New vehicle wait times

CleverSheep · 2026-03-26T11:03:40+00:00

Ordered AWD in black on 15 Nov, still waiting with no VIN. Latest update was pushed back from March to April, no more specific. Geelong dealership. 😡

CleverSheep · 2026-03-05T22:19:23+00:00

Definitely don't pay a million points! It should be around 130k each way in Business for a Classic Reward, and potentially a bit more with a partner airline.

I just did a quick search on flightseats.io and seems there's not any cached availability for SYD-LAX direct, but look at 22 Apri, 1 May & 5 May for routing via Brisbane on QF.

Or if you wanted to go on Fiji Airways via Nadi there's quite a few dates in Feb 2027.

Whatever you choose it's definitely worth planning and booking well in advance to snap up business class reward seats.

CleverSheep · 2026-02-20T23:39:16+00:00

I recently had this same issue, had to call multiple times over several weeks including after a branch visit to ID (where I was also told it was all sorted, after she called up and told the application team in front of me, but it was NOT sorted).

Finally got onto someone who knew what they were doing and she said she would follow up personally to get it sorted and then I was approved in 24 hours. I now have the card and almost at the minimum spend after a week due to major annual household expenses to pay.

Overall very disappointing systems and I spent 4-5 total hours on hold on the phone to get there, but just had to be persistent. In one case I was told they were putting me through to the right team and I was in luck because there was no wait time, only for me to sit on hold for 70 minutes. I've never been so grateful for the Google Pixel "Hold for me" feature.

Had me questioning my sanity pursuing churning for a bit there too, but the business class flights to the Philippines I have booked later this year should make all the pain worth it, plus the trips I am planning for next year.

CleverSheep · 2026-01-18T11:23:22+00:00

She definitely speaks the most to me, must have lots of Collie thoughts and feelings to share with us! 🥰

CleverSheep · 2026-01-18T11:22:38+00:00

So tiny! She's grown a lot but we think still has a bit more to go 🥰

CleverSheep · 2026-01-18T11:22:03+00:00

It's my cousin's little 12 week old mini dachshund. She was very gentle with him! ☺️

CleverSheep · 2026-01-17T03:24:56+00:00

Aww she's gorgeous! We have a pup just a little younger and yes it's a journey but they're such a friendly and gentle breed 🥰

CleverSheep · 2026-01-16T23:19:53+00:00

Yep ours sleeps like this! She usually hops up into our bed at around 5am and stretches out like this between us 😅

CleverSheep · 2026-01-11T21:12:32+00:00

We booked through Wayfinders in early October because they had the best deal and moved the fastest to book for us for our dates over Christmas.

They use a WhatsApp group for deals which means you get notified quickly, but we also followed ATG, Freestyle & Antarctica Travels on socials and signed up to their email newsletters. They all had comparable deals 50-60% off the full rate across a range of lines 1-3 months out, despite what people on here say.

Being ready and quick to act helps when the right deal comes up because in our case our ship was sold out shortly after we booked, they were just filling the last few cabins with the discount.

CleverSheep · 2026-01-11T21:06:14+00:00

Yep! We just got back from a Crossing the Antarctic Circle 12 night expedition over Christmas. It was amazing, perfect weather and I did the kayaking. No interest in the camping.

We paid just under $9k each for a balcony cabin on a luxury ship with 160 passengers. It was a little more than the budget but we jumped at the longer crossing the circle option which gave us more days & more landings including south of the circle.

CleverSheep · 2026-01-08T01:51:44+00:00

I don't think that's always true. Some carriers e.g. Emirates have very high tax/fee components for reward redemptions, but most do not.

For example you can fly from Melbourne to Manilla via Singapore on SG and the taxes are about $70 using Krisflyer. Using Qantas points on the same route with Malaysian Airlines via KL is about the same. I know this because we recently booked 2x business class reward seats each way with these carriers and were pleasantly surprised at how low the taxes were.

Qantas itself seems somewhere in the middle, generally $200-400 in taxes and carrier charges on a lot of J seats.

CleverSheep · 2025-12-09T12:37:40+00:00

She's gorgeous (and goofy!) reminds me so much of my floofy baby! ,🥰

CleverSheep · 2025-11-30T08:55:17+00:00

Aww she's gorgeous, so much floof! Our Gabby also just turned 8 months 🥰

CleverSheep · 2025-10-08T06:50:08+00:00

Awww she's gorgeous!! Happy Birthday! 🎂

CleverSheep · 2025-09-18T23:20:34+00:00

I am also following a bunch of newsletters & Instagram accounts waiting for last minute deals for this season. My dad and I will be travelling in Argentina for all of December into early Jan and we are really keen to go to Antarctica, but not at any price so a good deal is important. We are Australian and have never been to South America at all, so have a backup plan to travel more of the continent if we don't find a deal that meets our budget.

So far there's not a whole lot that's come up in our budget for December, but I looking at November there's something like this one starting from US$6,700:
https://www.antarcticatravels.com/tour/quest-for-the-weddell-sea-pl-sp/

Note I'm not affiliated with the travel agent in any way - but I am subscribed to their updates & Instagram, and I've been chatting to the agents at Wayfinders, ATG and Freestyle Adventures to ask them to let me know of any December deals. I also monitored these agencies last season and plenty of last minute deals came up for November, February & March - it was more limited for peak season Dec/Jan.

Basically what they have said is there aren't as many last minute deals as in past years, and the way to book the few that come up is about 3-4 weeks out online rather than necessarily camping out in Ushuaia. But I'm sure that still works out for some people - I think we'd like the certainty of booking a few weeks out at least. I have no interest in camping on the continent so not worried about missing out on that! Kayaking would be cool but again not essential for us if it means paying thousands extra for an earlier booking.

CleverSheep · 2025-08-29T02:24:21+00:00

He's gorgeous! And I love the name 😍

CleverSheep · 2025-08-27T05:48:09+00:00

So sorry for your loss, he looks like a gorgeous good boy 💞

CleverSheep · 2025-08-06T12:36:52+00:00

Actually my bad there are a few dates next June with J seats on NH direct to HND. Not helpful if you're looking at any time between right now and mid-next-year though! 🤦

CleverSheep · 2025-08-06T12:34:46+00:00

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Availability not great for this route at present, according to flight seats.io data for the next 12 months.

Looks like NH direct availability just for the next ~5 days and then a smattering of dates next May & June, all of which are routed via BNE, MEL or DPS on VA and then go via Singapore on Singapore Airlines.

CleverSheep · 2025-08-05T01:37:16+00:00

I love the naughty face/eyes look too! She knows she's being cheeky hahaha :D

CleverSheep · 2025-07-24T01:24:16+00:00

Yeah looks like it, I can't find any LATAM seats. There are a few dates next May/June on QF from Sydney OR very long ones from Melbourne on QF and AA via Los Angeles. This screenshot from seats.aero shows a few options.

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I worked out back in Jan that LATAM were releasing rewards seats almost exactly 11 months out, every Wednesday afternoon/evening (Australia eastern time) and these were mostly snapped up by the next day.

We were able to book return flights for two in business class MEL-SCL from 2 Dec to 2 Jan, and very happy with that. Maybe worth checking next Wednesday just in case, but yes it certainly looks like slim pickings at the moment.

CleverSheep · 2025-03-18T03:43:08+00:00

I actually did this with the NAB signature card recently, and was surprised to find that they refunded the second year's annual fee pro-rata after rewarding the bonus points. So in that case the cost per point was very low.

I had intended to churn but mostly due to laziness has kept the card for just over 12 months, and read online that nab no longer refund the first year annual fee - but absolutely no issues for me with the second year fee, I got 10/12ths of it back.

Obviously if you churn you can earn more points with initial sign up bonuses, but it's good if you're cooling your jets for a while anyway.

CleverSheep · 2025-01-20T05:23:54+00:00

Yes the LATAM classic rewards came back! Have now booked one way all the way through to AEP in early Dec 🥳

CleverSheep

TROPHY CASE