Latest news

Air China Boeing 777 Business Class Review (Sydney-Beijing)

With Qantas withdrawing from Sydney-Beijing flights in March 2020, Air China will soon be the only airline flying directly between the two cities. The Star Alliance member often has good Business class specials, and award availability is typically good, but what is their service like in Business class? I recently flew with Air China from Sydney … Continued

19 Jan 2020 Flight Reviews

QantasLink Launches Sydney-Ballina Flights

Qantas is returning to Ballina Byron Gateway Airport, which also serves nearby Byron Bay, with daily QantasLink flights from Sydney. It’s one of several new QantasLink domestic routes that will launch on 29 March, 2020. The QantasLink Sydney-Ballina flights are timed with business travellers in mind. The Dash 8 Q300 services will depart Sydney for … Continued

18 Jan 2020 Qantas

Qatar Airways Price Discrimination by Device

When booking flights on the Qatar Airways website, did you know that you could be paying more if you’re using a computer? That’s because Qatar Airways may offer significantly lower fares to customers that book flights on a mobile device. We compared Qatar Airways airfares on a computer, versus booking on the airline’s mobile website or … Continued

17 Jan 2020 Qatar Airways

All Nippon Airways’ New Sydney-Tokyo Schedules Revealed

Two months after Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced it will launch a second daily service to Sydney, we now know the schedule for the new flights. All Nippon Airways already flies daily between Sydney and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. The second daily flights, which will also use Boeing 787-9 aircraft, … Continued

17 Jan 2020 Other Airlines

Royal Air Maroc Joining Oneworld on 1 April 2020

In some good news for Qantas Frequent Flyer members, Oneworld has officially announced that Royal Air Maroc will join the alliance on Wednesday 1 April, 2020. The airline’s regional subsidiary, Royal Air Maroc Express, will also join Oneworld on this date as an affiliate member. The Moroccan airline, based in Casablanca (airport code: CMN), announced … Continued

17 Jan 2020 Oneworld

Easily Top Up Your Points with (Almost) Any Frequent Flyer Program

In Australia, there are many ways to earn points with Qantas Frequent Flyer and Virgin Australia Velocity. But if you need to top up your frequent flyer points with an overseas frequent flyer program, there may be fewer possibilities. Perhaps you’re just a few points away from that redemption you’ve been saving for. Maybe you … Continued

15 Jan 2020 Airlines, Miles and Points

Emirates Makes 56% of European Profit in the UK

It may be hard to believe, but Emirates operates 20 return flights every single day between Dubai and the UK alone – most of these on Airbus A380s. And many of these flights are full. Of Emirates’ entire European operation, 26% of capacity serves airports in the United Kingdom, and the UK alone accounts for … Continued

14 Jan 2020 Emirates

Citilink to Fly from Melbourne’s Avalon Airport to Bali

Indonesian airline Citilink will launch flights from Melbourne’s Avalon Airport to Denpasar from 24 January 2020. The flights will operate daily using Airbus A320neo aircraft. Citilink is a low-cost carrier owned by Garuda Indonesia. It began operating in 2001 as a regional carrier within Indonesia, and today operates a fleet of around 60 aircraft. The … Continued

12 Jan 2020 Other Airlines

Podcast #27: Indian Pacific & Other Epic Train Journeys

In Episode 27 of the AFF on AIR podcast, we take a brief detour from the aviation discussion to talk about train travel! There’s something nice – perhaps even romantic – about long-distance train travel. Around the world there are lots of famous train journeys such as the Orient Express and Trans-Siberian Railway, but there … Continued

11 Jan 2020 AFF on Air Podcast

Qantas A330 Economy Class Review (Auckland-Brisbane)

Qantas is one of the key players in the competitive trans-Tasman market, with multiple daily flights from Brisbane, Melbourne & Sydney to Auckland using a mix of Boeing 737s and Airbus A330s. In this review, we test the Economy class service on an Airbus A330 flight from Auckland to Brisbane. Flight Details Flight number QF126 … Continued

11 Jan 2020 Flight Reviews

Indian Pacific & Other Epic Train Journeys – AIR027

  In this episode, we take a brief detour from the aviation discussion to talk about train travel! There’s something nice – perhaps even romantic – about long-distance train travel. Around the world there are lots of famous train journeys such as the Orient Express and Trans-Siberian Railway, but there are also a couple of … Continued

11 Jan 2020 AFF on Air (blubrry)

Virgin Business Class Catering Cutbacks

Virgin Australia has replaced its hot lunch service in Business class with smaller cold snacks such as salads and sandwiches. The change would appear to be a cost-cutting measure. The airline says that it’s simply responding to customer feedback. But frequent flyers that have experienced Virgin’s new “lighter” Business class lunch service say they were left … Continued

10 Jan 2020 Virgin Australia