Travel News Summary:

• Virgin Australia have introduced new luggage allowances and updated their baggage fee structure.
• Air Pacific goes back to its roots, choosing to re-brand as Fiji Airways.
• Malaysia Airlines anticipate joining the One World Alliance in Q4. They have updated their cabin baggage allowances.
• Some clients recently visited South America, these brave men dared and survived Cape Horn! See the full YouTube video (WARNING: There is some colourful language used in the video)
• The Weekly News Recap is now on iTunes. Subscribe today.

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Weekly News Recap – 18 May is a post from: Pan Australian Travel

Related posts:

1. Weekly News Recap – 4 May
2. Weekly News Recap – 12 May

Travel News Summary:

• Emirates announced their more spacious and quieter A380 Airbus deployed for the Melbourne – Dubai – Auckland route, including fully flat beds in business class
• Jake has been trialling some of the better travel apps available for smartphones, contact him here for the results.
• Introduction to a brilliant Ultrabook from Asus, which is awesome for travelling with.
• Change your email preferences to receive this update either weekly or monthly. See the email sent to you for details or contact Jake here.
• If you don’t receive email updates from us, sign up on the right of this page.

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Weekly News Recap – 12 May is a post from: Pan Australian Travel

Related posts:

1. Weekly News Recap – 4 May

Travel News Summary:

• Qantas Airways have introduced a new baggage policy effective 2 May
• Virgin Australia announce the arrival of their new A330 Aircraft featuring lie flat seats in Business Class. Deployed on the MEL-PER and MEL-SYD routes
• Virgin also announce onboard WIFI should be featured by the end of 2012
• Virgin lounge upgrades for Sydney
• Scoot Airways announce Bangkok service,  fly Sydney to Singapore for under $200 each way!

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Full Transcript

Hi there. Jake Hower from Pan Australian Travel bringing the weekly news update. I’d like to start with Qantas, who have announced that effective the 2nd of May will be updating their baggage policy. It affects their checked-in luggage worldwide. So check out their website. Or give us a call to find out how it’s going to potentially affect your next trip.

In the other major domestic airline news, we’ve got Virgin Australia who have announced a number of updates to their service. And I guess that increase in their product quality over the last six months– they’re continuing to do so for the foreseeable future, really are trying to align themselves to compete with Qantas, particularly in the business market.

It’s great news for us and for you because it means a much better quality of standard domestically. And also, much more competition reduces prices. So it’s an excellent time to be traveling. Now, their major announcements include the launch of their A330 aircraft featuring fully flat beds in business class. They’ll be launching that on the Perth-Melbourne-Sydney routes.

So if you’re traveling across to the west coast, that will potentially be a very good option you can get on these aircraft, because it’s going to be a very comfortable trip for you if you get to fly business class. Now, the reality is only 5% of us actually do. The other 95% are in the back in economy class. But this aircraft will still be much better quality than the 737s currently operated by Virgin.

Slightly bigger seats and you’ll also have in sync back power, which will power up your tablets and your fine devices. So that’s great news. They’ve also announced that– hopefully rolled out by the end of this year– will be wi-fi on board, which is excellent news. And some lounge updates to Sydney, Melbourne, and they’ll be upgrading their lounge throughout Australia shortly as well.

Finally, Scoot Airlines, you may have heard of, who is Singapore Airline’s low-cost carrier, initially launched Gold Coast and Sydney to Singapore. They’ve launched, last week, Bangkok to Singapore as well. You can get to Singapore and Bangkok for under $200 each way. So that’s excellent value at the moment.

The service level is similar to that of Tiger Airways or AirAsia. So you’re going to be pretty cramped. Pitch is about 31 inches, which is like the domestic product here with, say, Virgin or Qantas. And you’re purchasing everything on board. They do have a business class cabin, which is– I would equate to similar to the Qantas premium economy cabin. So it’s a good option for under $1,000 return to get you to Singapore with some nice comfortable seats. Check out their website. Or give us a call for further details.

Finally, I would just like to thank you for tuning in. I’d love to hear feedback. It will help us improve future editions and to see whether it’s worthwhile bringing you this news every week. So you can call me. Or you can shoot me an email. I’ll put the details here. Or you can just check out the links below this video for any further information. Again, thanks for tuning in. And I’ll see you shortly.

Weekly News Recap – 4 May is a post from: Pan Australian Travel

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 Here’s a great reference guide to use when you have to fly with an airline that has no direct affiliation with one of the Australian carriers.

 Maximise your miles with a portfolio of frequent flyer programs

When travelling abroad it can be a challenge to make the most of the miles you’re flying by earning frequent flyer points and status.
The global airline alliances — oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance — can be useful, but only oneworld has a full Australian partner.
So the obvious question for Australian business travellers is whether you’ll earn Qantas or Virgin Australia points, since airlines that have partnerships with Australia’s carriers are the best way to keep your frequent flyer account balance ticking along. Continue reading over at Australian Business Traveller…

 

When you’re doing the above in combination with joining our very own frequent flyer program, you’ll be sure to be getting the best benefits possible!

Image Credit: Mujitra

Increase the performance of your miles by choosing the right frequent flyer program is a post from: Pan Australian Travel

Related posts:

1. AusBT Awards 2011

Remember mystery flights?

Well… there back!

Virgin Australia have put their fun loving twist on this old concept and have introduced “Mystery Breaks”.

Destinations include: Adelaide, Ballina Byron, Brisbane, Broome, Cairns, Canberra, Coffs Coast, Darwin,Fraser Coast, Gold Coast, Hamilton Island, Hobart, Launceston, Mackay, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Port Douglas, Sunshine Coast, Sydney, Townsville or the Whitsunday Coast.

Length include 1,2 & 3 nights. You can only book within two weeks of departure.

Take a look at Virgin’s Mystery Breaks page to try your luck!

Virgin Australia Mystery Breaks is a post from: Pan Australian Travel

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2. V Australia Boeing 777-300ER Walkaround

We use this in the office quite a bit. It’s a great resource to use when planning your trip. It a good tool for business travellers and leisure travellers alike.

Picking the best airline seats – Overview of SeatGuru.com is a post from: Pan Australian Travel

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Today, they’re releasing their 2011 Business Travel Awards.

Here’s a snippet of the winners so far:

Best Frequent Flyer Programme for Australian Business Travellers: Virgin Australia Velocity

Virgin Australia gave airline loyalty programmes a much-needed shake-up with its mid-year relaunch of the Velocity rewards scheme.

Best Australian Domestic Airport Lounge: Qantas

Many Australian business travellers spend as much time at airport lounges as they do in the air.

Best Frequent Flyer Programme for Australian Business Travellers: Virgin Australia Velocity

Virgin Australia gave airline loyalty programmes a much-needed shake-up with its mid-year relaunch of the Velocity rewards scheme.

See all the category winners here

AusBT Awards 2011 is a post from: Pan Australian Travel

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1. Virgin Australia’s 2012 Plans

Friday 23rd December:	9:00am to 1:00pm
Monday 26th December:	Closed
Tuesday 27th December:	Closed
Wednesday 28th December:	11:00 to 3:00pm (via Phone Only)
Thursday 29th December:	11:00 to 3:00pm (via Phone Only)
Friday 30th December:	11:00 to 3:00pm (via Phone Only)
Monday 2nd January:	Closed

We will resume normal office hours effective Tuesday 3rd January.

On behalf of the entire team at Pan Australian Travel I’d like to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

See you in 2012!

Jake Hower

Director

Christmas & New Year Trading Hours is a post from: Pan Australian Travel

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Virgin Australia’s CEO John Borghetti has revealed his plans for the airline through the end of this year and into 2012 at today’s Annual General Meeting, and there’s some great news for business travellers.

Australian Business Traveller has sorted through the usual financial and technical AGM guff about procurement frameworks and financial discipline for what’s really relevant to you.

New lounges: Sydney, Gold Coast, Mackay

“I’m pleased to announce today that we will commence work on a new flagship lounge at Sydney domestic airport,” Borghetti confirmed.

Read the full article here

The increased competition in the domestic airfare space is good for travellers.

Virgin Australia’s 2012 Plans is a post from: Pan Australian Travel

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Thai Airways Boeing 777 Walkaround is a post from: Pan Australian Travel

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