Author: Matt Graham
Matt Graham
Matt was the editor of Australian Frequent Flyer from 2015 until 2025. His passion for travel has taken him to more than 100 countries - with a lot of help along the way from frequent flyer points! Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine. You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @Mattg.
Qantas Brings Back In-Flight Entertainment
In-flight entertainment is back on most Qantas domestic flights and, from next Monday, all trans-Tasman flights. After being switched off for a year, Qantas in-flight entertainment has been progressively rolled back out since the start of April 2021. By now, it should already be available on all aircraft where in-flight entertainment is normally offered. Qantas … Continued
Qantas First Lounges Reopen from 19 April 2021
Qantas will reopen its international First Class lounges in Sydney and Melbourne on Monday 19 April, along with its international Business Lounge in Brisbane, to coincide with the launch of the long-awaited trans-Tasman travel bubble. This is not just good news for Qantas Platinum & Platinum One members travelling across the Tasman with Qantas or … Continued
Steep Rise in International Flight Taxes & Charges
With the trans-Tasman bubble launching next week, many Australians are booking trips to New Zealand. But Australians heading overseas are now paying much more than before for the privilege. Airfares from Australia to New Zealand are now considerably more expensive than they were before the pandemic, when return Qantas flights to Christchurch were available for … Continued
Qantas Frequent Flyer Expanding in New Zealand
The Qantas Frequent Flyer program is vying to become a serious alternative to Air New Zealand’s Airpoints program in New Zealand. As far as airline loyalty programs go, Air New Zealand’s frequent flyer program has a near-monopoly in New Zealand. Airpoints has extensive retail partnerships, including with New World supermarkets, and extensive credit card partnerships … Continued
5 Great Uses of Frequent Flyer Points to New Zealand
With New Zealand opening back up to travellers from Australia, but flights looking quite expensive, now could be a good time to redeem your frequent flyer points for a trip to New Zealand! Qantas, Jetstar and Air New Zealand are all running flights between Australia and New Zealand. This provides plenty of choices for Australians … Continued
Flybuys Offers Now Much Better than Everyday Rewards
In many ways, Coles’ Flybuys program and the Woolworths Everyday Rewards program are very similar. Both are coalition loyalty programs, and the rates at which points are earned and redeemed are virtually identical. The main difference is that Flybuys partners with Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer, while Everyday Rewards partners with Qantas Frequent Flyer. Yet, … Continued
Triple Velocity Points on Virgin Flights (April 2021)
Virgin Australia is again offering triple Velocity points when you book a Virgin Australia domestic flight by 25 April 2021. With this offer, you’ll earn at least 15 Velocity points per $1 spent on Virgin Australia flights (up from the usual 5 points per dollar). That’s a good offer, but there’s a catch: it’s only … Continued
Which Airlines Will Refund Cancelled Trans-Tasman Flights?
With the long-awaited trans-Tasman bubble launching next week, Qantas, Air New Zealand and Jetstar are preparing to ramp up their flights between Australia and New Zealand. In fact, trans-Tasman forward bookings are looking so strong that some airlines have already put more flights on sale than originally planned. But what happens if the bubble bursts? When … Continued
Virgin & Qantas Status Extension Confusion
In December 2020, Velocity Frequent Flyer launched a great promotion offering a status extension until 31 March 2022 to existing Gold or Platinum members who booked a Virgin Australia flight by 28 March 2021. Virgin Australia has now extended the status extension for all Velocity members who were eligible for this offer until 30 September … Continued