Earning Points, Flights, Reviews / 03.03.2020

Absolute luxury on a 4 hour domestic trip. On a flight from Atlanta to LAX for a trip back to Sydney. I didn't expect to be seated on Delta's new flagship business class. Cabin and Seat This aircraft had the new Delta One suites, which are really, really flash. Storage Entertainment The screens in the Delta One suites are an 18 inch high definition touch screen. And there was a huge range of movies and TV shows to watch. Food and Drink Service I was offered a drink before take off, and happily asked for a...

2 Likes
Earning Points, Flights, Points, Reviews / 26.01.2020

Not the most efficient use of points. My partner and I travelled to Melbourne recently. And just like we try to do with long haul flights, we booked my flights using points and we split the cost of his flights that we paid with cash. Booking My flight for this trip was booked entirely with velocity points. Costing me 15,500 points plus $34.49 in taxes. It's far from the most valuable use of points, but it was a special weekend and our points balance was healthy.  Checkin was easy online, 3 quick...

2 Likes
About Points, Earning Points, Flights, Points, Reviews / 12.01.2020

We decided in late September to head to the US for New Years, to catch up with some friends in Los Angeles. And then head up to Portland in Oregon to see their home. We normally book long haul flights closer to 10-11 months out, so booking so close meant fares were high. And there were certainly no reward seats available. So we paid about $4,500 each for Virgin Australia premium economy. Luckily there were still 2 seats by a window that we could choose. Being Platinum Velocity members...

1 Like
Earning Points, Flights, Points, Reviews / 06.10.2019

Very comfortable way to get across the ditch. Qantas operates both it's standard B737 between Sydney and Auckland, as well as its more premium A330-300. On a recent long weekend getaway to New Zealand, I decided to try the Qantas A333 product on the way there, and Virgin B737 on the way back. I also thought it was a good chance to see if there's any real difference between Qantas' A332 and their A333. And I found this A333 to be much better. Check-in When I'm flying out of Sydney International Airport...

0 Likes
Earning Points, Flights, Points, Reviews / 18.08.2019

A bit of a treat to have a mini business suite on a 90 minute flight. Qantas operates both it's standard B737 between Sydney and Melbourne, as well as its more premium A330-200. On a recent trip to Boston, I booked a 7:35am Cathay flight using Asia Miles from Melbourne - so needed to get myself to Melbourne the evening before. Table cloths and a plated meal were served with delicious wines, on this short 90 minute flight to Melbourne. Sounds impressive - but the meal was a let down. Booking It...

0 Likes
Earning Points, Flights, Points, Reviews / 16.06.2019

Virgin Australia business class on their B737 is a great way to get to New Zealand. Check-in was expectedly uneventful, with the Virgin Australia business class counters checking in guests for this flight to Auckland only. No other Virgin Australia flights were departing anywhere near he 3:40pm departure. Booking This particular trip was a work trip to Auckland, so was booked through our corporate travel supplier. What I didn't realise, when I sent my dates and times to them, was that the business saver fare would have only been $10 more...

2 Likes
Earning Points, Flights, Points, Reviews / 22.04.2019

Great to have an overnight option to Singapore - even with the stop in Canberra. Getting award flights over Easter means you need to be super organised. I started looking in July at where we could go using Velocity points for the following April easter, and found return flights to Koh Samui on Singapore Airlines business class. Booking When my partner and I are travelling together, we use points for one and pay for one. Which effectively means we get half price business class flights. In July last year we started...

1 Like
Earning Points, Flights, Points, Reviews / 21.04.2019

SilkAir business class is just Singapore Airlines domestic business (if they did it). This flight from Singapore to Koh Samui was technically the 3rd leg of our journey from Sydney. We had taken the overnight flight from Sydney which has a brief stop in Canberra and a 3 hour layover at Changi. So I was definitely ready to just get to the island. I have read reviews saying that SilkAir was fine, just not as polished as Singapore Airlines. The reality is, of course that's correct. They're smaller planes, shorter...

1 Like
Earning Points / 31.03.2019

When my partner and I are looking at booking business class flights, we look at a few options. Booking 2 x business tickets with points. Paying cash for 2 x economy tickets, then upgrading with points. Paying cash for 1 x business ticket, and booking the other with points. Then it's just some maths sums to see which is better for us, based on: If we need status credits. If we're trying to save money, or save points. Upgrading with points on domestic flights, like Sydney to Melbourne, certainly isn't...

7 Likes
Earning Points, Points / 27.03.2019

Savvy online shoppers would have heard of CashRewards by now. It's a shopping portal website, where you earn cash back on your purchases from brands like David Jones, Appliances Online, Priceline, and even Woolworths. Each store has a different cashback percentage, ranging from 1% to 7% and more. CashRewards is a similar concept to the Qantas Online Mall and the Velocity eStore - except you're earning actual cash back, as opposed to frequent flyer points. So if you're interested in both, which is better for you? I've done the sums, comparing...

5 Likes