Author: Mark

From September 1, 2016, Qantas will be removing the Minimum Points Guarantee that it offers for flights on American Airlines. The change to remove the Minimum Points Guarantee matches the equivalent removal of the guarantee American Airlines is making for Qantas flights. The announcement can be found on various pages around the Qantas website. For example, on the American Airlines partner page, the following note has been added: Minimum Points Guarantee For travel on and from 1 September 2016 Qantas Frequent Flyer members will no longer earn a Minimum Points Guarantee† on American Airlines flights booked with an AA flight number.…

In an email sent to members, Qantas has advised that it will be removing the current Qantas Frequent Flyer toolbar functionality. The toolbar was an add on to your browser (such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox) that allowed you to earn Qantas Points when performing searches. The dates for the removal of support are: 29 July 2016: New Users will no longer be able to download an install the toolbar 31 August 2016: Existing functionality (such as earning points) will no longer operate. Users of the toolbar were able to earn 1 point for each valid search conducted using…

Malaysia Airlines is removing the offer of a 15% discount on point requirements when redeeming for a flight booking online. The discount, which has been in place since 2009, is set to be removed as from August 1, 2016. From that date, online bookings will require the redemption of the same number of points as other channels. The change follows a significant devaluation of the program in February last year. At that time, there were some redemptions that had points requirements almost double. For example, a return Business redemption between Australia and Europe increases from 120,000 Enrich Points to 230,000 Enrich Points.…

Overnight, AccorHotels completed the last step of its aquisition of the Raffles, Swissotel and Fairmont hotel group. While this only adds one hotel to the AccorHotels portfolio in Australia, it adds some iconic properties in various cities around the world. Notable properties joining the AccorHotels’  network include hotels such as: The Savoy in London, Raffles Singapore, Fairmont San Francisco, New York’s The Plaza, Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in Quebec City, and Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris. At this point, AccorHotels will begin integrating the new hotels into the AccorHotels network. While AccorHotels is planning to bring the new hotels into…

Velocity has introduced a new way of redeeming Velocity Points. Over the weekend, the ability to use Velocity Points instore at BP, to pay for fuel or other items, was introduced. Velocity Points can be used to pay for between $10 and $60 off your bill at BP. Using an in-store BP redemption, a value of 0.6c per points is used. As such, 1,667 points is required if you wish to use points to pay $10 off your bill. Setting up your account There are two seperately managed parts to setting up your account. The first is a PIN, which…

Qantas has announced the it will be changing the way it calculates its Credit Card Surcharge. From September 1, 2016 the fees will be calculated as a percentage of the ticket price. This is the day that new regulations come into play regarding around the maximum surcharges that can be levied when making Credit Card payments. What are the new charges? Under the new system, Qantas will calculate surcharges based on the following chart: Booking made in Australia Debit/prepaid cards Credit/charge cards Fee cap (per ticket per card in AUD) Australian Domestic 0.6% 1.3% AUD$11.00 Australian Trans-Tasman 0.6% 1.3% AUD$11.00 Australian…

Singapore Airlines has followed the lead of other airlines, and is now offering the opportunity to bid to upgrade your class of travel. It is baby steps, however, with the introduction of mySQupgrade restricted to bids for an upgrade from Economy to the new Premium Economy cabin. The new offering was announced in an email to Krisflyer members. In the email, Singapore Airlines did note that Krisflyer redemptions would receive priority over bids made through the new bidding system. How mySQUpgrade works The program looks to  work much like the equivalent program at other airlines. The process that Singapore Airlines will follow is:…

If you are travelling in Qantas International Business in the lead up to the Olympic Games, you may find yourself the owner of a pair of Green and Gold Qantas pyjamas. Normally, Business passengers are offered a set of black and grey pyjamas However, as part of its support of the Olympic Games team,  Qantas will be offering the special edition customers. Availability The pyjamas will be avalable for flights operating between 22 July until 18 September 2016. The green and gold pyjamas will be available to Business passengers travelling on services to: Santiago, Dubai, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu,…

Qantas has kicked off a new promotion, offering triple points on flights to Dubai and London that are booked by July 4, 2016.  The promotion is available on selected dates and flights, but only in the Economy cabin. Registration Registration is required for the promotion. If you are on a booking with multiple people in the booking, then each person will need to register separately for the promotion in order to take advantage of the triple points offer. Eligibliity The promotion is applicable on flights QF1/2 between Sydney and Dubai or London, and flights QF9/10 between Melbourne and Dubai or…

ANZ Bank has launched a new credit card aimed squarely at travellers. The ANZ Rewards Travel Adventures card comes with a number of benefits such as the ability to earn uncapped ANZ Rewards points. an annual return domestic flight on Virgin Australia, two Virgin Australia lounge passes, no International Fees when spending overseas, The annual fee applicable to the card is $225, which is comprised of a $170 Annual Account Fee, and a $55 Rewards Program Services Fee. Additional cardholders are $10 for the card and an additional $55 for the Rewards Program – making an additional card a total of…