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I had flights with China Airlines via Taipei to Rome booked for early April, I received an e-mail from China Airlines in early Feb advising that the flights were cancelled due to travel restrictions between Italy and Taiwan. BudgetAir who I booked through were very uncooperative and kept...

Absolutely, I've always accepted that when I purchase a ticket using one of these big OLA that refunds, changes and any other issues are likely to result in a lot of hassle. I've actually just experienced this with Netherlands based BudgetAir (albeit ticket issued in Sydney through their...

I recently purchased an itinerary NTL-BNE-DXB-FCO-DXB-BNE-NTL and found it priced at circa $1300 on EK flight numbers and $1390 on QF flight numbers. I tried booking the same through the Qantas website and it priced up at $1900 and then tried calling Qantas to ask if the could match the online...

We have two MSC cruises booked for April and managed to avail of this status match.They accepted our Accor Hotels Gold membership (which was also obtained tactically without actually staying at Accor hotels) and matched us to Voyager Gold, which is the second highest level and gives us a minor...

We are booked on flights in April with China Airlines to Rome via Taipei, however Italy has banned all flights from China until late April and included Taiwan in that, much to Taiwan’s disappointment. At the moment I’m just waiting to see what happens, 2 months is a long time in the big scheme...

Hangovers from drinking at altitude are the absolute worst, I know from experience during my early twenties. I've never once been stopped boarding an aircraft, but have definitely boarded planes inebriated. The times that I've boarded were when I was FiFo on ships and disembarked in a ship in...

If you want a change of scenery, the 4 star Orchid Country Club is set within a golf course around 20-30 minutes from the CBD. It's my preferred location because its off the beaten track and provides a bit of an escape, plus the ability to use the driving range. Also has good gym and olympic...

So typically with US cruises, they would get the fixed gratuity which is through the passengers account and split evenly, Plus, individual gratuities which are given directly from the guest. US passengers were by and far the best for these guys, most of the crew wanted to stay on cruises with...

The comment is correct for the cruise line I worked for. Engine/Deck crew and Officers didn’t get the gratuities, but all service crew (including laundry and galley) received a share. Some of the Filipino cabin stewards for the suites were making more in tips than the Captains salary. I...

Although it's been a while, I did spend several years at sea with one of the Carnival Corp brands (and still have friends/colleagues sailing in command there) and they were transparent to the crew onboard about the gratuities and the numbers certainly seemed to stack up. The potential fall out...

I would say thats pretty bad form. The an Australian pricing takes into account the gratuities in line with Australian custom. The US pricing doesn't and is in line with US expectations, there are more people involved than just the customer facing service staff. The automatic gratuities isn't...

haha I know! I won't be taking the advice "...we recommend booking now to lock in this price"

Bait and switch!

It's not unusual for the displays at MEL to show flight closing/closed when the aircraft is still in the air, it's simply annoying.

Yes and in a few scenarios that worked out cheaper bizarrely. I can't say I understand the logic behind airfares, but presumedly their is an algorithm which maximises profit somewhere and has decided this is the way to do it!

I'm searching for flights to Singapore in January and Rome in April for little family of 4. I had a quick look at different departure options including NTL (we are about 45 mins from NTL) and SYD, but also had a look at MEL and BNE. The flights from MEL are at least $250 cheaper on average...

I'm unfortunately one of those people who sometimes just doesn't feel like talking, and the worst part is I must have the kind of face that says 'talk to me, talk to me!' because people often try to strike up a conversation. I also have a slightly unusual and interesting job which tends to field...

There are a few reasons why someone may fly regularly but be unable to obtain status. Some corporate rates book into fares that do not earn any status credits New to Qantas/Frequent Flying as a regular discount economy passenger, wanting lounge access and willing to pay for QC until they earn...

Hopefully someone who was on the flight will post with a bit of background, it's easy to see how it could have been either side escalating things.

When we lived in the middle east working for the government, we were booked J flights to Sydney with Cathay via HKG. We wanted a stopover in Hong Kong on the way back, but they wouldn't allow it due to their procedures (anyone who has lived in the Middle East will know how difficult it is to...