Latest news

Call and Surf Overseas without Roaming Fees

Using your mobile phone overseas can be an expensive exercise. But it doesn’t have to be. Many telcos now offer special deals on global roaming. You can save even more money by purchasing a local SIM card at your destination. If you want to keep your Australian phone number when travelling overseas, you’ll need to … Continued

19 Jul 2017 Travel Tools & Technology

New Business Seats for Virgin’s 737s

As Virgin Australia expands its presence in Hong Kong and China (starting with the launch of Melbourne-Hong Kong flights this month), the airline is left with a small problem. Virgin will soon be using its small fleet of six wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft to fly to Asia. This means these aircraft will no longer be … Continued

17 Jul 2017 Virgin Australia

Virgin Rescinds Points on Air New Zealand

Virgin Australia frequent flyers will no longer earn Velocity points or status credits when flying Air New Zealand across the Pacific from 1 November, 2017. From this date, points will only be earned when flying Air New Zealand across the Tasman or within New Zealand. Velocity Silver, Gold and Platinum members will also lose access … Continued

15 Jul 2017 Air New Zealand Virgin Australia

Faking Platinum One Status

It takes a lot of flying to achieve Qantas Platinum One status. But as one member recently discovered, there is another way. Well, kind of… This member recently noticed that a colleague with Gold status was proudly displaying Platinum One bag tags on their luggage. When questioned, this colleague admitted to buying the Q bag … Continued

13 Jul 2017 Qantas

Driving Ireland (Plus Some Detours)

Our member OZDUCK recently returned from a month-long trip around Ireland. The trip also included a range of detours to places like Singapore, Helsinki and Tallinn. To get to Dublin, our member took advantage of a great Finnair Business Class sale to Europe, departing from Singapore. Singapore Airlines then filled the gap between Perth and … Continued

12 Jul 2017 Destinations

Loss of Exit Row Seats

Gold and Platinum frequent flyers will no longer be able to enjoy the extra legroom of exit row seats free of charge. Qantas has begun charging for these prized seats on all flights. This includes short domestic flights. All flyers will now need to pay the fee, which ranges from $20 to $180 per flight, … Continued

10 Jul 2017 Qantas

How to Stop Qantas Points Expiring

Frequent flyer points do not have an unlimited life. Your Qantas points will expire if your account is inactive for more than 18 months. If your points are due to expire soon, you can prevent this by earning or redeeming at least one Qantas point before this happens. Otherwise, you stand to lose your entire … Continued

8 Jul 2017 Qantas

Virgin vs Qantas: Apples and Oranges?

Virgin Australia has gone to great lengths to compete with Qantas since it was rebranded from Virgin Blue. But according to one member, there are two reasons that Virgin and its Velocity Frequent Flyer program cannot be compared to Qantas and its frequent flyer program. The first reason is Virgin’s underwhelming on-board catering. Virgin creates … Continued

6 Jul 2017 Airlines, Miles and Points

Culture, Cuisine, Wildlife and More in Brazil

Brazil is the home to samba, beautiful beaches, Carnival, amazing cuisine and some of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet. For two weeks, it was also recently “home” for our member bigpetebrown as they visited some of the less-travelled parts of this beautiful country. São Paulo, Cuiaba, São Luis and the capital of Brasilia were … Continued

5 Jul 2017 Destinations

United Hikes Award Flight Prices

United is the latest airline to announce a devaluation to its frequent flyer program. From 1 November 2017, United will be making a host of unwelcome changes to its popular Mileage Plus program. Award prices on many routes will be increasing, including on flights to and from Australia. United will also replace its “Standard Awards” … Continued

3 Jul 2017 United Airlines

20,000 Amex Points for $35!

Our members have discovered an ingenious way to earn 20,000 Amex Membership Rewards points for as little as $35! These points can be transferred at a 1:1 rate to numerous frequent flyer programs, including Virgin Australia, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Emirates. American Express is currently offering 20,000 bonus points when taking out an Amex … Continued

1 Jul 2017 American Express

Business Class to NZ: Qantas vs Emirates

There are more than half a dozen airlines flying between Australia and New Zealand. Except for Jetstar, these airlines all offer Business class. But the product in the pointy-end can vary enormously. Our member v1nce007 recently flew from Melbourne to Auckland and back in Business. They flew with Qantas to Auckland, returning on Emirates. The … Continued

28 Jun 2017 Flight Reviews