Author: Mark

As from today, June 10, 2016, Velocity members will be able to collect Velocity points when travelling on Alitalia. In addtion to the points earnings, Velocity Gold and Platinum members will gain access to elite benefits such as access to selected airport lounges. Earning Points and Status Credits on Alitalia When flying on eligible fares on Alitalia you will stand to earn Points and Status Credits. As is normal, the number of points that you will receive varies depending on fare class. The following table shows the earn rate for various fare classes Fare type Fare Class Points earn rate…

Hyatt has announced the return of the Hyatt Regency brand to Sydney. The hotel at 161 Sussex St is currently trading under Four Points by Sheraton brand, and will rebrand as  Hyatt Regency Sydney at midnight on November 30, 2016 As part of the deal, a $250 million redevelopment project commences while under the Four Points brand will continue. Under the expansion of the property,  a new 24-story tower will be built, adding 222 additional guestrooms. This will make Hyatt Regency Sydney the one of the larger upscale, full service hotels in Australia, with a total room count of 892. The hotel will also add…

Qantas is expecting to begin work on the development of a new International lounge at Brisbane Airport in the coming weeks. The redevelopment will see the existing Business and First lounges merging into a single lounge, which Qantas will call the Qantas International Premium Lounge. The new lounge is expected to open its doors to travellers in October of this year. The redevelopment of the lounge is the first step of a project announced last year to upgrade the lounge experience in both the international and domestic terminals in Brisbane. The combining of the existing First and Business lounge into…

Qantas Hotels has opened up its points earning to all hotels booked through the booking site. This is a change from the previous practice of only providing points when booking so-called partner hotels through the booking engine. While Qantas often touted that you would earn points when booking though Qantas Hotels, this was only true for a minority of the hotels that you could book.  While there were (according to Qantas) over 140,000 hotels available to book, you would only earn points at around 13,000 of the hotels on offer. Under the new change, the remaining 127,000 or so hotels…

In a move that, seemingly, no-one saw coming, Velocity has announced that it will be adding a Carrier Surcharge to redemption bookings on partner airline, Etihad. The new surcharge is steep, to say the least. As per the Velocity announcement: A charge of US$50 in Economy, US$205 in Business and US$300 in First Class will be applicable per flight sector for both adults and children. A reduced charge of US$5 in Economy, US$20.50 in Business and US$30 in First Class will be applicable per flight sector for infants not occupying a seat. The change is set to take place from…

Following on from yesterdays announcement of a strategic alliance with HNA, Virgin Australia has applied to the International Air Service Commission (IASC) to operate daily flights to Hong Kong and Beijing. While calling out the cities of Hong Kong and Beijing, they have declined to state which Australia city they are planning on flying from. The application simply makes reference to in being an Australian gateway city. Under the application, the request for capacity to both cities would be fully utilised by June  1, 2017. According to the application that has been lodged, the daily service to both cities would…

Virgin Australia has announced that China’s largest private airline operator intends to buy a 13 per cent stake in Virgin Australia. The deal worth $159 million, will see China’s HNA eventually grow the stake to 19.99% of Virgin Australia. In addition to the equity stake, Virgin Australia and HNA also announced a strategic alliance, that may see Virgin operate services between Australia and China. To get some idea of the size of the HNA Group, the group controls Hainan – China’s fourth largest airline. It also has investments in other airlines, such as Hong Kong Airlines. The group flies over 77 million passenger a year on 700 routes between 200 destinations…

Last week the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released three new standards that will have impacts across the credit card system. The new standards are outcomes from an investigation into credit card regulations, with a ‘Conclusions Paper’ being released in conjunction with the three new standards. The three new standards are the result of an investigation into how changes to regulation may improve the efficiency of the payment system. The three main changes are: Changes to the standards to reduce the interchange fees Changes to bring the American Express companion cards under the interchange fee standards Restrictions on surcharges that…

Qantas and Canadian airline Westjet have announced a reciprocal frequent flyer agreement, expanding on their existing code share ralationship. Under the new agreement, members of the Qantas frequent flyer program will be able to earn Qantas Points while travelling on Westjet flights. Likewise, member of the Westjet program will be able to earn WestJet dollars when travelling on Qantas flights. In addition to the ability to earn points on each airlines, Qantas has further announced that from May 25, 2016 Qantas Frequent Flyers will be able to redeem Qantas Points on Qantas code-share flights operated by WestJet. At present, Qantas…

The first independent airport lounge in Australia has opened at Brisbane Airport. The Brisbane Plaza Premium lounge offers a pay for use experience, offering travellers the chance to use the lounge’s facilities, such as  meals, drinks and showers, prior to their international flight. Being a pay for use lounge, it offers travellers that may not otherwise have lounge access the ability to access an airline lounge. 15% off Opening Offer As an opening offer, Plaza Premium is offering a 15% discount on the 5 hour lounge use package,   The promotion is valid for bookings through to the end of June,…