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There's a lot of truth in that, I've found the same trick to work with the various charity muggers you get on the street. You can smile, you can say Hello, but you've got to just keep moving and don't slow down or break stride.

The only reason I've got it is because of the surcharges, so I know that if I pay with it I'm no worse off than if I'd paid cash instead. If the surcharges go I'll happily ditch it. I wouldn't recommend HSBC as a bank, they're kind of awkward to deal with and their online services are quite...

From my perspective I'm happy about the changes because it'll make things a lot less fiddly. When I'm presented with a card surcharge I'm basically being given a choice: Pay the surcharge and, in effect, pay for the points Pay surcharge free (usually cash, sometimes EFTPOS) and skip the points...

What has always puzzled me is why it's such a big problem in Melbourne but not other Australian cities. I remember this happening right the way back when I first started visiting Melbourne back in the early 2000s. While I have occasionally seen touts at Sydney, Brisbane or Perth, I've never seen...

The RBA did consider allowing the continuation of differential surcharges for different card types, however simplifying the system was considered a higher priority. (page 23)

It would be for both (page 8),

The RBA has released a consultation paper for the Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging review. This paper outlines proposed changes and provides an opportunity for stakeholders to responds to the proposal. Key changes proposed are: Surcharging on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa cards should...

Oh wow, I haven't done a full on party flight run in years. This is very appealing to me. 😁 Unfortunately I'll be stuck in Canberra for work that night, otherwise I'd have tried to get a group together to do this. Good on VA for giving something new and fun a go, I hope it's a big success.

Some more details from the ABC: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-02/qantas-cyber-attack-significant-data-stolen/105484720

This could be a reflection of the recent downturn in travel to the USA.

I always sign in as Jerry Smith and my postcode is 7151. 😁

Apologies, I forgot to post what happened when I tried the point.me offer. Didn't work I'm afraid, so it looks like it's just for US card holders.

Also, business travel goes the other way as well, with people who live near WSI using it to take business trips to other cities as a more convenient option than flying from SYD.

Some coverage from the ABC. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-24/virgin-australia-returns-to-trade-on-the-asx-in-ipo/105451822

Good point, I quite like that offer as well. Sort of the exception that proves the rule I guess. 🙃

Every time one of these (infrequent) overseas offers comes through it just reminds everyone that the card is effectively useless outside of Australia because of the 3% foreign currency fee. In this case it's really a credit of $31.45, after you subtract the fee.

To loop back to the new semi-translucent curtain, I've now seen it somewhere else as well. Flew back home from LA on American Airlines and they're using this product on their 777s as well, at least between Premium Economy and Business.

Surprised no one has mentioned Las Vegas (LAS) airport yet.

I think the use of "surprisingly small" is not really accurate. It's about the size of Adelaide airport.

I do wish things were a bit more consistent with the partners, but I can understand the commercial realities of these arrangements. A lot of airlines and are not in an alliance and have various partners with various levels of services. Even carriers within an alliance have other partners with...