Redeem Points
Redeem Points is a popular topic at the Australian Frequent Flyer, as much of our focus is about getting the best value when redeeming your frequent flyer points.
Many of our members are bracing themselves for the day the US Airways Dividend Miles and American Airlines AAdvantage programs merge next month. Dividend Miles has been a very popular program amongst our members, largely due to the ability to buy cheap miles to use in premium cabins on oneworld airlines. Next month, however, the … Continued
This week we follow our member Danger UXB’s journey to Switzerland for a skiing holiday. In this trip report, the journey counts as much as the holiday as, thanks to a bit of advice from AFF, our member is flying in Singapore Airlines first class. For our member, the trip to Geneva has become something … Continued
Qantas announced recently that they are introducing a new way to upgrade called “Bid Now”. Under the new system, which will function alongside the traditional “classic” points upgrades, selected flyers will be offered the opportunity to bid for an upgrade using a combination of points and cash. It will operate like an auction, with bidders … Continued
This week our member RooFlyer is escaping a freezing winter in North America to visit the former Mayan civilisation in Belize and Guatemala. The trip was booked at the last minute using American Airlines AAdvantage miles. As our member discovered, American charge a USD$75 fee for award bookings made less than 21 days out. But … Continued
Malaysia Airlines has become the latest airline to devalue its frequent flyer program. As well as making changes to the way miles are earned, the airline has significantly increased the number of Enrich miles required for reward flights. As well the increase to redemption costs, Malaysia Airlines is making changes to zones that leave most … Continued
Finding Velocity Frequent Flyer reward seats on partner airlines, such as Etihad, Delta, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin America, has proven a struggle for one of our members. The member wants to use their Virgin points to fly to the USA and Europe. However, they have been finding that award availability on some partner airlines has … Continued
Qantas has announced that fuel-related surcharges will now gradually be absorbed into base fares for Frequent Flyer redemption tickets. This announcement has been trumpeted as Qantas delivering a real and tangible benefit to loyal frequent flyers. However, many of our members remain sceptical about this announcement. One member has opined that until Qantas are in … Continued
One of our members is planning a move to the UK and has a dilemma: pack the Qantas Frequent Flyer card or leave it behind and look at new options in the UK? I’m an Australian moving to the UK, and a member of the Qantas FF scheme for a while now, although I do … Continued
In a move that is likely to put further pressure on rival Qantas, Virgin Australia has completely removed fuel surcharges from all of its flights. The fuel surcharge component will now be included in the base fare. The move is largely symbolic as Virgin previously only charged a surcharge on two of its routes; Sydney … Continued
It has been reported that Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific is set to announce sweeping changes to its frequent flyer offering. Unfortunately, it’s mostly bad news for customers as the changes are likely to devalue the program significantly. In future it may be much harder or even impossible to gain elite status, especially flying on … Continued
The issue of expiring Qantas points is not one anyone with an active Qantas Frequent Flyer account should need to worry about. Qantas has a clear policy that points will not expire as long as the account has been active in some way in the past 18 months. But for less frequent travellers, this is … Continued
Many people dream of one day flying to Europe in Business class, but think it is impossible to afford unless they win the lotto. However with some frequent flyer points, and a bit of sage advice, the dream doesn’t have to remain forever as just a dream! One member this week wants to use points … Continued