Etihad is trying to seriously wrestle Qantas and Emirates for some international traffic out of Australia. Until 6th August, they are have a deal to extend Gold status in their Etihad Guest” Frequent Flyer program to any Australian who holds Gold (or higher status) with any international airline but Virgin Australia and Singapore Airlines. Gold with Etihad gets you: 50 precent more miles on every Etihad flight access to business class lounges run by Etihad, Virgin Australia, Air Berlin, Singapore airlines and other carriers for the Gold card holder and guest 15kg additional baggage allowance priority baggage handling Business Class…
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Tag Archives for Virgin Australia.
Jetstar at ten
I make no secret of my dislike of Jetstar (JQ), the low cost arm of Australian airline Qantas. We have never really bonded. I am not alone according to the complaints on the Don’tflyjetstar website. Some would say that Jetstar has been then saviour of Qantas and others would say the advancement of the budget carrier has come at the cost of the mainline carrier. The story started when QANTAS acquired Impulse Airlines, a Newcastle based independent carrier. It took its lessons from that to launch Jetsar in May 2004. The aim was to compete directly…
Virgin Australia: No Hijack
From the Virgin Australia website: “Reports that Virgin Australia flight VA41 was hijacked en route from Brisbane to Denpasar are completely incorrect. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft landed safely at Denpasar airport at 15.16 local and all 137 passengers and 7 crew have since disembarked. At no point was the safety of the aircraft in question. “There was a disruptive passenger on board and the pilot notified authorities in advance of landing, as per standard operating procedures. The passenger was unarmed and is now in the custody of the Indonesian authorities.” Related Posts Ethiopian Hijacker arrested- Airport closed-All…
Lion King Flash Mob on Jet
Passengers on a Virgin Australia 737 were entertained by the Australian cast of The Lion King with a rendition of the opening number, Elton John’s award-winning song “The Circle of Life” The team had been in Brisbane to announce the launch of the production in that city from September, 2014… For some passengers, it could have been a really fun start to a flight. For others, it would have been a nightmare! Wonder what the nervous passengers would have thought of it? Related Posts Five Fun Safety Briefings Funny safety briefings Emergency Landing Caused by Song Fly Hobbits Fly
World’s best airlines -skytrax 2013
The 2013 Skytrax World Airline Awards were announced at the Paris Air Show on the 18th June 2013. The awards are based on a passenger satisfaction survey completed on 200 airlines by travellers from over 160 countries. They review over 40 plus areas from check-in to cabin cleanliness to food to service. The airline award winners are becoming fairly predictable. The names Air New Zealand, Air Asia, Qatar, Emirates, Cathay Pacific and Singapore sit in the top categories year on year. It makes me wonder if the airlines that are not in the Top 20…
Ex Ansett AirNZ CEO jets to Jet
India’s second-largest airline, Jet Airways has appointed Gary Mr Toomey as their new CEO. Commenting on the appointment, Chairman Naresh Goyal said: “We need a dynamic executive with deep knowledge of and experience in the airline industry to lead the next phase of our development. Toomey has extensive experience in domestic and international airline management, and the right credentials and skills to take Jet Airways forward.” The Toomey name won’t mean much to people outside Australia or New Zealand but in those countries he is remembered as the former chief executive of Air New Zealand-Ansett.…
Virgin Australia’s Next Move
The Australian airline industry has become like a giant game of chess. Virgin Australia 18 months ago, upped the ante with a dramatic series of movies including new planes, refurbished cabins, a business class product and expanded lounges. These changes began in tandem with new partnerships with Delta, Air New Zealand, Singapore and Etihad which plugged the airline into a worldwide network for a much reduced cost. The aim was to poach as many of Qantas customers as possible. Qantas responded by forming a major alliance with Emirates. This threw the gauntlet down again. I have been…
Qatar joins One World
To no one’s surprise, One World announced today that British Airways will sponsor Qatar Airways as a full member of the Alliance, a process that is expected to take between 12 and 18 months. This news is an interesting addition to the One World. The 13 airline strong alliance will count amongst its membership three five star airlines (as measured by Skytrax) : Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines and Qatar compared to Star Alliance’s two: Asiana and Singapore. One World lost two members when Malev collapsed in 2012 and Mexicana was grounded in 2011. Kingfisher, a would be One World members has had significant financial woes – to…
Mid East Air Alliances: Emirates, Etihad, Qatar
The recent Qantas -Emirates partnership agreement seems to be having a flow through effect with two major announcements today. One World Alliance has been set for a week now to announce a “significant membership development” today in NewYork. The alliance includes American Airlines, British Airways/Iberia, Cathay Pacific, LAN and Royal Jordanian. The shortlisted options are: Qatar Airways or Emirates. In the meantime, Etihad snuck in their own announcement today with a wide sweeping relationship with Air France-KLM. Etihad’s a major code-sharing arrangement is between itself and 30% owned Air Berlin (itself a new member of One World with Air France-KLM), a Skyteam founding member The code-sharing agreement is seen as…
Trip Report: Qantas 93: Melbourne to Los Angeles
Booking 8 out of 10 I actually started my flight in Auckland, New Zealand. The fare for Auckland-Melbourne-Los Angeles-Melbourne-Los Angeles was actually $A1000 less than the fare for Melbourne-Los Angeles-Melbourne. Combining two New Zealand trips in was easy for me. The Qantas website easily worked out the multi city fare and came up with a better fare than Expedia.com or Webjet or Kayak could find. Sometimes looking at the airline’s website can be a bonus. Trying the same search with Virgin Australia online was not possible. Seat selection was easy. All the preferred seats were gone, These included the…
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