Author: Matt Graham
Woolworths Rewards is Coming to Tasmania
EXCLUSIVE | With more than 12 million members, Woolworths Rewards is one of the most popular loyalty programs in Australia. Members can earn points for shopping at Woolworths, Big W & BWS, and those points can be converted to Qantas Frequent Flyer points. But until now, Tasmanian residents have been excluded from the Woolworths Rewards … Continued
LifeMiles Safe (For Now) as Avianca Files for Bankruptcy
Colombian airline Avianca has become the latest casualty of COVID-19, voluntarily filing for bankruptcy earlier this week. But the LifeMiles frequent flyer program is safe, at least for now. LifeMiles is the frequent flyer program of Avianca, a member of Star Alliance. It’s popular among Australian frequent flyers because LifeMiles are often sold at generous … Continued
Rex Considers Connecting Capital Cities
Regional Express Airlines (Rex) has floated a crazy idea to start flights on domestic trunk routes between Australia’s capital cities, competing directly with Qantas (and possibly Virgin Australia, if it emerges from voluntary administration). Under the proposal, Rex would lease 10 narrow-body jets and operate on key routes such as Sydney-Brisbane and Melbourne-Adelaide. Rex normally … Continued
No Refunds, Only “Conditional Credits” for Virgin Customers
The federal court has approved a proposal by the Virgin Australia administrator to offer restrictive “conditional credits” to Virgin Australia customers instead of refunds. The new policy applies to Virgin Australia, Tigerair and Virgin Australia Holidays bookings made before the airline entered administration on 21 April 2020. Normal refund and travel credit policies – including … Continued
Qantas Clarifies Air France, KLM Tier Benefits
Last year, Qantas introduced a new frequent flyer partnership with Air France & KLM. Qantas Frequent Flyer members can earn & redeem points for Air France and KLM flights, and Qantas Silver, Gold, Platinum & Platinum One members receive reciprocal status benefits when flying with either airline. Unfortunately, as we reported in February, the implementation … Continued
No Qantas Status Upgrades for Grounded Flyers
Qantas is refusing to offer flexibility to frequent flyers that were on track to upgrade to a higher status tier before the COVID-19 travel shutdown. Several Australian Frequent Flyer members were just 10 or 20 status credits short of attaining Gold status before the travel restrictions were implemented and flights grounded. Under normal circumstances, they … Continued
Virgin “Pauses” Refunds, Travel Credits
If you have a cancelled Virgin Australia flight, the airline says that you can still request a travel bank credit. If you bought a refundable ticket, such as a Freedom fare, you can also apply for a refund. But Virgin Australia is not currently processing any new refunds or flight credits. In fact, it hasn’t … Continued
Update on Qantas Flight Credits (May 2020)
Qantas is now offering flight credits to passengers that were booked to fly until the end of September 2020 (previously July 2020). Qantas credit vouchers can also now be used towards multiple new bookings, rather than just one booking of equal or greater value. But the national carrier is no longer waiving change fees for … Continued
Qantas Market Update: Project Sunrise, A380 Upgrades On Hold
Qantas has secured an additional $550 million in debt funding, giving the airline sufficient liquidity to survive until at least December 2021, CEO Alan Joyce revealed in a market update this week. But this is not without trade-offs, with Project Sunrise now delayed indefinitely and Qantas’ A380 refurbishment program suspended. We may never see an … Continued