Author: Matt Graham
How Noise Cancelling Headphones Work – AIR039
For frequent flyers, noise-cancelling headphones are the ultimate travelling companion. But have you ever wondered how they actually work to cancel out noise? In this episode, aerospace engineer Hossein Seif Zadeh (a.k.a. hossein_au on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum) explains how noise-cancelling headphone technology works and the difference between a $100 and a $600 pair … Continued
Bain Capital to Buy Virgin Australia
The search for a new owner of Virgin Australia is finally over with Bain Capital, a U.S. private investment firm based in Boston, announced as the successful bidder. The other bidder in the running, Cyrus Capital Partners, reportedly withdrew this morning after submitting its final offer last Monday. Virgin’s administrators have now entered into a … Continued
COVID-19 is Accelerating the Transition to a Cashless Society
Many frequent flyers prefer to use credit cards for every possible transaction in order to earn points. But there are still around half a million Australians that don’t have a debit or credit card, preferring to pay for everything with cash. Slowly but surely, this number has been decreasing. Over the past decade, cash transactions … Continued
Qantas to Axe 6,000 Jobs, Raise $1.9b Equity
Qantas Airways Limited entered a trading halt on the ASX this morning as CEO Alan Joyce announced a three-year COVID-19 recovery plan that’s harsh but necessary. The cost-cutting and job losses are far greater than those announced in the last major shake-up back in February 2014, when 5,000 jobs were cut. Today, Qantas announced 6,000 permanent … Continued
Retired Planes Repurposed by Creative New Owners
At the end of this month, Qantas will retire the only Boeing 747 left in its fleet. Most of the flying kangaroo’s remaining jumbo jets have already been sent to the aircraft boneyard in Victorville, USA, and the aircraft with registration VH-OEJ is set to join them on 30 June. (For the aviation geeks out … Continued
Velocity to Refund Cancelled Reward Seat Bookings
Velocity Frequent Flyer will finally refund Virgin Australia reward seat bookings that have been cancelled, for travel booked until 30 September 2020. This had already been Velocity’s policy prior to Virgin Australia entering voluntary administration. Throughout April and the first half of May, Velocity always said that it would refund the Velocity points & taxes paid … Continued
Travel Agents in NSW Must Disclose Commissions, Incentives
From next week, travel agents operating in the state of New South Wales will need to disclose any commission, referral fees or incentives they receive from their suppliers. The new rule is part of increased disclosure obligations that will apply to NSW businesses, including intermediaries such as agents. The new state-based laws also require businesses to … Continued
Australian International Flights Down 98% in April 2020
There was a 98% reduction in international passengers travelling to and from Australia in April 2020, compared to the previous year, despite a surge in people leaving Australia on repatriation flights. Almost half of those passengers flew with Qatar Airways. There was also a 97.2% reduction in domestic airline passengers travelling within Australia in April 2020. … Continued
Qantas Forced to Offer Refunds for Cancelled Flights
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has forced Qantas to contact customers issued with flight credits to inform them of their entitlement to a refund. This includes customers that opted to cancel their booking for a voucher before Qantas cancelled their flight. The ACCC alleges that Qantas failed to adequately inform customers of their … Continued