Qantas is giving travelers even more ways to explore India by growing their codeshare partnership with IndiGo.

They started this tie-up last August, teaming up with India’s biggest domestic airline to help passengers easily get from Qantas flights from Sydney and Melbourne to cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, and Goa via Bengaluru and Delhi.

Now, they’re taking it to the next level. Qantas customers can now connect to eight more cities in India, making it 21 in total from Delhi and Bengaluru. Plus, there are over 250 new IndiGo flights to choose from.

The new domestic codeshare destinations in India are:

• Guwahati
• Indore
• Chandigarh
• Mangalore
• Jaipur
• Nagpur
• Thiruvananthapuram
• Visakhapatnam

The existing codeshare destinations are:

• Ahmedabad
• Amritsar
• Bengaluru
• Chennai
• Delhi
• Goa
• Mumbai
• Kochi
• Kolkata
• Hyderabad
• Lucknow
• Patna
• Pune

Qantas Frequent Flyers can earn and redeem points on codeshare flights, and IndiGo recognises Qantas elite status with benefits like priority check-in and priority baggage.

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Virgin Australia is ending the year with a bang by announcing a new international route: a daily return Cairns-Tokyo (Haneda) service commencing 28 June 2023.

This is a major milestone for the airline as it continues its post-pandemic recovery.

The Cairns-Tokyo route will be operated by a brand new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, with seating expected to be similar to Virgin’s existing narrowbody fleet (recliner business class seats in a 2-2 layout, and economy seats in a 3-3 layout).

Flight VA77 is scheduled to depart Cairns at 1.15pm and arrive at Haneda 7 hours and 45 minutes later at 8.00pm. The return flight VA78 is scheduled to depart Haneda at 9.45pm and arrive in Cairns at 6.15am.

Economy guests will be able to purchase food onboard as well as pillows, blankets and amenity kits – all of which will be complimentary for business class travellers.

Virgin Australia will also boost its partnership with Japan’s largest airline All Nippon Airways (ANA). The airlines will offer more codeshare flights and give each other’s elite customers reciprocal loyalty benefits.

To celebrate the news, Virgin Australia has fares from as low as $699. Reward seats are available in both economy and business class, so if you’re interested, snap them up!

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Singapore Airlines has announced a “final” six-month extension of KrisFlyer miles that are due to expire between January and June 2023.

The airline has reversed course after informing members a few months ago that “KrisFlyer miles expiring from January 2023 will no longer be eligible for complimentary extension as part of our COVID-19 membership support measures. Please be reminded to redeem your miles before they expire”.

Now, the airline says that if you have KrisFlyer miles in your account expiring between January to June 2023, they are eligible for a final 6-month extension. This extension will be processed automatically, and no action is required on your part.

This means that miles in your account will only begin expiring from July 2023.

Like many airlines around the world, Singapore Airlines has been extending the validity of miles in its KrisFlyer loyalty program ever since the pandemic began.

With border closures and travel restrictions in place, this was the only reasonable option for the airline and its competitors to take.

But now that travel is returning to normal and restrictions appear to be behind us, airlines including SIA are returning to their pre-pandemic policies.

For KrisFlyer members, that means that miles will once again expire 36 months after being accrued, and miles that were extended due to the pandemic will begin expiring from July 2023.

To check when your miles are due to expire, simply log into your KrisFlyer account then select Miles -> Miles Validity.

The best way to use miles is, of course, to book a flight.

You can book any available flight in the future, but be aware that you won’t get miles back if you cancel the booking after the miles were due to expire.

Other options for using your miles include booking hotel stays and buying products from the KrisShop.

You can also extend the miles, for a fee. This costs 1,200 miles or US$12 per 10,000 miles extended, and you’ll get an extra six months to use them (12 months for Silver and Gold frequent flyers).

You can only extend miles like this once.

Finally, you can also transfer miles to Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer program at a ratio of 1.55 KrisFlyer miles = 1 Velocity Point. Velocity Points don’t expire so long as you keep your account active by earning or redeeming at least one point every 24 months.

The bottom line is: don’t let your KrisFlyer miles go to waste. Check when they’re going to expire and make a plan to use them.

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The Philippines’ flag carrier Philippine Airlines will launch direct flights between Perth and Manila next year.

The airline last served Perth (via Darwin) very briefly in 2013. This time, it’s returning with a non-stop service which will launch on 27 March 2023, with tickets on sale from today.

Philippine Airlines will operate three flights a week on a modern Airbus A321 neo, which has 12 business class seats and 156 economy seats.

It will be departing Manila at 12.05am and arriving in Perth at 7.15am. The flight will then leave Perth at 8.30am and land in Manila at 3.50pm.

The A321neo business class cabin has three rows of seats in a 2-2 layout, all of which recline into a fully flat bed.

The economy cabin meanwhile has 156 seats in a 3-3 configuration.

Both cabins offer in-seat power and USB outlets, seat-back screens and wifi.

The service is the result of a partnership between the WA Government, through Tourism Western Australia, Philippine Airlines and Perth Airport.

The new flight had been scheduled to begin operating in March 2020 but was disrupted due to COVID-19.

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Good news, American Express cardholders!

Amex has reopened its Sydney and Melbourne airport lounges, after a brief closure to rebrand the spaces as part of the global expansion of The Centurion Lounge network.

The lounges, located in the Sydney and Melbourne international departure terminals, offer guests a stylish place to relax before their flights, with complimentary food and drinks, wi-fi and other amenities available.

Following the rebrand, Amex promises an ‘enhanced customer experience’, including an improved food and beverage offering.

Amex has partnered with Australian chef Khanh Ong, of Masterchef fame, to design menu items and train onsite operational teams.

Khanh Ong’s new dishes will land in early 2023.

In the meantime, guests can enjoy Khanh’s signature cocktail, the Quandong Gin and Tonic, which celebrates the native red quandong fruit.

With the addition of Sydney and Melbourne, The Centurion Lounge network now encompasses more than 40 locations around the world.

It’s part of the broader American Express Global Lounge Collection, which offers Centurion and Platinum Card Members unlimited access to more than 1,400 airport lounge locations, in 650 plus cities, across 140 countries and counting.

A number of Amex’s Australian cards also offer two entries each calendar year to the Sydney or Melbourne lounges, such as the Qantas Ultimate Card and Velocity Platinum Card.

Card Members can bring in guests, while their children 17 years of age or younger can enter for free.

The Sydney lounge is located at T1 Departures and is open from 6 am to 10 pm every day. The Melbourne space is located at T2 Departures and is open each day from 6 am to 11 pm.

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Qantas has today resumed flying between Brisbane and Tokyo, with the first direct connection between the Queensland capital and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport by any airline.

Aussies travelling to Tokyo can also connect to domestic services operated by Qantas’ partner JAL.

Similarly, travellers from Japan can connect in Brisbane to flights across Australia.

Qantas is flying its Airbus A330 aircraft on the route, with lie-flat Business Suites, three days per week on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, offering more than 1,700 seats on the route each week.

This joins Qantas’ flights from Sydney to Tokyo Haneda, with Melbourne-Haneda flights to resume in March 2023.

Jetstar also flies from Cairns to Tokyo Narita and Osaka, and Gold Coast to Tokyo Narita.

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