Aussie Disneyland Planners come on in and lets plan together :)

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

With all this talk about departures etc I was wondering what airlines people use?
I have seen AirNZ mentioned a few times and I understand people in NZ using Air NZ but I'm curious about people who go with them given the stop in NZ?

We have flown Qantas almost exclusively since the mid 80's. We flew with JAL once as the fares we quite abit cheaper and would never fly with them again. My hubby spent the whole flight with his Knees under his chin. Not a good airline if you are a tall person. We have had a couple delays with Qantas over the years and twice had to go to a hotel but the service even in these situations was always A+. We are Qantas frequent flyers and very rarely pay for our US domestic flights as we always have enough points for these legs. The only real improvement would be more choices of partner carriers in the US so we didn't have to fly AA all the time.
I've never flown with V or Air New Zealand so can't comment on their service but I would probably have to get a huge savings to venture away from Qantas.

Platypus, quick question about Frequent Flyer points. Do you accumulate them solely from using your credit card for purchases? The reason I ask is we have an ANZ credit card that accumulates points but it appears that no matter what we spend we get a set amount each month, and it isn't many points let me tell you. Which is frustrating because I use the same card for all of my business purchases and personal purchases. So I'm looking around to get a new credit card when we get back from this trip, just wondering who other's use to get lots of points up?

 

[bumbershoot]

I wanted to thank you all for the help with Canberra! It was so helpful. We've got Robert all set with hotels (sticking with Novotel b/c the price went up on the Rydges, and then some painfully hip, but relatively LOW cost place in NZ (during Fashion Week of all times to go)). Thank you for letting me share your cyberspace for a couple days!

 

[chickyann]

I have some great packing products etc but it still takes a long time to get everything in the bags.

Andona

I'm intrigued Andona, what packing products do you use, I'm always interested in making my packing easier/neater/more secure etc

 

[queenie82]

I'm intrigued Andona, what packing products do you use, I'm always interested in making my packing easier/neater/more secure etc

I'm not sure what Andona uses but what I like to use for bulky things is travel space bags that don't need a vacuum cleaner. You just roll them up and there is a valve at the end.
We always go in Winter so it has been great for parkas (for when we leave and are under our limits) but the time they really help is with plush toys or other soft souveniers. You don't suck the life out of them but it keeps them together and in a layer you can move to get to other things. Especially if you pick the item up early in the trip.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

We have 14 sleeps to go. We brought the suitcases into the spare room last weekend. I had been accumulating bits and bobs for the trip over the past few months so have thrown that into the cases and as someone else mentioned, everytime I stumble across something we need to take that we won't need to use beforehand, I just pop it in there.

Very exciting/scary to think about actually packing them though

 

[chickyann]

thanks for your reply Queenie, I've considered using space bags but was worried I'd over pack it's good to know they work

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I'm intrigued Andona, what packing products do you use, I'm always interested in making my packing easier/neater/more secure etc

Andona shared a link to some cool packing things last week sometime, from Eagle Creek I think.

I went and bought some on her recommendation and was really impressed with how much they held. I'm not entirely sure they save as much space as Queenie's space bags, however things come out wrinkle free, and nothing moves around the case which is a real bonus.

In the 18" pack, I was able to fit the following for my husband:-

2 jeans
2 shorts
5 t-shirts
1 pj pants
1 boardshorts
1 jumper

 

[Andona]

so this time I am determined to be more organised. I already have a case out that I throw all the things we don't use into. I also don't iron - that saves so much time.

I think that's a good idea Jade. both the being more organised and not ironing

Reading about all the people that start packing a week or two in advance makes me think I'll definitely start earlier this time!

Andona

 

[Andona]

Andona shared a link to some cool packing things last week sometime, from Eagle Creek I think.

yes, that's right Eagle Creek is the brand. This was what I posted about 50 pages back

I Use an 18" packing folder for DH's shirts and pants and two 15" packing folders for mine and DS ( who's 12) . I really like the folders as they come with a board to fold the shirts around etc and you can neatly pack everything and squash them down to take up minimal space in the suitcase. It's really easy to just pull out one days shirt and jeans or shorts without messing up the other items in the folder.
Here's a link to an 18" one
http://theluggageprofessionals.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=85&products_id=557

I use a packing cube to keep all our undies in and another one for miscellaneous items like swimming costumes, hats scarves etc.
http://theluggageprofessionals.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=85&products_id=553

I have no affiliation with Eagle creek - I've just found the packing folders and cubes to be a very organised way to pack.

I also use the travel space bags that Queenie mentioned for bulky things like Parkas. However, I really like the folders for packing all our shirts/pants/shorts etc.

Bye for now
Andona

 

[jacs1234]

Shuttergirl, I'm so excited you are going so soon. I can't WAIT to see your pics. I know you'll take hundreds. Have you got a flickr account?

 

[Andona]

So I'm looking around to get a new credit card when we get back from this trip, just wondering who other's use to get lots of points up?

We have a platinum Amex that we use for all our business purchases ( My DH and I both run our own business) WE also have a Qantas/Telstra Visa that we use for business purchases that we can't make on Amex. Finally we have a Gold Visa that we use for all our personal shopping.

I think the platinum Amex gives us 1 1/2 points per $ spent ( used to be 2 but it changed a while back )

The Gold Visa gives us 2 points for every $3 we spend

Not sure about the Qantas/Telstra Visa - maybe 1 point for every $2 ??

I don't think we have any upper limit on our point earnings for our cards - I know that some cards will only let you earn a maximum of X points per month ( maybe that's what's happening with your's Shuttergirl?)

One thing that I do now is buy almost everything on credit card - we make sure that the card is paid off each month so we don't pay interest, but I've found that once I switched to doing all my shopping ( including groceries) on the card that we started packing on the points. I realise that doesn't work for everyone - I used to prefer to pay cash for my groceries but for us the switch to credit card didn't make a difference to our budgeting etc.

I also linked my Woolworth Everyday rewards card to Frequent Flyers as I do my groceries at the local Woollies - so I'm earning extra points every time I shop there and at Big W etc.

Andona

 

[Jade+3]

One thing that I do now is buy almost everything on credit card - we make sure that the card is paid off each month so we don't pay interest, but I've found that once I switched to doing all my shopping ( including groceries) on the card that we started packing on the points. I realise that doesn't work for everyone - I used to prefer to pay cash for my groceries but for us the switch to credit card didn't make a difference to our budgeting etc.

I also linked my Woolworth Everyday rewards card to Frequent Flyers as I do my groceries at the local Woollies - so I'm earning extra points every time I shop there and at Big W etc.

Andona

I do this too. Everything is paid for by credit card, then we pay it in full each month.

There is a chart on Qantas's website that compares all the different credit cards.

http://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/dyn/partners/card

 

[queenie82]

After being burnt by Ansett's demise which killed off our saved up points which were enough for a decent holiday, we don't put anything directly into FF from cards. We now have the everyday rewards linked to Qantas but only because it is free and separate to anything earnt on the card you pay with. Flights and hotel stays and car rental we will put into FF (on United unless it is not possible) but no PURCHASES go into FF.
side note - if you book a tour with Viator you can get FF miles

The best one at the moment is the Platinum AMEX Cashback. You get 1% of purchases as CASH back onto the card...no points which die.
I got the DJs one because of the offer of $150 of giftcards which offset the $99 annual fee. I have been building points on there to get giftcards before I cancel it.

 

[queenie82]

thanks for your reply Queenie, I've considered using space bags but was worried I'd over pack it's good to know they work

I don't so much use space bags to squish but organise and separate non clothes and clothes. They WILL be used to squish bulky things as I say and if there is something bulky I don't want to squish (like Stitch plush) I will squish something else so he has more room.

Indeed overpacking becomes an issue if you are squishing everything but they are helpful once you have only the REQUIRED amount to reduce zipper strain if there is bulk and excess air around things

They are so light and easy to use we take a few of varying sizes to make things easier and flexible.

Side note...avoid putting anything dirty in there because they are reusable countless times so you don't want one that is smelly or dirty.

 

[Andona]

After being burnt by Ansett's demise which killed off our saved up points which were enough for a decent holiday, we don't put anything directly into FF from cards. We now have the everyday rewards linked to Qantas but only because it is free and separate to anything earnt on the card you pay with. Flights and hotel stays and car rental we will put into FF (on United unless it is not possible) but no PURCHASES go into FF.

Queenie, my brother got caught by that too - he'd accumulated enough points to take the two of them to Europe - he was not a happy camper either

Up until recently we always left our points on the Card reward system and just transferred them over prior to booking an award flight. However, Qantas recently changed it's arrangement with many of the cards so that you no longer had the option of doing that. If we wanted to be able to transfer our points to Qantas FF we had no choice but to opt into the "Qantas Direct" system - where the points are automatically transferred to FF each month.

At the time we seriously looked into switching to Virgin Velocity as our primary flyer points system as we would have been able to continue transferring points to them in the same manner that we'd always done. DH was already a Velocity member as he flies domestically with Virgin occasionally. However, on investigation we discovered that we couldn't get the same value for our points as we do with Qantas and I just didn't like their award booking system. You can't do it yourself online, you had to ring every time you want to book an award flight. They also didn't have as many airline partners as we get through Qantas Oneworld.

Anyway we decided to stick with Qantas and gamble that the company stays solvent. They've certainly been doing it tough with the increased competition and GFC - my BIL had a senior management position with them until recently when he was sacked along with 90% of their upper management.

However, I , personally, don't think they'll go under - as our National carrier I can't really imagine the government letting them fall over. I suspect that if they were in real trouble the govt would bail them out the way the NZ govt bailed out Air NZ a few years back. Maybe I'm optimistic but , who knows?

Of course, we run the risk of them suddenly deciding to make major changes to the Frequent Flyer system that devalues our points, but up till now, they've always given plenty of warning of changes - so we'd just cash in our points on a flight to somewhere nice if we felt seriously threatened

Andona

 

[gogo65]

We have also only ever used a Qantas Amex and Qantas/ANZ visa.
However last year Amex has a fantastic promotion on where we collected 800 000 points, they are quite happily sitting in our Amex account to send to Singapore airlines when we want to plan a round the world trip.
Singapore have one of best redemption rates around, much better than QANTAS.
In saying that we have flown to the US on Qantas FF points a couple of times at 96000 return thats 384000 for a family of 4.
This year we sent some of our Amex points to Virgin and booked our flights on V australia 55000 return for premium economy because of a special they had.

I previously have always flown QANTAS but after the Amex promotion I started doing some research and will now happily fly whoever has the best seat availability.

The qantas/ANZ visa has a cap of 3250 points per month ($5000 spend).
I believe at the moment the earth mastercard/AMEX combination is the best for FF earning.
YOu definitely need an AMEX for serious point collection.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I don't think we have any upper limit on our point earnings for our cards - I know that some cards will only let you earn a maximum of X points per month ( maybe that's what's happening with your's Shuttergirl?)

One thing that I do now is buy almost everything on credit card - we make sure that the card is paid off each month so we don't pay interest, but I've found that once I switched to doing all my shopping ( including groceries) on the card that we started packing on the points. I realise that doesn't work for everyone - I used to prefer to pay cash for my groceries but for us the switch to credit card didn't make a difference to our budgeting etc.

I also linked my Woolworth Everyday rewards card to Frequent Flyers as I do my groceries at the local Woollies - so I'm earning extra points every time I shop there and at Big W etc.

Andona

Andona, I definitely think this is what is happening with us. I definitely need to change cards when we get back.

Gogo - I have a question re the Amex, I always thought alot of places didn't accept Amex. Am I wrong?

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

The qantas/ANZ visa has a cap of 3250 points per month ($5000 spend).
I believe at the moment the earth mastercard/AMEX combination is the best for FF earning.
YOu definitely need an AMEX for serious point collection.

Gogo, thank you for that, we have the card and that is exactly the points we get.

I had a bit of a look into this on the Qantas website and it looks like the NAB Amex/Visa combo looks good too. I'm definitely changing over after this trip.

 

[queenie82]

Anyway we decided to stick with Qantas and gamble that the company stays solvent. They've certainly been doing it tough with the increased competition and GFC - my BIL had a senior management position with them until recently when he was sacked along with 90% of their upper management.

However, I , personally, don't think they'll go under - as our National carrier I can't really imagine the government letting them fall over. I suspect that if they were in real trouble the govt would bail them out the way the NZ govt bailed out Air NZ a few years back. Maybe I'm optimistic but , who knows?

Of course, we run the risk of them suddenly deciding to make major changes to the Frequent Flyer system that devalues our points, but up till now, they've always given plenty of warning of changes - so we'd just cash in our points on a flight to somewhere nice if we felt seriously threatened

Andona

See it isn't solvency that I'm worried about (I agree they would be bailed out or something) but rather restructuring.
I have a friend who has been travelling with Qantas forever and had built up a substantial amount of points but cashed them all in to upgrade to Business on her last trip because she just doesn't trust them.

After all this time there is just no point us changing to getting Qantas points because it would be starting from scratch and we are loyal United people now with that being our FF (other than Ansett) for nearly 20 years. We don't travel domestically much at all. When we do it is easier and better to just go with the cheapest online fares.
Additionally we prefer the Star Alliance partners to Qantas.

I do hope for all the loyal Qantas people that don't restructure and don't devalue the points on you.

As for AMEX not being accepted much...yeah it is a bit annoying that there are places that don't. Generally small businesses don't. But Supermarkets, Target, Big W, DJs etc do. JB hifi apply the surcharge but for a $24.99 purchase it was 67c or something. So you just weigh it up....
Even if only supermarket goes on there...that is a pretty decent amount.

We don't buy clothes or food from small places very much so it doesn't really add up to tooo much that doesn't get on AMEX. Our Take Away is put on a Meal Card from a Salary packaging which covers most non AMEX food.

 

[Andona]

See it isn't solvency that I'm worried about (I agree they would be bailed out or something) but rather restructuring.......

I guess this is a risk with ALL loyalty systems. I don't think any of them guarantee they won't make changes, even the credit card ones

The one thing I find reassuring is that you do get heaps of leadtime with Qantas. They went through a substantial new development a couple of years back but we knew about it for many months in advance of the changes. Plenty of time to cash those points in.

Andona