Wild About Travel
My Quest to See Every Concorde (and How You Can Too)
The majestic, sleek Concorde has always captured my attention with its breathtaking beauty and speed. I only ever dreamed of flying on it, but I’ve made up for that by visiting almost every Concorde still in existence! Just 20 Concorde aeroplanes were ever built. Two were prototypes, two were pre-production...
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BRITISH AIRWAYS: New first class seats for A380 in 2026
British Airways has announced a new First Class seat for its fleet of A380s to be retrofitted and in the air by 2026. Let’s hope it puts to bed the old saying about British Airways First Class — that it was the best business class cabin in the sky. As...
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QANTAS: the road back for the A380 turns out to be longer than expected
Remember when Qantas was all gung-ho about bringing back its flagship Airbus A380, and it brought back the first early in November 2021? Well, it’s November 2024, nearly 2025, and Qantas is talking about the ‘last’ one returning in 2026 according to ET. That’s right, the final double-decker super-jumbo jet...
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AIR NEW ZEALAND: Targets Australian market with new ad campaign
Air New Zealand has rolled out a new advertising campaign targeting the Australian market. It features Australian actress and ex-wife of Sasha Baron Cohen, Isla Fisher. The campaign aims to showcase the airline’s offerings for Australians travelling to and from New Zealand. Storyline The ‘Somewhere over the Tasman’ campaign follows...
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OMAN AIR: We have a date! To join OneWorld in June 2025
We have known Oman Air is to join OneWorld for a while. First, it was scheduled for 2024 and then recently rescheduled for 2025. Now, we have an official date courtesy of the new Oman Air CEO, Con Korfiatis, via ET’s David Flynn. He’s on a junket to London via...
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QANTAS: Adelaide Qantas Club lounge opens. Premium passengers no longer access the Chairman’s Lounge
Last week, on Thursday, 14 November, we saw the informal opening of the refurbished Qantas Club Lounge in Adelaide. The word is it’s a vast improvement and possibly the nicest Qantas Club in the country. Unfortunately, we still only have the 3D renders, so it’s hard to tell. Qantas is...
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VIRGIN AUSTRALIA: To part ways with Etihad Airways from mid-2025
Virgin Australia is officially parting ways with its long-time partner, Etihad Airways, by June next year. This move clears the runway for a new alliance with Qatar Airways, which is eyeing a 25% stake in Virgin, subject to regulatory approval. The Official Word from Etihad Airways Etihad made it clear...
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AIR NEW ZEALAND: Overcomes slot challenges to return daily to London Gatwick from mid 2025
The New Zealand airline abandoned its slots at London Heathrow in 2020, early in the pandemic, by selling them and taking the cash to fix its bottom line. Now that travel is going gangbusters, Air New Zealand wants to return flying to the Old Dart, but the Heathrow slot cupboard...
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QANTAS: Wants to seduce New Zealanders into their frequent flyer program
Qantas has signed up the equivalent of nearly every Australian voter (15 million). Now, it has set its sights on the 5.3 million residents of the land across the Tasman Sea. To entice Kiwis to the Qantas Frequent Flyer scheme, it has designed a package of earning shopping points, status...
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VIRGIN AUSTRALIA: Velocity loyalty scheme doubles points required for Business Upgrades
Virgin Australia and its loyalty scheme are at it again, proving that even in the world of frequent flyer programs, there’s no such thing as a free upgrade. In a move that’ll have your Velocity Points crying for mercy, the airline is doubling the points required to upgrade from economy...
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FLIGHT JARGON: Understanding Direct and Non-Stop flights, and Layovers
The travel industry is riddled with terms that often confuse passengers, particularly when discussing flight itineraries. Don’t start me on terms like ‘open jaw’ and ‘layover’! One of the blog readers picked up on my misuse of some terms. I used the terms  ‘non-stop flights‘ and ‘direct flights‘ interchangeably. They...
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REX AIRLINES: Gets AU$80 million lifeline from Australian Government
The Australian Government has agreed to hand AU$80 million to the company Administrator, EY, to assist REX’s regional operations through until June 2025. That also means REX will continue to operate its regional routes beyond the Federal Election that must be held by May 2025. It is a way of...
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OMAN AIR: OneWorld Alliance membership pushed out to 2025
We were expecting Oman Air to join the OneWorld alliance in 2024, and then that was made ‘late 2024. Now, membership will not occur until 2025. OneWorld is offering no indication of whether that will be early or late in the year. Having just booked a trip to Europe with...
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QANTAS: We are not a landing slot hoarder!
At a parliamentary inquiry today (Tuesday, 12 November 2024), Qantas domestic CE Markus Svenson denied that the airline is a landing slot hoarder. The airline has been accused of being a slot hoarder in peak times at Sydney Airport to hold off competition. He denied that Qantas misused its allocation...
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THAILAND: Delaying ETA and tourist fee until 2025
Thailand announced in December that it would pilot a new Electronic Travel Authorisation in December 2025 and introduce it fully in June 2025. The introduction of the free ETA would also have heralded the return of the Thai Travel Tax of ฿300 (AU$13) to be paid online prior to arrival...
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QANTAS: My experience rebooking and cancelling flights to North America after COVID diagnosis
As regular readers might know, I was due to travel to North America for two weeks in October 2024. Five days before I was due to leave, I had a COVID diagnosis. My first time. Initial reaction Ever the optimist, I hoped for a quick recovery. With antivirals onboard within...