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Virgin Australia Reopens Canberra Airport Lounge

Virgin Australia has finally reopened its lounge at Canberra Airport, the last of seven remaining lounges in Virgin’s network to return to service. The Canberra lounge, located above gate 7 near the international departures area, opened back up on 16 March 2021 – almost a year since it closed due to COVID-19. While there haven’t … Continued

16 Mar 2021 Virgin Australia

Top 10 Australian Domestic Reward Flight Sweet Spots

The final internal state border within Australia was removed today as Western Australia resumed allowing quarantine-free travel from Victoria. It’s the first time there have been no interstate border closures within Australia for almost a year! With domestic travel opening back up, but international borders still closed for the foreseeable future, now is a great time … Continued

15 Mar 2021 Airlines, Miles and Points Points Inspiration

All Australian State Borders Have Reopened

For the first time in almost one year, there are no longer restrictions on interstate travel between any Australian states & territories as of this morning. This has not happened since Tasmania became the first state to close to all non-essential interstate travellers on 20 March 2020 – almost exactly a year ago. On that … Continued

15 Mar 2021 Coronavirus and Travel

ANZ Rewards Hopes to Reinstate Velocity Points Transfers Soon

ANZ Rewards members should be able to transfer their points to Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer program again “in the not-too-distant future”. But ANZ hasn’t yet committed to an exact date for Velocity point redemptions to resume. ANZ, alongside all other Australian banks, suspended point transfers from its credit card loyalty program to Velocity Frequent Flyer … Continued

14 Mar 2021 ANZ

Sensational Qantas South Australia Sale

Qantas has launched an excellent sale on flights to South Australia, with $198 return flights to Adelaide available from Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. Full-service flights from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to regional destinations in South Australia (via Adelaide), including Kangaroo Island, Port Lincoln, Whyalla and Mt Gambier are also on sale for $338 … Continued

11 Mar 2021 Qantas

Half-Price Flights in New Tourism Support Package

The Australian government will subsidise half-price flights to 13 holiday destinations across Australia including Gold Coast, Cairns, Alice Springs and Launceston from April until July 2021. It’s part of a $1.2 billion Tourism and Aviation Recovery Package announced today. The 50% discount on domestic flights will be available on up to 800,000 tickets to and … Continued

11 Mar 2021 Coronavirus and Travel

The Problem with Australia’s Pre-Flight COVID-19 Test Requirement

Since 22 January 2021, anyone flying to Australia from overseas is required to get a COVID-19 PCR test no more than 72 hours before their first flight’s departure (and produce a certificate showing a negative result). This is in addition to the 14 days of hotel quarantine on arrival in Australia. “These [new measures] will … Continued

10 Mar 2021 Coronavirus and Travel

QantasLink Adds Seasonal Cooma, Albury Flights

QantasLink will add three new seasonal routes to Cooma and Albury in NSW for this year’s winter ski season. The Qantas subsidiary will fly from Sydney and Brisbane to Cooma from 1 July until 26 September 2021. During the same period, QantasLink will also add flights from Brisbane to Albury, supplementing existing flights from Sydney … Continued

9 Mar 2021 Qantas

Velocity Extends Discover Gold & Status Rewards

Virgin Australia has given an extra two months of Gold status to Velocity Frequent Flyer members who registered for the “Discover Gold” status match in December 2020, extending the total trial period from three to five months. Velocity members participating in this offer will now receive Velocity Gold benefits until May 2021. Members will also … Continued

8 Mar 2021 Virgin Australia

Rex Boeing 737 Business Class Review

When Rex launched Boeing 737 jet services last week in direct competition with Qantas & Virgin, it also introduced Business Class for the first time. Rex’s Business Class fares are priced sharply, but what’s the new Rex Business Class experience like? I found out on a flight from Melbourne to Sydney… Flight Details Flight number ZL102 … Continued

7 Mar 2021 Flight Reviews

Podcast #55: The Alice Springs “Plane Graveyard”

Visitors to Alice Springs, a town in Australia’s red centre, have been greeted by an unusual sight since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The town is also now the temporary home of Singapore Airlines A380s, Cathay Pacific 777s, and many other airliners grounded by the pandemic. In total, there are now around 150 planes … Continued

6 Mar 2021 AFF on Air Podcast

The Alice Springs “Plane Graveyard” – AIR055

  Visitors to Alice Springs, a town in Australia’s red centre, have been greeted by an unusual sight since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The town is also now the temporary home of Singapore Airlines A380s, Cathay Pacific 777s, and many other airliners grounded by the pandemic. In total, there are now around 150 … Continued

6 Mar 2021 AFF on Air (blubrry)