Late last year, Virgin Australia announced that it would introduce a new business class product on its widebody fleet. This widebody fleet currently consists of Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 aircraft. The 777 fleet is used to operate long haul international services, while the Airbus A330 mostly and Airbus A330 aircraft mainly on transcontinental services. Originally Virgin were doing a round of refurbishments on the 777 aircraft this year (between 27 October and 16 December), however, due to apparent delays with the certification of the new seats, this was delayed, and the jets are now slated to be removed from…
Author: Mark B
Qantas has announced that it will be increasing the services it operates between Melbourne and Singapore from 7 to 10 flights per week. The additional 3 flights per week will be operated by the A330 aircraft each Friday, Saturday and Sunday from April 29. The services will utilise the aircraft that became free following the upgauge of three services a week between Melbourne and Hong Kong from an A330 to a 747 aircraft, The three flights will operate afternoon departures from Melbourne, with QF37 depating Melbourne at 4:05 pm, arriving into Singapore 10:15pm. The return QF38 departs Singapore at 11:35…
American Airlines has announced that it will launch a Premium Economy product on selected international routes, from the end of 2016. The new cabin will first feature in 787-9 aircraft being delivered at that time, and then will be gradually rolled out to its 777, 787, A330 and A350 fleets. Premium Economy is a new cabin many airlines have been introducing to fit between the Economy and Business class cabins. As Business has gained extra features, such as lie flat beds, there has been an increasing gap between Economy and Business, and generally Premium Economy is intended to fill this gap.…
The Qantas Aquire program has a free join promotion underway that may be of interest to businesses eligible to enrol in the Aquire Program Free Join Offer If you have an ABN and aren’t already a member of the Qantas Aquire program, now could be the time, with Qantas Aquire offering the chance to join for free.This is a saving of $89.50 on the normal Membership Fee. To take advantage of this offer, you will need to be a Qantas Frequent Flyer, have an ABN, and register for Aquire by December 24, 2015 You can join Aquire for free,…
Qantas Loyalty and nib have announced a new partnership that will offer Qantas Frequent Flyers health insuramce under the Qantas Assure banner. As part of the deal, in addition to earning points on health insurance premiums, members will also be eligible to earn Qantas Points for achieving activity goals. Under the program, Qantas Assure policy-holders will be able to download a ‘wellness app’ to their smartphone, which will be able to sync with popular firness trackers, such as a fitbit. Through the App, you will be able to set activity goals, and if the app sees that the target has…
American Airlines has announced a raft of changes coming to the AAdvantage program in 2016. The changes, which take effect at various times through the your, cut across most aspects of the program. The changes being made affect elite status qualification, mileage earning and the redemption rates on their award charts. Booking Award Flights The Award bookings tables have had some significant changes to them, and come March 22, 2016, when the new tables become effective, most Award flights are going to need more points. These changes are particularly noticeable on long haul flights as you move up to the…
Qantas has announced an increase in capacity on its Melbourne – Hong Kong route, which will see a reconfigured Boeing 747 operating the route 3 times per week from April 2016. The reconfigured 747 features the same basic product that is found in the Qantas A380 aircraft. The reconfigured 747 aircraft have a three class layout, consisting of 364 seats: 58 Business, 36 Premium Economy and 270 Economy. This compares to the existing A333 aircraft which only have a business and economy cabin. The result of this is somehat increased business seat availabilty, as well as the introduction of Premium…
The big news overnight was the annuncement that Marriott has agreed to buy Starwood, in a deal worth over $17 billion dollars (AUD). The deal will result in the largets hotel company in the world, and will be managing over 5,500 hotels across 100 countries. The deal is currenty expected to close in mid-2016, and will see a company that has 30 different hotel brands created. From the Starwood side, there is an extensive family of brands including Sheraton, Westin, W, St Regis and Le Méridien. At present, there has been no announcement on whether the new Marriott will keep…
The American Express Essential card is an entry level credit card. Boasting a $0 annual fee, the card comes with a variety of benefits, in addition to participating in the Membership Rewards ‘Gateway’ program. It is probably worth noting that the card appears to be designed for the mainstream consumer. While the card is a useful free card for point collectors, other American Express cards may be better for the hard core collector. Membership Rewards Gateway This is, after all, a blog about collecting points for travel, so this is the angle I will first look at with this new…
Qantas has announced that it will be shutting down its Bangkok international business lounge in Bangkok this weekend. The change to take effect from Sunday, will see passengers directed to the CIP lounge. In an email send to affected passengers, Qantas wrote: An update on lounge access in Bangkok From this Sunday 15 November you can enjoy access to the CIP Lounge, in place of the Qantas Lounge, when you next travel from Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on Qantas. This new access will take effect from Sunday when the Qantas Bangkok Lounge will cease operations. The main flight affected by…