Latest news

Can You Fly to Australia on Points During COVID-19? – AIR060

  Over the past year, flying back to Australia has been very difficult for tens of thousands of Australians – some who are still stuck overseas. Many have been bumped off their flights due to the Australian government’s restrictive arrival caps. Even some passengers on expensive paid airfares have been kicked off their flights. So, clearly … Continued

15 May 2021 AFF on Air (blubrry)

Qantas Continues Aggressive Regional Expansion

QantasLink will launch new flights from Melbourne to Burnie in north-west Tasmania from next month, as it also adds more frequencies on other regional routes. The Melbourne-Burnie route will be served daily by 50-seat QantasLink Q300s, commencing 21 June 2021. The schedule is as follows: QF2087 Melbourne (MEL) 08:05 – Burnie (BWT) 09:20 QF2088 Burnie … Continued

14 May 2021 Qantas

Why Do Some Airlines Make it So Hard to Redeem Miles?

Many Australian frequent flyers would know the struggle that can be redeeming Qantas or Velocity points. But, as difficult as this can seem at times, it’s nothing compared to the challenge of redeeming points or miles in many overseas frequent flyer programs. At least with Qantas, most partner airline awards are available online and if … Continued

13 May 2021 Airlines, Miles and Points

International Border to Remain Closed Until Mid-2022?

Australia’s international borders will not reopen to most countries until at least mid-2022, the federal government has predicted in this week’s budget. “Inbound and outbound international travel is expected to remain low through to mid 2022, after which a gradual recovery in international tourism is assumed to occur,” according to budget documents. The truth is … Continued

12 May 2021 Coronavirus and Travel

Double Qantas Status Credits to New Zealand (May 2021)

Qantas is giving double status credits, plus 5,000 bonus Qantas points, when booking a flight between Australia and New Zealand by 15 May 2021! This promotion is valid for travel between 17 May 2021 and 28 February 2022. It’s open to Australian and New Zealand residents who register for the offer on the Qantas website. … Continued

10 May 2021 Qantas

Qantas Expands Embraer E190 Fleet, Destinations

Qantas will add new direct flights from Adelaide to Gold Coast, and Darwin to Canberra, as it adds an extra five Embraer E190 jets to its fleet. This brings the total number of E190s leased by Qantas to eight. Qantas announced earlier this year it would wet lease Embraer E190 regional aircraft from Alliance Airlines … Continued

9 May 2021 Qantas

Flybuys Promo Yields Embarrassingly Small Returns

In the past, there used to be regular offers of 15% bonus points when transferring Flybuys points to Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer program. But since Flybuys introduced Velocity Auto Transfer in December 2020, and the regular Flybuys-Velocity conversion rate was increased by 15% earlier this year, these limited-time offers simply haven’t been as good. … Continued

6 May 2021 Flybuys

Domestic Price War Heats Up with $39 Full-Service Fares

Rex has dropped thousands of $39 one-way fares on the Sydney-Melbourne route, for travel until 28 August 2021. Virgin Australia has followed with its own $39 Sydney-Melbourne fares, meaning you can now travel between Australia’s two largest cities for under $40 – with checked baggage included – on your choice of two different airlines. The … Continued

5 May 2021 Rex & Regional Airlines

15-30% Bonus on Credit Card Points Transfers to Velocity (May 2021)

Velocity Frequent Flyer’s six-monthly transfer bonus offer is back for May 2021, with 15-30% bonus points on offer when transferring points to Velocity from a participating Australian credit card rewards program. You’ll earn 15% bonus points when transferring points to Virgin Australia’s frequent flyer program from most Australian bank-operated loyalty programs. There is an additional … Continued

5 May 2021 Virgin Australia

Photos: Virgin Australia’s New Melbourne Pop-Up Lounge

Virgin Australia has opened a second temporary pop-up lounge at Melbourne Airport to ease overcrowding at the airline’s existing temporary lounge, housed in the space of Virgin’s “The Club”. Until renovations of the main lounge are completed in mid-2021, the temporary “The Club” lounge will remain available to Velocity Platinum and Virgin Australia Business Class … Continued

4 May 2021 Virgin Australia

Join Cashrewards for Free and Get a $20 Bonus

Please note that this offer has now expired. Cashrewards is currently giving 10% cash back on hotel bookings made with Booking.com. Plus, for a limited time and as an exclusive offer for Australian Frequent Flyer members, new Cashrewards members can now earn $20 cash back when joining for free! How to get a $20 bonus … Continued

3 May 2021 Travel Lifestyle

Podcast #59: Flying to New Zealand in 2021

The trans-Tasman travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand is now well and truly open. In fact, thousands of Aussies have already flocked to the land of the long white cloud to take advantage of it! In this episode, your podcast host Matt Graham chats to Alan Lam from Netwave Travel (a.k.a. madrooster on the … Continued

1 May 2021 AFF on Air Podcast