AFF Gathering #18 in MEL on 21-23 November 2025

Save the date! The 2025 AFF annual member gathering will be in Melbourne from 21-23 November 2025.

There will be a welcome dinner on Friday evening, a more formal dinner with two fantastic guest speakers on Saturday evening, and optional activities throughout Saturday and Sunday.

All AFF members and their friends & family are welcome to attend. Most people usually fly into the host city on Friday afternoon, and leave on Sunday afternoon/evening. Of course, if you're a Melbourne local, the flying part is optional.

You can read more about the planned activities, dinner venues and costs and post #2 of this thread.

There will be a $5 registration fee per participant, plus the cost of any activities and/or meals that you choose to join.

If you'd like to attend, and haven't already done so, please complete the registration form by clicking on the link below. Once you've done this, please also post your flight/hotel details in this thread!

For those unfamiliar with the AFF terminology:

• "Platinum" means your attendance is confirmed and you have booked flights/accommodation
• "Gold" means you're likely to attend but will need to confirm at a later time
• "Silver" means you're unlikely to attend at this stage
• "Bronze" means you're unable to attend.

The entire AFF team looks forward to seeing you in November in Melbourne!

Registrations have now closed.​

 

[serfty]

 

[Hvr]

The pork belly was delicious.

 

[Hvr]

 

[Hvr]

The porterhouse steak.

 

[Oscarq]

Fab evening

 

[serfty]

 

[Hvr]

Tiramasu

 

[Hvr]

And we all received free money.

 

[rainbowgirl]

Everything looks great.

Sorry I couldn't be there tonight and this afternoon at the MCG. I am recovering from a fractured bone in my foot. My partner and I are in the middle of sorting out multiple house insurance claims for falling tree branches and water damage from a leaking shower. We're also planning a completely new ensuite as the one we have left is too damaged to be usable.

Have fun everybody. The Porterhouse steak looked great.

 

[JessicaTam]

View attachment 482673

You know you have missed Australia, right?

 

[bPeteb]

Fully expecting to be able to get a drink upstairs Malcolm (@RooFlyer) and myself headed up to 25, but the lift was locked off. If I'd known I would have made an effort to say goodbye, and especially to you Matt.

We went wandering, with our SQ umbrellas, in search of a nearby bar, with zero success. Now back to our respective digs.

Thankyou to Matt and Wilson for another great weekend. And to the mods and all of the members. I feel very lucky to be part of such a great community.

Good luck with whatever you end up doing next Matt.

See everyone next year, and hopefully some of you sooner.

 

[drcam]

Well that was yum. Lovely to see everyone again. Thanks to all the speakers and the organisers. I was also very gratified to learn that the airlines actually deign to read the posts in this forum. We CAN potentially influence. Hope to see you all at the next one. (Do we know where it will be in 2026 yet?)

 

[cove]

Thanks Matt for getting me an umbrella.
Both talks were really interesting.
355 days for Kris Flyer seat releases has become more important now that SQ is running many flights over 90% full.

 

[anemone1296]

Thanks Singapore Airlines for having the foresight to sponsor with umbrellas that totally saved my bacon on the trip home!!

 

[RooFlyer]

We went wandering, with our SQ umbrellas, in search of a nearby bar, with zero success. Now back to our respective digs.

I managed to wander all the way back to the Pullman with my SQ umbrella. God bless ‘em and found a number of like-minded people on the 11th floor.

Absolutely terrific night tonight - thank you @WilsonM and @Mattg . Anyone who has any has any doubts about coming along to these events as a newbie and not Knowing people - don’t worry you’re meet a bunch of like-minded people and have a great time.

See you next year!

Now, who is going to step forward and be the stars of AFF 2026?

 

[CaptJCool]

Did you know the MCG was flattened for the 1956 Olympics so they could play the soccer final there ?

Until then it was dome shaped like the SCG and Gabba still are (helped with water drainage back in the day of uncovered wickets … 1936 (perhaps also Perth 2025…)

That’s why the wicket was awful through the 1970s and 80s until the advent of drop in wickets and voila. A far far better cricket wicket these days ….

 

[somebol]

Alas all good things must end.
I had a wonderful time over the last 2 days making new acquaintances and renewing friendships.

Thank you Matt and Wilson for organising a wonderful event.

 

[serfty]

The rain has thankfully cleared. See you city culture people at the Sir Redmond Barry Statue soon.

 

[bPeteb]

The rain has thankfully cleared. See you city culture people at the Sir Redmond Barry Statue soon.

I'll be the one with the city culture shirt, courtesy of NGV, on

 

[Port Power]

It has been a wonderful weekend. I enjoyed putting faces to names, as well as meeting many newbies. I’ll miss all the Pullman on the Parkers during the rest of my stay. .

Thank you, Matt and Wilson for your hard work. (And for last night’s last hoorah!)