1- Editor’s Note

Instead of spending your whole holiday taking photos of scenery – put your camera down and enjoy it. There will always be a postcard in the tourist shop with a better photo on it than you could take, and you can write on the back to remind yourself of the events that happened that day.

Always carry extra foreign change in your pocket while travelling. You will always need it for that stamp machine/soft drink machine/washing machine etc.

French is the ‘international language of the post’. Always consider writing your mail instructions in basic French – it might help them get home faster.

If the flight you and your friend are travelling on is not crowded, ask for the aisle seat and the window seat. They will be unlikely to assign someone to the middle seat, and you and your friend will have the three-seat row to yourselves.

In last months Gazette we offered you this tip: To avoid your bags being squished in the bottom of the luggage carousel, mark them ‘Fragile’. They are also more likely to be the first ones put onto the carousel. Ian from Perth emailed us to say that bags marked ‘Fragile’ are carried on the basis of a ‘Limited Release’. This essentially exempts the carrier from any liability in the event the bag is lost or damaged. Travellers should be made aware of this as in some cases the loss could be much greater than the desire to get the bags off early. Thanks Ian, we appreciate your input.

Make sure any medicine you need to take is in your carry-on luggage, because it is less likely to go missing.

The Australian government has issued strong advice to defer travel to these countries:
  Fiji: Strong possibility of lawlessness throughout Suva and the possibility of further civil disturbances involving travellers.
  Solomon Islands: After the recent evacuation of Australian and other nationals from Solomon Islands, the Australian Government is monitoring the security situation     carefully.
  Burundi (Kenya): There is a very unstable security situation, and reported frequent attacks and ambushes across the country notably in and around Bujumbura.
  Yemen: Tourists (including Australians) were involved in violent kidnappings (including abductions at gun point). There is a risk of random abduction on the    Aden/Taiz/Sana’a highway and other routes. There is also an increased risk of terrorism in this area.

More travel information can be found at the Australian Federal Government’s web site: http://www.dfat.gov.au/ (The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade).

The Australian Frequent Flyer Gazette is proud to announce the launch of PocketMiles^TM - a frequent flyer calculator and management tool for your Palm Pilot.

What does PocketMiles^TM do? It allows you to track & reconcile your points, determines where they can take you, and calculates how many points you need - all from your portable hand-held Palm Pilot!! It can be used for all Australian programs (Ansett, Qantas and Fly Buys), and will soon include selected foreign frequent flyer programs.

PocketMiles^TM gives you the ability to track and reconcile all of your rewards points in the Miles Minder module. If you are travelling around and using a lot of rental cars, and gaining bonus points from hotels and shopping, this is a great way for you to be able to tally up all your points at once.

Secondly, you can use Miles Finder to investigate all of the destinations available to you with your current available points. A great way to decide where to go for the winter holidays!

The last module helps you figure out how many points it takes to get you to your desired destination in the Quick Calulator.

For full details - including how to download your FREE evaluation copy - please visit www.pocketmiles.com.

4 - CASA Safety Instructions for Flight Passengers

We’ve all sat through the flight demonstration hundreds of times, and probably never really paid much attention to what the flight attendants were saying. But there is a reason they perform that "The exits are to your left" rigmarole on every flight. The airlines have a duty of care to their passengers, and unfortunately things can go wrong sometimes. CASA has published a set of guidelines for passengers to follow to help make your trip safer. Some of these guidelines include:

When you pack your luggage, be aware that factors such as temperature, pressure and vibration can vary enormously from ground-to-flight, and pack accordingly. This means if your aerosol deodorant has a warning about using it on an aeroplane – heed the warning.

The carry-on baggage policy is determined by the weight and size limitation for each passenger. It was not designed to simply save room in the aircraft for everyone’s bags, but also to consider the plane’s balance required for take-off, weight restrictions, fuel and centre of gravity.

In an emergency (not that you’ll have time to change!), it is better if you happen to be wearing natural fibres. CASA notes, that even if there is not a fire on board, women’s stocking have been known to melt due to friction burns during the slide down the emergency chute.

If you must have electronic medical equipment (not pacemakers and hearing aids), make sure you clear it with the airline first, as the policy of electronic equipment on aeroplanes is very strict. If you are pregnant, you may not fly internationally after the 36^th week.

If you are flying with infants, check with the airline before you travel as to whether they provide child restraint seats. While not compulsory, it is strongly recommended you bring your own child restraint seats if the airlines do not supply them.

What specials are on this month? There are plenty of opportunities this month to stack some points with your Fly Buys card:

If you were planning on going computer shopping this month, perhaps you should swing by Harris Technology. They have a few deals up until the 31^st July, most notably you get 1000 bonus points for buying selected Epson or Canon printer products , 1500 points for the HP ScanJet /DeskJet product, and 5000 points for the LearnKey product.

Shell is currently having a ‘triple points’ Fly Buys month, where you get three times the normal number of points for shopping at Shell.

If you need to warm up, go on a winter break with Best Western - spend between $500 and $999.95

and get 1000 bonus points

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The Australian Frequent Flyer is independently owned and is not affiliated with Ansett, Qantas or Fly Buys. While every effort has been made to ensure accurate information in this newsletter, it should be regarded as a guide only. You are advised to confirm all details before making any travel arrangements.

All information published in The Australian Frequent Flyer Gazette has been made available for public use. This information is freely available and subject to change without notice.