Latest news

Bird strikes Virgin Australia plane… luckily

Many of our members who have had the pleasure of flying through Albury in recent months might have noticed the same Virgin ATR72 aircraft parked there since late February. While parked aircraft are not unusual, aircraft that are in airline service don’t stand still for long. It was certainly noticed by the Industry with pilot … Continued

18 Jun 2014 Virgin Australia

Get the Best Seat

One of the more popular topics discussed on our forums relates to getting the best seat on a flight. As seat selection is often an additional cost, some prefer to go without preselecting a seat. While it may be a good saving, running the risk of that dreaded middle seat near a noisy galley may … Continued

17 Jun 2014 Travel Tools & Technology

Planes, trains & signs – another classic real time Trip Report

This week’s trip report features a traveller familiar to many of our members. Famous for their real time trip reports where pictures speak louder than words, Erkpod is sharing their journey overseas as a Virgin’s Velocity Platinum member for the first time. In keeping with the frequent flyer spirit of why fly direct, we are … Continued

16 Jun 2014 Flight Reviews

Welcome aboard.. we know all about you!

Technology has an impact in almost every part of our lives these days. Whether you like it or not, information about you is now easier to find and store than ever before. When you sign up for a frequent flyer program, you often fill in a profile detailing your interests etc. As time goes by … Continued

14 Jun 2014 Qantas

Platinum Privileges on the Decline?

Our Platinum members are in a flurry with rumours that the Qantas dedicated Platinum member’s help desk may be coming to a close in the coming months. However, the crisis may be unfounded as it appears the help desk is merely moving to Hobart. This means some of the customer service representatives will be made … Continued

12 Jun 2014 Qantas

Virgin Australia Status Match for Federal Government Employees

One of the hardest things about being a status holder with one airline is changing to the competition and missing out on your status benefits. Historically, much of government travel would be locked in with one provider. But with recent legislative changes, travel can now be on any airline, with the best fare of the … Continued

11 Jun 2014 Virgin Australia

Qantas leading a race to the bottom?

Over the past few months, Qantas has made a number of well publicised changes to their product and frequent flyer program. To reward customers for actually flying on Qantas, there will be more points and status credits earned as compared to the same trip on partner airlines. In addition, Qantas customers are now encouraged to … Continued

10 Jun 2014 Qantas

To Europe with Dividend Miles

This week one of our members is off to Europe. With many members having recently taken advantage of a generous US Air Dividend Miles promotion and likely to be following in their footsteps soon, it’s a good snapshot of what many can expect when travelling to Europe on Star Alliance members. First leg is with … Continued

9 Jun 2014 Flight Reviews

Virgin and their partners. A work in progress…

Over the past few years, as Virgin Australia underwent their transformation led from the top by John Borghetti, partnerships have been formed with new airlines to grow the network. These partnerships in many instances are meant to replicate the experience of flying with Virgin, when it comes to elite status benefits. Priority check in, lounge … Continued

7 Jun 2014 Virgin Australia

Parents Fly First

A unique way to remove the pitfalls of flying with children is to banish them to the back of the plane. But airlines will not necessary make it easy for families to divide on class-lines. One member this week queries whether it is possible to have two adults flying in First whilst seating the children … Continued

5 Jun 2014 Airlines, Miles and Points

Virgin Australia to install new International Business Cabin?

Chatting with crew is always an interesting and informative way to pass the time on a flight. While often it’s discussing the more mundane things in life like the weather or political affairs, sometimes the odd gem pops up. On some recent Virgin flights, it seems a few of those gems have been along the … Continued

4 Jun 2014 Virgin Australia

Travel Kits – Airline versus BYO

If you’re lucky enough to travel in Business or First, often you can rely on the airline to provide you with a pack of amenities such as toothbrush, moisturiser and toothpaste amongst other things. As each airline varies in what it offers and in some cases offer nothing, asking our frequent flyers what to expect … Continued

3 Jun 2014 In Flight