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Qantas & Virgin End Fee-Free Changes, Credits

Qantas and Virgin Australia will both stop offering additional flexibility to customers with domestic flight bookings at the end of this week, winding back the “Fly Flexible” and “Flexible Flying” policies that the respective airlines introduced at the beginning of the pandemic. Currently, both Qantas and Virgin Australia are allowing fee-free flight changes for any … Continued

27 Apr 2022 Coronavirus and Travel

Oneworld Membership of S7 Airlines Suspended

Russia’s S7 Airlines has temporarily left the Oneworld alliance until further notice. S7 Airlines is describing this as a mutual decision, with a notice on its website saying: S7 Airlines and oneworld have agreed to a suspension of S7 Airlines’ membership in the alliance effective 19 April 2022, until further notice. Earning and spending miles is available as usual, with some exceptions described below. Previously … Continued

26 Apr 2022 Oneworld

Airlines Easily Filling Premium Cabins Without Business Travel

Prior to COVID-19, the last major downturn to hit the aviation industry was the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Following this event, fewer people were choosing to spend money on travel. Crucially, for airlines, many business travellers were also no longer buying profitable Business or First Class tickets. There’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has … Continued

25 Apr 2022 Coronavirus and Travel

IHG Relaunches Loyalty Program as IHG One Rewards

For many years, the loyalty program of IHG Hotels & Resorts was relatively uncompetitive when it came to status perks. Its former IHG Rewards program was fine as a program for accumulating points and burning them for free nights – especially back in the days of PointBreaks. But the benefits of IHG elite status were … Continued

25 Apr 2022 IHG One Rewards

SAS ATR-72 Economy Class Review

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is a Star Alliance member operating short-haul and long-haul flights from its hubs in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo. I recently flew with SAS on a short regional flight from Copenhagen to Hamburg in Economy Class, which Scandinavian Airlines markets as “SAS Go” on its European flights. You can read about this flight … Continued

24 Apr 2022 Flight Reviews

The Spirits Are Back on Qantas

Spirits are finally back on the spirit of Australia, with Qantas bringing back spirits in Business Class on domestic flights from today. Australian Frequent Flyer understands that Qantas will also resume hanging passengers’ jackets in domestic Business Class from today. In addition, on longer domestic flights, Business Class passengers will once again be offered a drink … Continued

21 Apr 2022 Qantas

Qantas Oneworld Award Not Just for Round-the-World Trips

The Oneworld Classic Flight Reward is a very popular Qantas Frequent Flyer redemption, and for good reason. For just 132,400 Qantas points in Economy or 318,000 Qantas points in Business Class (plus taxes), you could fly around the world with up to five stopovers! But the Qantas Oneworld Classic Flight Reward (sometimes referred to as … Continued

21 Apr 2022 Points Inspiration Qantas

Virgin Australia Restores Arrivals Lounge Access

Virgin Australia will finally reinstate lounge access on arrival for Velocity Platinum and Gold members from next Monday, 25 April 2022. Before the pandemic, access to Virgin Australia Lounges after arriving at the destination was an advertised benefit for Velocity Platinum members and Business Class passengers. It was also offered, subject to availability, to Velocity … Continued

20 Apr 2022 Virgin Australia

SWISS A220 Business Class Review

Part of the Lufthansa Group, SWISS operates a large network of long-haul routes as well as short-haul flights to destinations across Europe, from its hubs in Zurich and Geneva. While SWISS offers lie-flat beds in Business Class on its wide-body aircraft used for long-haul flights, short-haul Business Class within Europe is quite a different affair. … Continued

19 Apr 2022 Flight Reviews

Nasty TRS Change Reversed

The Australian government has reversed an unfortunate change it made to the Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS) last year that would have made the scheme virtually useless to most Australians. With the TRS, anyone departing Australia on an international flight can claim back the GST or Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) on products with a combined value … Continued

18 Apr 2022 Travel Money

Australia Ends Most Remaining Travel Restrictions

The days of travel bans and restrictions in Australia are largely over, with the government officially ending the Biosecurity Emergency Period yesterday. The Australian government initially invoked this emergency period on 15 March 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic was in its infancy. The federal government then continuously extended this period for a total of 25 … Continued

18 Apr 2022 Coronavirus and Travel

Podcast #82: Berlin’s Surprisingly Functional New Airport

It may have opened almost a decade behind schedule after being plagued by outrageous construction problems that made it the butt of jokes for years. But now that Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) has finally opened, Matt recently discovered that it’s so efficient and functional that it’s almost disappointing. (Except for the contaminated tap water!) Also … Continued

16 Apr 2022 AFF on Air Podcast