Welcome to the October edition of the Australian Frequent
Flyer Gazette. We have had many requests for some online travelling tools lately, as well
as the latest news from the big airlines. Some great tips have arrived in terms of
Frequent Flyer points, and we have all the goss on the latest specials. Well, I’m off
to soak up the last of the Olympics, so… happy flying!
Don’t forget to visit www.pocketmiles.com to find out how you can make the
most out of your Palm Pilot.
As always, we have a number of travel tips for you.
Don’t forget, if you have any more tips, please email them to [email protected]. Some great tips
have been submitted to the Australian Frequent Flyer Web site (www.frequentflyer.com.au/tips.htm) lately. If you are looking to make your points s-t-r-e-t-c-h
further, have a squizz at some of our Hot Tips. Some examples include:
A few visitors have written about the JetAway (www.jetaway.bankwest.com.au) home loan which promises 20,000 Global Rewards points and then
3,500 points for every $10,000 you owe each year. Sounds like a great deal - but it is
important to check out the true cost of the loan. Compare it with other lenders - if it is
more expensive, figure out if those points are worth the extra cost of the loan. (Thanks
to Mick O and Amanda L)
Julie W earns our honorary nickname of ‘Australian
Pudding Gal’ (for new subscribers see the April edition for our story on The Pudding
man - www.frequentflyer.com.au/gazette/april.htm
): “As members of Qantas, Ansett and Fly Buys we constantly are on the lookout for
ways to make our points last longer. Double dipping is when you can earn two lots of
points for the same purchase, ie buying a Qantas ticket with a Qantas affiliate credit
card like the ANZ Qantas Telstra Visa card. You earn Frequent flyer points for the actual
Qantas flight and can redeem 'Visa Card points' for the cost of the ticket. But did you
know there is an added bonus. Earn triple points by doing the above but purchase your
tickets/travel through Traveland and you can earn Fly buy points as well - Triple Dipping.
BUT the biggie is doing the above but exchanging existing Fly Buy points into Coles Myers
Vouchers which are treated the same as cash (especially if you can't arrange a flight to
suit yourself or don't have enough points for a flight - which must be a return flight)
and use them in conjunction with your credit card to pay for your tickets / travel. You
also earn more Fly Buys on the redeemed Fly Buys Vouchers too!!! Hence my family and
friends have nick-named me the Frequent Flyer Queen. This isn't bad considering I have
saved in excess of $25,000.00 on air travel in exchanging points etc in three years!"
If you are a business traveller and wanting to make that
ever-important phone call, first avoid angry sleepers by making sure it’s daylight
where you are calling. You can find out the time anywhere in the world at www.worldtimeserver.com.
Have you been paying attention to the media? Quiz yourself
on these stories:
What changes in management have occurred at Australia’s
major airlines during September?
Succession plans for the retirement of Qantas CEO James Strong include Geoff Dixon
(currently Deputy CEO) taking over from Strong next year, and Peter Gregg (currently
Deputy Chief Financial Officer) has been appointed Chief Financial Officer and Executive
Director of Qantas (13/9/00). The Air New Zealand - Ansett Group has appointed Mr Gary
Toomey as its Chief Executive Officer. Prior to accepting the appointment, Toomey had
relinquished the positions of Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director at Qantas -
and as a director of various Qantas subsidiary companies and Air Pacific Limited. Toomey
will take up his Chief Executive's responsibilities with the Air New Zealand - Ansett
Australia Group in December. "The challenge of moving to a lead role in a significant
airline business that's got its roots in Australia and New Zealand and is determined to
grow its international competitiveness was irresistible," Mr Toomey said. "I'm
grateful to my colleagues at Qantas for their support over the last seven years and
pleased at our record of achievement together. However, I'm now looking forward to the
fresh challenges ahead."
Which airline has boosted benefits for their frequent flyers
with a new portfolio of rewards services?
Qantas launched the ‘Qantas Portfolio of Financial Services’ on September 4th.
These new services include home loans, investment loans, personal loans and term deposits
with Citibank and Macquarie Bank. Richard Sheppard, Macquarie Bank Deputy MD, said the
alliance provided Macquarie Bank with a unique opportunity to forge alliances with quality
partners to broaden its retail distribution base. Moray McDonald of Citibank remarked that
they wanted to reward their customers with the opportunity to create financial wealth by
using a line of credit at the same time as gaining frequent flyer points. Ms McPhee,
Qantas’ General Manager of Marketing said Qantas was continuing discussions with a
number of other financial institutions, and expected that other partners would join the
program in the coming months.
When, and with what airline, will non-stop flights between
Melbourne and Hong Kong become available?
Ansett International has announced that it will begin non-stop flights from Melbourne to
Hong Kong on November 1. Ansett will operate four non-stop services a week from Melbourne
to Hong Kong using a 214 seat Boeing 767-300 aircraft, after receiving regulatory approval
to operate supplementary services for a three month period. The airline is seeking
regulatory approval to operate these services on a permanent basis. Non-stop flights will
depart Melbourne on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 1.30pm, arriving in Hong Kong at
7.45pm. Sunday's departure time will be 11.05 am, arriving in Hong Kong at 5.20pm. The
Bracks Government welcomed the announcement as great news for Victoria. The new non-stop
flights from Melbourne to Hong Kong will bring Victorian businesses closer to one of the
world's most important trade centres, and increase opportunities to market Victoria as a
tourist destination. Most importantly for members of the Global Rewards program, members
will receive double Global Rewards points when they fly on the new service between 1
November and 15 December, regardless of the fare paid and class of travel.
Which airline was voted third best airline in the world by
the Business Traveller Asia-Pacific/Worldroom.com Business Travel Survey?
On 8th September Ansett International was voted third best airline in the world by
frequent business travellers in Hong Kong. Ansett and parent company, Air New Zealand,
were placed third and fourth respectively behind Star Alliance partner Singapore Airlines
and Swissair. Fifty-one international carriers were included in the survey with
participants rating each airline in terms of service, comfort, in-flight entertainment,
food, safety, quality, punctuality and value. Of the travellers participating in the
survey, over 80% regularly fly first and business class, 85% have frequent flyer
membership and all take over 30 international air trips per year.
Qantas Flights to Tahiti increased. Qantas will boost the
number of flights it sends to Tahiti with a code share with Air Tahiti Nui between Sydney
and Papeete via Auckland. Qantas currently code shares on Polynesian services between
Australia and Samoa. The agreement will increase the number of flights Qantas offers to
Papeete to three per week.
Ansett Global Rewards partners with AAPT Global Rewards
members who choose to become AAPT Smartchat Full Service (all fixed-line calls to local,
mobile, national and international numbers) customers will earn 2 points for every dollar
paid on their account. If you are an existing Global Rewards member, and you sign up as a
new AAPT Smartchat Full Service customer, you will also receive 3,500 bonus points.
E-mail facility to be installed on Cathay Pacific fleet.
Cathay Pacific announced on 25th September that the airline will begin to install e-mail
services throughout the whole fleet in 2001. The new services will be deployed in the
first quarter of 2001. It will mean that there will be 62 aircrafts outfitted with
high-speed in-flight e-mail services.
Alcohol and jetlag on a par Agence France-Presse announced
on September 19th that long sleepless hours could impair the body’s facilities as
much as a couple of shots of alcohol. Men and women in their 30s and 40s were tested by
Australian and New Zealand researchers. Their cognitive and manual reactions were
monitored over 28 hours, during which the men and women progressively consumed alcohol,
until their blood/alcohol concentration reached 0.1 percent. After a night's sleep, the
tests were repeated again over the same timeframe, sans alcohol. After 17 -19 hours
without sleep, their reactions were up to 50 percent slower and their accuracy far poorer
than when their blood/alcohol level was 0.05 percent.
Virgin Blue’s launch launches Web site hits. In the
last week of August, Virgin Blue’s launch sky-rocketed the number of Web site hits
the Virgin Blue site, www.virginblue.com.au,
received. According to Hitwise data (www.hitwise.com.au) the new fares caused a massive
1070.95% traffic increase to the airline’s Web site. The availability of the
cut-price fares online drove the site from 515th to 77th place on the Hitwise Australian
Charts between Saturday August 26 and Monday August 28, making it the fifth most popular
travel website for Australian audiences that week.
5 - Best of Bonus Points and Competitions for
October!
There are at least three worthwhile offers from Fly Buys
for bonus points this month:
Collect 1000 Bonus Points when you spend $125 or more from
the Myer Direct Summer catalogue (offer ends 5th November).
You can collect 500 Fly Buys Points when you purchase any
set of 4 tyres from Kmart Tyre and Auto (Kmart Tyre and Auto stock Goodyear, Dunlop and
Olympic). You can also collect 1000 Fly Buys Points when you purchase any set of 4
Goodyear Ventura tyres, 500 Fly Buys Points when you purchase a Major Service, 1000 Fly
Buys Points when you purchase a Maxi Service, and 500 FREE Fly Buy Points when you
purchase any set of 4 tyres or service from the above (offer ends 28th October).
Finally, celebrate Fly Buys’ sixth birthday with Best
Western - during October 2000, collect 6x more Fly Buys points at any Best Western
location in Australia (ends 31st October).
Just in case you were wondering, the ‘On The
Ground’ partners for Ansett Global Rewards are Diners Club International, Westpac
Visa card, AAPT, Medibank Private, E*TRADE Australia, Avis, BankWest JetAway Home Loan,
Australia Chauffeur Drive, Ansett Australia Valet Parking, Travelex Worldwide Money and
Global Rewards Telstra Telecard. There are also many participating hotels, which you can
view at the Ansett Web site.
The eastern seaboard is still enjoying amazingly cheap
prices - Syd-Melb $66 one-way, Melb-Canberra $66 one-way, Syd-Bris $66 one-way, Melb-Bris
$139.70 one-way, Bris-Canberra $132 one-way
Ansett’s holiday specials include return airfare and 2
nights accommodation in Sydney (from Melbourne) for $310. Sydney-Brisbane return airfare
and 2 nights accommodation for $321. However, don’t forget you can usually get a much
better deal through a travel agent, or online. For example, the televised offer of $399
flights to Perth with 3 nights accommodation (Ansett is doing it for $680!!)
You have received this newsletter because you registered with The Australian Frequent
Flyer.
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.