AFF on Air Discussion thread

[daft009]

Great finish to the year! You could "hear" the smile on @AviatorInsight 's face during the interview!

 

[Townsend]

Thanks Matt, I look forward to the end of January for the next episode.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and trust that 2021 will be a better year for everyone.

 

[AFF Editor]

Great finish to the year! You could "hear" the smile on @AviatorInsight 's face during the interview!

Thanks Matt, I look forward to the end of January for the next episode.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and trust that 2021 will be a better year for everyone.

Thanks to both of you. I was tempted to end the last episode for 2020 with a flaming trash can (what better way to sum up 2020?), but thought it might be nicer to end on a positive story instead. I'm personally thrilled for @AviatorInsight that he's able to get back to work and was probably almost as excited as he was to hear the news as it's a sign that travel is recovering. Hopefully there will be lots more good news to come in 2021!

Have a wonderful Christmas break and I look forward to the podcast returning in the new year.

 

[AFF Editor]

We've just released the first episode for 2021 after the Christmas break: Podcast Episode #52: When Could "Normal" Travel Resume?

You may notice that the podcast has a new look and sound this year. We decided to refresh the podcast with some new music and a new intro, which is the first time we've done this since it launched more than two years ago. I hope you like it!

 

[Melburnian1]

The seven minutes on 'when will international travel resume?' could be summarised as 'no one knows'.

The podcast was very good (Matt has a reasonable 'radio voice' that many including me lack, so he's pleasant to listen to) but there wasn't any mention during those seven minutes of how experienced travellers, business or leisure, are often prepared to take risks after we individually assess these. Why, for instance, can't we travel as of today to Taiwan, arguably the most successful country worldwide at combating this virus?

At about 37:55, did Mattg mean 'preventing transmission' instead of his mentions of 'preventing infection?' Isn't the greater debate about whether the various vaccines prevent us passing on the virus to others, and that's where there's a lack of data at present?

Mattg didn't cover (apart from his interesting mention of Seychelles) that keys to overseas travel returning include the willingness or otherwise of foreign governments to accept Australians, whether quarantining on arrival overseas is still necessary, what we have to do when we return to Australia and the costs of any such various requirements.

There are huge job losses due to our inability to travel overseas. Media hasn't featured it for a few weeks but there was one article about how so many businesses in Bali are suffering, as domestic tourists from Jakarta are smaller in number and spend far less per day than we do there.

 

[Townsend]

Thanks Matt, great to have the podcasts back!

 

[AFF Editor]

The seven minutes on 'when will international travel resume?' could be summarised as 'no one knows'.

Glad you enjoyed the podcast.

Yes, that is a fair summary. As I said in the podcast, nobody can predict the future with any certainty at the moment so it would be naïve of me to try to do so. However, we can make educated estimates based on the information we currently have. Based on what we currently know, I would be surprised if international travel was permitted earlier than July 2021, or if it was not brought back to some extent by the end of this year, based on the current vaccination rollout timeline. As we learn more about the ability of the vaccine/s to prevent transmission of the virus, this timeline could change.

The podcast was very good (Matt has a reasonable 'radio voice' that many including me lack, so he's pleasant to listen to) but there wasn't any mention during those seven minutes of how experienced travellers, business or leisure, are often prepared to take risks after we individually assess these. Why, for instance, can't we travel as of today to Taiwan, arguably the most successful country worldwide at combating this virus?

That's a question for the governments of Australia and Taiwan.

In any case, the Australian government still has a ban in place on travel to all countries without an exemption so I am not going to encourage people to travel overseas for leisure at this point in time. Even if it were possible, it's still quite risky in terms of getting insurance (i.e. you can't) and the extreme difficulty in getting a flight home. If governments decide to start implementing travel bubbles with Australia, of course I'll talk about that in a future episode of the podcast.

At about 37:55, did Mattg mean 'preventing transmission' instead of his mentions of 'preventing infection?' Isn't the greater debate about whether the various vaccines prevent us passing on the virus to others, and that's where there's a lack of data at present?

Yes, I meant "preventing transmission" there. What I probably was trying to say was "preventing people from infecting others" - poor choice of words.

Mattg didn't cover (apart from his interesting mention of Seychelles) that keys to overseas travel returning include the willingness or otherwise of foreign governments to accept Australians, whether quarantining on arrival overseas is still necessary, what we have to do when we return to Australia and the costs of any such various requirements.

There are huge job losses due to our inability to travel overseas. Media hasn't featured it for a few weeks but there was one article about how so many businesses in Bali are suffering, as domestic tourists from Jakarta are smaller in number and spend far less per day than we do there.

Indeed there are many other angles that could be looked at - this is a huge topic - but there is only so much time available in a ~30-40 minute podcast.

Thanks Matt, great to have the podcasts back!

It's a pleasure

 

[AFF Editor]

This fortnight's podcast has been released. In this episode, I interviewed the manager of the hostel in Lisbon, Portugal featured in Episode 32 of the podcast almost exactly one year ago. That hostel opened at quite possibly the unluckiest time for a tourism business to open since World War II, in March 2020, and had to close after just two days due to the sudden coronavirus lockdown. I was one of just two guests to stay in March 2020 before it shut down.

I was very pleased to learn that the hostel has now reopened, albeit after making some substantial changes to its business model. It hasn't yet made a profit, but things are looking up for the future.

Podcast Episode #56: The Pandemic's One-Year Anniversary

Listen now! This episode was released on 20 March, 2021.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

If you haven't already, don't forget to subscribe on your favourite podcasting platform so you'll receive each episode when it's released every second Saturday morning

 

[Townsend]

Another great episode thanks Matt.

 

[AFF Editor]

This fortnight's podcast includes an interview with Sam Heathfield, a.k.a. @support and @samh004.

Podcast Episode #57: 800,000 Half-Price Domestic Flights

Listen now! This episode was released on 3 April, 2021.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Sam often receives messages addressed to me, and vice versa. So hopefully this will clear up the difference between @support (Sam), @AFF Editor (Matt) and @Admin (Clifford)!

 

[mel-world]

Matt, I'm still enjoying the podcasts; they are a valuable summary of the latest news. Thanks. One comment and one question.

There has been much negative commentary around the SQ Krisflyer policy of having a time-limit on points. My wife is affected so I'm not in favour of expiring points but a solution is to fly enough to gain PPS and then the points will never expire (as long as you can maintain this level of recognition - not easy, I admit with the borders closed).

You discussed points being lost on the death of a member. If one had a terminal illness and could not fly anymore, or otherwise use up the points, could you book flights for your nominees even if travel may occur after the member's death? Would the nominees be able to use the tickets? I believe so as the points usually leave your account as you book the itinerary or service.

 

[AFF Editor]

Thanks @mel-world for the comments and question, I'll discuss this in the next episode.

 

[AFF Editor]

Matt, I'm still enjoying the podcasts; they are a valuable summary of the latest news. Thanks. One comment and one question.

There has been much negative commentary around the SQ Krisflyer policy of having a time-limit on points. My wife is affected so I'm not in favour of expiring points but a solution is to fly enough to gain PPS and then the points will never expire (as long as you can maintain this level of recognition - not easy, I admit with the borders closed).

You discussed points being lost on the death of a member. If one had a terminal illness and could not fly anymore, or otherwise use up the points, could you book flights for your nominees even if travel may occur after the member's death? Would the nominees be able to use the tickets? I believe so as the points usually leave your account as you book the itinerary or service.

I've answered your question in today's episode:

Podcast Episode #60: Can You Fly to Australia on Points During COVID-19?

Listen now! This episode was released on 15 May, 2021.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[SueKorbl]

I've answered your question in today's episode:

Podcast Episode #60: Can You Fly to Australia on Points During COVID-19?

Listen now! This episode was released on 15 May, 2021.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

My husband and I managed to get back to Australia last November on points. We had an American Airlines points ticket using Cathay LON/HKG/PER. Admittedly we had had flight cancellations in May and then in August before the November flights came through. Fourteen days before the first flight I had a call from Cathay head office in Hong Kong confirming that we wanted the seats on the flight. After that the process was very smooth. It cost us AUS$330.00 each in taxes and 85,000 miles each. We were very lucky!

 

[AFF Editor]

My husband and I managed to get back to Australia last November on points. We had an American Airlines points ticket using Cathay LON/HKG/PER. Admittedly we had had flight cancellations in May and then in August before the November flights came through. Fourteen days before the first flight I had a call from Cathay head office in Hong Kong confirming that we wanted the seats on the flight. After that the process was very smooth. It cost us AUS$330.00 each in taxes and 85,000 miles each. We were very lucky!

Very lucky indeed! You're now the second person I've heard from who has been successful returning to Australia from Europe on points after the arrival caps were brought in. Glad you made it home.

Unfortunately with Cathay Pacific having since drastically reduced its schedules to Australia, I doubt this would work now.

 

[daft009]

Just me or others can't see the current e61 in their podcast app?

Never had an issue before, using Pocket casts on Android

 

[Scr77]

Just me or others can't see the current e61 in their podcast app?

Never had an issue before, using Pocket casts on Android

Ep61 shows on iPhone.

 

[AFF Editor]

Just me or others can't see the current e61 in their podcast app?

Never had an issue before, using Pocket casts on Android

I've had a look and can see that Episode 61 doesn't appear yet in Pocket Casts, for some reason. We checked and everything is set up correctly on our end, and none of the other podcast platforms seem to have this problem, so I suspect it's a problem with Pocket Casts. Hopefully it will fix itself soon.

 

[daft009]

I've had a look and can see that Episode 61 doesn't appear yet in Pocket Casts, for some reason. We checked and everything is set up correctly on our end, and none of the other podcast platforms seem to have this problem, so I suspect it's a problem with Pocket Casts. Hopefully it will fix itself soon.

Hi Matt (@AFF Editor), ep62 didnt appear either.
I emailed pocketcasts support last night and they have jsut replied with...

We are getting an error calling the producers feed URL of https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/feed/podcast/
It is giving us back the error "403 Forbidden"

 

[Townsend]

I am ha going out for the next episode as to how we can leave the country!!!Thanks Matt.