Author: Matt Graham

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to more than 100 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course! Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine. You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.

Qantas First Lounge, Sydney

Qantas First Lounge Passes for Platinum One Members

Qantas has added a new benefit for its top-tier Platinum One frequent flyers. Platinum One members now receive two annual lounge passes which can be gifted to friends and family or used to bring additional guests into the lounge. These passes can be used in Qantas’ acclaimed international First class lounges, or any other international … Continued

Benefitting from Cancelled Flights

Flight cancellations can cause great inconvenience and wreak havoc to your travel plans. But sometimes there is a silver lining. This week our members share times they have benefitted from flights being overbooked, cancelled or delayed. Numerous passengers have been compensated with free upgrades, free hotels and bonus frequent flyer points, and one member tells … Continued

Virgin Australia Business class bar

Review: Virgin Australia Business Class to Los Angeles

Our member juliusg recently sampled “the business”, Virgin Australia’s premium cabin on flight VA23 from Melbourne to Los Angeles. The verdict? According to our member, Virgin Australia’s trans-Pacific Business class is better than Qantas, Delta, American Airlines and United. Overall this is the best business class between Australia and the USA still. The trip got … Continued

Australia Takes First Step Towards Trans-Tasman Bubble

Save Thousands of Velocity Points to NZ

Flying to New Zealand using Virgin Velocity points? You can save thousands of points by transferring them to the KrisFlyer frequent flyer program and redeeming for flights on Air New Zealand or Singapore Airlines instead. Update: From 7 December 2017, the cost of this award will increase from 17,500 KrisFlyer miles to 28,000 KrisFlyer miles, … Continued

Melbourne Airport international arrivals at T2

New Airport Lounge for Melbourne

A brand new lounge has opened in the international terminal of Melbourne Airport. The “Marhaba Lounge” is a third-party lounge that is not affiliated with any particular airline. Instead, departing international passengers can opt to enter for a $65 fee. Located at the site of the former Emirates lounge, the Marhaba Lounge includes a buffet … Continued

Another Win for Airline Customer Advocate

Two months ago we brought you the story of AFF member kpc‘s downgrade from First class. This member had booked a First class award using Qantas points from Dallas to Sydney. The flight was cancelled at short notice and they were re-booked into a mixture of Economy and Business class via Los Angeles and Auckland. … Continued

Qantas Downgrades Flight… to a Bus

Aircraft downgrades are frustrating for frequent flyers. But Qantas took this a step further recently, cancelling their last flight of the day and rebooking passengers onto a bus! To make matters worse, our member had paid a premium for a “flexible” ticket. Despite this, they ended up paying $127 for the privilege of changing their … Continued

Qantas 787-9 Economy Seats

Would you fly 20 hours non-stop to London?

Qantas recently announced plans to fly non-stop from Sydney to London by 2022. With 17,016km separating Sydney and London, this route would become the world’s longest commercial flight. The flight time would be an ambitious 20 hours and 20 minutes. But would you be prepared to fly for more than 20 hours without a stop, … Continued

Colombo Sri Lanka

Fly Non-Stop to Sri Lanka using Qantas Points

Sri Lankan Airlines will commence daily, direct Melbourne-Colombo flights next month. You can book a seat now using your Qantas points in both Economy and Business class!   The Opportunity Ever wanted to visit Sri Lanka? It’s now closer than ever, thanks to a new non-stop flight from Melbourne to Colombo. Sri Lankan Airlines, a … Continued