Author: Matt Graham
Maximising the Value from Hotel Bookings
If you regularly stay at hotels – particularly if you’re loyal to a certain brand – it makes sense to join the hotel’s loyalty program. Not only can you earn points for each stay, but frequent guests can enjoy elite status benefits such as complimentary room upgrades, late checkout, free breakfast and more. But there … Continued
British Airways’ New Domestic Club Europe
British Airways recently began offering Club Europe (which is what BA calls its short-haul Business class) on UK domestic flights. While British Airways has long offered a Business class product on its European short-haul flights, UK domestic flights until recently were an Economy-only affair. Our member Princess Fiona recently sampled British Airways’ new Club Europe … Continued
Travel Money Tricks
If you’ve ever travelled overseas or bought something online, chances are you’ve bought something in a foreign currency. But most credit cards charge high fees for international transactions. Obtaining cash in a foreign currency can also be expensive, with banks charging large commissions and high margins. But did you know that you can save hundreds … Continued
Kota Kinabalu on Points
Our member froggerADL recently visited the Malaysian city of Kota Kinabalu. The city is located on the island of Borneo, which is shared between Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. The entire trip was paid for using points, from the flights out of Adelaide to the accommodation at the destination. The reason for the trip? To check … Continued
Qantas Point Upgrades: Good Value?
Qantas recently increased the number of points required for a flight upgrade to Premium Economy, Business or First class. An Economy to Business class upgrade to Los Angeles, for example, increased from 72,000 to 90,000 points. So, do Qantas point upgrades still represent good value? The short answer is that upgrades are still good value for … Continued
Abandoning Virgin Velocity
This week a Platinum Velocity member is seriously considering abandoning their loyalty to Virgin Australia. Until now this member has flown Virgin exclusively. But after recent devaluations to the Velocity program and poor experiences with Virgin’s partner airlines, they’re on the lookout for greener pastures. Qantas’ superior international network is one reason for jumping ship. … Continued
South America and Back… The Long Way
This week’s trip report takes us to South America and the Pacific islands, as our member RooFlyer flies, drives and cruises around Chile, Argentina and French Polynesia! The trip began with a flight to Santiago on LATAM Airlines. This flight was direct but our member would be doing some “island hopping” on the way home, stopping in … Continued
Qantas Phasing Out Lounge Passes
Qantas is phasing out the card-sized Qantas Club lounge passes that come with certain credit cards and are given out to Qantas flyers with Silver-level status. These physical passes will instead by replaced by digital passes that can be accessed online. The reason for the change would appear to be to combat the sale of lounge … Continued
Qantas Platinum Status Shortcut
Qantas has begun offering its frequent flyers the option to “purchase” Platinum status using their frequent flyer points. Multiple AFF members have been contacted by Qantas over the phone with the targeted offer. The asking price? 100,000 Qantas points. In each case, the contacted member had already held Platinum status for several years but had … Continued