Author: Mark

Virgin Australia has kicked off something of a unique promotion – offering the opportunity for guests over the age of 60 free access to their network of lounges across Australia (with the exception of Adelaide). Access to the lounge will be available between June 1 and August 31. As you’d expect, there ara a range of conditions that need to be met in order to gain access to the lounge. So, this is what you will need to do: You will need to make a booking for a Virgin Australia flight by midnight May 16. During the booking process, you…

Hilton HHonors are running a systemwide promotion offering double points when staying at Hilton HHonors properties between May 1 and August 31, 2016. The promotion, entitled ‘Unlimited Bonus’, has no limitations on the number of bonus points that can be earned during the promotion period. In common with most promotions of this type, registration for this promotion is required. To be eligible to gain the bonus points for a stay, registration will be required prior to check out for that stay. In addition to unlimited bonus Hilton HHonors points, members of Hilton HHonors have reported being made additional personalised offers when…

OneWorld partner Malaysia Airlines has unveiled a new design for its Golden Lounge offerings in Kuala Lumpur and London. Malaysia Airlines had previously flagged an update to the lounges as part of a review into its operations. This review previously saw lounges in Perth and Singapore close. Malaysia Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer, Paul Simmons said, “Delivering a holistic experience for our guests which starts from the lounge lies at the heart of the redesign. We want the space to encapsulate the richness of travel with the airline, a luxurious contemporary Malaysian style that our guests will be able to experience when they…

Last year. AccorHotels announced that it was going to allow a number of independent hotels to use its booking system. The ‘marketplace’, as AccorHotels calls it, was setup to allow independent hotels to leverage the AccorHotels distribution network. The rollout has now extended to over 500 hotels, including hotels in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. While the partner hotels do not participate in the Le Club Accorhotels program, you may be able to earn points while staying at a partner hotel booked through AccorHotels channels. However, while there are 500 hotels in the AccorHotels distribution network there are far fewer that…

Marriott Rewards has announced the addition of three new features to its program. The features being added are late checkout for Gold and Platinum members, an experiences marketplace, and a concierge service. On the surface, the new features seem to be a result of their recently announced takeover of Starwood Across social media, there was a bit of a backlash from Starwood enthusiasts that are concerned about what the takeover means for the Starwood program. While Marriott and Starwood have confirmed that the programs will be merged in some form, that is down the track, and there are very few…

Velocity has announced some forthcoming updates to its Family Pooling feature within the Frequent Flyer program. The changes, which are slated to take affect from April 27, 2016 are described by Velocity as follows: ‘Pilot Gold’ members will be permitted to participate in a Family Pool as either a contributor or a beneficiary Limitations to the number of contributor and beneficiary changes within a Family Pool will apply as follows: a.) A beneficiary will be permitted to have a maximum of 5 Contributing Accounts in any calendar year b.) A contributor may contribute to a maximum of two Beneficiary Accounts…

IHG Rewards has launched a new promotion offering double points on incidentals charged to your room bill while staying in-house at a particpating hotel.  Participating hotels include InterContinental®, Crowne Plaza®, Hotel Indigo®, Holiday Inn® hotels and resorts across Asia Pacific (excluding China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan), Middle East and Africa. Note that Holiday Inn Express is not listed in the particpating brand list. This is normally considered a separate brand by IHG Rewards, so looks to be excluded from this promotion. In order to earn bonus points under this promotion, any eligible incidental spend will need to be charged to…

Qantas today announced two changes to the Qantas Frequent Flyer scheme, to make the program more family friendly. The changes are the introduction of a Status Hold for those on parental leave, and the introduction of more generous limits of Family Transfers. Status Hold Introduced Effective immediately, Qantas is introducing a new Status Hold feature to the program. Under the Status Hold, Silver, Gold and Platinum members will be able to put their status on hold for up to 18 months while on parental leave. Note that the Status Hold feature does not extend to the Platinum One level –…

Several months ago, Marriott launched a takeover bid for Starwood. The intervening months have seen a bit of a corporate saga, with alternate bids from Chinese insurer Anbang being received. This has now all been resolved with the merger of the two companies now having received stockholder support. As a result, the first details of the Starwood Integration into Marriott have been advised. So it is now official – Starwood and Marriott will merge to form a single company. From a timeline point of view, the deal is expected to close mid-year. From the customer point of view, there is…

Velocity has added a new redemption option – the ability to use point to purchase flights with Tigerair Australia. In addition, it is possible to use Velocity Points to pay for other items in the booking process, such as Baggage, Seat Selection, and Food. Note that insurance looks to be an exception, and points cannot be used ofr this. Unlike Virgin Australia flights, there are no specific Award seats put aside for redemption. Basically, if there is a seat avaliable on a flight, then you can use points to purchase the flights. In this respect, it is most similar to…