Travel Pointers Podcast Discussion

[AFF Editor]

It's not available on Google YouTube Music (formerly Google Podcast)?

This should be available on there now

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music.youtube.com

 

[Chicken]

This should be available on there now

Your browser is deprecated, please upgrade.

music.youtube.com

Yes, started privacy mode, went to web site of YouTube Music, did a search, very first result.

 

[RooFlyer]

just listened to the first podcast on the flight over to JNB. Good stuff.

I too love the Stans. But you need to get out of your comfort zone and go beyond Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Turkmenistan or bust!

 

[Atleastonce]

Just listened the podcast 1. Fantastic to have it back.

 

[Point Hacks]

Episode 2 is now live!

Travel Pointers Episode 2 - Airplane Seat Selection Strategies & Status Matches

In episode 2 of the Travel Pointers podcast, Matt Graham and Chris Chamberlin discuss strategies to get the best seat on the plane, and avoid choosing a windowless window seat (as they once did by accident). Plus, current airline status match opportunities and the latest news.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[Sturat]

I just listened to podcast 2, fantastic.

With regard to seat selection, as Matt and Chris mentioned there is usually a hack to get around and select a seat, e.g if you book a reward seat with Qantas for China Airlines, crazy as it seems, you can go to Czech airlines and select the seat(s), I've done it for flights from Melbourne to Sapporo in January 2025. I think Matt said you couldn't select ANA seats booked through Virgin with points, it is possible, for a domestic flight anyway, as I have done it for a flight in January 2025. On your Virgin E-Ticket it gives you the ANA booking ref that you can use on the ANA japan site.

 

[AFF Editor]

I just listened to podcast 2, fantastic.

With regard to seat selection, as Matt and Chris mentioned there is usually a hack to get around and select a seat, e.g if you book a reward seat with Qantas for China Airlines, crazy as it seems, you can go to Czech airlines and select the seat(s), I've done it for flights from Melbourne to Sapporo in January 2025. I think Matt said you couldn't select ANA seats booked through Virgin with points, it is possible, for a domestic flight anyway, as I have done it for a flight in January 2025. On your Virgin E-Ticket it gives you the ANA booking ref that you can use on the ANA japan site.

Yes, there are a few handy tricks like these where you can use the website of an unrelated alliance partner to select seats. Unfortunately Czech Airlines will cease to exist from late October, so I imagine they will close down their website too - but I find the Saudia website also sometimes works for SkyTeam bookings.

With Oneworld, the Royal Jordanian website sometimes lets you do things you can't do on the operating airline's website.

The issue with selecting ANA seats is with VA codeshare flights (i.e. booked under a Virgin Australia flight number).

 

[Sturat]

Yes, there are a few handy tricks like these where you can use the website of an unrelated alliance partner to select seats. Unfortunately Czech Airlines will cease to exist from late October, so I imagine they will close down their website too - but I find the Saudia website also sometimes works for SkyTeam bookings.

With Oneworld, the Royal Jordanian website sometimes lets you do things you can't do on the operating airline's website.

The issue with selecting ANA seats is with VA codeshare flights (i.e. booked under a Virgin Australia flight number).

Sorry, my misunderstanding about the ANA seats, I thought it would work for both reward and paid tickets made with Virgin Australia.

Thanks for the tips with the other airlines, I love finding new hacks.

 

[Albert Hoffman]

Ep2 was great, good chemistry and banter between the two hosts, enjoyed the discussion about aisle and window seats as it gave me something to think about. These seemingly obvious matters are beneficial for a podcast.

The only suggestion I have is to throw in some global news amongst the aussie stuff, such as Airasia starts flying to Nairobi, when Iberia flies the first 321XLR, Cubana restarts flights to Damascus etc.

 

[AFF Editor]

Episode 3 was released this morning. Enjoy

Travel Pointers Episode 3 - Our First Times in First Class & Easy Ways to Earn Points

In episode 3 of the Travel Pointers podcast, Matt Graham and Chris Chamberlin discuss the first time they each flew First Class (using points, of course!).

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Episode 3 was released this morning. Enjoy

Travel Pointers Episode 3 - Our First Times in First Class & Easy Ways to Earn Points

In episode 3 of the Travel Pointers podcast, Matt Graham and Chris Chamberlin discuss the first time they each flew First Class (using points, of course!).

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Had a chance to listen to the episode and thought it was a good introduction to earning points on frequent flyer programs. However, one criticism if I may, is that the point about gift cards at supermarkets during a bonus points promotion was undersold. There are many great opportunities to earn heaps of Qantas/Virgin points at the supermarkets during bonus points offers, and no those promos aren’t limited to just Apple Gift Cards either. If you look carefully at the cards on offer you’ll often find that the retailers involved are ones you may shop at. Case in point, Woolies is having a 20x bonus point offer on a variety of gift cards, amongst them a Kids gift card of which I bought $250 worth of them. Now look, I’m not a kid, so why on earth would I buy stacks of them? One simply needs to look at the retailers to see the answer, amongst the handful of retailers these cards can be used at is 99bikes. Well considering cycling to and from work is my primary mode of transport, it is a no brainer to buy these cards then use them for the quarterly service my bike requires. Is it less convenient than using eftpos or a credit card to pay for the service? Absolutely! But they don’t met Qantas points at a rate of 10 points per $, either and on a $250 service that can really add up! Another good example are those cafe and restaurant choice gift cards that can be used at almost any restaurant globally. Again at 10 frequent flyer points per dollar it beats even the most generous credit card in Australia. And yes I know, it can be annoying to keep track of balances and encountering the occasional business that doesn’t accept it but it’s easy points. Certainly way easier than having to cellar cases of wine you’ll never drink!

-RooFlyer88

 

[yaziyo]

Nice tip in the recent podcast about the Didi 1000 point velocity bonus. I'm overseas for a couple of years and velocity points aren't useful here, so it was a good way to extend the expiry date on my modest velocity balance!

 

[AFF Editor]

Episode 4 was just released, it should appear on the various podcasting platforms shortly

Travel Pointers Episode 4 - Major Velocity Frequent Flyer Changes & Lord Howe Island

In episode 4 of the Travel Pointers podcast, Matt Graham and Chris Chamberlin share their opinions on the Virgin Australia Velocity changes.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

In this episode, we have quite a lot to say about the Velocity Frequent Flyer changes.

 

[AFF Editor]

In this month's episode, Velocity Frequent Flyer CEO Nick Rohrlach joined us for an interview.

Travel Pointers Episode 5 - Interview with Velocity CEO Nick Rohrlach & Mongolia

In episode 5 of the Travel Pointers podcast, Matt and Chris interview Velocity Frequent Flyer CEO Nick Rohrlach about the recent changes to Virgin Australia's loyalty program. Plus, find out why next year is a great time to visit Mongolia.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au