It’s not often that I get to stay at a new hotel, but the opportunity arose late last year. I had the chance to stay at the newly opened Holiday Inn & Suites Vientiane. So new, in fact, that there was still construction work going on. Even better, the stay was paid for with points. And let’s face it, using points to help pay for a holiday is always a good thing. Location The Holiday Inn is located in the city centre, next to the Crown Plaza, its IHG stable mate. This makes it about a 15-20 minutes’ walk to…
Author: Mark
Mark
Mark is the founder of FlyStayPoints, and caught the travel bug early in life. He discovered the benefits of travel loyalty programs in 2001, and is always learning how they can make travel better. While work takes him between Perth and Melbourne, he is always plotting his next adventure.
The current partnership between Virgin Australia and Hawaiian Airlines will be coming to an end on 30 June 2025. This means that from 1 July 2025, Velocity members will no longer earn Points or Status Credits when flying Hawaiian Airlines. The move comes as Hawaiian Airlines prepares to enter the OneWorld alliance. All the signs are pointing toward that happening in 2026. What is means The effect this will have on your travels depends on whether you are travelling on or before 30 June, or after. Travel on or before 30 June 2025 If you are set to travel prior…
In January Qantas announced a series of changes to the Qantas Frequent Flyer program. One of the changes announced at the time was to increase points earn on domestic flights. Qantas have now published the points earning table that will take effect from 22 July 2025. The Changes The following screenshot show the points earning on domestic flights from 22 July 2025, In comparison, the following screenshot shows the earn up until 21 July 2025. Analysis Shuffling the tables around, we can get a better picture of how it will affect the various combinations of flight lengths and booking classes…
Velocity Frequent Flyer has launched a new promotion offering Velocity members the chance of up to an extra 30,000 bonus points for taking out a new Velocity Points credit card. The 30,000 points is on top of the bonus points the card currently offers. The offer is available to anyone applying for and being approved for an eligible Velocity card. On top of that, you should check your eligibility for the current sign-up bonus. In particular, you will also need to be able to meet the spend requirements of the sign-up bonus, Offer Details The number of bonus points ranges…
Qatar Airways has launched its ‘Level Up’ promotion which can put you onto the fast track to Qatar Privilege Platinum or Gold status. Under the offer you could ‘level up’ your status by taking just one return Business Class flight. Offer details: Offer: Enjoy a tier upgrade on us! Receive a tier upgrade when booking a return First or Business flight Privilege Club Silver will have an upgrade to Privilege Club Gold Privilege Club Gold will have an upgrade to Privilege Club Platinum If you are already a Platinum member, Qatar will extend your status by a further year Offer…
Qantas is again offering 20,000 bonus Qantas Points for new Qantas credit cardholders. By now, Qantas means anyone who has not earned Qantas Points from a card in the last 12 months. Better still, the 20,000 Qantas Points are on top of any signup bonus offered for a card you sign up for. As an example, say you signed up for a card offering 100,000 Qantas Points. With this bonus, you could be in line for 120,000 Qantas Points all up. But remember, you need to be new to holding a Qantas Points earning card. Qantas has set the requirement…
The popular bonus for transferring Flybuys points to Velocity has returned. While the offers vary a bit, this time around you stand to earn a percentage bonus of the number of points transferred. Between now and 31 March 2025 you could get a bonus of either 5% or 15% bonus Velocity points when transferring Flybuys points to Velocity. As is often the case, the lower bonus is for those making a manual transfer. The higher bonus is available for those performing an auto-transfer for the first time. Flybuy Transfer Bonus Details You can view the offer here There are a…
Qantas has announced that it will be undertaking a major cabin overhaul for its Boeing 737 aircraft. The Boeing 737 is the workhorse of the current fleet, and through the upgrade Qantas are aiming to provide an improved inflight experience for passengers. The upgrade program will see 42 of the airline’s 737 aircraft receive a full cabin overhaul, including: Timeline According to Qantas, the first of the refitted 737s will take to the skies in 2027. That is two years from now, so I guess we are going to have to be patient waiting for the upgrade to come. Interestingly,…
One year has passed since Langham launched its Brilliant by Langham loyalty program. Many members of the program will have come across from the ‘1865’ program when that was shuttered in February last year, Under the program, your Membership Tier is valid fro 12 months from when you became eligible for the tier. This means that members that came across from the ‘1865’ program are now approaching the end of their membership period. Normally, members that do not achieve the requirements for their tier in a 12-month period will move down a tier. For example, if you were a Diamond,…
World of Hyatt has released their annual hotel category adjustments for 2025. The changes are coming into effect from 25 March 2025. The importance of the hotel categories is that they are used in determining the number of points required for a redemption. Basically, the higher the category, the more points you need to redeem a free night. Overall, there are over 150 hotels around the world changing categories. While Australia and New Zealand remain unchanged this time, properties in Southeast Asia have undergone several changes. Indonesia (especially Bali) and Japan are the most affected by hotels moving up a…