Latest news

SWISS A340 Business Class Review

Part of the Lufthansa Group and a Star Alliance member, Zurich-based Swiss International Air Lines (or SWISS, as it brands itself) operates long-haul flights to destinations across Asia, North America, South America, the Middle East and Africa. Although SWISS doesn’t fly to Australia, it does offer some great value round-the-world fares starting and ending in … Continued

8 Mar 2022 Flight Reviews

Airlines Playing a Cruel Cancellation Game

Throughout the pandemic, airlines have had to cancel a lot of flights. This is already inconvenient enough for customers who had booked tickets on flights that are no longer going ahead. But airlines including Qantas have found a way to make the experience even worse for passengers. Over the last couple of years, Qantas has … Continued

7 Mar 2022 Qantas

Emirates Massively Raises Carrier Charges

Emirates has massively increased the carrier charges that Qantas Frequent Flyer members need to pay when redeeming a reward seat, without warning. This is the airline-imposed surcharge that needs to be paid in addition to airport and government-levied fees and taxes when booking a Classic Reward flight. For a round-trip Emirates Business Class reward flight … Continued

5 Mar 2022 Emirates

1,000 Free Etihad Miles + Win a Trip to Abu Dhabi

Etihad Airways is giving away 100 all-expenses-paid trips to Abu Dhabi for Australian members of its Etihad Guest frequent flyer program. A special “members flight” from Sydney to Abu Dhabi will depart on 2 April 2022, taking 100 lucky competition winners and their “plus ones” on a four-night trip to the United Arab Emirates capital. … Continued

5 Mar 2022 Etihad Airways

Podcast #79: Loyalty Learnings from a 25+ Year Career

Phil Hawkins has worked with loyalty programs since 1993, finishing his career recently as the Chief Operating Officer for Flybuys in Australia. With this amount of experience, Phil knows what makes a good (or bad!) loyalty program and what mistakes to avoid when designing loyalty programs and promotional offers. Ever wondered why retail loyalty programs … Continued

5 Mar 2022 AFF on Air Podcast

Loyalty Learnings from a 25+ Year Career – AIR079

  Phil Hawkins has worked in loyalty programs for 25 years, and was most recently the Chief Operating Officer at Flybuys in Australia. In this episode, Matt chats to Phil about some of the things he’s learned during his career in loyalty. Find out what happens behind the scenes, what makes a good (or bad) … Continued

5 Mar 2022 AFF on Air (blubrry)

Virgin Boosts Status Credits Until 30 June 2022

Virgin Australia will now give 45-100% more Velocity status credits on all flights taken from October 2021 until June 2022, following a 3-month extension to this promotion which was previously due to expire at the end of March. This offer is available to all Velocity Frequent Flyer members and will even be applied retrospectively to … Continued

4 Mar 2022 Virgin Australia

Qantas Frequent Flyers Blocked from Redeeming Qatar Qsuites

Update (25 March 2022): There have been some changes to the Qatar Airways award seat access given to Qantas Frequent Flyer members. Qatar Airways Business Class is popular with many Australian frequent flyers, especially as all flights to Australia will soon feature the airline’s award winning Qsuites product at the front of the plane. Qatar … Continued

3 Mar 2022 Qatar Airways

Qantas Forces Customer to Pay for Unnecessary COVID Test

A Qantas passenger is $79 out of pocket after staff refused to let her check-in without a COVID test certificate that she didn’t actually need. The passenger, who is the wife of AFF member gidxg03, was travelling with Qantas from Melbourne to London via Darwin, with an onward connection to Ireland. At the time of … Continued

3 Mar 2022 Qantas

Is a Travel Agent Renaissance Coming?

The coronavirus pandemic has sadly forced many bricks-and-mortar travel agencies to close, putting many skilled travel agents out of jobs. To make matters worse for surviving travel agencies, airlines everywhere are now trying to bolster their own recoveries by slashing commissions paid to travel agents. Yet, as international travel slowly rebounds, experienced travel agents are … Continued

2 Mar 2022 Planning & Booking

Good Qantas Business Reward Availability to Delhi

Classic Flight Reward availability on Qantas long-haul flights in Business Class has been rather limited lately, with seats unavailable on many of Qantas’ popular international routes. But one Qantas route with ample award availability at the moment in Business Class is Melbourne-Delhi, a route that Qantas started flying in December 2021. Qantas currently flies 4x … Continued

28 Feb 2022 Points Inspiration Qantas

Qantas Continues Status Extensions Until December 2022

Qantas Frequent Flyer members with status expiring between July and December 2022 are now being offered an additional 12-month extension. This offer is available to Australian and New Zealand residents, who can activate it by booking at least one new eligible Qantas or international Jetstar flight. The booking must be made by the end of … Continued

28 Feb 2022 Qantas