There was an enormous response to our survey in last month's Gazette. A big "thank you" to all those who responded. We received some interesting insights. For example, the ANZ Qantas Telstra Visa card is by far the most popular credit card used by our subscribers, and 10% of our subscribers are members of the United Airlines Mileage Plus program.�We will continue to tailor our services to suit your needs.

And now the news..

1. GLOBAL REWARDS SPECULATION
 

The frequent flyer war is hotting up - rumour has it that Ansett is finalising its new Global Rewards program and will be making an announcement in the next few weeks. We expect some generous concessions, as Ansett tries to claw back its lost market share.

What does this mean for you? If at all possible, delay making a Global Rewards award booking until after the announcement. We will be very surprised if you don't come off better by waiting a few weeks. Also, if you are not a Global Rewards member, join now while it's still free. The new Global Rewards program may attract a joining fee, like the Qantas program.

Incidentally, don't expect Qantas to sit passively on the sideline. We anticipate Qantas have planned further enhancements to their program and are waiting for the right time to make the announcements.

Be assured that we will alert all subscribers as soon as real information becomes available.

2. THE REWARD PROGRAMS' LOWDOWN
 

A comment from last month's Gazette

Last month we compared the American Airlines and United Airlines reward programs to Qantas Frequent Flyer and Ansett Global Rewards. It is important to note that you can't earn points on one program (say Ansett Global Rewards) and then ring up to transfer them across directly to their alliance partner's program (say United Mileage Plus). The aim of the article was to show that you can earn points on one airline's program and the redeem them on another airline. Thank you to the many subscribers who wrote to us clarifying this point.

Elite Status

Talking about subscriber feedback, we received some excellent tips from our readers on how to take advantage of the elite status benefits provided by non-Australian programs.

In general,�you can achieve elite status far sooner on non-Australian programs than on the Ansett or Qantas programs. Once this status is achieved, considerable benefits become available. For example, an elite member of United Mileage Plus is awarded 125% of the actual miles flown. If you fly more than 50,000 miles a year, you will receive 200% of the miles flown.

Thanks to Peter D and David H for these great tips.

Use Credit Cards, Hotels and Car Rentals to get extra points

40% of points earned actually don't come from flying - they come from services (such as credit cards, hotels, car rentals) provided by companies which have partnered with your frequent flyer program. Remember to check your program's partners and use them as your preferred service to increase your points tally.

Use your Frequent Flyer points for Round The World (RTW) travel

Did you know that you can use your frequent flyer points to purchase Round The World tickets? For example, from 15 September 150,000 points will get you up to 31,000 miles on Qantas and its oneworld partners. As always, conditions do apply. Try our popular Award Booking Service and let us do the leg-work for you.

No Global Reward points for SAS flights in Sweden

Due to a Swedish Competition Authority decision, frequent flyer points can't be awarded on Scandinavian Airlines flights within Sweden from 27 October 2001. The sectors affected by this change are Stockholm-Gothenburg, Stockholm-Malmo, and Stockholm-Angelholm. Global Rewards points may still be redeemed for rewards on these routes.

Qantas Profit

Qantas announced a profit before tax of $597.1 million for the year ended 30 June 2001. Profit after tax was $415.4 million.

New budget international airline

Qantas announced the name and Chief Executive of their budget airline, Australian Airlines. Qantas' current Executive General Manager Marketing, Denis Adams, will be the Chief Executive of Qantas' proposed new international airline.

"We expect Australian Airlines to begin operating in the second half of 2002, initially flying routes into Asia," CEO of Qantas Geoff Dixon said.

"We expect to operate these services out of a number of Australian cities," he added. Australian Airlines will take over some current unprofitable Qantas routes from which Qantas intends to withdraw over the next six months. Initially it is expected to fly to seven airports, with Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Shanghai, Vietnam and Sapporo possible destinations. It's bases will probably be Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin and Perth

Virgin flies Brisbane to Darwin

Virgin has announced it will be flying between Brisbane and Darwin from next March. Plans for the future in Virgin include trebling revenue over the next 12 months and flying from the east coast to Darwin and Perth next year. Currently the airline's planes are flying at a 77% capacity.

Children's Fares Collusion

Both Qantas and Ansett are under investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for after changing their fare structures for children on domestic flights. Under the new fare structure, parents will have to pay for a seat for two-year-olds on domestic flights instead of sharing a seat.

Previously, children under three travelled for free, and children between three and 14 were charged about half a full economy fare. Qantas have reduced the upper age at which child fares apply from 14 to 11. Consumers complained to the ACCC that they were not made aware of the changes until it was too late. Previous bookings (for example, those made for the July school holidays) are not unaffected.

Ansett fares raised

Ansett's domestic full economy fares rose between 5.5 and 6% last Wednesday, in order to gain profitability lost to increased competition and soaring costs.

Ansett's spokesperson said the raise was 'in line with industry-wide increases in discount fares'.

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