Author: Staff Writers
Staff Writers
Priority Privilege: lies, lies, and damned lies
For a number of years now, members have been discussing IHG’s Priority Privilege program. Originally the Pacific Privilege program, when the local hotels were owned by South Pacific Hotel Corporation, it offers dining and accommodation discounts at IHG’s properties around Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and in some parts of Asia. Some customers, like … Continued
Minimum connection time and the risk of separate bookings
From time to time the need to have two separate bookings for flights on the same day will arise. It may be a case that the two airfares cannot be booked on the one booking, or it’s cheaper to purchase separate flights from different airlines. If two flights are on the one booking, often they … Continued
Economy Class, Qantas A380 Upper Deck – not always a good idea
Ever since Qantas decided to reconfigure their A380s, our members have been interested in what upstairs economy would be like. It’s not the first time a Qantas aircraft has featured economy upstairs, the 747s have had it in the past. But this time, your sharing it with two other classes, Business and First. What’s the … Continued
Qantas cuts flights across the ditch
When the Qantas and Emirates partnership first came to light, many of our members pondered on the impact it might have on services to New Zealand. While Qantas has been steadily reducing widebody capacity, in favour of more frequent 737 operations, Emirates have been putting their biggest aircraft on the route. Each day, an Emirates … Continued
The Death of Customer Service in Australia
This week one member feels that a recent problem with an ATM signals the death knell of customer service in Australia. This week our member had a particularly bad run with customer service. Our member had to drive twenty minutes to withdraw cash after coming across a non-functioning ATM and the bank did not assist. … Continued
Bird strikes Virgin Australia plane… luckily
Many of our members who have had the pleasure of flying through Albury in recent months might have noticed the same Virgin ATR72 aircraft parked there since late February. While parked aircraft are not unusual, aircraft that are in airline service don’t stand still for long. It was certainly noticed by the Industry with pilot … Continued
Get the Best Seat
One of the more popular topics discussed on our forums relates to getting the best seat on a flight. As seat selection is often an additional cost, some prefer to go without preselecting a seat. While it may be a good saving, running the risk of that dreaded middle seat near a noisy galley may … Continued
Planes, trains & signs – another classic real time Trip Report
This week’s trip report features a traveller familiar to many of our members. Famous for their real time trip reports where pictures speak louder than words, Erkpod is sharing their journey overseas as a Virgin’s Velocity Platinum member for the first time. In keeping with the frequent flyer spirit of why fly direct, we are … Continued
Welcome aboard.. we know all about you!
Technology has an impact in almost every part of our lives these days. Whether you like it or not, information about you is now easier to find and store than ever before. When you sign up for a frequent flyer program, you often fill in a profile detailing your interests etc. As time goes by … Continued