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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Qantas has just announced the launch of its biggest ever release of Points Plane flights, with more than 225,000 reward seats available to coastal destinations.
The release covers a six-week period and 21 routes, providing ample opportunities for frequent flyers to book their next summer holiday.
For 72 hours from 11am today, frequent flyers will have the chance to book reward seats on all flights between 9-22 January and all of February 2023. Every seat, including business class, will be available for booking.
The following routes are included:
Melbourne to Hamilton Island, Merimbula, Townsville, Devonport, Burnie and the Gold Coast
Sydney to Byron Bay, Hamilton Island, Merimbula, Townsville and the Gold Coast
Brisbane to the Whitsunday Coast, Hamilton Island and Townsville
Adelaide to Townsville, Kangaroo Island, Mount Gambier, Whyalla, Port Lincoln and the Gold Coast
Perth to Broome
Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth said the airline was focused on giving frequent flyers more opportunities to use their points towards their next getaway.
“This is a record release of Points Planes that will help thousands of our frequent flyers use their points to book a coastal holiday this summer,” Ms Wirth said.
Snap them up before they’re gone!
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Travellers taking off with Qantas from Rockhampton can look forward to a more comfortable and stylish pre-flight experience with the opening of a brand-new Qantas Club tomorrow.
With seating for up to 65 guests, it boasts double the capacity of the previous lounge, and will be well-utilised by both business and leisure travellers.
For those looking to catch up on work or emails, the lounge features dedicated work areas with high tables and high-speed Wi-Fi, ensuring a productive environment. And if you’re looking to unwind, you can indulge in Australian beer and wines, as well as a selection of sweet and savoury snacks.
The Rockhampton Qantas Club will open one hour before each Qantas operated service and will remain open until the last Qantas departure. Qantas Club members, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One members, and eligible oneworld frequent flyers can access the new lounge.
Currently, Qantas operates 48 weekly services to Rockhampton from Brisbane and Mackay, using their fleet of Q400 and Boeing 717 aircraft. So next time you’re travelling through Rockhampton Airport, make sure to check out the new Qantas Club.
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This article was produced in partnership with pay.com.au
As both a business owner and a keen collector of reward points, I love paying business expenses with a credit card to earn those valuable points.
This is one of the quickest and easiest ways to stockpile points that I can later redeem for rewards like business class flights.
The problem is, many suppliers and billers don’t accept card payments, and many card issuers don’t award full points on certain transactions, like payments to the ATO. In addition, some large expenses, like payroll, typically require sending funds by bank transfer.
That’s where the payment platform pay.com.au comes in. With pay.com.au, you can pay almost all expenses with a credit card and earn full reward points, including rent, tax, payroll, superannuation, supplier invoices and other bills. You can also earn points on bank transfer payments. For many businesses, that adds up to a lot of points.
In this article I’ll describe how the platform works, including all the costs and benefits, so you can decide if it’s right for your business.
Right now, there’s also an exciting opportunity to earn 10,000 bonus points when you sign up to pay.com.au via our partner link and transact $10,000 in the first month (more on that later).
What is pay.com.au?
Pay.com.au is an Australian-based payment platform that helps businesses turn bills into rewards.
It’s very secure and easy to use.
Any business with an ABN can sign up and pay all their expenses via the platform. If you choose to pay by card, pay.com.au simply charges your card and then sends money to your payee by BPay or funds transfer, which they typically receive within two business days.
Since your card issuer treats the transaction as a purchase (not a cash advance), it earns full points, like other regular card purchases.
Pay.com.au accepts Mastercard, Visa and American Express cards and its transaction fees are the cheapest in the market. You can also link your bank account for fee-free payments if there are certain expenses you don’t want to pay by card.
Pay.com.au also offers additional services to help your business maximise points earning and redemptions.
Earn more card reward points
Pay lets you earn those sought-after card reward points faster so you can use them for high-value redemptions like flights.
Consider how many expenses you currently have that aren’t earning points and where you could travel with that extra boost to your points balance.
For example, did you know that you can fly from Australia’s east coast to London return with Qantas in business class for 289,200 Qantas Points plus taxes and fees? Or that you can upgrade from premium economy to business class on this route for just 130,800 points return? Earning those points is easy with pay.com.au.
Use your points to travel in Qantas business class
In terms of the cost, pay.com.au charges a flat fee for card transactions, which varies depending on your plan and type of card.
There are three plans to choose from:*
Free
$0 / Month
Basic plan with no monthly subscription fee.
Regular
$85 / Month
Lower rates and baseline access to additional services.
Premium
$165 / Month
The best rates and additional services. Free 30-day trial.
✔ Mastercard fee of 1%
✔ Visa fee of 1.20%
✔ AMEX fee of 2.10%
✔ Bank Account transfer fee of 0%
✔ Access to PayRewards
✔ Mastercard fee of 0.90%
✔ Visa fee of 1.10%
✔ AMEX fee of 2.05%
✔ Bank Account transfer fee of 0%
✔ PayTravel points bookings (1x domestic, 1x international per year)
✔ Points advice
✔ Access to PayRewards
✔ Mastercard fee of 0.80%
✔ Visa fee of 1%
✔ AMEX fee of 1.9%
✔ Bank Account transfer fee of 0%
✔ PayTravel points bookings (2 x domestic, 2x international per year)
✔ Points advice
✔ Access to PayRewards
* All fees specified exclude GST
The extent to which this is a good deal for you depends on how many points you earn on your card and what you do with those points.
Points are generally worth the most when you redeem them for travel in business or first class, whether that’s a reward seat or an upgrade.
For example, my American Express business card earns 1.25 Qantas Points per $1 spent. To earn 100,000 Qantas Points on it, I need to put through $80,000 of transactions via pay.com.au. On the Regular plan, this would cost 2.05%, totalling $1640. But since I would claim this on tax, the effective cost of the 100,000 Qantas Points is really $1230.
What can I do with 100,000 Qantas Points? I can upgrade from premium economy to business class on my next trip from Melbourne to Los Angeles, at a cost of 49,100 points each way. That’s worth a lot more than $1230 to me.
Earn points on card transactions and bank transfers via PayRewards
As well as earning points on your card, you can also earn points in pay.com.au’s own loyalty program, PayRewards.
Each time you make a card transaction, you can choose to earn PayRewards points on it, for an additional fee (double dipping on points, essentially!).
The option to earn PayRewards Points is also available when you pay someone via your business bank account linked to the platform, since there may be times when you prefer this payment method over a credit card. In fact, you can use this to earn PayRewards points when you pay off your credit card bill each month, giving you another opportunity to double dip on points.
Earning PayRewards Points is an optional extra that you can decide to take up during each transaction. The cost is 1.0% to earn 1 point per $1 spent, or 1.8% to earn 2 points per $1 spent. This is on top of pay.com.au’s regular transaction fee which applies to card transactions (but not bank transfers).
PayRewards Points can be redeemed for anything you want via pay.com.au’s personal shopper service or transferred to the Qantas Business Rewards or Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer loyalty programs, where 2.5 PayRewards Points = 1 Qantas Point or 1 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer mile.
Use your points to experience Singapore Airlines business class
To get 100,000 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles or Qantas Points this way, you need to transfer 250,000 PayRewards points, which can be earned by opting to get 2 PayRewards Points per $1 on $125,000 of transactions, at a cost of $2250 (or $1688 if you take into account a 25% tax deduction).
Again, whether this is a good deal for you depends on how you will use those points.
Other benefits and services
In addition to earning points, there are several other benefits to consider, including:
improved cash-flow when you pay by card, since you have up to 55 days to pay it off without incurring interest
simpler payments, since you can save multiple cards and bank accounts and pay all business expenses via the platform
seamless integration with Xero to make bookkeeping more efficient
points advice: get expert help on setting your business up with credit cards to maximise points
PayTravel: customers on a monthly plan can get help from a dedicated team to book paid and points flights and other travel experiences. The Regular plan comes with one domestic and one international complimentary booking per year, while the Premium plan comes with two domestic and two international bookings. Fees apply for additional services
PayConcierge: pay.com.au’s luxury concierge service helps you access experiences such as reservations at top restaurants, VIP concert tickets and premier cultural events. The service is free for active customers.
Plus earn 10,000 bonus PayRewards Points
As a special incentive for our readers, pay.com.au is offering 10,000 bonus PayRewards Points to new customers who sign up via our partner link and process $10,000 or more in the first month by either (i) a credit card or (ii) a bank transfer where PayRewards Points are earned (T&Cs apply).
This is a great opportunity to try out the service while boosting your points balance.
To find out more and sign up, visit pay.com.au here.
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Virgin Australia and Singapore Airlines are once again selling Virgin Australia codeshare across Singapore Airlines’ network.
Starting today, you can head over to virginaustralia.com and book your flights for seamless travel from Australia to Asia, Africa, Europe, and beyond. This covers 42 destinations across 23 countries.
Singapore Airlines continues to offer codeshare flights on Virgin Australia’s network.
Both airlines say they intend to expand the arrangement to cover even more destinations.
Virgin Australia Group Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, Mr Alistair Hartley, said he was thrilled to see the partnership return to pre-pandemic operations. “Singapore Airlines has been a valued partner of Virgin Australia for well over a decade and we are excited to resume the sale of codeshare flights, creating a more seamless booking experience for our customers.
“Expanding our partnership with Singapore Airlines means we are able to offer our loyal customers more choice and value when travelling internationally, creating more ways to see the world, through wonderful travel experiences on Singapore Airlines,” he said.
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American Express is running its popular Shop Small promotion again this year, which rewards card members when they use their card with small merchants.
Shop Small is traditionally held for a month in the lead up to Christmas, though that was disrupted by the pandemic.
The goal of the program is also to support small businesses and raise awareness about how widely Amex is accepted these days. That’s great for card members who want to maximise points earning opportunities with their cards.
In previous years we’ve seen different types of promotions, including:
April 2021: earn triple points per $1 up to 40,000 bonus points over the next twelve months
June 2020: get $5 back when you spend $10 or more, up to 10 times
Nov 2019: get $10 back when you spend $20 or more, up to 5 times
Nov 2018: get $10 back when you spend $20 or more, up to 5 times
Nov 2017: get $10 back when you spend $20 or more, up to 5 times
Disappointingly, Amex has downgraded the promo this year to a competition.
Card members have the opportunity to win 1 million Qantas, Velocity or Membership Reward points, depending on their card loyalty program.
There are 10 prizes of 1 million points on offer.
Card members need to register for the competition and then they’ll get an entry for each transaction of $1 or more at a participating Shop Small business.
As always, thousands of small merchants around the country are taking part in this initiative, from coffee shops to boutiques and more, and this includes micro-businesses that use Square payment terminals.
You can browse local participating businesses using the tools on Amex’s website.
If you’re not yet an Amex card member and would like to take advantage of this promo, check out the reviews of our favourite Amex cards here, where there are some great sign-up offers.
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You can now use your points to book reward seats to more than 20 destinations across Thailand and South East Asia thanks to Qantas’ new partnership with Bangkok Airways.
Bangkok Airways flies from its Bangkok hub to popular spots around the region.
Aussie travellers will be able to connect from Qantas and Jetstar flights to Bangkok, Phuket and Singapore.
Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth said Qantas Frequent Flyer was excited to welcome Bangkok Airways to the program.
“Thailand is one of the most popular destinations for our frequent flyers and this partnership will make it easier for them to explore more of the region using their points,” she said.
Bangkok Airways reward seats start from 10,000 points in economy or 20,000 in business class.
There seem to be some glitches in the system today as prices don’t quite match up with the Qantas Partner Reward Table and no business class seats are visible (though the latter may be intentional).
Bangkok Airways economy fares include checked baggage.
The airline has a good reputation for customer service and comfort, and is a great choice for flying around Thailand and the region.
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