Review: Vodafone $5 Global Roaming
Taking your Australian phone overseas used to be so prohibitively expensive that I would get a local SIM card with data in places like Singapore, the US and the UK where I would be visiting for more than a few…
Category Tips, Tricks & Hacks
Marriott Platinum Elite Challenge – Status After 16 Nights
Bonvoy, the frequent guest program of Marriott hotels, offers an undocumented Platinum and Gold status challenge for faster access to the benefits of elite status. There are two versions of the challenge: Platinum Elite after 16 paid nights within 3…
A Guide To Finding Cheap Business Class Deals
Typically the best deals for Business and First Class seats are through redeeming frequent flyer points. But there are situations where a paid Business Class fare is good value. Here is where FlyerTalk and its 755,000 members come in to…
Qantas and Hong Kong Points and Taxes Hack
Sometimes it’s better to pay for flights to a major airline hub and then use Qantas points to get into first class for the long haul. One of my favourite starting hubs is Hong Kong. While we all accept there…
Why Twitter Is The Best Customer Service Channel
I have to admit I was a slow adopter of Twitter. Expressing oneself in 140 characters seemed unnecessarily limiting. When I finally signed up in August 2013 it was used as a single feed for news and travel stories. Since…
The 23:59 Hour Layover – It’s A Good Thing
Since the demise of US Airways, the free stopover on a points ticket has all but disappeared. However, there are still a few hacks that you can do. When travelling on a premium ticket there is nothing as wasteful as…
Using The Best Rate Guarantee To Save On Hotels
Major hotel chains offer a Best Rate Guarantee to entice customers to book directly, rather than via price comparison sites like Trivago, as every booking through an online travel agent equals a commission paid. They promise that you won’t find…
Why You Should Never Prepay For Hotels
The first thing we do when booking a trip is to sort out the flights. Paid and done! We then move on to planning the rest of the trip, from accommodation to activities and sometimes highlight meals. Most people take…
Getting Downgraded – A True Story
One of the biggest fears of travelling on points (particularly without any status) is that you may be regarded as a second-class citizen and could get downgraded from business class to premium economy. Even worse, you may be relegated to…