2PAXfly
EMIRATES: New-generation lounges roll out globally, but Sydney is still waiting
Emirates is rolling out a new ‘signature’ lounge concept across its global network, beginning with Munich and Frankfurt and continuing to Manchester, Mauritius and Istanbul later this year. The airline says it will spend more than AED50 million (AU$20 million) on each next-generation lounge. That is a substantial sum. Passengers...
2PAXfly
QANTAS: COVID credit class action means more than a million customers will receive payout notices
More than one million Qantas customers are set to receive notices explaining how to claim compensation. These customers were issued flight credits, rather than refunds, for cancelled flights during the COVID-19 pandemic. Law firm Echo Law began contacting eligible customers on Monday, 29 June. This follows Qantas’ March settlement of...
2PAXfly
QANTAS: Flooding closes LAX First Lounge, premium dining moves next door
Qantas’ Los Angeles First Lounge has been temporarily closed by flooding, according to the Qantas Lounge page. That means the closure of one of the best overseas lounge experiences for premium passengers on the long trek to Australia. The airline has not set a reopening date on its lounge website....
2PAXfly
VIETJET: launching Australian airline to rival Qantas and Virgin
Vietnamese low-cost carrier VietJet is reportedly seeking the approvals needed to launch an Australian subsidiary, in a move that could create a new domestic competitor for Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia. According to reporting by Ayesha de Kretser in the Australian Financial Review, VietJet has approached the Civil Aviation Safety...
Also on BoardingArea
View from the Wing
Business Class Awards To Asia Have Been Brutal. Star Alliance’s EVA Air Just Opened A New Way To Get There
EVA Air has been one of the most reliable ways to get premium cabin awards to Asia, and they have a very good business class product. However, those awards haven’t been available with partner miles. You’ve needed to use their own points. The best availability by far has been on...
TravelUpdate
Amex Platinum Card Changes In 2026: Updated List With Key Dates
Amex has made a few minor tweaks to the Amex Platinum Card, here are the changes made so far and what's to come later this year in 2026.
Traveling For Miles
United & Marriott promotion: Bonus points + miles when you stay and fly (select members only)
On the same day that they usually do this (1 July), United Airlines and Marriott Bonvoy have launched a new promotion in which select elite members of the Bonvoy and MileagePlus programs can earn bonus United Airlines Miles and bonus Marriott Bonvoy points when they fly with United and stay...
Live from a Lounge
Air France KLM Flying Blue Promo Rewards: 25% off on redemptions from and to Mumbai / Delhi / Bengaluru / Hyderabad through December 2026
Air France / KLM Flying Blue has an excellent deal going on at the moment, offering you trips between India and Europe 37,500 miles upwards.
Live and Let’s Fly
American Airlines Opens JFK Grab-And-Go Lounge With Barista Coffee (Finally!)
American Airlines is bringing its Provisions by Admirals Club concept to JFK, and while “grab-and-go lounge” may not sound especially exciting, this version actually has something American lounges have long needed: proper barista coffee. American Airlines Adds First Lounge Barista Coffee With New JFK Provisions Space American Airlines is opening...
View from the Wing
A Vegas Airport Traveler Won $3.3 Million Waiting For A Flight, Plus Fees Let Airline Employees Skip TSA Lines
A traveler at Las Vegas airport reportedly won $3.3 million on a Wheel of Fortune slot machine while waiting for a flight, while another passenger turned an Iberia Express economy aisle into a yoga studio. Also: airlines will pay so crew can skip regular TSA screening, Delta’s temporary LAX business...
Frequent Miler
Takeaways from a trip cancelled at the last minute
I’ve often said that one of the things I value most about award travel is flexibility. Before I began in this hobby, everything I booked was nonrefundable. Being able to change and cancel award flights and stays has been an absolute game-changer over the decade-plus that I’ve been in the...
The Bulkhead Seat
CLEAR® Plus Increased Membership Prices by $10 Today; Amex Credits Now Match
As I wrote about earlier this week, Starting today, the annual cost of a…
The Bulkhead Seat
American Airlines to Announce Service Between Chicago and Tokyo
American Airlines has been engaged in an ongoing battle with United Airlines over their…
View from the Wing
Rove Miles Adds Frontier Airlines Transfers With A 25% Bonus, And Status Could Make Them Useful
Rove Miles has added Frontier Airlines as a 1:1 transfer partner, with a 25% transfer bonus available through July 31. Frontier miles are easy to dismiss, but they can be useful when paired with status that wipes out many fees. More broadly, Rove keeps adding valuable partners and remains especially...
Live from a Lounge
Malaysia Airlines Enrich Loyalty Programme offering oneworld Status Matches
Malaysia Airlines Enrich is offering a paid Status Match for Air India Elites. And you can match all the way up to Platinum Status. Here are the details.
View from the Wing
American Airlines New Chicago To Tokyo Flights Leaked Early As Its O’Hare Fight With United Heats Up
American Airlines is expected to announce Chicago–Tokyo flights today after details leaked ahead of an O’Hare employee event. The route would mark a major step in American’s renewed Chicago push, giving the airline fresh long-haul Asia service, more Japan Airlines joint-venture connectivity, and another way to fight back as United...
Paddle Your Own Kanoo
Airlines May Soon Be Allowed to Advertise Just the Cheaper Base Fare Excluding Taxes or Fees Under DOT Proposal
Airlines may soon be given far more freedom in how they advertise airfares after the Department of Transportation (DOT) proposed fully repealing an Obama-era rule that forces airlines to include a tax-inclusive airfare in advertisements and commercials. The so-called ‘Full Fare Rule’ was introduced in 2011, and it was designed...
Live from a Lounge
IndiGo launches IndiGo Lite Fares (a hand baggage only fare)
IndiGo has launched a new fare class that offers a lower fare in exchange for giving up your checked bag allowance.
One Mile at a Time
Transfer Capital One Miles To EVA Air With 30% Bonus: This Could Be Worth It
The Capital One mileage program has just launched its newest transfer bonus, to EVA Air Infinity MileageLands. Typically the transfer ratio between the programs is significantly less than 1:1, while this bonus gets it to very close to 1:1.
One Mile at a Time
CLEAR+ Membership Price Increases (Again), Amex Credits Also Bumped
CLEAR is a technology company that helps with expediting clearing of security at select US airports. The company stores the biometric data of members, allowing them to (typically) skip the ID check, and get straight into the security line. Combined with TSA PreCheck, this is the best setup you can...
Live from a Lounge
HDFC Bank Credit Cards devalues SmartBuy Gift Vouchers accelerated rewards with new monthly cap effective today
News coming in from HDFC Bank's Credit Card department this morning is not so great for the card members. Voucher purchases have their own limit now, which is much smaller than the overall limits.
One Mile at a Time
Chase Freedom Flex Categories: How To Earn 5x Points For Q3 2026
The Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card(learn more) is a useful no annual fee card belonging to Chase’s Freedom portfolio, which can help you maximize your points, thanks to its quarterly bonus categories. With it now being a new quarter, Chase has just launched its Q3 2026 bonus categories, so this...
One Mile at a Time
Bilt Rent Day Promotion July 2026: Hilton Honors Points & Gift Card Bonuses
Bilt is the platform known for providing rewards for housing payments. Earlier this year we saw massive changes at Bilt, including an overhaul of the credit card portfolio, plus new ways that housing rewards are offered.
Josh Trips
My Chase Sapphire Reserve is only earning 4x points on Lyft (you may want to check yours)
I’m a new Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholder and discovered a few weeks ago that I was only earning…
Points With a Crew
The Easiest Way To Get Your Free $50 From Rakuten (LAST CHANCE – Deal Ends TONIGHT!)
If you're not sure how to take advantage of the easy $50 welcome bonus from Rakuten, here is in my opinion the best way to get some easy money. Simply ...
The Gate with Brian Cohen
How to Safely Use Escalators and Travelators
Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok was the scene of a woman whose leg was forced to be amputated after it was stuck in a moving walkway called a travelator on Thursday, June 29, 2023 — which prompted the question of how to safely use escalators and travelators. Travelators are common...
Frequent Miler
Some Discover savings accounts will become Capital One 360 Performance Savings on 8/23/26
Last month, Discover advised Discover It cardholders that their cards would be moving over to Capital One on July 27, 2026. What we didn’t know was what would happen to Discover checking and savings account customers. We now have a better idea because Discover has started advising some savings account...
2PAXfly
EMIRATES: New-generation lounges roll out globally, but Sydney is still waiting
Emirates is rolling out a new ‘signature’ lounge concept across its global network, beginning with Munich and Frankfurt and continuing to Manchester, Mauritius and Istanbul later this year. The airline says it will spend more than AED50 million (AU$20 million) on each next-generation lounge. That is a substantial sum. Passengers...
2PAXfly
QANTAS: No First Lounge for London. Premier dining room instead
The original plan was to have a new First Class Lounge at London’s Terminal 3. It was to be ready for the debut of the Project Sunrise flights. Qantas has quietly shelved those plans, to the indignation of premium frequent flyers and passengers. Instead, the airline will refurbish and enlarge...
2PAXfly
CHINA AIRLINES: More flights to Australia from October, 2026
Taiwan’s China Airlines is increasing flights to Australia from late October, giving travellers more non-stop choices between Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Taipei. The headline act is Sydney, where China Airlines will lift its Taipei service to daily from 25 October 2026. Melbourne follows on 28 October with a fifth weekly...
2PAXfly
QANTAS: Lounge pass rules change from 1 July 2026
From Wednesday 1 July, Qantas will tighten the rules governing Complimentary Lounge Invitations, ending the long-standing ability to transfer a pass to any other Frequent Flyer member, regardless of whether they are travelling with you. If you have a stash of passes, you only have days to give them away!...
Wild About Travel
concordes at last
She was the most beautiful aircraft ever created. She was the fastest passenger aircraft ever to fly. She was created through the cooperation of two countries, and the technology that came with her is still being used, with the breakthroughs she sparked continuing to impact aviation today. One fatal crash...
2PAXfly
WEEKLY REVIEW: Sunday 28 June, 2026
Hello travellers, Well, I’m in Sydney, but not quite home yet. If you have ever had a renovation done, you will understand. I have spent the last week at a Meriton Suites in central Sydney. It’s been a mixed experience. Living in central Sydney has some great advantages, especially on...
Wild About Travel
copy an dre doBeautiful Bold Brightline -The Best way to Ride
Birghtline is superb. What blows me away is that the Brightline experience has been created to attract and keep people who have never ridden a train before. And it works. Background First, a bit of history. In 2018, Brightline did the unthinkable and opened a new private rail service in...
2PAXfly
QANTAS: A380 caught in global wing-crack inspection order
One Qantas Airbus A380 is among 16 superjumbos worldwide caught up in an urgent inspection program. Inspections were called for after cracks were found in a critical internal wing structure, as reported by the SMH. Europe’s aviation safety regulator, EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency), issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive...
2PAXfly
QANTAS: Adds Economy Plus to Project Sunrise, but other seats will be Economy Minus
Qantas has previously promised to provide Economy passengers with greater legroom befitting these ultra-long Project Sunrise flights. Like the politicians it seeks to influence through its invitation, Chairman’s Lounge makes promises it doesn’t keep. A standard 33-inch pitch in Economy is one of those. Forthcoming non-stop flights from Sydney to...