprinting on the track or completing marathons, "it allows you to get bigger, faster and stronger".

"But - you still need to put the work in," Andrew says, for you to get anything notable out of the supplement physically.

Asked to score the supplement out of 10, Arj gives a solid 8, while Andrew goes a bit further with 9.

Most importantly, both agree it's highly beneficial for even the moderately active person.

What do I take and how do I take it?

As mentioned, you can take gummies, pills or powder.

Powders are by far the cheapest and can be added to morning smoothies, shakes, cereal or even just mixed with water.

The regular powder, made synthetically in labs byheating and pressuring compounds called sarcosine and cyanamide, tastes of nothing, but you can pay a bit more for flavoured options.

Do beware of E-numbers, preservatives and other nasties in flavoured powder options or gummies, though, by checking the ingredients list.

Andrew suggests two different ways to take creatine, though he says "the end result is the same" - which is what's described as "a saturation of creatine stores".

"The first way involves loading a total of 20g of creatine over the course of a day for a week, then a maintenance dose of 2-3g a day after that - this is the accelerated way of increasing creatine stores.

"Another option is to take 5-6g of creatine a day, which will get you to the same end point after a couple of weeks/a month."

Continuous use does not seem to have any negative effects unless there are underlying kidney problems, he says.

"Do not forget there is an abundance of creatine in meat and fish so weigh up whether taking creatine is a necessity for you, especially if you are vegan or vegetarian," he says.

The cheapest and most common product to buy is creatine monohydrate - and Arj recommends you stick to that "as the more expensive (fancy) versions are proven to be vastly inferior and, in some cases, ineffective".

The verdict: For athletes and gymgoers alike, Andrew highly recommends creatine: "It's researched well and provides good outcomes for most who consume it in its simplest and cheapest form, creatine monohydrate."

Arj adds: "Definitely worth it for gymgoers."

Experts have warned your Christmas decorations could have an effect on the speed of your broadband during the festive season.

So if your Christmas Day spent watching Wallace & Gromit is hampered by buffering, you might consider switching the fairy lights off on the tree.

Research fromUswitchhas revealed that 79% of Britons don't realise their decorations could interrupt broadband speed at home.

A third (34%) said they would take no decorations over poor WiFi at Christmas, and almost half (40%) claim that slow broadband would affect their enjoyment of the festive season.

In reality, it would take a considerable volume of decorations to create enough interference to seriously hamper your WiFi network.

But USwitch tech expert Richard Dowden says it's instead one of a number of things to look out for if you're trying to improve your broadband this Christmas.

"Other electrical devices can interfere with your WiFi connection, meaning even fairy lights can slow down broadband speed," he says.

"Keep them, along with other electronics like lamps, speakers, TVs and monitors, as far from the router as possible."

Among his other tips are not placing large items of furniture in the way of the router, buying WiFi extenders, using a direct cable connection, keeping all devices updated and saving streaming or large downloads for off-peak hours.

Motorists could save around £50 on average for cover after a change was made to injury compensation payouts, an accounting firm has said.

The personal injury discount rate is used to help calculate how much defendants have to pay in damages to claimants.

It takes into account the potential returns that victims could expect to receive from their money over time from investing the cash.

From 11 January, a new discount rate of 0.5%, up from -0.25%, will apply, after improvements in the investments landscape.

The change to a positive rate could ease some cost pressures on insurers.

Premiums could decrease by an average of £50 as a result, actuaries fromPwChave predicted, with the rate change helping to intensify competition in the motor insurance market.

Theaverage motorinsurancepremium was £612 between July and September, according to the Association of British Insurers - around £50 higher than in the period last year.

BySarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter

UK stock markets have taken a battering over the last few months as surprisingly high inflation, low growth and budget announcements pushed down share prices of the most valuable companies on the London Stock Exchange.

Today the UK benchmark index, the FTSE 100, and the FTSE 250 have largely recovered and are at the highest levels since the budget on 30 October and 18 October respectively.

Pushing up the FTSE 100 this morning is easyJet with its share price up 4.35%.

Such an increase adds roughly £184.73m to the company's value.

It comes as analysts have uprated its profit expectations for the discount airline.

Dollar strength has pushed the pound down again compared with yesterday morning at $1.2675, but sterling held its value near the recent high at €1.205.

Oil is ever so slightly cheaper than yesterday morning at $72.63 for a barrel of benchmark Brent crude.

Energy firms are offering households free electricity this Christmas.

E.ON Next said free energy will be available to customers over Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, with standing charges also waived across the same period.

Customers must be signed up for the supplier's Next Reward Days 12-month Fixed Tariff and have a smart meter to take part.

EDF customers who signed up for its Sunday Saver Challenge will get eight hours of free electricity on Christmas Day.

To be eligible for the scheme, you must have signed up by 1 December and have a smart meter.

Which other firms have offers?

British Gas is offering discounted energy between 11am and 4pm on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The deal is for new and existing customers on any tariff, but you will need a smart meter.

Scottish Power said it is offering half-price electricity for smart meter customers on Saturdays and Sundays between 11am and 4pm.

Customers of Octopus Energy who are signed up to "Octoplus" can take part in free electricity sessions when wholesale prices fall below zero.

The sessions last an hour, and customers can use electricity for free and receive credits for using more than they typically would.

A Michelin-starred chef has urged thieves to "do the right thing" and return £25,000 worth of pies stolen along with his work van.

Tommy Banks, who owns two restaurants and a pub in North Yorkshire, posted a video on social media saying the van had 2,500 pies stored inside for York Christmas market when it was stolen from just outside Ripon.

"Out there somewhere is our van and, well, nearly a tonne of pies with my name written all over them somewhere in the north of England," he said.

"So yeah, bit of a pain really."

"That's a lot of meat and a lot of flour and eggs, and a lot of work - like so much work - there's like £25,000 worth of stock in the back of this van," Banks said.

He called on the thieves to drop off the pies somewhere such as a community centre.

"I know you're a criminal, but maybe just do something nice because it's Christmas and maybe we can feed a few thousand people with these pies that you've stolen, do the right thing," he said.

Banks also said anyone offered the pies should not accept them and call the police.

North Yorkshire Police has been informed of the theft and is calling on anyone with information to get in touch, according to the BBC.

"What was really making me sad this morning, I thought suddenly they're going to realise what's in the back and ditch the food," Banks said after posting the video.

"We talk about zero waste and when you've got just short of a tonne of food that's probably been ditched, it would be good if it could find its way to people who need it."

Jaguar wants "to be bold and disruptive" with its new electric car and redesign, the luxury vehicle maker's managing director told Sky News.

The British car maker sparked widespread controversy last month when it unveiled its rebrand ahead of becoming a fully electric brand.

Speaking to business and economics correspondet Gurpreet Narwan, managing director Rawdon Glover said: "We've certainly gathered an awful lot of attention over the last few weeks, but now I think it's really important to talk about the vehicle."

The Type 00 has now been unveiled at an event in Miami and was described as a "concept with bold forms and exuberant proportions to inspire future Jaguars".

It has been revealed in two colours, Miami pink and London blue.

ByMegan Harwood-Baynes, cost of living specialist

A shortage of aircraft and engine construction difficulties could mean consumers face a further two years of record flight prices - but it's not all bad news.

But before the better news - just what is going on with travel?

For decades, two major firms have held a tight grip on the aeroplane manufacturing market: Boeing with a 40.6% share and Airbus with the remaining 60.4%. But significant disruption at the former is wreaking havoc around the world.

More than 30,000 workers in Washington and Oregon have been on strike, affecting the production of two key Boeing models, the 737 Max and 777 - and that is before you add in further supply chain issues from COVID and a parts shortage.

As a result, aircraft now take up to five years from the point of order to reaching the runway.

And it's not just Boeing. The Trent 1000 engine, made by Rolls-Royce, which powers the Boeing 787, is experiencing issues with longevity. Faults and a shortage of parts to make new ones mean there are grounded aircraft around the world awaiting repair.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are two of the biggest carriers that have been forced to ground flights, and even remove entire routes from their schedules.

BA will not run its daily London Gatwick to New York JFK route between 12 December and the end of March, while Virgin Atlantic is cutting back on routes to Shanghai, Nassau in the Bahamas and Providenciales in Turks and Caicos, with the final flights for these scheduled to depart in February next year.

Paul Charles, chief executive of the PC Agency and a former director at Eurostar and Virgin Atlantic, says the main issue is that demand far outstrips what airlines can offer.

"There is a shortage of both planes and staff, so airlines are finding it difficult to expand as much as they want to," he tells Money.

"Especially as we are now taking more holidays per year - there is not the capacity to fulfil that demand."

The "pains of COVID", coupled with high inflation, are playing out around the world, and the travel industry is not immune to these pressures. Normally an aircraft takes about three years to be built, but at the moment it is looking like "up to five years instead".

This "bottleneck in the system" has a "three or four-year impact", Paul says.

"So we are going to be seeing this bottleneck exist for some time, which means the prices go up because there is more demand for less capacity."

The latest budget also announced changes to airline passengers, which will affect prices...

Will it get any better?

With no sign of consumers slowing down their appetite for travel, the future is "bright", Paul says.

"You've got runways expanding, you are seeing airports expand around the world - not just in the UK."

As infrastructure improves and airports embrace new technology (we are "getting to the stage where you won't need to carry your passport because your eye will be your ID", Paul says), things will start to look better by 2027.

"Boeing will be back to full-scale production - you'll find the turnaround time for a new plane speeding up," he says.

"So in three years, I think, we will be back to a happier travel environment, like we had pre-COVID."

Until then, we could face price rises of around 5% a year, he says.

Can travellers still find a good deal?

It's not all bad news if you are still looking to snag a deal.

Katy Maclure, editor of The Detour at Jack's Flight Club, which works to find discounted flights, says "all signs point to travel recovering in the grand scheme of things".

"From what we've seen, things haven't been crazy in terms of the cost of flights going up," she tells Money.

"Some destinations, sure. Some destinations are harder to get to or some airlines have pulled out of destinations where there is maybe too much competition for them to be worth it.

"We've seen the European airlines one by one pulling out of the Chinese routes - not least because it's so much further for them to fly because of Russian airspace limitations."

But she points out that budget carriers are expanding faster than ever - last week, EasyJet announced 26 new routes, including its first sub-Saharan service.

A few hacks for saving money

As well as our usual advice of shopping around or being flexible with your travel, Paul offered a few extra hacks to try and get a cheaper price.

1. Think about the airport: Some airports, such as Tokyo, are more expensive for airlines to land in - so some of that cost is going to be passed on to the consumer. If you can, be flexible where in your destination country you land.
2. Boxing Day sales: As well as Black Friday deals, some airlines launch sales at the end of December.
3. Try to fly on a Tuesday: There is usually less demand, and often prices are lower.
4. Avoid looking like a business traveller: If you fly out on a Tuesday and come back a few days later, Paul says the system will think you are on some kind of business trip and try and charge you more. But if you fly out on Tuesday and come back the following Monday, it's more likely to think you are on a leisure trip.

Basically, gifting while you are alive can help reduce the amount of inheritance tax paid on your estate after you die.

The rules vary depending on what type of gift you're making and who to - inheritance tax may have to be paid after your death on some gifts you've given.

Everyone has an allowance for how much of their money or possessions they're allowed to give away each year tax-free.

Here's what you need to know…

What counts as a gift?

Gifting doesn't just mean money - it can involve the giving of furniture, jewellery or antiques, housing, land or stocks and shares.

A gift can also include money lost if you sell something for less than it's worth - eg, selling your house to your child for less than its market value, with the difference counting as the gift.

How much can I give away each year?

During your lifetime, you can give away £3,000 in gifts each year without them being added to the value of your estate. This is known as your "annual exemption".

That amount can be allocated to one person or split between several people.

If you don't max out the exemption amount you can carry it over to the next year, but only for one tax year.

Gifts specifically for weddings and civil partnerships have their own allowance: £5,000 a year when giving to a child, £2,500 to a grandchild or great-grandchild, or £1,000 to any other person.

Under inheritance tax rules, you can give away as many gifts of up to £250 to as many people as you want - but not to someone who has already received a gift of your whole £3,000 exemption (still following?).

Birthday and Christmas gifts you give from your regular income are also exempt from the tax, as are gifts to qualifying charities, whether made during your lifetime or after your death.

Transfers of any value between spouses and civil partners are also immediately exempt from inheritance tax.

The seven-year rule

You don't have to pay inheritance tax on gifts you give - no matter what value - if you live for seven years after giving them.

If you die within seven years of giving a gift, it could end up counting towards the value of your estate.

The amount of tax due then depends on when you gave the gift.

Chargeable gifts given in the three years before your death are taxed at 40%, while earlier gifts are taxed on a taper relief scale, which starts at 8% for gifts given six to seven years before, up to 32% for gifts three to four years before.

Taper relief only applies if the total value of gifts made in the seven years before you die is over the £325,000 tax-free threshold.

Read other entries in our Basically series...

A top chef has admitted he is frustrated with the Labour government after voting for the party in the election, warning budget tax rises will cause a huge number of hospitality closures.

Speaking to Politics With Sophy Ridge, Tom Kerridge said there was a "very, very short honeymoon period" after the new government was elected and since the budget there's been a lot of "business frustration" about certain policies - notably hiking national insurance contributions for employers.

The celebrity chef pointed out that the policy has a big impact on a hospitality industry already "massively under pressure", with plenty of restaurants, pubs, bars, and cafes struggling to break even at the best of times.

"It's run by people who absolutely love what they do - a high-skilled industry but not always the highest of wages," he added.

"But it's one of those industries [with] a huge amount of back-of-house pressures and all the costs have gone up behind the scenes."

Eating out becoming 'luxurious'

With little "wriggle room", Kerridge said many businesses will unfortunately have to pass those costs on to guests.

"It's a very difficult thing for hospitality to do - it's already seen as an expensive treat, eating out, whether it's a mid-week pizza, whether it's the price of a coffee or even a pint of beer," he added.

"All these things seem now quite luxurious. To pass any more cost on to the consumer… it's something hospitality needs to avoid."

'Catastrophic effect on hospitality'

Sophy Ridgealso asked himabout the specific impact of the rise in national insurance contributions for employers like him.

He reckons it'll cost around £800 to £850 more per employee per year.

That's "an awful lot of money" for a firm with 200 members of staff, but also makes "a big, big difference" for businesses with as few as five, he said.

He added that hospitality was "already a short-staffed industry" and the change may deter employers from hiring.

The busy Christmas period may give people "a false sense of feeling that everything's OK", with more people out and about than usual, but in the new year spending tends to "completely drop off a cliff", he explained.

With not enough money made during the summer to help people "through the leaner months", Kerridge told Sophy there will be a "catastrophic effect moving into the new year".

"There will be a huge amount of closures," he warned.

"We've already got high-profile names and Michelin-star restaurants that have decided to shut their doors.

"And when that starts to happen, it does begin to filter down."

'Punishing' business not the answer

From the biggest employers to the smallest, across all industries, all will "struggle with those costs that have come on" as a result of the budget.

Kerridge maintained he's a Labour supporter and believes they're the "right people" to fix the country's "broken infrastructure", including the health service and education.

"But I do feel that the answer at the minute is not by punishing or making life harder for small businesses," he added.