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I've never reached Platinum (I don't travel business class unless I get a points upgrade and I only occasionally travel overseas), but I aimed for LTG and I'm glad I've finally reached it. I expect that I will not be travelling enough to maintain Gold year-to-year after the next few years, but...

I'm going to take an unpopular position and disagree with the rules on travelling light. Yes, if you are a young backpacker who will need to walk long distances and navigate crowded subways with your luggage, or if you need to fit your luggage in a locker at a backpacker lodge or in a cramped...

Without taking a flight, not as far as I know -- however on past experience, it is very likely that Qantas will "comp" you another year of Gold in this situation, as long as the same thing didn't happen last year.

I’m reviving this thread to mention a good experience with my credit card travel insurance (Allianz through Westpac Altitude Black) today. On a recent trip to South America, I came down with a nasty bout of gastro. I had to see a doctor, take some medications and miss out on a few days of my...

I’m not sure what a Travel Card is. My agency just uses corporate credit cards (Visa). It’s been so for the 7 years that I have been with my current agency and was the same for the 15 years that I was with my previous agency. Both non APS public service agencies, but both still falling under...

Is that true? In both the public service agencies that I have worked for and the entirely unrelated department that my husband works for, we have been given corporate credit cards and required to substantiate every expense with a tax invoice or statutory declaration. No travel allowance, but we...

Public servants don't earn frequent flyer points for business travel, and haven't done in over a decade. Many of them do at least get TOIL or a travel allowance, unlike most public servants. But it doesn't matter: regardless of whether or not things are different in the private sector, frequent...

I saw the article in the Canberra Times and it included a graph showing the 20% spike. It also showed spikes of about the same magnitude during weeks without the double status credit offer, so it didn't really support the argument. Some other things to bear in mind: - Most public servants fly...

The altitude did get to me in Cusco, but mostly because it made another illness hit harder. I came down with a GI bug and was very ill. On my last day in Cusco, I was starting to feel better — back to about 50% — but as soon as I arrived at sea level in Lima that afternoon, I was feeling back to...

I’m just back from a trip to Ecuador. We booked the LATAM-operated flights through Qantas (Qantas codeshare on the longest legs). We were scheduled to leave Guayaquil for Santiago, Chile at 1445 on Wednesday afternoon, but at 0930 I received an alert from TripIt that our flight had been...

This might explain unexpected surge pricing on Uber at Townsville airport last time I flew up there on a Sunday afternoon. I looked up the Uber price, shook my head, and went to the taxi rank (where there was no queue and for which I paid a price significantly lower than the Uber estimate).

That's true only if you have a very mild case and respond well to aspirin. Altitude sickness can vary from non-existent to requiring urgent medical evacuation. Hotels in Cusco have oxygen available for a reason (aspirin would be much cheaper, if that were all that were required!), and the tour...

Thanks. My GP is at a clinic that is an accredited yellow fever vaccination centre, which makes it even more odd that he didn’t suggest it.

Cusco is 3,399 m above sea level. Wikipedia says that altitude sickness "occurs in about 20% of people after rapidly going to 2,500 metres (8,000 ft) and in 40% of people after going to 3,000 metres." I have big lungs and a high VO2max for my age, so I expect to be fine, but my husband is not...

He also didn't mention altitude sickness, which I have since realised might be an issue for Quito and also for Cusco (we are also travelling to Peru). I've made another appointment to follow up on Yellow Fever and to ask about altitude sickness.

No, this is the first time I have been to an affected country.

Oops! Thanks for mentioning yellow fever vaccination! We are visiting the Amazon in Ecuador very soon and had already seen our GP and got a raft of vaccinations, but for some reason, he missed mentioning yellow fever! Our flight into Ecuador is into Quito, which is in the safer part of the...

Trying again: U63SQ

I got the two month extension. I also got a half-price renewal without having to cancel and rejoin. Perhaps they keep an eye on how much value you get out of it and offer this when the value prospect is otherwise weak (i.e., you aren’t getting so much out of your discounts).

For hotels: * Adequate, easily accessible power points beside the bed. * Good overhead lighting in he room. * No blinking or excessively bright lights on smoke alarms, air conditioners or TVs. * Ability to control the air conditioner temperature. Airlines: * Using titles and last names instead...