Hello from a poor student

[mr_osborne]

Hey everyone,
I'm a student from Auckland, will be doing mostly personal flying, mostly on AirNZ, Virgin (/pacific blue), and some on jetstar.
Mostly doing trans-tasman flying, as I have a GF who is studying in tasmania, so I'm hoping to visit her 3-5 times a year.

I'm planning on crediting everything to Virgin, as it seems to be more generous when it comes to earning, and there is a small chance I can qualify for silver.

I'm not exactly short (6"1), and after growing up flying with dad (gold/gold elite on airnz, and gold on qantas), I got used to the lounge and sitting up the front of the plane....
Now I'm learning how to pass time in airport terminals, which has brought both positive and negative experiences... but I do miss the lounge, with it's free food, comfy chairs, and wifi...

 

[Princess Fiona]

Hi mr_osborne welcome to AFF
Hopefully with the wealth of knowledge you will pick up on this site, lounge access will be your's again soon

 

[rechoboam]

Hey everyone,
I'm a student from Auckland, will be doing mostly personal flying, mostly on AirNZ, Virgin (/pacific blue), and some on jetstar.
Mostly doing trans-tasman flying, as I have a GF who is studying in tasmania, so I'm hoping to visit her 3-5 times a year.

I'm planning on crediting everything to Virgin, as it seems to be more generous when it comes to earning, and there is a small chance I can qualify for silver.

I'm not exactly short (6"1), and after growing up flying with dad (gold/gold elite on airnz, and gold on qantas), I got used to the lounge and sitting up the front of the plane....
Now I'm learning how to pass time in airport terminals, which has brought both positive and negative experiences... but I do miss the lounge, with it's free food, comfy chairs, and wifi...

Maybe if you ask nicely and dad is still flying (or another relative) you could tell them your girlfriend problems and they can give you a chunk of points in sympathy. Then go to Tas via a JASA via some exotic ports and you may have some hope of QF gold?

 

[mr_osborne]

lol. because dad flys with Air NZ, mostly trans-tasman, he doesn't have heaps of points, although he did pay for my last trip (well, the return flights to Melbourne). Unfortunately the flights from Melbourne to Launceston cost almost as much. (my $109 AUD jetstar fare ended up costing something like $150 AUD after their 2 different service charges were added on:evil

Although I'd love to fly J, I look at the cost, and would rather go twice as often on an economy flexi fare, or 4 times as often on an economy saver fare.... (although if I could get emirates business fares credited to virgin I would look into it, as they are a lot cheaper compared to air nz).

I'm thinking I might see if I can work for a large company in NZ who has a discounted lounge membership rate, and buy an annual membership through them...
I'll have to see how I go, as I'm self employed atm, sometimes I'm broke, and sometimes I'm not... which will influence how much I can afford to fly...

 

[straitman]

Hey everyone,
I'm a student from Auckland, will be doing mostly personal flying, mostly on AirNZ, Virgin (/pacific blue), and some on jetstar.
Mostly doing trans-tasman flying, as I have a GF who is studying in tasmania, so I'm hoping to visit her 3-5 times a year.

I'm planning on crediting everything to Virgin, as it seems to be more generous when it comes to earning, and there is a small chance I can qualify for silver.

I'm not exactly short (6"1), and after growing up flying with dad (gold/gold elite on airnz, and gold on qantas), I got used to the lounge and sitting up the front of the plane....
Now I'm learning how to pass time in airport terminals, which has brought both positive and negative experiences... but I do miss the lounge, with it's free food, comfy chairs, and wifi...

Hi mr_osborne,


Welcome to AFF.

 

[Heleigh]

Hey everyone,

... but I do miss the lounge, with it's free food, comfy chairs, and wifi...

Hi and welcome mr_osborne

Every month AFF have a thread which may gain you access to lounges should any AFF'ers be guesting. See the below link for September2011

http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/september-2011/september-2011-a-31312.html

 

[mr_osborne]

Hi and welcome mr_osborne

Every month AFF have a thread which may gain you access to lounges should any AFF'ers be guesting. See the below link for September2011

http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/september-2011/september-2011-a-31312.html

Cool...

Are there any unofficial rules around this? or... expected returns?

It reminds me of my last flight back, I was sitting in the airport with a Qantas platinum, and we were both flying on Air NZ. I was trying to think of a way I could convince him to get us both into the virgin lounge... but decided it would be pushing it (since he was a complete stranger). we did have a good conversation though, which helped to pass the time.

 

[Hvr]

Cool...

Are there any unofficial rules around this? or... expected returns?

Unofficial rules, well be a good guest. Determine if the host who grants you entry to lounge wants you to join them or merely say thank you, have a good flight and then discreetly move away.

Do not abuse the lounge, no getting pissed and loud. You are representing your host whether you stay with them or not. Always treat the staff with respect, every one should anyway but you have been granted a privilege and should be on especially good behaviour.

Hope to see you around one day.

 

[rechoboam]

You can get discounted QP membership right here though AFF.

 

[mr_osborne]

Unofficial rules, well be a good guest. Determine if the host who grants you entry to lounge wants you to join them or merely say thank you, have a good flight and then discreetly move away.

Do not abuse the lounge, no getting pissed and loud. You are representing your host whether you stay with them or not. Always treat the staff with respect, every one should anyway but you have been granted a privilege and should be on especially good behaviour.

Hope to see you around one day.

That's it? Easy . Although now I'm going to freak out about getting the first bit wrong. (I don't really drink, so that's a non issue for me)

Also, re the discounted QP membership, it's still too much for me, that's basically a return flight for me, which I would rather have... but I'll probably look into it once I start working full time... the issue, as covered above, is that I don't drink, so I miss out on a lot of the value of a lounge membership...

 

[JohnK]

Welcome to AFF mr_osborne!

 

[ash.1111]

Welcome to the AFF! You should apply to work for one of the larger airlines and get a staff rate on the lounge memberships

 

[mr_osborne]

Welcome to the AFF! You should apply to work for one of the larger airlines and get a staff rate on the lounge memberships

I looked into working for Air NZ, and was invited for an interview, but they wanted 25 hours a week, with complete flexibility.... and I decided to put my studies first, also, uni tends to have a habit of scheduling tests in the evening, and the workload fluctuates a lot. but I'd definitely be keen to work in the finance part of an airline (I'm looking into aviation fleet management as a possible future career path)... Does anyone work in the back office side of the aviation industry? (or know of any openings in Auckland?)

I know that staff working for one of the big banks in NZ got offered NZD $250 a year membership to the Koru club, which I could probably justify with my level of flying, but it's hard to justify more...

 

[rechoboam]

I looked into working for Air NZ, and was invited for an interview, but they wanted 25 hours a week, with complete flexibility.... and I decided to put my studies first, also, uni tends to have a habit of scheduling tests in the evening, and the workload fluctuates a lot. but I'd definitely be keen to work in the finance part of an airline (I'm looking into aviation fleet management as a possible future career path)... Does anyone work in the back office side of the aviation industry? (or know of any openings in Auckland?)

I know that staff working for one of the big banks in NZ got offered NZD $250 a year membership to the Koru club, which I could probably justify with my level of flying, but it's hard to justify more...

To be honest when I was a poor student I scraped together the cash for a Y ticket at the end of the year and sat at the gate with a long book. Its a lot cheaper to display _inverse_ snobbery at that stage of your life.