Great news, Qantas Frequent Flyers members!

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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Customers of Aussie regional airline Rex can now connect seamlessly to Delta’s Sydney-Los Angeles flights and travel onwards throughout North America.

Similarly, Delta customers travelling to regional Australia are now able to connect to Rex’s rapidly increasing network.

The airlines today announced they have launched an interline service agreement. Fares combining the two airlines are bookable from today via travel agents (including online).

Rex Deputy Chairman, Hon John Sharp AM said, “We are proud to enhance our services to our ever increasing loyal customers by offering seamless connections from our regional and domestic ports to a quality international carrier such as Delta Air Lines”.

“This interline arrangement will make it easier for Australians to visit the U.S. allowing customers to connect onto Delta Air Lines’ U.S. network and for Americans to explore more of Australia with over 58 destinations. We are thrilled to be working with a world-class airline,” he said.

Los Angeles is one of Delta’s top hubs, where the airline today operates 140 daily flights to 53 destinations around the world.

Rex is Australia’s largest independent airline operating a fleet of 61 Saab 340 and 7 Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft to 58 destinations throughout all states in Australia, though overwhelmingly concentrated on the east coast.

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Virgin Australia has returned to profitability after a tumultuous two years that saw the airline go into administration during the early days of the pandemic, before being purchased by private equity and relaunched as a mid-tier airline.

To celebrate, Virgin has launched a Bring on Wonderful campaign, with over 800,000 airfares from as low as $55 one-way.

There’s also a novel idea of a Middle Seat Lottery, turning those dreaded middle seats into lottery tickets.

Lucky winners will share in $230,000 worth of prizes until Sunday 23 April 2023. There’ll be one winner each week, and the prizes include:

• Platinum status plus one million Velocity Points
• a caribbean cruise and return Premium Economy flights
• flights and tickets to your AFL team’s away games in 2023
• AFL grand final seats and flights to Melbourne
• a helicopter pub crawl in Darwin plus flights
• a Cairns adventure holiday package.

To enter, simply be a Velocity member aged 18+ who is flying in any middle seat by Sunday 23 April.

Then enter the competition via the Virgin app within 48 hours of your flight time.

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Qantas and Virgin Australia have announced special flights to celebrate Sydney WorldPride in February next year.

Both airlines have long supported the LGBT+ community and Qantas is the official airline partner for the festival, which is being held in the Southern hemisphere for the first time and coincides with the famous Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Qantas will operate a WorldPride Flight from Los Angeles to Sydney on 22 February 2023, bringing American visitors to Australia to celebrate.

There’ll be some fun onboard, hosted by comedian Joel Creasey, including live entertainment, limited edition ‘Rainbow Roo’ Qantas pyjamas, and a special menu.

Qantas will also gift each passengers a ticket to the Opening Concert featuring Kylie Minogue.

The Qantas WorldPride Flight will go on sale today with seats bookable at qantas.com/worldpride starting from $1,545 USD return.

Virgin Australia meanwhile will expand the number of domestic Pride Flights it will operate next year to include Adelaide and Perth for the first time, joining Melbourne and Brisbane.

And Virgin partner United Airlines will fly the first ever Pride Flight from San Francisco to Sydney, departing on Wednesday 22 February 2023.

Entertainment on the Virgin flights will be hosted by RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under stars, Coco Jumbo, Karen From Finance, Kween Kong and Maxi Shield, along with a host of other Aussie drag performers.

Guests will be able start partying before they board with special events at local entertainment venues.

Sydney’s The Beresford hotel will host the official post-touch down party, with complimentary drinks and entertainment for guests.

For more information and to book a Virgin Pride Flight service, visit: www.virginaustralia.com/prideflight.

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Rex plans to launch an auction system that will let passengers bid to upgrade to business class on its domestic flights.

If you’re in economy, you’ll get an invite to bid for an upgrade a week before your flight. And if someone puts in a higher bid than you, you’ll be able to adjust your bid to try and win.

You’ll get a notification if someone else offers more than you, so you can decide if you want to bid higher.

Rex will set the minimum and maximum bid for each flight, so you won’t have to worry about overbidding.

The auction will end three hours before takeoff.

And to kick off the program, they’re starting the minimum bidding at just $10 for flights all over the country.

Rex has seven Boeing 737s in its fleet primarily flying between major east coast cities.

The aircraft were purchased from Virgin Australia and so will be familiar to many Aussies travellers.

Business class is arranged in a 2-2 layout across the first two rows.

Rex 737 business class

Rex is a full-service airline and all business class fares come with meals, complimentary beverages including beer and wine, and lounge access where available.

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Sad news, Qantas frequent flyers.

Qantas is ending fee-free changes and cancellations of reward bookings from this Friday 30 September.

The airline brought in its flexible booking policy for reward seats during the early days of the pandemic to encourage people to use points despite the uncertainty about travel restrictions.

Until now, customers could change or cancel their bookings for free and get a full refund of points and money spent.

While Covid isolation requirements do continue to affect passengers, many other barriers to travel (such as lockdowns and border closures) appear to be in the rear view mirror.

Airlines around the world are now transitioning to arrangements that resemble the pre-pandemic normal.

Under Qantas’ policy, Australian domestic classic flight reward bookings can be changed or cancelled fee-free until 30 September 2022.

International classic flight reward bookings made by 30 September 2022 can be changed or canceled fee-free until 31 December 2022 (which means you have a few more days to lock in a booking for later this year that can be changed or cancelled for free).

After these dates, the standard fees apply: 5,000 Qantas Points per person to change a reward booking or 6,000 points per person to cancel and get a refund of points and money paid.

If you have an upcoming flight, these changes are something to keep in mind.

For more info, visit Qantas here.

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