Latest news

Showing the latest news.

Australia’s worst airline?

Many of our members have a preferred airline when it comes to domestic travel. Depending on where your travels may take you, a wide variety of airlines may be on offer. If you are a fly-in fly-out worker, that airline journey may not even be on an airline you can buy tickets on. With airline … Continued

27 Sep 2014 Airlines, Miles and Points

License to travel (not)

This week Jetstar’s ”unaccompanied minor policy” has come under fire by our members. Jetstar has a policy that children who are not yet attending secondary school are regarded as unable to travel independently. Two 14 year old girls were denied boarding as they did not have adequate proof that they were in attendance at secondary … Continued

25 Sep 2014 Jetstar

Spending 1.3 Million points on a toaster (and the odd flight)

It’s well known amongst our members that toasters are not exactly the best value when it comes to using points. With concern over the financial future of Qantas, many are looking at using their points while they still have some value. If you have only got 7,500 points, a toaster may not be bad value! … Continued

24 Sep 2014 Flight Reviews

Transcontinental Seat Wars

With the demise of the 767 as the Qantas mainstay for Transcontinental flights, much focus has been on its replacement, the Airbus A330. With Qantas operating aircraft that feature a 10 year old cabin, they were always going to struggle. After all, Virgin’s new deliveries featured a seat in Business Class that converted to a … Continued

23 Sep 2014 Virgin Australia

Cancel or Credit – Travel Insurance Woes

Stuff happens! Especially when it comes to expensive overseas travel arrangements. Some call it Murphy’s Law, the principle that if something can go wrong it will. On that basis, most people will purchase travel insurance to make sure they are covered. As our government says on its smart traveller website, if you cannot afford Travel … Continued

22 Sep 2014 Planning & Booking

The loving and loathing of passport stamps

For some time now, Australia and New Zealand authorities have not stamped the passports of residents when they travel overseas. If you are a frequent traveller, a passport can soon start to fill with all those stamps. Often that means an expensive replacement well before the expiry of the original passport. While the move does … Continued

20 Sep 2014 Travel Lifestyle

Woolies on the Way out?

One member has experienced some intense surveying from Woolworths about the utility of earning frequent flyer points via their Everyday Rewards program. This has led to speculation that Woolies may be looking for a more attractive incentive for shoppers than Qantas points. This speculation has caused quite a stir for our members who enjoy the … Continued

18 Sep 2014 Woolworths Everyday Rewards

From Singapore to Hel(l) with the Finns

For quite a few years, the Finnish airline Finnair has been offering very competitive fares to Europe through their Asian services. Six or seven years ago those services often made great status runs, with cheap Business class flights between Bangkok and either Singapore or Hong Kong. These days they have just the point to point … Continued

17 Sep 2014 Flight Reviews

When Duty Free is Gold

Airports are mistakenly thought by many to be there to service the airlines and its travellers. While that may have been the case up until late last century, the privatisation of the major airports has seen a quantum change in the focus of many airports. Thanks to their slightly different planning laws that generally are … Continued

16 Sep 2014 Airports & Lounges

Vietnam visa changes

Most of our members hold Australian passports, one of the more widely accepted visa free passports in the world. But not all countries are happy to grant an instant visa on arrival. Some prefer you to give advance notice, or apply for one outside the country. Vietnam, like many of its neighbours, is one such … Continued

15 Sep 2014 The Journey

Goodbye to the Status Fairy?

When Qantas made changes to its frequent flyer program recently, it was obvious for many that status could be harder to achieve in the future. First the “marginal” Any Seat awards were disposed of, a source of cheap status credits to many members and the topic of much discussion on the forum. Then the reduction … Continued

13 Sep 2014 Qantas

Work in Iraq: Invaluable opportunity or lunacy?

Faced with the prospect of being relocated to Iraq for work, one member seeks advice as to whether this is a wise idea. Our member “Yo Yo Ma” seeks our other member’s views, ideas, and opinions. A resounding “No” can be heard throughout the forum when answering the query about relocation. Most members feel that … Continued

11 Sep 2014 Travel Lifestyle