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AirAsia X: Kuala Lumpur – Sydney flights to commence 1 July!

roshodgekiss — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:53:43 +0000

AirAsia X is set to bring the great travel deals to Sydney from 1 July, 2010. Photo Credit: onggon (Flickr)

Travel Weekly broke the news that we’ve been all hanging out to hear, announcing today that AirAsia X has tentatively set 1 July as the date to commence direct Kuala Lumpur – Sydney flights. For now, daily departures are on the cards, to be potentially upped in the future.

It isn’t the first time that AirAsia has stated its intent to fly into Sydney, however with the resolution of the dispute between AirAsia and the Malaysian Government over the Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Carrier Terminal (KL LCCT), it seems a lot more feasible this time. Stay tuned to this blog and our travel tweets for updates.

In related news, Tiger Airways Australia has stated its plans to more than triple its fleet from 17, to 68 aircraft by 2015. With this will come greater frequencies on existing routes and the introduction of new routes across Australia and Asia. Read more on this venture.

More routes, more departures, cheaper flights. This is going to be an excellent year for the budget traveller!

Jetstar MasterCard to be released today

roshodgekiss — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:22:08 +0000

Although details are sketchy at this moment, Jetstar have announced that in conjunction with Macquarie Bank, they will be releasing a Jetstar MasterCard in two flavours today – being regular and platinum. For the regular card, every dollar spent equates to 1c in Jetstar money, which can eventually be redeemed for flight vouchers and promotional offers. For platinum, this doubles to 2c.

Word has it that there may be a Qantas/Jetstar points tie-in announced next year.

Make sure you check details first, but the skinny is that interest will be pegged at 10.99% and the card itself will come with a $49 annual fee. So, if you think all those cents accrued will exceed the annual price tag, then it doesn’t seem too rough to me. Hopefully it won’t come with a minimum spend in order to collect points, like that pesky Everyday Rewards/Qantas Frequent Flyer card.

Watch this page for the card’s launch later today.

Jetstar: International price drop, Vietnam from $427 return!

Travel news in review…

roshodgekiss — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:34:40 +0000

A couple of shorts from the last few weeks:

Tiger Airways is now flying between Sydney and the Gold Coast, commencing 15 December. Introductory fares start from $39, with daily frequency.
Virgin Blue and Pacific Blue flights will no longer accept cash for food and entertainment services on their flights – only credit card. Just as well – carrying loose change on international flights is a bit of a drag.
Singapore Airlines and others are encouraging punters to buck the discount trend and purchase earlybird fares. So far, these fares are largely hot air, being neither particularly cheap (Sydney to London for $2000 with Singapore Airlines) and in the face of a strengthening dollar, not necessarily in short supply.
Tiger Airways has more than enough material for another season of Airways, with a flight cancellation delaying passengers in Hobart for up to 3 days. Tiger denies that the police were called – that said, if I was stranded in Hobart for 3 days…!

It’s great to be back on the couch. Game on!

Flight Delays in Sydney and Brisbane today…

roshodgekiss — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:38:10 +0000

A striking red dust storm blankets Sydney. Photo Credit: tolomea

For the first time in living memory, Sydney has been hit by an apocalypse-red dust storm, paired with gale-force winds and a whole lot of environmental anxiety. This has caused chaos on both the ground and in the air, causing numerous flights to be redirected to Melbourne and Brisbane airports and creating major delays for passengers arriving to or departing from Sydney Airport. Even I encountered a significant delay this morning, while determining whether I wanted to walk through a painted reproduction from the final chapter of a children’s Bible. Finally, I closed my eyes and stepped outside – it couldn’t be any worse than in the Emirates, if they were to ever have a cold day, right?

If they ever had a day this cool in Dubai, I’m sure there would be chaos, too. But that was beside the point.

Onto the practical stuff:

As of the time of writing, Sydney Airport’s website has been put out of order due to the influx of enquiries regarding flight delays
Significant delays are to also be encountered at Brisbane airport, due to the arrival of redirected flights
Qantas has announced that they will be refunding or rescheduling passengers on affected flights
Jetstar will be rescheduling passengers on affected flights until Friday
No word from Tiger Airways and Virgin Blue – call your airline if you are concerned about potential delays on flights departing in the next 24 hours

Well, the skies are starting to clear now over Sydney in a fascinating transition, from the morning’s blaze of grapefruit red, to a dull orange-yellow, to cottage cheese and finally, a sliver of blue. Check out this amazing Sydney dust storm photo set on Flickr.

What a dramatic, final day to my twenty-fifth year!

V Australia: New routes to Phuket and Johannesburg, sale on now!

roshodgekiss — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:13:14 +0000

Cold in Melbourne? Fly to Phuket from December! Photo Credit: Shelby Lee Root

V Australia has announced the following new routes: Melbourne to Phuket, Brisbane to Phuket and Melbourne to Johannesburg, with the Phuket routes commencing 3 December and J’burg kicking off on 13 March, 2010! To celebrate, fares are now on sale ex. Melbourne and Brisbane to Thailand for $399 one way and ex. Melbourne to South Africa for $1899 return including taxes! Sale ends 31 August 2009 or until sold out and for travel from 13 March 2010 to 31 May 2010 (Johannesburg) and 22 November to 17 December 2009 & 15 January to 31 May 2010 (Phuket).

Flights to Phuket run twice weekly from Brisbane and weekly from Melbourne, with the potential for greater frequency to be announced later in the year. In related news, flights from Melbourne to LA will commence on 1 December, with two flights plying this route each week.

View V Australia’s press release for details and to book. Go wild!

I’m glad that the V Australia flights are kicking off after a week of speculation, as I personally believe that Melbourne Airport is under-serviced, despite being highly receptive to new passenger markets. In the last 12 months, passenger numbers have been on the rise in the face of current economic conditions – there has been a 33% increase in passenger numbers from Malaysia and India (thanks to an aggressive effort from Air Asia X), contributing to a 2% increase overall. Comparatively, Sydney Airport passenger flow has dropped 4% and Tiger has recently terminated its Canberra service. So, good luck, V Australia! I’m certain demand for these routes will soon soon outstrip supply.

AirAsia X: Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur 6x weekly, still $303 return inc tax

roshodgekiss — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:27:26 +0000

As proposed earlier in the week, AirAsia has announced that they have upped the frequency of flights from the Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur to 6x weekly. View the new flight schedule.

As per AirAsia’s ongoing international sale, fares are still available for $149 one way, $303 return including tax. Sale is now until 9 August or until sold out, for travel between 20 October and 10 January, 2010. Not bad, Christmas holiday fares! Looks like Santa came early this year.

Check AirAsia’s sale page for details. To select the choice sale fares and to book, visit Adioso. What an amazing week for cheap travel!

Jetstar: Sydney to Perth for $99 one way, $200 return including tax, until 1pm!

roshodgekiss — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:21:56 +0000

Jump in quick: Jetstar have just launched their Sydney – Perth route and are offering $99 fares for the travel period of 20 October- 10 December, but only until 1pm today! Usual fares offered by Tiger Airways are about $199 one way, so if you have ever wanted to experience the west coast, this is the time.

Sale fares are not yet visible on Adioso, so check Jetstar’s sale page for details and to book. Availability is great, so get over there!

AirAsia X: Malaysia to Sydney route delayed, greater flight frequencies to Australian cities

roshodgekiss — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:29:23 +0000

Sampai jumpa lagi (See you soon) - AirAsia X shelves its proposed Sydney - Kuala Lumpur route. Photo Credit: Jason Tan

The Malaysian Government has deferred approval of AirAsia X flights between Sydney in Kuala Lumpur, thus dampening the hopes of countless Sydneysiders who have been hanging out for one of their rediculously cheap fares. Flights were initially slated to commence on 23 October, however this date has bee pushed back indefinitely due to an airport tax payment dispute with Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), which the government seeks to resolve before granting approval.

AirAsia X is set to take delivery of three A330’s this year and have suggested that these will be used to increase flight frequency on their existing Australian routes, in lieu of use on the proposed Sydney and Seoul routes.

More updates as they break – visit The Star and Travel Weekly for further information.

Round-the-World fares now available direct from Star Alliance

roshodgekiss — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:25:38 +0000

Star Alliance's new RTW booking engine - Sexier than your travel agent?

Star Alliance has just launched a round the world (RTW) ticket booking engine on their website, allowing consumers to purchase their fares directly, instead of via a travel agent as has traditionally been done. In response to the predictable dismay from travel agents (who rightfully believe this may eat into their trade), Star Alliance has reasoned that giving consumers the ability to purchase fares directly will “free up”* agents to perform other tasks. Like entering Star Alliance’s “Count your Lucky Stars” promotion. Or even better, Jetstar’s photo contest. Actually, sudoku sounds fun. Lets do sudoku!

To throw further gas on your increasingly uncomfortable relationship with your travel agent, access Star Alliance’s new “Book and Fly” RTW booking system here.

* from TravelToday, 21/07/09

Tiger Airways doubles their Sydney – Melbourne frequency, fares still $39

roshodgekiss — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:21:10 +0000

Snippet from the newsdesk: Tiger Airways has doubled their frequency on their Sydney – Melbourne route to 9 times daily, up from the initial 4 flights a day in each direction. Tiger also plan to double their Sydney – Adelaide frequency from daily to twice-daily. From TravelToday:

Roberts said the carrier had gained extra slots due to other airlines cutting services. With a new A320 also in operation, Roberts said Tiger was able to expand its presence on the trunk route.

First of all, who died? Who cut back services on the world’s third-busiest route, thus giving Tiger these extra slots?

Update (21/07/09): VirginBlue cut frequency earlier in the year, thus the extra Tiger slots.

Flights still start from $39 and are in plentiful supply, so visit Adioso to find a cheap fare.

In related news, ‘Airways’ Episode 2 is on tomorrow, Channel 7 at 7:30pm, catch a sneak peek here: http://au.tv.yahoo.com/airways/