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.

Air New Zealand 787 Auckland

Air New Zealand to Fly Boeing 787 to Gold Coast

IN BRIEF | Air New Zealand has scheduled its Dreamliner on flights to the Gold Coast for several services over the July school holidays. The airline’s Boeing 787-9s will fly from Auckland to Gold Coast’s Coolangatta Airport each Sunday between 7 and 21 July 2019. This is the first time that Air New Zealand has … Continued

Emirates 777 business class

Emirates “Business Special” Fares Exclude All the Perks

Emirates has started unbundling its Business Class fares with the launch of its new “Business Special” fare concept. Emirates’ Business Special fares are a little bit cheaper than the Dubai-based airline’s regular tickets. But they also exclude many of the perks that traditionally come with a Business class ticket. What you’ll get on a discounted … Continued

John Bartels in cockpit

Podcast #13: jb747’s Stellar Career with Qantas

In this special edition of the AFF on AIR podcast, Matt chats to John Bartels (a.k.a. jb747) about his flying career with Qantas, the A380, the QF30 incident, flight training, retirement, today’s aviation industry and more. John is a former Qantas Airbus A380 captain and remains an active contributor to AFF’s popular Ask The Pilot … Continued

Air Chathams Convair 580 in Wanganui

Air Chathams Auctions Historic Convair 580

Ever wanted to own a historic aircraft? New Zealand’s Air Chathams has recently retired its oldest Convair 580 aircraft and is selling it in an auction. Bids start from NZD20,000 (~AU$18,917), which is less than the price of most new cars. The Convair 580 aircraft, which was built in 1953, will never fly again as … Continued

jb747’s Stellar Career with Qantas – AIR013

  In this special edition of the podcast, Matt chats to John Bartels (a.k.a. jb747) about his flying career with Qantas, the A380, the QF30 incident, flight training, retirement, today’s aviation industry and more. John is a former Qantas Airbus A380 captain and remains an active contributor to AFF’s popular Ask The Pilot thread.   … Continued

Security denied access

Qantas Flyer Incorrectly Denied Lounge Access

A Qantas Gold frequent flyer has been incorrectly denied Air New Zealand lounge access despite being booked on a Qantas codeshare service. To make matters worse, Qantas responded to this member’s complaint by providing completely inaccurate information. It seems that neither Air New Zealand nor Qantas are fully aware of their own policies regarding reciprocal … Continued

Qantas 787 Premium Economy seats

Redeem Points for Qantas Premium Economy to Asia

When flying to Asia, Qantas offers a Premium Economy cabin on flights to Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Qantas has a very good Premium Economy product, so redeeming your Qantas Frequent Flyer points for a seat can be very good value. But redeeming Cathay Pacific Asia Miles for Qantas Premium Economy awards is even better … Continued

Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is the Perfect Holiday Destination

There are some incredible sights on our planet. But the most famous feats of architecture – places like Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat and the Pyramids of Giza – all have one thing in common: they’re overrun by tourists. If you’ve ever visited a popular tourist attraction, you’ve probably had to queue up for ages to buy … Continued

Virgin Australia 737 economy class

International Virgin Australia Flight Departs with 23 Passengers

It’s always nice to get an empty seat next to you on the plane. But passengers on a recent Virgin Australia international flight could choose from entire rows of empty seats, with just 19 passengers booked in Economy. Up the front of the plane, there were 4 Business passengers bringing the total number of paying … Continued