Latest news

Customs & Immigration Delays at Avalon Airport

In December last year, Air Asia X began flying twice daily from Melbourne’s Avalon Airport (AVV) to Kuala Lumpur. It became the first regularly-scheduled international route for Melbourne’s second airport, which is used mainly by low-cost carriers. Air Asia’s move to Avalon Airport has been largely successful. On average, the flights have been relatively full … Continued

14 Apr 2019 Airports & Lounges

Swapping Seats Across Cabin Classes

It’s not uncommon for people in a group travelling together to swap seats on the plane. But is it allowed to swap seats with somebody you know that is travelling in a different cabin class? AFF member maidmarion will soon be flying with Air New Zealand to the Cook Islands. There are three family members booked … Continued

13 Apr 2019 In Flight

New Istanbul Airport is Fully Operational

If you have a flight booked to or through Istanbul, you might want to double-check the airport you’ll be flying into. Istanbul’s brand new international airport, known simply as Istanbul Airport, became fully operational last weekend. It replaces Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, which was previously the main airport in the city. The new Istanbul Airport has … Continued

12 Apr 2019 Airports & Lounges

Why Airlines Removing Award Charts Should Concern You

United Mileage Plus has removed its award charts and will shift to “dynamic” award pricing for travel from 15 November 2019. United gave no warning about the changes and they have attracted universal criticism, with many frequent flyers seeing this as a major devaluation of the United Mileage Plus loyalty program. United Airlines sold these … Continued

11 Apr 2019 United Airlines

Next Weekend’s Devaluations: Are You Ready?

  Several loyalty program devaluations affecting Australians will take place after next weekend. Over the coming days, Amex Membership Rewards, Westpac Altitude Rewards and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer are all changing their programs for the worse. It’s now your last chance to prepare for the upcoming changes! So we thought we’d give a quick recap of … Continued

11 Apr 2019 American Express

Double Alaska Airlines Miles on Qantas Flights

Alaska Airlines is currently running a promotion which could be of interest to savvy Australian flyers. You can currently earn double Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles on Qantas trans-Pacific flights between the United States and Australia. With this promotion, even an Economy class ticket to the United States could earn you enough Mileage Plan miles … Continued

9 Apr 2019 Other Airlines

How to Earn SkyTeam Status in Australia

Many Australians have status with Qantas or Virgin Australia. But very few Australians are even members of a SkyTeam frequent flyer program – let alone have SkyTeam status. The good news is that earning SkyTeam status is not that difficult. And holding SkyTeam Elite Plus status can be very handy if you ever fly with … Continued

8 Apr 2019 SkyTeam

Bankwest Devalues Qantas MasterCards

Bankwest will next month reduce the overall amount of Qantas points that can be earned on its Bankwest Qantas MasterCard credit cards. The devaluation will take effect from 22 May 2019 and impacts the Bankwest Qantas Classic MasterCard, Bankwest Qantas Platinum MasterCard and Bankwest Qantas World MasterCard. Bankwest is making changes to the number of … Continued

7 Apr 2019 Credit Cards

Podcast #8: The Forgotten Alliance

In Episode 8 of the AFF on AIR podcast, Matt discusses SkyTeam – the alliance that Australians seem to forget exists – and how you can gain elite status with SkyTeam airlines for free. This episode also includes an interview with Australian Frequent Flyer moderator Lindsay – a.k.a. “QF WP” on the forum – about … Continued

6 Apr 2019 AFF on Air Podcast

Westpac Discontinues Velocity Auto-Redemption

Westpac’s Altitude Rewards program will no longer offer Velocity auto-redemption from 15 April 2019. This is bad news for Altitude Rewards members, as Velocity auto-redemption is currently the only way to transfer Altitude points to Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer program at a 2:1 rate. With auto-redemptions being discontinued, transfers from Altitude to Velocity will … Continued

6 Apr 2019 Westpac

The Forgotten Alliance – AIR008

  Matt discusses SkyTeam (the forgotten alliance) and how you can gain elite status with SkyTeam for free. This episode also includes an interview with AFF moderator Lindsay, a.k.a. “QF WP” about travel, the Concorde, AFF acronyms and more.   Episode contents: 0:50 – Fortnightly news round-up 4:41 – Delta’s SkyTeam status match challenge 11:32 … Continued

6 Apr 2019 AFF on Air (blubrry)

Double Qantas Points on Qantas & Emirates Flights

You can now earn double Qantas Frequent Flyer points on all new Qantas and Emirates codeshare flight bookings made by midnight on Monday, 8 April 2019. The promotion covers flights taken between 11 April 2019 and 29 February 2020. To participate in this offer, you’ll need to first register on the Qantas website. Qantas marketed … Continued

5 Apr 2019 Qantas