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Four refurbished Qantas A380s will be flying by December

Kris
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Four refurbished Qantas A380s will be flying by December

It’s been more than two years since we first learned that Qantas was going to refurbish its 12-strong fleet of A380s, and the first refreshed superjumbo is finally about to come into service.

According to Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, speaking with Executive Traveller, the first upgraded A380 will be in the skies by the end of September, with three more refurbished aircraft to be flying by year’s end. The whole fleet should be upgraded by the end of 2020.

The refreshed A380s won’t be dedicated to any particular route, so it’ll be a matter of luck if you find yourself flying on one. If you are, you’ll enjoy a big improvement in the business class and premium economy cabins, while only minor changes will be made to first class and economy.

First-class has already seen a ‘soft product’ refresh with new bedding and amenity kits. The seats themselves will now be improved with better cushioning and bigger entertainment screens, while the cabin as a whole will be given a more modern look.

Qantas A380 first class

In business class, the changes will be more dramatic. We’re going from this outdated seat design and 2-2-2 layout …

Current A380 business class seats 

… to the more spacious seats and 1-2-1 layout already flying on Qantas’ 787 Dreamliners.

Business class on the 787s and soon on the A380s

Business class on the 787s and soon on the A380s

Business class passengers will enjoy far superior comfort, privacy, storage space and entertainment compared to now, and the business class product will be competitive with what other carriers offer on key routes to the USA, Asia and London.

In premium economy, the 2-3-2 layout will remain, but we’re going from these dated seats …

Current premium economy seats

… to this next-gen seating, which is also currently on the 787 fleet and offers improved comfort, recline, storage and entertainment.

Qantas premium economy

New Qantas premium economy

Qantas premium economy detail

New Qantas premium economy

The only downside to the new premium economy product is the fact that Qantas is continuing to be stingy with leg-room (by way of comparison, Virgin Australia offers three inches more leg-room in its 777 premium economy cabin). Otherwise, it’s a great seat.

The business class and premium economy cabins will take up the entire A380 upper deck, which will also have a space for relaxing or socialising at the front.

A380 upper deck ‘lounge’ concept

In economy, Qantas has said it will make minor improvements to seat cushions and entertainment.

It’s great to see this mid-life refresh of Qantas’ A380 fleet finally kick into gear – many loyal customers have been eagerly awaiting these improvements, especially to the business class and premium economy cabins.

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Reminder: Qantas is increasing premium award seat and upgrade prices next month

Kris
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Reminder: Qantas is increasing premium award seat and upgrade prices next month

There’s one month left to lock in the current prices of premium award seats and upgrades using Qantas Points.

As Qantas announced back in June, the points cost of premium economy, business class and first class award seats and upgrades will rise by up to 15% from 18 September 2019. For example, a return business class award from Sydney to London will go from 256,000 to 289,200 points when flying with Qantas or Emirates, and from 278,000 to 318,000 points when flying with other partner airlines like Qatar Airways and Cathay Pacific.

The oneworld award, commonly used for round-the-world trips, will also become more expensive. For business class, the price will rise from 280,000 to 318,000 points. That’s actually not too painful, and still makes this one of the best uses of Qantas Points.

You can view the current and future points cost tables for award seats here and for upgrades here.

To lock in the current prices, you need to book or submit an upgrade request by 17 September at the latest.

One small piece of good news is that Qantas will also reduce the “carrier charges” it levies on premium award seats from 18 September, but this only applies to Qantas flights, not partner flights. For example, a return Qantas business class award from Sydney to London will see the total cash surcharge (comprising taxes, fees and carrier charges) reduced from $1,284 to $904 in business class.

When Qantas announced these changes in June, it tried to lessen the pain by promising 30% more premium award seats will be available to members. That’s going to be tough to verify, but we have seen some positive signs, like the recent releases of extra seats to Singapore and the USA (see here, here and here). Let’s hope more of this happens in the future.

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Amex travel offers: save money with airlines, hotels and more

Kris
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Amex travel offers: save money with airlines, hotels and more

Many readers will know that one of my favourite perks of being an American Express Card Member is the opportunity to save money with top brands through special offers.

Today, Amex has released a slew of offers for airlines, hotels and transport services that may be a good opportunity to save money on upcoming travel. Note that some of these offers are targeted, meaning you need to hold a specific card to take advantage of them, plus enrollment numbers may be capped and exclusions may apply, so make sure to review the offer T&Cs.

First up, here are the airline offers:

  • Singapore Airlines: 10% off for existing and new KrisFlyer members on flights paid by 7 October 2019.
  • Etihad Airways: save up to 10% on flights, paid by 30 June 2020.
  • Tigerair: spend $125 and get $25 back. Save to card and spend by 16 September 2019. Limited to first 15,000 cards.

Here are the hotel offers:

  • Agoda: save 10% on accommodation until 31 December 2019.
  • Alila Hotels: get 20% off your stay when paid by 11 December 2019.
  • Peninsula: spend $500, get $100 back. Save to card and spend by 12 December 2019. Limited to first 30,000 cards. Exclusions apply.
  • Preferred Hotels and Resorts: get an extra night free when you book 2, 3 or 4 consecutive nights by 30 November 2019.

And finally, here a couple of transport offers:

  • Avis: spend $250, get $50 back. Save to card and spend and return at participating locations in AU and NZ by 22 September 2019. Limited to first 40,000 cards.
  • 13 CABS: 10% off when you spend via the 13cabs app or the Silver Service app, up to $100 per card, paid by 12 December 2019. Limited to first 20,000 cards.

You can find out more details about each offer and review the all-important T&Cs on Amex’s website here.

If you’re not yet an Amex Card Member and you’d like to become one to take advantage of opportunities like this, check out the reviews of our favourite cards here.

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The best way to book ultra-luxurious hotels and resorts using points

Kris
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The best way to book ultra-luxurious hotels and resorts using points

Here at The High Life, we usually focus on using points to fly at the ‘pointy end’ of the plane – in a comfy seat, with good service and dining, and lots of free-flowing champagne, of course!

As you probably already know, this is one of the best ways to maximise value from your hard-earned points. Booking a business or first class award seat gets you so much more value than redeeming points to fly economy.

But luxury travel isn’t just about the time you spend in the air. It’s also about the hotels and resorts you stay in on the ground. And here, too, points can be a gateway to memorable experiences, including ones that would be totally out of reach if you had to pay for them.

Points-hacking your way into upscale hotels and resorts requires knowing a few tricks, like using the right points currency. Unfortunately, Australia’s two most popular points currencies – Qantas Points and Velocity Points – are useless in this regard, because booking ultra-lux hotel rooms with them is ridiculously expensive. Those points are much better spent on air travel.

The best way to book lavish hotel stays using points is to pay with a hotel group’s own points currency, like Hilton Honors Points or Marriott Bonvoy Points, where the prices of the most expensive properties are capped. You can earn the points you need by staying at the group’s (affordable) hotel brands, buying the points outright, or transferring points from American Express’ Membership Rewards program.

Earning points on hotel stays is self-explanatory. As for buying points, many hotel loyalty programs sell points to customers, which can sometimes be a cheaper way to stay than paying cash. You really need to do the sums on a case-by-case basis to see if it’s worthwhile.

My preferred method – and probably the quickest and most cost effective – is to earn Amex’s Membership Rewards points on credit card spend and transfer them to a hotel loyalty program when it’s time to book. Amex has two excellent hotel transfer partners: Marriott (the world’s biggest hotel group) and Hilton. Together, they provide access to amazing properties all around the world.

I’ll illustrate all this with one example.

For my next birthday I’ve just booked a $2,200-per night suite at the renowned Al Maha Desert Resort in Dubai. Set among the sand dunes and palm groves of the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, Al Maha is one of the most sought after properties in Marriott Group’s global portfolio. It’s an all-suite property with a spa and a range of activities for guests. I love desert landscapes, so I’m very excited about staying at this resort for the first time.

The Bedouin Suite at Al Maha Desert Resort

View from the Bedouin Suite at Al Maha Desert Resort

Al Diwan Restaurant

Private picnic among the dunes

Camel trekking – one of many activities at the resort

Desert drive

As I mentioned above, the ‘cash’ price for this suite during the dates I’m visiting is an eye-popping AU$2,200 per night – yes that’s $4,400 for a two-night stay! While this does include meals and activities, it’s still a huge amount of money to pay and not something I’d be willing to do.

But the price using points? Just 170,000 Marriott points total, which in my case required transferring 255k Amex Membership Rewards points to Marriott. As a comparison, 255k MR points could also convert to 127k airline frequent flyer points or $1275 worth of gift vouchers. So it’s a great deal!

If you wanted to buy points from Marriott to make this booking, the first hurdle would be that you can only buy up to 50k points per year. But putting that aside and just looking at the economics, given Marriott recently had a promotion selling 50k points for US$469, the cost for 170k points would theoretically be US$1595, or around AU$2350 – a big saving, but also still quite expensive.

Of course, you can combine these different sources of points – hotel stays, purchased points and transfers from Amex – to make sure you have enough.

Finally, let me illustrate why using Qantas or Velocity Points for expensive hotels isn’t a good idea. While Al Maha isn’t bookable directly with those points currencies, if it were, the cost would correlate with the underlying room cash price, which means a booking worth $4,400 would probably cost 600k points or more. That’s terrible value.

As I alluded to earlier, what makes it possible to get outsized value by booking through select hotel loyalty programs is their practice of essentially ‘capping’ the prices of the most exclusive properties. With Marriott, for example, all properties have to fit into one of eight points ‘categories’ or tiers, and the top tier is an affordable 85,000 points per night no matter the underlying cash price of the room (plus you can get a fifth night free). However, you can only generally book base-level rooms at this price. At a resort like Al Maha, though, even a base-level room is amazing.

Other hotel groups, such as Hilton, operate in a similar way, which makes aspirational properties around the world – from desert resorts in Dubai to overwater villas in the Maldives – accessible to points enthusiasts like us.

If you’d like to get a Membership Rewards points-earning Amex card to enjoy stays like this, check out my two favourite cards: the Explorer Card and the Platinum Card (with up to 150,000 bonus points right now!).

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Qantas premium economy award seats to Chicago now available

Kris
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Qantas premium economy award seats to Chicago now available

Qantas has been selling tickets on its new Brisbane-Chicago route for a fortnight now and I’ve been keeping an eye on award seat availability to see if I could snap some up in business class.

Unfortunately I’m not having any luck on that front, BUT I have noticed that the airline is releasing up to four premium economy seats on most days, which are available to all Qantas Frequent Flyer members regardless of status (but status does determine how far in advance you can book them).

While premium economy is obviously not as comfortable or stylish as business class, it’s still miles better than travelling at the back of the plane. Plus, the ability to book four seats will suit families and groups, since we almost never see that many business class award seats available on Qantas flights.

The Brisbane-Chicago service will first take off on 20 April 2020 as flight QF85, departing Brisbane at 3.30pm and reaching Chicago at 4.40pm the same day. This service will run Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

The QF86 return leg departs Chicago at 9.50pm the same day, arriving in Brisbane at 6.10am two days later.

Qantas is operating the route with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which features next-gen seats in premium economy. They are arranged in a 2-3-2 layout.

Qantas Dreamliner Premium Economy

Qantas premium economy detail

The seats are quite comfortable, though taller people may struggle with the leg room. Qantas scrimped a bit on this front, but otherwise the seats are great.

The one way price is 84,000 Qantas Points plus $300-400 in taxes and fees. The cost goes up a bit if you add a domestic connection, which would have to be in economy (eg. Melbourne-Brisbane-Chicago is 96k points plus $430 one way). A reminder that from 18 September, the points cost will rise but the cash component will fall.

Qantas makes seats available to frequent flyer members in stages, with gold and higher status holders getting first dibs. As of today, they can book award seats all the way to late July 2020, while silver members are limited to late June, and bronze members to late May.

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Has ANA just launched the world’s best business class seat?

Kris
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Has ANA just launched the world’s best business class seat?

Last month the Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) pulled back the curtain on brand new seats and cabins for its flagship Boeing 777 fleet, with the first upgraded aircraft taking to the skies this week.

Prior to the July announcement, ANA didn’t overhype things or raise massive expectations, as some airlines are wont to do (*cough* Qantas *cough*). But judging from the promo shots and initial reviews, ANA has produced something quite impressive. In fact, in business class, we may even have a contender for the new ‘world’s best’ seat.

Let’s quickly run through the other cabins first though.

All four cabin classes have received a makeover inspired by Japanese heritage and Western design principles. In first class, the new seat (dubbed “THE Suite”) is the most spacious ever seen on an ANA aircraft. It takes cue from luxury Japanese hotels and features stylish dark wood finishes, privacy doors and a crazy-large 43-inch monitor that is the world’s first 4K personal monitor on a commercial airliner.

ANA’s new Boeing 777 first class seat

New first class cabin

While the new first class cabin looks wonderful, I do have to point out that it’s nowhere near as luxurious and private as offered by Emirates and Singapore Airlines on some of their newest aircraft.

ANA has also given its premium economy and economy cabins a refresh, with new upholstery and upgrades to screens and headrests.

New premium economy cabin

New economy cabin

But it’s in business class where we see the most innovation. Dubbed ‘THE Room’, the seat design is inspired by modern, multi-functional Japanese living spaces. The sofa-like seats are DOUBLE the previous width, with doors for personal privacy that can also be adjusted to share the space with fellow travel companions.

New business class seat

Space galore

The seats go fully flat for sleeping (of course), and appear to have lots of discreet areas to store personal belongings, as well as a big screen to keep passengers entertained on long journeys.

Business class layout

Business class cabin

To bring warmth and a ‘home away from home’ feel to the cabin, the airline has included three different wood finishes inspired by modern Japanese homes – Rosewood, Light Japanese Ash and Dark Japanese Ash.

This of course will all be paired with ANA’s top-notch service and dining.

New business class seat

Some of these design aspects are reminiscent of Qatar Airways’ Qsuite, which many travellers consider to be the best business class product in the world (until now, at least).

While the promo shots and specs released by ANA all look amazing, what really matters is customer experiences – and on that front I’ve just seen the first review of business class published, by the blogger Gilbert Ott. He flew on the first upgraded aircraft earlier this week between Tokyo and London, and has made the bold call that this is the best business class product in the sky (even better than Qsuite). It’s worth reading his review and checking out the images, which are available here.

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Snap them up! Qantas award seats to the USA available in October and November

Kris
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Snap them up! Qantas award seats to the USA available in October and November

Qantas has released a stack of award seats to the USA this October and November, including in the sought-after business and first class cabins.

This is a great opportunity to fly to the States in style using your Qantas Points.

A quick search of flights between Brisbane/Sydney/Melbourne and Los Angeles shows at least two award seats available in each cabin on most days.

There’s also availability to Dallas and San Francisco, but unfortunately not New York. Travellers from other cities in Australia should be able to secure domestic connections with Qantas in business class.

If you want to fly premium economy or business class, try to secure a route with a 787 Dreamliner aircraft, rather than the dated A380s (but if you want first class, the A380s are your only option).

Qantas promised recently that it would make more award seats available, so hopefully this is a sign of things to come. This new batch of award seats will be booked out quickly, so don’t miss out.

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Myer joins the Qantas Shopping portal: earn bonus points on purchases

Kris
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Myer joins the Qantas Shopping portal: earn bonus points on purchases

Myer has been added to the Qantas Shopping portal, giving Qantas Frequent Flyer members the opportunity to earn lots of points when shopping with the popular department store online.

Qantas Shopping, like Virgin Australia’s Velocity eStore, provides an easy route to rapidly increasing your points balance, as I’ve written about before. The shopping portals can connect you to hundreds of retailers, and regularly offer bonuses of up to 10 points per $1 spent. Many stores also offer free delivery.

I use Qantas Shopping and the Velocity eStore to buy personal and household items all the time. It’s convenient, cost effective and very points-lucrative!

Myer was one of the major missing links in Qantas’ offering, and it’s great to see the retailer now come onboard.

Until Monday 5 August, shoppers can earn 3 Qantas Points per $1 spent with Myer (a 50% increase from the regular earn rate of 2 points per $1 spent), plus you can get free standard delivery on orders over $49.

Make sure to click through from Qantas Shopping to get the deal, and of course, pay with a high points-earning credit card to bank even more points.

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