2PAXfly
QATAR & ETIHAD: A380s retreat from Australia as the superjumbo shuffle continues
Qatar Airways is cutting back planned A380 service to Australia and China, with the superjumbo now concentrated on a much smaller number of routes as the airline rebuilds its network after disruption in the Middle East. AeroRoutes schedule filings show Qatar’s regular A380 operations from 16 June to 15 September...
2PAXfly
QANTAS: Project Sunrise slips again due to ‘supply chain’ delay, now aiming for April 2027
The first Airbus A350-1000ULR for Project Sunrise, the aircraft Qantas is banking on to finally make non-stop Sydney and Melbourne flights to London and New York a commercial reality, will now join the fleet in April 2027 according to reports in the SMH. That is later than previously announced, when...
2PAXfly
WEEKLY REVIEW: Sunday 24 May, 2026
Greetings from Sydney. Back at home for a week or so before I head out on my next trip. Later this week, I’m heading eastward to the Americas. Precise location and cities to visit will be revealed as the trip progresses. These will all be totally new destinations for me,...
2PAXfly
WEBJET: Travel agent squeezed as Virgin Australia cuts commissions
Webjet is warning investors that trading conditions remain “fluid and challenging” after Virgin Australia cut the commissions it pays the online travel agent, according to an article in the SMH. For travellers, that could mean fewer sharp Webjet airfare deals on Virgin flights. For Webjet, it is another revenue hit...
Also on BoardingArea
View from the Wing
Citi Cardholders Have 3 Days To Stack A $50 Hotel Deal With Up To $300 In Annual Credits
This is a pretty good deal. Citi Travel is offering cardmembers $50 off a hotel booking of $300 through May 29, 2026 at 11:59pm Eastern. This offer is stackable with the Citi Strata Premier and Citi Strata Elite annual hotel credits.
Frequent Miler
My week in travel, made better by ultra-premium cards
Over the past year, I’ve lamented the fact that rising ultra-premium card annual fees have made me melt. Over the past week and a half, I’ve enjoyed some of the benefits of those ultra-premium cards immensely, reminding me that although the cost of admission has increased, the benefits of ultra-premium...
One Mile at a Time
Man Furious At Aman Over Late Check-Out Cost, Beautiful Girlfriend Comment
I get a lot of messages from people about their travel frustrations. Often people will directly ask me for help, which I try to provide when possible, assuming their complaint is reasonable (after all, consumers often feel powerless in the travel industry, when things go wrong). Other times I’ll just...
Live and Let’s Fly
SAS Pulls Greenland Flights This Summer, And There Goes My Nuuk Plan
SAS has reportedly removed all scheduled Copenhagen – Nuuk flights for this summer, making Greenland another apparent casualty of high fuel prices. I was seriously looking forward to trying this route and visiting Greenland this summer, so this one stings… SAS Appears To Pull Greenland Flights As Fuel Prices Bite...
Paddle Your Own Kanoo
Alaska Airlines Faces $165,000 Fine For Allowing Intoxicated Passenger On Board its Planes
Alaska Airlines is facing a rare $165,000 fine for allowing intoxicated passengers on board its flights, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on Tuesday. In a very brief statement, the FAA said that it was proposing the civil penalty based on incidents that occurred on 11 flights between February 2024...
Points With a Crew
Amazon Kindle Unlimited 3 Month Free Trial
Amazon is out with an offer for Amazon Kindle Unlimited. The offers vary per person, but a common one is 3 months free. Click here to find out how to ...
The Gate with Brian Cohen
Sri Lanka To Offer Visa Free Entry to Visitors of 40 Countries
Sri Lanka now offers visa free entry to visitors of 40 countries in what appears to be on a permanent basis effective as of yesterday, Monday, May 25, 2026 — the visa used to cost $50.00 in United States dollars — but an Electronic Travel Authorization is still required even...
Frequent Miler
Homes & Villas by Marriott promo: Earn 3X points on 5+ night stays in Caribbean & Latin America
Homes & Villas by Marriott tends to have some kind of promotion running nearly every day of the year in one form or another. Its latest one is awarding 3X points when staying five or more nights at properties in the Caribbean and Latin America. The Deal Earn 3X points...
Frequent Miler
First impressions of the new World of Hyatt order | Coffee Break Ep107 | 5-26-26
The World of Hyatt new award charts are live now, and we have thoughts! We’ll give our first impressions in this episode, and you can read more about the new award charts here. First impressions of the new World of Hyatt order Watch the full episode below, or listen on...
Your Mileage May Vary
Celebrities Who FAFOed On Planes & Got Kicked Off
Airports have become one of the last places where being rich, famous or powerful doesn’t always get people special treatment. At least not when TSA agents, gate agents or flight…
Frequent Miler
TheGiftCardShop.com: Get waived purchase fees on Visa & Mastercard gift cards with code GRADS26
A couple of weeks ago, several Incomm-run stores—MastercardGiftCard.com, VanillaGift.com, and AmexGiftCard.com—launched sales waiving purchase fees on Visa, Mastercard, and/or Amex gift cards when using a graduation-themed promo code. TheGiftCardShop.com has also joined them, waiving purchase fees on both Visa and Mastercard gift cards when using promo code GRADS26. The Deal...
Miles To Memories
Hyatt’s Forgotten Benefit, Last Minute Business Class Score & Delta’s New Bag Benefit
Hyatt's lucrative but forgotten benefit, scoring last minute business class deal, Delta's new bag benefit and AAdvantage changes made easy.
One Mile at a Time
Is The Amex Gold Card Worth $325? 4x Points & $424 In Credits Says Yes
The American Express Gold Card (application) has a $325 annual fee (Rates & Fees), which is obviously on the steep side. Fortunately the ”worth it” question on the card is pretty easy to answer. Almost everyone eats, and the bonus points at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets is easy to use,...
View from the Wing
Flying To Europe This Summer? New Biometric Border Checks Are Causing Missed Flights And Hours-Long Lines
Flying to Europe this summer may mean more than crowded airports and packed flights. Europe’s new biometric border checks are creating hours-long immigration lines at some airports, with travelers missing connecting flights on arrival and returning flights as first-time registration overwhelms passport control.
Points With a Crew
Kickstarter: K-25 Cooling Blanket
The K-25 cooling blanket is designed for hot sleepers, those who get night sweats while they sleep, pregnant people, those with menopause, and others who get hot while sleeping. It's on Kickstarter, but only for a few more ...
Your Mileage May Vary
The Park Hyatt Sydney “Resort” Outrage Misses Hyatt’s Real Problem
The outrage of the day in the Hyatt world is that Park Hyatt Sydney and Park Hyatt Tokyo are apparently being treated as resorts for late checkout purposes. That matters…
Monkey Miles
Capital One Venture Business 150k offer is ending soon
Offer Ends June 8th Capital One is winning the game of making things simple. Case in point is the Capital One Venture Business which I think is a no brainer add to your wallet. Earn unlimited 2x Capital One Miles on every purchase, a low $95 annual fee, and some...
View from the Wing
Air Canada Says “Award Scraping” Is Computer Fraud — Seats.aero Says That’s Anticompetitive
Air Canada says Seats.aero’s automated award-search scraping is computer fraud. Seats.aero says Air Canada is trying to block a useful award tool and shut down competition — and now the fight is expanding from website terms and trademarks into antitrust, tortious interference, and unfair competition claims.
Frequent Miler
Planning a destination wedding? Earn 120K-300K IHG One Rewards points at participating IHG properties
If you’re planning on having a destination wedding, IHG currently has a promotion that can earn you up to 300,000 bonus IHG One Rewards points if you book your wedding at one of their participating properties. The Deal Book a wedding at participating IHG properties and earn the following bonus...
You Are Travel
Grand Hyatt Tokyo Putting Pokémon Front and Center for Franchise’s 30th Anniversary
​tl;dr – For those who ‘Gotta Catch ‘Em All.’ Pokémon is turning 30, and the collective Pokeverse is…
Paddle Your Own Kanoo
Denver Airport Has a Radical Fix for Overcrowded Trains: Make Passengers Walk
Denver International Airport has devised a solution to its increasingly overcrowded transit train system: Get passengers to walk between concourses through underground baggage tunnels. As passenger frustration grows over packed trains and reliability issues at one of America’s busiest airports, Denver Airport is finally taking action to relieve the pressure,...
Miles To Memories
Verizon Offering Some Customers 25% Monthly Discounts, Check Your Accounts
Verizon customers are reporting a new retention offer that can provide a 25% monthly discount on wireless service.
The Gate with Brian Cohen
The Kimpton Secret Password Through August 2026 Is…
Mention the Kimpton secret social password to the members of the team at the front desk when checking in to a participating hotel or resort property to receive a special surprise or perk during your stay — from complimentary room upgrades and vouchers for food and beverages to local knick...
You Are Travel
Rosewood Announces Plans for 200-Room Tokyo Hotel
​tl;dr – Another luxury brand for the megalopolis. ​Rosewood Hotels recently announced its plans to open the Rosewood…
2PAXfly
UNITED STATES: Trump administration floats airport squeeze on ‘sanctuary cities’
I have refrained largely from reporting on USA affairs. That’s partly because I don’t want to besmirch my reputation if I decide to travel to the USA again. However, there are just some things that need to be reported in the interests of Australians travelling to the USA. The Trump...
Wild About Travel
Dubrovnik. Dragons, Demons,
Dubrovnik looks almost unreal at first glance. Terracotta roofs stacked above polished limestone streets, all wrapped in thick medieval walls with the Adriatic on three sides. It is indeed a real‑world city. It became King’s Landing in Game of Thrones. Many key scenes were filmed in and around its medieval...
Wild About Travel
Berlin: Cities I Love #2
I have been coming to Berlin since the Wall fell. I have watched it change beyond recognition and yet remain, stubbornly, itself. It is a city that has survived everything history has thrown at it, and it wears that history openly, without flinching. There is nowhere else like it. 01...
2PAXfly
AIR NEW ZEALAND: How to book the new Economy Skynest sleep pods
Air New Zealand’s much-hyped Economy Skynest is finally going on sale. Yep, those at the bunk beds you can rent by the four hour period. From this week (18 May 2026), passengers booked in Economy or Premium Economy will be able to add a four-hour lie-flat sleep session on selected...
2PAXfly
THAILAND: Visa-free stays for Australians cut back to 30 days
The Thai government has approved changes that would end the current 60-day visa-free stay for Australians and visitors from more than 90 other countries. That generous 60-day exemption only arrived in July 2024, when Thailand was still trying to goose its post-pandemic tourism economy. It applied to passport holders from...
2PAXfly
AIR NEW ZEALAND: Koru program replaces Airpoints
Air New Zealand has officially launched its refreshed loyalty programme, Koru, replacing the long-running Airpoints brand and shifting more than five million members into a new tier structure from 22 April 2026. Existing Airpoints and Status Points carry across, so members are not starting again from scratch. The less thrilling...
2PAXfly
AIR SERVICES AGREEMENTS: Direct flights to Maldives from Melbourne, and Western Sydney Airport to get Gulf carriers
The Australian government has signed four new or updated aviation agreements, opening the door to more flights and more codeshares. Although, as ever with aviation bilaterals, permission to fly is not the same thing as an airline actually putting metal in the sky. The Albanese Government says it has negotiated...
Wild About Travel
Navigating the world’s best airport: a flawless experience.
Changi, Singapore. Everything you need to know. Stunning takeoff out of Singapore Changi (SIN) after a transit between my flight from Sydney and to Asia. I have been through this airport 82 times flawlessly. There are few airports where anyone can say that about. The others that follow it in...