In-Flight Entertainment is a popular topic at the Australian Frequent Flyer. Your travel experience can be greatly enhanced by an enjoyable flight and good inflight entertainment can certainly help!
New Zealand is one of the most important international destinations for Qantas. Competing with Air New Zealand on many routes, Qantas currently offers 182 trans-Tasman flights per week using a mix of Boeing 737 and Airbus A330 aircraft. While Air New Zealand is effectively a low-cost carrier across the ditch, charging extra for things like … Continued
The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has proposed updated legislation that would require airlines to offer refunds for “significant changes” including aircraft type changes that result in a downgrade in the available amenities and onboard experience. The US government already requires airlines to offer customers a refund if there is a significant change and … Continued
Virgin Australia will restore in-flight wifi from the end of this year, with high-speed internet to be rolled out across most of the airline’s fleet over the next 18 months. Virgin Australia previously offered wi-fi on board most of its planes before the pandemic. This service was free on domestic flights and for the first … Continued
Air Canada uses Boeing 787 Dreamliners on many long-haul international routes, including from Sydney and Brisbane to Vancouver. These aircraft are also frequently used on busy domestic routes such as Toronto-Vancouver. For this review, I tested out Air Canada’s Boeing 787-9 Economy Class on a relatively short Canadian domestic flight from Vancouver to Calgary. Flight … Continued
When I needed to fly from Melbourne to Sydney with a checked bag this week, I’ll be honest – Qantas was not my first choice. Given all the delays, cancellations and lost bags of late – combined with Qantas’ woeful customer service on the ground when things go wrong – I would have preferred to … Continued
Regional Express, or Rex, began operating Boeing 737s between Australian capital cities in March 2021. Beginning with the lucrative Melbourne-Sydney route, it has since expanded its Boeing 737 network to Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Canberra. By many accounts, Rex initially struggled to fill its planes with paying customers. This is despite a relatively good … Continued
Singapore Airlines flies from seven Australian cities to Singapore, including 3-4 times per day from Sydney. In fact, as of this week, Singapore Airlines has more daily international departures from Australia than Qantas! One of the daily Sydney-Singapore flights, SQ222, is even operated by the Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 which was brought back into service … Continued
Part of the Lufthansa Group and a Star Alliance member, Zurich-based Swiss International Air Lines (or SWISS, as it brands itself) operates long-haul flights to destinations across Asia, North America, South America, the Middle East and Africa. Although SWISS doesn’t fly to Australia, it does offer some great value round-the-world fares starting and ending in … Continued
Qantas has brought its double-decker Airbus A380 back into service earlier than anticipated, with the first Qantas A380 passenger flight in almost two years jetting off from Sydney to Los Angeles on Tuesday night. But there have been some teething issues, with the in-flight entertainment not working on the very first flight. The first aircraft … Continued
Virgin Australia has improved the range of food and drinks available for sale in its onboard retail menu, with new options including hot food for passengers in Economy Class on domestic and international flights. Virgin has added nine new menu items to its buy on-board retail menu including muffins, Violet Crumble chocolate bars and Cheezels. … Continued
A few weeks ago, I reviewed Jetstar’s domestic service within New Zealand. The other main option for domestic travel in New Zealand is the national carrier and Star Alliance member Air New Zealand, which operates an extensive domestic network using Airbus A320 jets, as well as ATR72s and Dash 8 Q300s on regional routes. I recently … Continued