Overseas the airlines are continuing their cutthroat battle to entice end-of-summer travellers with perks that include free flight offers and bonus points.

We also bring you more snippets � with a comment from Qantas - from our popular Bulletin Board, which has seen some robust debating recently, covering everything from complex reward upgrading to home-brewed beer!

Our Bulletin Board has always been a popular source of information for journalists from the media. Most recently, a reporter from a well-known Sydney newspaper fielded more than 150 responses from our members who responded after she placed a call for contacts on the Bulletin Board!

Cheers,

Adrian
Editor, Frequent Flyer Gazette

1. PROGRAM NEWS
 

2. MEMBERS' TALK
 

Lounge blues

Virgin Blue has come under criticism from some of the Bulletin Board regulars for the shortcomings of its Blue Lounges.

�I think it is a bit rich when they expect you to pay for annual membership of the blue room, then say �O.K., you'll have to pay for food and drinks�.� One member wrote.

�Why on earth would I pay to go into the lounge area, then have to pay for food / drinks?�

Australian Airlines exclusive

The Bulletin Board has seen some debate lately on the Qantas� announcement that Qantas Club members can not use the Qantas lounges while flying with its subsidiary Australian Airlines.

One member dug out the little red flying kangaroo rule book, claiming Rule 10 states: �Qantas Club members and their guests are entitled to access the Qantas Club lounge in the departure port when their next onward flight on that day is with Qantas or a Qantas subsidiary.�

�What is going on?� the member wrote. �Are Qantas actually going to claim that they are so much at arm's length from Australian Airlines that they will happily take our QC fees, book us on a flight they themselves do not service and then refuse us entry?�

Another member wrote: �You can't accept bookings for a third party company, give a client Qantas-branded tickets, tell the client that �it's our company�, then turn around and claim total independence to justify denial of access. That, to me, is opportunistic and petty.�

But other Bulletin Board members could see the logic. One wrote pointed that the rule book never said Qantas Club members were allowed to use the lounges when flying Australian Airlines, or any other carrier.

�Qantas handles bookings for a number of airlines - such as Aeropelican and Brindebella. Qantas Club members flying on these airlines, even though booked at ticketed through QF, are not entitled to Qantas Club access.�

Confusion reigns

Last month we highlighted a posting which implied that 10,000 points can be saved by combining Qantas with BA in certain cases. (See original posting.)

Although this information was (it seems) provided by a Qantas agent, Qantas have indicated that it�s not correct. Quoting from an email we received from David Orszaczky (Manager Loyalty and Airline Alliances, Qantas): �I just wanted to comment on a statement that is carried in your latest newsletter. It refers to a quote of 120,000 points to redeem on QF/BA - it appears at face value that the information provided verbally to the Member was incorrect. The cost of this itinerary is 110,000 points, regardless of whether the journey between Australia and London is undertaken on Qantas or British Airways. A 10,000 point fee applies for stopovers, but this is consistent on QF and BA��

However, there is more to this than meets the eye.  thadocta (a regular contributor to the Bulletin Board) comments �Probably has something to do with stopovers - I am looking at an itinerary next year when I pop across to umpire at Wimbledon. Making it a OneWorld trip I get five free stopovers, if it is a QF, QF/BA or QF/AA the award itself is cheaper but you have to fork out 10,000 points per stopover, costing me 40K points for my five stopovers. A bit much considering that the OW award is only 15K higher, saving me 25K points�

So where does this leave us? Our view is that the Qantas frequent flyer program is complex � especially when dealing with oneworld partner arrangements. Familiarise yourself with the rules of the program, use our Bulletin Board or get professional advice by joining the Frequent Flyer Club.

Euro Virgin craze

Virgin Atlantic has upped the ante on the international airline scene by offering two free economy tickets to London or anywhere in the US and Canada to Upper Class passengers who purchase a flight before December. Premium Economy members of the US flying club will get one free ticket.

Old partners

September 14 is the last day for United Mileage Plus members to accrue miles on Delta flights. Delta�s members will be able to earn miles on United flights until October 14.

New partners

Virgin Atlantic and Continental Airlines now have joint reciprocal frequent flyer arrangements, allowing members to earn and redeem points on both networks.

Cheap runs

An American airline is reportedly cracking down on flyers who use the internet to find cheaper connections along the airline�s routes.

A leaked Northwest Airlines memo is apparently urging staff to report any suspicious routes to the attention of company bosses.

�Northwest is finding that more passengers can discover low fares over non-traditional routings. This is a result of complex search engines that are focused on finding the lowest possible price,� the memo said.

�These complex itineraries have the potential to create customer service issues with missed connections, lost baggage, etc. In addition to the negative customer service issues created, these itineraries circumvent the integrity of Northwest's fare structure and negatively impact company revenue.�

Cancel with care

A word of warning doing the rounds in cyber space is that when you cancel an American Express card, you could lose access to any unclaimed reward points you may have accumulated. We�re not sure what the go is with other programs.

Meanwhile AMEX will has added a new tier to its rewards program, offering an extra 1.5 points per dollar if you pay extra $24 on the fee.

Fancy legwork

Virgin Blue has adopted its extra-room-for-extra-dough offer to a permanent basis. For an introductory price of $30 per ticket, Virgin can put you in a roomier exit or front row seat. The introductory offer ends September 30.

New flights

Virgin Blue has launched a new non-stop route between Canberra and the Gold Coast. Starting September 6, the Saturday service will be around $150 cheaper than the equivalent Qantas service, according to Virgin Blue spin doctors.

The airline will also start daily Melbourne-Gold Coast flights on September 19. And in October it will put on two extra return flights a day between Brisbane and Sydney.

Speechless

Qantas is rolling out its new network of voice recognition systems for telephone bookings. Instead of real people, like in the old days, the airline has set up a computer system that takes bookings over the phone.

Western Australia, Tasmania and South Australia are already hooked up, while the rest of the country will get its chance to talk to a computer in the next few months.

The system can also calculate points required to redeem award flights.