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  1. doctorstrangelove

    Qatar charging seat selection fees for Business (U) award bookings

    The enshittification of airline frequent flyer programs continues. Don't give them ideas.... :p
  2. doctorstrangelove

    Are you a yay or nay to Avios subscriptions

    You're not the only one @goldenhorn who's got remorse about cancelling a grandfathered rate sub. After successfully obtaining an AMEX at the end of last year (after having previously being knocked back) I made the mistake of cancelling mine in April, confident that my spend with AMEX would be...
  3. doctorstrangelove

    Amex "I'm going to cancel my card" - bonus points given thread.

    Just tried my luck - my annual fee posted end September. Asked whether fee was refundable (yes, until end October) and then said I wished to cancel due to 1) devaluation of MR points and 2) loss of Amazon benefit. Amex staff was in complete agreement with me that the card had taken a...
  4. doctorstrangelove

    Shopback Referral

    Hi all, With the demise of Cashrewards, Shopback smell blood in the water and have provided one of their most generous referral offers ever... if you're the referrer. 😬 https://app.shopback.com/Pvpl2GWruWb $20 for you and $50 dollars for me if you sign up and fulfil the criteria using my link...
  5. doctorstrangelove

    Seats.aero - a useful tool for finding Qantas & Velocity reward availability

    Just a data point for anyone who's sitting on the fence about a seats.aero sub: I want to report a recent success using seats.aero to book a non-flexi QR redemption in J over Christmas 2025 from DUB to ADL. I am a big fan of Privilege Club given the great availability and low points cost out...
  6. doctorstrangelove

    34 airlines can you book with Avios (and 36 airlines you can earn on)

    Very interesting... Redeeming via China Southern could have great potential as a real under the radar way of getting to Europe from Australia, especially from Adelaide which has fewer international options than the other major capitals. I've just had a look at their seasonal flights from ADL...
  7. doctorstrangelove

    Velocity 15% transfer bonus May 2025

    My first time taking advantage of an offer like this. Almost three weeks and no bonus points yet... What's everyone else's experience on this occasion?
  8. doctorstrangelove

    DOH transit

    My data point. Just transited through Doha last night, arriving from Dublin. Bus transfer. Security screening before accessing concourse (as I was travelling in J thankfully there was no queue). Onwards to Australia - security screening again at the gate. Also - arriving in Al-Mourjan...
  9. doctorstrangelove

    Anyone had luck booking 90K J Savers to Europe next summer?

    I've had success booking QR J closer to the travel date (within two months) on two occasions in the past 18 months. My last success: I set up an awards alert at seats.aero for QR J availability on end December 24 for DUB - ADL on dates 06/02 - 08/02 (inclusive). On 07/01 a seat alert popped up...
  10. doctorstrangelove

    Major 2025 Qantas Frequent Flyer program changes

    I've always wondered how reward seats on partner airlines work. Qantas has been able to secure new rewards seats for its members on Hawaiian Airlines in J & Y and PE on several other airlines. Yet once again it proves to be too difficult for it to make more rewards seats available on its own...
  11. doctorstrangelove

    AMEX rejection

    I was rejected in January 2024 in all likelihood for previous churning as there were no other obvious red flags. I had applied for an AMEX Platinum just after my 18 month exclusion period had ended. I reapplied in September 2024 and was instantly approved. My last credit card opened prior to...
  12. doctorstrangelove

    Changes to Alaska Airlines MileagePlan

    I asked about this on reddit as well and have already received a response. It looks like they never bothered to fix the bug from April. Very frustrating - it would have been a great program otherwise! :(
  13. doctorstrangelove

    Changes to Alaska Airlines MileagePlan

    Is there a minimum requirement to fly AS sectors for status anymore? I asked chatgpt and it states that you don't have to fly on AS to earn MVP. My main query is I'm seriously considering Mileage Plan now that they allow awards flights to count towards status and I can transfer my AMEX MR...
  14. doctorstrangelove

    Qatar Airways returns to Canberra in December 2025

    As someone who is moving to Adelaide in 2025 and a frequent redeemer of Avios on QR this is a very frustrating change to hear. It is a big reversal for the City of Churches which already has limited good international options for redemptions (EK on their 777-200LR? - no thanks!). While the...
  15. doctorstrangelove

    Credit Card Offers HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card: Fast-Track to Star Alliance Gold Status

    Do you know if this was a one-off, or have there been other data points since that you're aware of?
  16. doctorstrangelove

    Seats.aero - a useful tool for finding Qantas & Velocity reward availability

    @SeatsIan thank you - that is very generous of you to do so for what if I'm honest is a very niche market (the Irish diaspora is relatively small in ADL; PER or MEL is another story)! 🙏 I've set up my desired flight alerts now. Really impressed with the response to unintentional customer...
  17. doctorstrangelove

    Economist article on the Problems with Rewards Programmes

    Interesting article on CC Rewards Programmes in The Economist. For those who lack access some snippets: I don't have direct experience with regard to how easy it is to earn points with FF programmes in Australia vs USA, but having lived in the UK and dabbled a little in Avios while I was...
  18. doctorstrangelove

    Seats.aero - a useful tool for finding Qantas & Velocity reward availability

    Hi all, I've been playing around with seats.aero a little more and I was wondering if anyone had any strategies about the best rewards alerts to set up to fly to and from Europe to Australia given the lack of a 'direct route' meaning you can't simply just set your desired airports and set a...
  19. doctorstrangelove

    Seats.aero - a useful tool for finding Qantas & Velocity reward availability

    @SeatsIan thanks, hope you can get the legal issues worked out with AC. 🙏
  20. doctorstrangelove

    Seats.aero - a useful tool for finding Qantas & Velocity reward availability

    Thanks for clarifying. My first few dummy searches threw up lots of connecting flights so I assumed it would do that for all searches. Not as automated as I would have liked if I have to potentially search by individual segment to build an itinerary, but not the end of the world.
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