With international travel bouncing back strongly, Emirates has announced it is reopening its Sydney, Melbourne and Perth lounges for eligible customers.

That’s great news for both Emirates and Qantas premium passengers and elite status holders, who will soon once again have access to these well-appointed spaces.

Emirates lounges can be enjoyed by Emirates customers in business and first class, as well as those with Skywards Gold status or higher.

Passengers travelling with Qantas in business or first class or those with Gold or higher status can also use an Emirates lounge, thanks to the partnership between the two airlines.

Emirates lounges have much better dining and amenities than Qantas International Business Lounges, and are definitely worth checking out if you’re flying with Qantas. (However, if you can get into the Qantas First Lounges in Sydney or Melbourne, they are certainly the top choices at these two airports.)

Emirates Lounge Melbourne Airport

Emirates Lounge Melbourne Airport

Emirates’ Sydney lounge will be the first to open its doors on 19 July 2022. It will be open daily from 4 am to 6 am and then again from 5.10 pm to 9 pm.

The Melbourne lounge will welcome customers from 21 July from 2.15am to 5am and then again from 5.15 pm to 9 pm daily.

And finally, the Perth lounge will reopen on 28 July 2022 from 7.20 pm until 10.20 pm daily.

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Air New Zealand has pulled back the curtain on its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner cabins that will launch in 2024, featuring no fewer than seven seating options for travellers on long-haul flights.

This includes a new Business Premier Luxe seat, featuring more space and privacy than a standard business class seat, and Skynest, the world’s first sleep pods in the sky for economy travellers.

The airline says it has responded to overwhelming customer feedback on the importance of sleep and need for more comfort and space on marathon journeys, such as its new direct Auckland-New York service.

Business Class

Travellers will have the choice of two business class seats. The first is Business Premier: a fairly conventional lie-flat seat arranged in a 1-2-1 layout.

For those seeking a bit more luxury, the new Business Premier Luxe offering provides more space and privacy, with a fully closing door and space for two to dine. The seat itself is identical to the standard business class product, but customers get more room and the chance to dine with a companion thanks to seating space and a larger table.

These seats will be located at the front of the cabin.

Premium Economy

For travellers on a mid-range budget, Air New Zealand’s latest generation premium economy seat offers more privacy and protected space where you can recline without interrupting the person behind you (or being annoyed by people reclining in front of you), since the seat reclines into its own housing. The seat width is 19 inches and pitch is 41 inches, while the cabin layout is 2-3-2.

Economy

Customers in economy will have four options to choose from. Of course, there’s a standard economy seat offering, with a refreshed design that provides more storage, comfort and space, and a bigger screen.

Some rows have extra leg room, which the airline refers to as Economy Stretch.

Solo or multiple travellers can also book a row of economy seats as a Skycouch, with extendable seats and padding providing extra comfort.

And then there’s Skynest: a sleep pod that can be booked for a 4-hour slot to get some shut-eye, available to both economy and premium economy passengers, but only on ultra-long-haul flights such as to the USA.

The six pods arranged in a ‘bunk bed’ layout measure at around 203 cm long and 58cm wide (which sounds a bit narrow, actually), and include a mattress pad, pillow and blanket, as well as curtains to provide privacy (claustrophobes need not apply).

A four-hour stay is purportedly enough to enjoy two sleep cycles, and each pod will be cleaned between bookings.

The new seating options will launch in 2024 on new and retrofitted Dreamliners. The airline hasn’t yet revealed how much these add-ons will cost, but they are sure to appeal to many customers.

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Qantas is set to launch flights from Perth to Johannesburg and Jakarta later this year.

From 1 November, Qantas will operate the only direct service from Perth to South Africa. There will be three return flights per week on the airline’s A330 aircraft, which features a 1-2-1 layout in business class and 2-4-2 in economy.

Qantas A330 business class

Perth’s big South African community is sure to love the new route, as will business and leisure travellers. Aussies will also be able to connect to the flights from other cities.

Qantas will also link Perth with Jakarta from 30 November, beginning with three flights per week on its Boeing 737 aircraft, which features a 2-2 layout in business class and 3-3 in economy.

Qantas 737 cabins

Both routes are supported by the WA government.

Fares for Perth-Johannesburg flights go on sale today starting from $1800 return.

Fares for Perth-Jakarta go on sale today from $870 return.

It doesn’t look like reward seats have been released yet, but that could change.

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Qantas has brought back its First Class experience on flights between Australia, Singapore, and London, thanks to the return of the A380 superjumbo aircraft and the reopening of the First Lounge at Changi Airport.

Starting today, Qantas will fly its recently spruced-up A380 aircraft, complete with 14 swanky First Suites, 70 Business Suites, 60 Premium Economy seats, and 341 Economy seats.

The on-board lounge has been given a makeover by David Caon, transforming it into a supper club-style space for 10 people with an exclusive snack menu.

Qantas has also reopened its First Lounge at Changi Airport. This gem first launched in December 2019 and quickly became one of the hottest lounges on the Qantas international network. Sadly, it closed just three months later due to the pandemic. But now, the First Lounge is back in action, right alongside the existing Qantas Business Lounge.

The Qantas First Lounge can host up to 240 guests and serves up a fine dining experience created by Neil Perry. The menu draws inspiration from Singapore’s vibrant food scene, showcasing dishes like signature Laksa with Crayfish and Rice Noodles, Barramundi with Sambal Browned Butter, and Shrimp-based Chicken Wings. Plus, there’s a gorgeous Carrara marble bar, where guests can sip on Champagne, bespoke cocktails like the Merlion Blush, and barista coffee.

Eligible visitors include first class passengers with Qantas and eligible partners, and those who hold Platinum or higher status with Qantas and eligible partners.

If you want to experience Qantas first class using points, a one-way ticket between Sydney and Singapore costs 102,600 Qantas Points plus taxes and fees.

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Virgin Australia is breaking new ground as the first Australian carrier to offer direct flights between the Gold Coast and Bali, connecting two top surfing and holiday destinations starting from next year.

Mark your calendars for 29 March 2023, because that’s when the daily services between Gold Coast Airport’s new International Terminal and Bali will begin.

With more than 2,200 seats available each week, you can already book your ticket starting today.

The announcement comes as Virgin prepares to restart flights to Bali from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane this week.

Virgin Australia’s Short Haul International operations are growing, with plans to resume services to Vanuatu and Samoa alongside its services to Fiji, Bali, and Queenstown, New Zealand.

Direct flights from Brisbane to Port Vila, Vanuatu, will kick off on 10 March 2023, with up to five flights a week.

Services to Apia, Samoa, will start from Sydney on 21 March 2023, with up to three flights per week, and from Brisbane on 23 March 2023, with up to two flights per week.

This expansion means that holidaymakers now have a wider choice of Pacific Island destinations to explore. Plus, those eager to reconnect with friends and family in Samoa and Vanuatu can finally do so as these destinations open to international travel post-COVID-19.

To celebrate these new routes, Virgin Australia has introduced its Set Your Sights Overseas sale.

You can enjoy discounts of up to 30% on over 70,000 seats across all the airline’s Short Haul International routes, including the ones announced today.

And for you Velocity Frequent Flyer members, there’s a mega bonus: From 15 to 24 June 2022, you’ll get an extra 2,000 Velocity Points when you book Virgin Australia flights between Bali, Fiji, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Samoa, and Australia, for travel until 11 May 2023.

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Singapore Airlines is increasing the number of KrisFlyer miles required for flight redemptions and upgrades from 5 July 2022.

Increases will be made to the cheapest Saver Award seats on all sectors, with minor adjustments to the more expensive Advantage Award levels on selected sectors when flying with Singapore Airlines.

On average, Saver prices are going up by around 10%. For example, a one-way Saver business class fare from Perth to Europe goes from 121,000 miles to 133,500 miles – an increase of 12,500 miles or 10.3%.

Award seats with partner airlines and upgrades with Singapore Airlines are going up by a similar amount.

Click here to view the updated award chart and here for the upgrade chart.

If you have an existing booking and you need to change it, do so before 5 July otherwise the new pricing will apply.

The revised pricing will also apply to confirmed waitlist bookings ticketed on or after 5 July 2022. There’s no way to expedite those, unfortunately.

The airline is also changing stopover rules. Until now, you could pay $100 to add a stopover on a one-way Saver booking (eg. you could book a flight from Sydney to Europe, and pay for a stopover in Singapore). This option is being eliminated.

For one-way Advantage bookings or return Saver bookings, you can still enjoy stopovers for free. However, the stopover will now be limited to 30 days.

If you have an award booking or upgrade in mind, consider locking in the new pricing before the changes kick in on 5 July.

More information about these changes is available here.

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Virgin Australia has announced a new strategic partnership with Qatar Airways which includes a codeshare agreement and loyalty benefits for customers on both carriers’ networks.

This is a somewhat surprising move, given Qatar Airways is a oneworld member and hence a Qantas partner. But it’s great news for Virgin Australia customers, who now have another big international airline partner in the mix alongside Singapore Airlines, Etihad, United and others.

Qatar Airways currently flies to Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Virgin Australia customers and frequent flyers will be able to access Qatar Airways’ global route network, which includes more than 140 destinations. They’ll be able to earn and redeem Velocity Points when flying on Qatar Airways, and vice versa.

Frequent flyers of both airlines will also be able to enjoy status privileges such as lounge access, extra baggage allowance, priority check-in and priority boarding.

Qatar Airways is one of the best airlines in the world, and its Qsuite business class product is widely loved.

Qsuite

Redeeming Velocity Points to fly in Qsuites will definitely be one of the best uses of those points.

Stay tuned for more info when the partnership launches later this year.

As always, we’ll inform our e-news subscribers as soon as reward seats become available.

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