Latest news

Priority Privilege: lies, lies, and damned lies

For a number of years now, members have been discussing IHG’s Priority Privilege program. Originally the Pacific Privilege program, when the local hotels were owned by South Pacific Hotel Corporation, it offers dining and accommodation discounts at IHG’s properties around Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and in some parts of Asia. Some customers, like … Continued

25 Jun 2014 IHG One Rewards

Minimum connection time and the risk of separate bookings

From time to time the need to have two separate bookings for flights on the same day will arise. It may be a case that the two airfares cannot be booked on the one booking, or it’s cheaper to purchase separate flights from different airlines. If two flights are on the one booking, often they … Continued

24 Jun 2014 Planning & Booking

Economy Class, Qantas A380 Upper Deck – not always a good idea

Ever since Qantas decided to reconfigure their A380s, our members have been interested in what upstairs economy would be like. It’s not the first time a Qantas aircraft has featured economy upstairs, the 747s have had it in the past. But this time, your sharing it with two other classes, Business and First. What’s the … Continued

23 Jun 2014 Flight Reviews

Qantas cuts flights across the ditch

When the Qantas and Emirates partnership first came to light, many of our members pondered on the impact it might have on services to New Zealand. While Qantas has been steadily reducing widebody capacity, in favour of more frequent 737 operations, Emirates have been putting their biggest aircraft on the route. Each day, an Emirates … Continued

21 Jun 2014 Qantas

The Death of Customer Service in Australia

This week one member feels that a recent problem with an ATM signals the death knell of customer service in Australia. This week our member had a particularly bad run with customer service. Our member had to drive twenty minutes to withdraw cash after coming across a non-functioning ATM and the bank did not assist. … Continued

19 Jun 2014 Travel Lifestyle

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