"Ask Me Anything" with AFF Editor Matt Graham (5-6pm on 2 July 2024)

[AFF Editor]

Hi Matt,

1) which airline miles are you focused on collecting now?

Velocity points, Avios (I collect mine with British Airways) and Aeroplan points. Between those programs, there are lots of redemption options and I can usually find availability to where I want to go.

2) Boeing or Airbus?

The Boeing 747 and 767 are my two favourite planes, but in general I would say that I prefer Airbus. The recent safety issues with Boeing aside, Airbus has cleverly designed its cabins to make it impractical for most airlines to squeeze in an extra seat per row. As a result, the A320 has wider seats than the 737; the A350 has wider seats than the 787; and the A380 has wider seats than the 777 in a 10-abreast configuration.

3) What about cruises? What is your best experience at the sea?

I have honestly never been on a multi-day cruise! Not that I wouldn't ever do it, but it's just not my preferred way to holiday at this stage of my life. I'm currently in my late 20s and I love visiting destinations at my own pace and going off the beaten track. It's a bit hard to do that when you dock into a port at 9am, leave at 6pm, and have to share the destination with a thousand other cruise ship passengers - most of whom are outside of my age demographic.

I would love to take a cruise to Antarctica one day, though. And just once I'll probably try out a cruise from Sydney to Auckland - I've done that flight countless times but often wondered what it would be like going by ship instead.

Best experience at sea? Probably a cruise (not overnight) on Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. A stunning place!

 

[AFF Editor]

Thanks everyone for all the questions so far! I may not be able to answer all of them by 6pm but I will keep answering all of the questions that are posted before that time until I get to the last one

 

[Flyfrequently]

Hi Matt
Do you enjoy travel more if it is just for pleasure?

Do you prefer direct point to point or embrace "the journey"?

Great Q&A
Thanks

 

[stephenrob63]

Hi Matt,

I am a Qatar Privilege member. I recently earned Avios on an Iberia flight. Can I transfer them to Qatar, and if so, how?

 

[kamchatsky]

Velocity points, Avios (I collect mine with British Airways) and Aeroplan points. Between those programs, there are lots of redemption options and I can usually find availability to where I want to go.

Buying or collecting points for the above? Which credit cards you use?

Also do you churn cards? Or business expenses through cards?

 

[AFF Editor]

OK, I want to go to Uzbekistan now.

I heartily recommend it! It's not on many travellers' radars, and admittedly there aren't a whole lot of airlines flying there, but it's very safe, cheap and so worth it.

It's also the only country where at passport control, after stamping my passport the border agent looked me in the eye, smiled and said - very sincerely - "Welcome to Uzbekistan!"

Did you do a trip report? And/or can you point me in the direction of a website, blog or agent that's a good place to start re trip planning?

I didn't write a trip report of that particular trip, but I have written a couple of AFF articles/reviews relating to my travels in Uzbekistan:

Flying The World's Cheapest Business Class

With an airfare of just USD50, Uzbekistan Airways might offer the world's cheapest Business Class on its route from Samarkand to Tashkent.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Air Astana A320 Economy Class Review (Almaty-Tashkent)

Air Astana is a full-service airline with great service, even in Economy Class. This review covers my Air Astana Airbus A320neo experience from Almaty to Tashkent.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

FlyArystan A320 Economy Class Review

Founded by the same person behind Bonza, FlyArystan is Central Asia's first low-cost carrier. In this review, we test the airline on a flight from Samarkand to Almaty.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

I also started this thread about the rail system in Uzbekistan:

Uzbekistan has better high speed rail than Australia

I’m currently sitting on a high-speed train from Tashkent to Samarkand and I’m seriously impressed. The 306km trip takes just over two hours aboard a comfortable, modern train built in Spain. Admittedly, the air-conditioning could be a little better (it’s the middle of summer here) but...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

There are also some great trip reports covering the region that other AFF members have written. Here are a couple that come to mind:

The Five Stans of The Silk Road (2023)

Following suggestions and recommendations in this forum way back in 2019 in the ‘before time’ I was finally able to book and undertake post COVID international trip to the Five Stans - Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan. Surprisingly enough they don’t include...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong

That time has come when you grab the bags down and start deciding what to pack. Double checking everything, triple checking everything because you don’t trust yourself. Well that’s the wife , as long as you have a credit card and a passport you’ll be right I always say. Our quick trip due to...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Finally, here are a few of my photos:

 

[aikman]

What is your proportion of work funded flights and self funded flights?

 

[elanshin]

Hi Matt,

How much time do you spend now travelling on average in a year?

Top 3 airlines for you personally in economy and business (or first too if you want).

Any destinations you haven't been to (or been much before) and plan on going in the future?

 

[AFF Editor]

Hi Matt - thanks for doing this AMA - a great idea!

I've just got a question I've been puzzled about recently. I hold the Citibank prestige credit card ($700 annual fee) and all international transactions are charged at 3.4%. Whereas there are other free annual fee credit cards (28 degrees) that don't charge any foreign transaction fee.

Do you have any idea why this is the case? You would assume if the banks can wave foreign transaction fees on a free credit card why they cant do this on the 'higher end' credit cards aswell?

Thanks Matt.

I don't have specific insight into the commercial decisions made by each of the banks, but I suspect they make quite a bit of money off those international transaction fees. That kind of revenue is hard to give up.

Some cards offer fee-free international transactions as a selling point. They may try to make up for the lost revenue in other ways, e.g. through higher interest rates or by not awarding points etc.

Citibank's Australian retail banking business is now owned by NAB, which just removed international transaction fees from its NAB Rewards Signature card. I suspect it might be in NAB's interest to encourage people to use that Signature card instead if "no forex fees" is important to them. But I don't really know, honestly. The Citi Prestige card is a great card in many other ways (with the Priority Pass benefit, lots of transfer partners, etc.) so maybe Citibank feels the product is already competitive enough.

Personally I wish more credit cards didn't charge international transaction fees, but I get around this by using a card that doesn't charge these for overseas purchases. (We have a list of these here - https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/credit-cards/best-credit-cards-overseas-travel/)

 

[AFF Editor]

Hi Matt
Do you enjoy travel more if it is just for pleasure?

I have had some great work trips, but of course I do definitely enjoy travelling just for pleasure!

I travel for quite a lot of the year and work remotely, so even though many of my trips are for "pleasure", I'm still working 9-5 from my hotel, a coworking space, an airport lounge, a cafe or wherever I can get solid Wi-Fi. It's a lifestyle I really enjoy, but travelling over Christmas (for example) when I don't need to work is special.

Do you prefer direct point to point or embrace "the journey"?

Great Q&A
Thanks

I 100% embrace the journey. In fact, I dare say that I find point-to-point a bit boring. I love trying new airlines, visiting new places and coming up with "clever" ways to get from A to B.

I travel quite often between Australia and Europe, and I love that you can travel in pretty much any direction between those two continents and still get to your destinations. I embrace the opportunity to have a stopover along the way and have enjoyed many such stopovers in places including Dubai, Singapore, China, Japan, Canada, Brazil and Kazakhstan. It also breaks up the long trip.

 

[AFF Editor]

Hi Matt,

I am a Qatar Privilege member. I recently earned Avios on an Iberia flight. Can I transfer them to Qatar, and if so, how?

Hi! I assume you credited the Avios from that flight to your Iberia Plus account?

If that's the case, you should be able to transfer the Avios from Iberia Plus into your British Airways Executive Club account (you may need to open one first). Then, you can transfer those Avios from British Airways Executive Club into your Qatar Airways Privilege Club account. Those transfers are free and take place at a 1:1 conversion rate - just make sure the name on each of your accounts (Iberia, British Airways and Qatar) matches exactly (including middle names).

This article explains a bit more about this process:

Transferring & Redeeming Avios: An Overview of Airline Partnerships

Avios is the common points currency of six airlines: British Airways, Iberia, Qatar Airways, Finnair, Aer Lingus and Vueling. These diagrams show which frequent flyer programs you can transfer Avios between, and which airlines partner with each program.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

That said, since both Iberia and Qatar Airways are in the Oneworld alliance, you can credit Iberia flights directly to your Qatar Airways account and earn Qatar Avios that way. You can also redeem Iberia Plus Avios to book Qatar flights. So you might not need to go through the hassle of transferring your Avios, depending on what you want to do with them.

 

[AFF Editor]

Buying or collecting points for the above?

With Velocity, I would earn most of my points through flying, credit cards and everyday spend with Velocity partners. Same with Qantas points, which I do collect quite a lot of as it's so easy to do so in Australia, even though they're not the points currency that I value the most highly.

I buy Avios. I have a British Airways Avios subscription, so get a set amount deposited into my account each month. The cost was agreeable, considering the value I can get from those Avios redeeming for Qantas domestic flights and Qatar Airways Business between Australia and Europe.

I also buy Aeroplan points.

Which credit cards you use?

Currently I have just two active cards: Bankwest Qantas Platinum and ANZ Frequent Flyer Black. But this changes a few times per year as I close cards and open new ones.

Also do you churn cards? Or business expenses through cards?

I don't churn quite as actively as some here on AFF. I generally apply for around 2-3 cards per year. But those sign-up bonuses still probably make up more than half of the points I earn overall from credit card spend.

I do try to put as many expenses as I can on credit card, including some business expenses although I'm not in the same league here as some business owners who put through millions each month onto their business cards

By the way, this article from last year explains how I earned my Qantas and Velocity points in the 2022-23 financial year:

Case Study: How I Earn Qantas & Velocity Points

In this case study, Matt Graham explains how he personally earns Qantas Frequent Flyer points and Velocity points during a typical year.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[AFF Editor]

What is your proportion of work funded flights and self funded flights?

At the moment, it's probably around 80% self-funded flights and 20% work-funded flights.

A lot of my travel is for personal/leisure reasons (even though I may be working while I'm away) and I pay for all of that myself.

Most of the flights that I review are also flights that I've paid for myself. I personally prefer this as I can be fully honest when reviewing the product, without feeling that I "owe" anything to the sponsor of that flight.

 

[stephenrob63]

Hi! I assume you credited the Avios from that flight to your Iberia Plus account?

If that's the case, you should be able to transfer the Avios from Iberia Plus into your British Airways Executive Club account (you may need to open one first). Then, you can transfer those Avios from British Airways Executive Club into your Qatar Airways Privilege Club account. Those transfers are free and take place at a 1:1 conversion rate - just make sure the name on each of your accounts (Iberia, British Airways and Qatar) matches exactly (including middle names).

This article explains a bit more about this process:

Transferring & Redeeming Avios: An Overview of Airline Partnerships

Avios is the common points currency of six airlines: British Airways, Iberia, Qatar Airways, Finnair, Aer Lingus and Vueling. These diagrams show which frequent flyer programs you can transfer Avios between, and which airlines partner with each program.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

That said, since both Iberia and Qatar Airways are in the Oneworld alliance, you can credit Iberia flights directly to your Qatar Airways account and earn Qatar Avios that way. You can also redeem Iberia Plus Avios to book Qatar flights. So you might not need to go through the hassle of transferring your Avios, depending on what you want to do with them.

Perfect - thanks Matt!

 

[AFF Editor]

Hi Matt,

How much time do you spend now travelling on average in a year?

At the moment, I'm probably travelling for around 9 months each year. Which I guess makes me a "digital nomad".

Actually, so far this calendar year I've been at "home" for a total of about 4 days. I will spend a couple of weeks at home later this month, though, catching up on various things before leaving for the next trip.

Top 3 airlines for you personally in economy and business (or first too if you want).

Great question!

For me personally, my top 3 airlines in Economy would be:

1. Turkish Airlines
2. Singapore Airlines
3. Japan Airlines

My top airlines in Business would be:

1. Air Astana
2. Qatar Airways
3. Malaysia Airlines - mainly for the excellent satay

In First, I would say:

1. Lufthansa
2. Emirates
3. Air France

For good measure, let's do Premium Economy too:

1. Air New Zealand
2. Qantas
3. Swiss

Any destinations you haven't been to (or been much before) and plan on going in the future?

Certainly! There are still lots of new places in the world that I want to see. Later this year I'll visit Iceland and Laos for the first time, as well as a few more countries in eastern Europe.

I also definitely want to spend more time in Africa. At the moment, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania (in east Africa) and Senegal (in west Africa) are high on my list. Would also love to go back to Namibia and spend more time there.

 

[AFF Editor]

Thanks everyone for coming along and for the great questions! I've enjoyed reading and answering them.