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Qantas Frequent Flyer Silver and Gold members will receive free Gold status in the Accor Live Limitless (ALL) loyalty program, while their Platinum One counterparts will be granted Accor ALL Platinum status, through a special promotion launched today by two travel giants. Registration is open until August 12, with invitations also available to Qantas Points Club Plus cardholders and members of the exclusive Qantas Chair Lounge. Once upgraded, newly minted Gold or Platinum One members will enjoy their high status until December 31, 2023 – that’s almost 18 months of benefits. Accor ALL Gold for Qantas Silver, Gold members Typically, Gold Accor Live Limitless (ALL) membership requires accounting for 30 nights spent at Accor hotels worldwide, or the acquisition of 7,000 status points which equates to €2,800 (approximately AUD$4,080) spent on hotel stays. The benefits of Gold status on Accor Live Limitless include the ability to earn one ALL Point for every $10 spent on qualifying Qant...

With its quiet and spacious cabin, modern interior and more storage space, the Airbus A321XLR will radically change the Qantas flying experience, both on domestic and international routes. But it looks like the advanced A321XLR jet won’t push that transformative envelope to include flat beds in business class – at least not on the first jetliners that will arrive at the end of 2024. The A321XLR is part of a three-pronged update to Qantas’ fleet, alongside the agile A220 and the long-range Project Sunrise A350. These three Airbus jets will shape the future of Qantas and reshape the passenger experience. While Qantas has yet to reveal details of its A321XLR seating, the airline have confirm layout as 20 business class seats 180 economy seats The airline also said “there will be no reduction in seat space” compared to the Boeing 737, which will be replaced by the A321XLR. (For quick reference, the 737 pitch is 37″ in business class and 30″ in economy c...

Qantas passengers queued at Sydney Airport last month. Photo: Louise Kennerley Frank Zappa is always great for quotes. The legendary jazz-rockers of the ’60s usually had something to say, mostly insightful, sometimes quirky. I’ve always loved his quotes about the country, and what defines it. “You can’t be a real country,” he said, “unless you have beer, and airlines.” It’s kind of a throwaway line, but it rings true right away. Of course, that’s discounting all the beautiful countries where they don’t drink beer, and he keeps mentioning nuclear weapons, but let’s ignore that for a second. Here in Australia at least, we can understand it. We have a lot of different beers, and we are quite proud of them (if at times an understatement). And we also have airlines. Qantas. Without realizing it, we are proud of Qantas, and what the airline says about us as a nation. This is a startup company, a successful c...

Qantas has come under fire for outsourcing its baggage handling services during the pandemic. Photo: Phil Carrick JOYCE CHOICE Traveling recently in the evening on Virgin Australia’s very late and delayed arrival from Melbourne, I ran into several baggage handlers on the shuttle bus to the parking lot which may have explained one reason for the baggage issue. All had worked for Qantas and lost their jobs. All rehired by [the aviation services company] Swissport after a period of no work, although some accepted Jobkeepers. They have nothing good to say about unfaithfulness and lost benefits and more. Has Alan Joyce plucked his golden goose? Paul Gerrard, Kellyville, NSW SELLING HARD If Qantas is to step up its game, it has to stop whipping wine, insurance, health care and who knows what else and focus solely on its air travel business. John Swanton, Coogee, NSW THIS WEEK’S LETTER GO IN 60 SECONDS Sue Williams article “the art of deceiving a con man...

photo: Boeing Qantas IATA/ICAO code QF/QFA Airline Type Full Service Operator Hub Brisbane Airport, Melbourne Airport, Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport year Found 1920 Guild one world CEO Alan Joyce Country Australia A Qantas Boeing 737-800 bound for Perth (PER) on Monday, July 18, declared a mayday after running out of fuel. The jet was in the final stages of a nearly six-hour flight across Brisbane (BNE) when Perth air traffic controllers put the plane into an extended hold period. But with fuel running low, the pilot made the unusual call of a fuel mayday. Extended containment beyond Perth pushed aircraft closer to the minimum required fuel reserves The incident involved flight QF933 operated by VH-VZO, an 11-year-old Boeing 737-800. The narrow-bodied aircraft are the workhorses of Qantas’ domestic network, crossing Australia and rarely causing problems. The Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) requires flights to take off with fuel reserves at least 30 m...

The man who claims he created Qantas’ iconic slogan ‘Spirit of Australia’ has angrily demanded they remove the title, saying it is a ‘tragic inappropriate’ to describe the airline under attack. Phillip Adams, columnist for The Weekend Australian magazine and host of ABC Radio National, said he convinced former chairman Jim Leslie to adopt the tagline in the 1980s and Peter Allen to allow his iconic song I Still Call Australia Home to become Qantas’ national anthem. However, last week the former advertising guru directed an angry message at airline boss Alan Joyce demanding they stop the catchphrase because of an ongoing scandal involving laid-off staff, canceled flights, lost baggage and lengthy delays. ‘Alan Joyce. You are forced to repeat yourself. I am the author of ‘The Australian Spirit’. Then deserved, now tragically inappropriate,” he wrote on Twitter. ‘My slogan is hereby vetoed. Please remove it from all airf...

Among the standout features of the Qantas A380 superjumbo are the two well-appointed lounges reserved for first class and business class passengers. Located at the very front of the A380’s upper deck – on either side of the ‘grand staircase’ connecting the upper and main deck – they are quite different from the Emirates and Qatar Airways A380 lounges. While still serving as a ‘second space’ to get away from your seat and mingle with fellow high-end passengers, the Qantas A380 lounge has a more cafe-style layout with bench seating for 10 people in both lounges. One of the two top deck lounges of Qantas’ new A380. With dark green leather sofas, laminated wood walls and soft lighting, the overall effect is a cozy and almost ‘speakeasy’ dinner club atmosphere above the clouds; Completing the picture is the ‘Premium Lounge Menu’ of bespoke cocktails and snacks. The new lounge adds a social element to the superjumbo flying experience...

Qantas was forced to reschedule two flights from London’s Heathrow Airport this week, following the airport’s decision to impose a limit of 100,000 passengers per day in hopes of easing congestion amid extended delays. The London-Singapore-Sydney QF2 service will now depart nine hours earlier than usual – at 12pm, and from Heathrow’s Terminal 4 instead of the usual Terminal 3 – in a bid to avoid rush hour crowds. However, this will leave hundreds of passengers on the Airbus A380 superjumbo facing an 11-hour stopover in Singapore – with Qantas saying it will provide accommodation for passengers – before flights continue to Sydney on their regular schedule. The airline said it was contacting all passengers booked on Tuesday’s QF2 flight to warn them of the change. “Like all airlines, we are disappointed by the decision made by Heathrow Airport to suddenly reduce passenger capacity and we are doing everything we can to minimize this impact on our c...

A former Qantas baggage handler has exposed the chaos behind the scenes as the airline struggles to save its sinking reputation with travelers experiencing long delays and flight cancellations. The man who chose not to be named claimed that after 1,800 baggage handlers were laid off during the Covid-19 period and work was outsourced to third-party contractors, baggage was left in rooms for weeks and even planes broke down. “Yeah, when the pandemic hit, we got JobKeeper for a while and were given enforced redundancy,” he told Nine’s Today Show. ‘Many men don’t want to go. Many older men with more than 35, 30 years experience, they don’t know how to apply for jobs online. So it affects older people. An unnamed former Qantas baggage handler said the airline had suffered since it fired its experienced ground crew and replaced them with inexperienced contract workers. The former Qantas employee said morale plummeted after experienced baggage ...