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How to earn Qantas Points on Airbnb stays, plus 500 bonus points on your first booking

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Did you know you can earn Qantas Points on Airbnb stays? It’s an easy way to boost your points balance with this popular accommodation provider.

All you have to do is search and book via the Qantas website here, making sure to enter your Qantas Frequent Flyer details when prompted (and that cookies are enabled on your device so the transaction can be tracked).

For this small amount of effort, you’ll earn 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent on your booking.

Plus, if you’re a first-time Airbnb user, you can also score 500 bonus Qantas Points on your first booking, which adds to the appeal.

More information is available on Qantas’ website, here.

Note that it takes up to 8 weeks for the points to be credited to your account, so don’t panic if you don’t see them for a while.

Of course, make sure to pay with your Qantas Points-earning credit card to bank even more of those sought-after points!

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Singapore Airlines launches Brussels route

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Singapore Airlines will launch non-stop flights between Singapore and Brussels, the capital of Belgium, from 5 April 2024, returning to the city after more than 20 years.

The airline will operate four weekly flights with the long-haul variant of its Airbus A350-900s, which feature 253 seats in three cabin classes: 42 in Business Class, 24 in Premium Economy Class, and 187 in Economy Class.

Flight SQ304 will depart Singapore for Brussels on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays at 2355hrs (local time).

The return sector, operated as flight SQ303, will depart Brussels for Singapore on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 1210hrs (local time).

Tickets are now available, and the airline has also released Saver and Advantage reward seats.

This means that both Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer members and Virgin Australia Velocity Points holders can use their points on the new route – though availability is better via KrisFlyer.

The Velocity website isn’t showing business class reward seats, even when Saver seats are available via KrisFlyer (usually these Saver seats are also available via Velocity). It’s worth calling Velocity to confirm availability.

Fly business class to Europe next Northern summer with KrisFlyer miles
Some seats are also available to Velocity Points holders

The addition of Brussels increases the number of European destinations in the airline’s network to 13.

Apart from being the capital of Belgium, Brussels is also home to the European Union (EU) and is dubbed as the EU’s capital city. With many air and rail links, it’s a convenient city to fly into for exploring Western Europe.

Want more Velocity Points? Don’t miss the offer of 75,000 bonus points plus a complimentary annual flight with our favourite Velocity card, the Amex Velocity Platinum Card – ends 27 September!

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Earn 10,000 bonus Qantas Points with the Bankwest Qantas Transaction Account

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Bankwest has launched an enticing offer for new customers of its Qantas Transaction Account.

This is a bank account that lets customers earn Qantas Points on both balances and purchases with the accompanying debit card.

Some of the main features of this account include:

  • earn 3 Qantas Points per eligible purchase using the accompanying debit card (most purchases are eligible purchases except some things such as bank fees, gambling and government charges)
  • earn 0.3 Qantas Points per $100 balance in your account per day, up to a maximum balance of $50,000 (plus 0.01%)
  • earn 5 Qantas Points per overseas ATM withdrawal (plus no fee)
  • no fees if you deposit at least $2,000 per month, otherwise there’s a $6 per month maintenance fee
  • no foreign transaction fees.

The offer of 10,000 bonus Qantas Points for new customers is easy to achieve: you just need to make ten eligible purchases with the debit card every month for the first three months. 

This promo is only available to new customers who open the account between 1 September 2023 and 30 November 2023.

To be eligible, you must not have held a Bankwest Qantas Transaction Account in the last 24 months. (You’re eligible if you have closed a different Bankwest transaction account more than 30 days prior).

For more info, visit Bankwest here.

Love Qantas Points? Don’t miss the offer of 75,000 bonus points plus an annual $450 travel credit, lounge passes and more with our favourite Qantas card: the Qantas Amex Ultimate Card. Ends soon!

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Qantas removes Covid credit expiry dates, enables refunds

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Qantas has responded to intense criticism about the amount of Covid-related flight credits that were due to expire at the end of the year.

The airline has announced that it will remove the expiry date on the credits, for both Qantas and Jetstar customers.

Following this decision, Qantas customers with COVID credits can request a cash refund, while Jetstar customers can use their COVID vouchers for flights indefinitely (but can’t get a refund).

To encourage more people to use their credits for flights, from 4 September 2023 Qantas is offering double the standard number of Qantas Points for any flights booked with a Qantas COVID credit before 31 December 2023.

The airline says that, due to system limitations, Qantas COVID credits can’t be converted into a travel booking after this date, but can be taken as a refund at any time.

ADVICE FOR CUSTOMERS

Qantas

Find your travel credit – Use the ‘Find My Credit’ tool on qantas.com
Request a refund – Call 1300 668 885
Use your travel credit – Visit qantas.com/travelcredit for specific advice based on your type of travel credit (most credits can be used online at qantas.com)
For more help – Speak to the Travel Credit Concierge team on 1300 171 505. If your original booking was made through a travel agent or third party website, contact them directly.

Jetstar 

Find your voucher – Contact via Live Chat
Use your voucher –
 Visit Jetstar.com to book using your voucher (vouchers can be redeemed on all Jetstar fares, including sale and Club Jetstar fares, and on domestic or international trips)
Check your available balance –
 Use the Voucher Balance Checker on Jetstar.com
Extend your voucher – Jetstar customers can extend their vouchers indefinitely by contacting LiveChat or the contact centre after the voucher has expired.

If you’ve already booked travel with a Qantas COVID credit or Jetstar COVID voucher, you don’t need to do anything and there’s no change to your trip.

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Qantas is giving free points and status credits to recent customers

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Qantas has today announced another huge profit result, as well as a nice little bonus for customers.

The airline is giving Frequent Flyers who have flown at least one Qantas flight in the past 12 months their choice of Qantas points or status credits.

Eligible customers will receive an email inviting them to choose between 1,000 points or 30 status credits. 

Those who flew 10 or more times will be gifted 5,000 points or 75 status credits.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said: “Our customers have shown a lot of patience and understanding as the industry has recovered. We’ve announced a points or status credits gift today but we know the best way we can thank them is to consistently deliver the standards they rightly expect, and reinvest our profits to keep improving their experience.”

Qantas has announced a further investment into new aircraft, including a mix of A350s and 787s to replace the current A330 and A380 fleet.

The airline is also launching a huge fare sale today. Qantas fares will be up to 40 per cent off, including return flights from Sydney to London for $1799 and Melbourne to Los Angeles for $1199.

Jetstar fares are up to half price, with domestic Jetstar flights starting from as low as $29 one-way and Jetstar international flights from $145 one-way.

Customers who still have Covid credits can use them on these fares.

Love Qantas Points? Don’t miss the big offer of 75,000 bonus Qantas Points and a $450 travel credit every year, plus lounge passes and more, with our favourite card: the Qantas Amex Ultimate Card!

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Virgin Australia launches status match offer for Qantas elites

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Are you considering switching your flying over to Virgin Australia?

If so, the airline is enticing Gold (or higher) frequent flyers of other Australian airlines (i.e. Qantas) to try out Velocity Gold Status with a fast track trial membership.

If that’s you, all you have to do is fill out a quick application on the Velocity website by September 15, 2023, and you’ll get a 3-month Velocity Discover Gold Status trial.

You’ll enjoy free lounge access, priority boarding, better seats, extra checked baggage, and more points when flying with Virgin Australia.

Easy, right?

To keep the Gold membership for a year, just book one or more eligible flights and get 80 Status Credits during the trial.

Also, you can’t get in on this deal if you’ve had Silver Status or higher with Velocity since April 2020.

For more info, visit Velocity here.

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Velocity Frequent Flyer and Luxury Escapes forge new exclusive partnership

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Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer program has announced a brand-new partnership with Luxury Escapes, following the conclusion of the travel company’s previous tie-up with Qantas.

This collaboration is primed to provide enhanced benefits to their shared customer base, which encompasses millions of Australians.

From today, they will be able to earn and redeem Velocity Points when they book luxury holiday packages, stay in high-end hotels, embark on cruises, join tours, and access several other premium offers on luxuryescapes.com.

For every dollar spent on eligible bookings with Luxury Escapes, Velocity members will earn 1 Velocity Point.

Furthermore, members can use their accumulated points to either partially or completely offset the cost of their Luxury Escapes holiday bookings. As regular readers will know, you’ll get less value from your points this way than using them for flights or upgrades – so consider this before redeeming your points.

In line with this partnership announcement, Luxury Escapes is also unveiling its new flagship store at Melbourne’s Chadstone Shopping Centre. The store promises an immersive retail experience with travel deals, interactive displays, barista-made coffee and even French champagne.

To mark the occasion, Velocity is offering a chance for its members to win one of five 100,000 Velocity Points bundles. To participate, members need to make a booking in the new store using their Velocity number by 6 pm AEST on 27 August 2023.

Nick Rohrlach, the CEO of Velocity Frequent Flyer, shared his enthusiasm about the collaboration. He stated that this partnership with Luxury Escapes stands as a testament to Velocity’s commitment to offering more choices, value, and rewards to its vast membership base.

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Qantas expands international flying as aircraft return

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Qantas has announced that it plans to exceed its pre-COVID international flying capacity next year as its final A380s return from storage and new Boing 787 Dreamliners are delivered.

The airline is today adding more than 250,000 seats to and from Australia, with a focus on New York, Los Angeles, Bali and Johannesburg.

The changes include:

  • Sydney-Bali – larger Airbus A330 aircraft will replace daily Boeing 737 flights from October this year with more premium seats and fully-flat beds in business class
  • Sydney-Auckland-New York – following the successful launch of the new route in June this year, flights will increase from four per week to daily from August 2024
  • Sydney-Johannesburg – for the first time Qantas A380s will operate to South Africa from July 2024, nearly doubling capacity during peak periods
  • Melbourne-Los Angeles – capacity will increase by around 20 per cent with more A380 flights on the route from July 2024
  • Sydney-Los Angeles – flights will increase from eight to nine per week from July 2024, operated with a mix of 787 and A380 aircraft.

The A380s have all been refurbished with the airline’s latest economy, premium economy, business and first class seats.

Qantas appears to be in the process of updating its booking system to reflect the new flights. We don’t see any new reward seats available, but that could change, so keep an eye out!

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