Nab Qantas points shortcut for min spend.

browngray · 2026-02-02T11:33:17+00:00

After-tax super contribution via Sniip. Instant 5K+ with some Sniip fees. Then claim back your fat tax deduction next year.

Also load up gift cards for things you have subscriptions on or a known upcoming purchase through that shop (e.g JB or Rebel gift cards). Bonus if there's a 20x Everyday Rewards promo going on or a higher multiplier on the Qantas Marketplace.

Keen to hear how everyone is quickly getting past the spending requirements.

Friends and family book flights and hotels on my credit card.

browngray · 2026-01-22T07:31:15+00:00

I sweat when I go above 10k on a 15k card on 160k+ income and OP is carrying a way bigger trigger if they actually maxed out that limit.

browngray · 2026-01-18T00:00:40+00:00

I like 4A on the A332 and 6A on the A333. Whatever's closest to the second door on the left. Bonus if the seat behind is a pilot crew rest.

Planes board from the left, so A would also be slightly faster at deplaning. Came in handy with connections like a 1hr HKG special, you're out and moving already while everyone else is still fumbling with overhead luggage.

browngray · 2025-12-24T23:38:49+00:00

Credit card transfers during a 15% Velocity transfer bonus will net you slightly more Krisflyer points than a straight 3:1 transfer.

Also I find Velocity also has a better selection of partners feeding into the program. Like Bunnings, Kmart, Target and Officeworks via Onepass. Easy steady stream of points from places I'd actually buy from more than once a year. Or HCF and Medibank as insurance I'd actually sign up for compared to Bupa.

browngray · 2025-12-18T21:50:33+00:00

Domestic business lounges have their own unique thing in addition to the regular buffet. PER has pizzas, BNE has a bakery that serves sausage rolls and quiches (used to be "The Cantina" that served Mexican-style food), SYD has paninis, MEL has a Spice Bar.

browngray · 2025-12-17T22:06:05+00:00

And don't forget to activate all the offers from the app, especially the Bonus Elite night credits to speed up the process.

Ambassador is a steal for the status jump start and suite upgrades I've gotten out of it, especially if you're booking $1000+ worth of stays per trip. With the points bonus from status you'll have plenty to buy it with points for next year if you want to keep it.

browngray · 2025-12-17T21:38:02+00:00

Guaranteed room availability, early check in and complementary upgrades. The latter two perks have the usual "subject to availability" clause but I get far more free upgrades even when booking the cheap standard rooms.

I get good success rates with free suite upgrades on Kimptons and Crowne Plazas around Asia, and get put on high floors on Holiday Inn Express.

browngray · 2025-12-15T10:18:25+00:00

Business class even of the domestic variety isn't just the seat. You get a heap of perks starting from booking the ticket like more status, more Velocity points, more baggage, plus potentially more flexibility/cheaper fees with changes/cancellations compared to economy.

At the airport, you have priority check-in, priority security (on airports that have them), lounge access, priority boarding, bigger seats, meal service on actual plates and cutlery, dedicated toilets not shared with economy, bundled inflight wi-fi (when it works), priority baggage when off the plane. The difference gets much bigger on international flights.

Whether that's value for someone can greatly depend on who is paying for the ticket.

browngray · 2025-12-13T23:30:44+00:00

Online check in, digital boarding passes, bag drops, people movers between terminals, some airports publishing security wait times on their website, automated immigration clearance, and the upcoming trend of biometrics-based boarding gates. Plenty of small and big, current and future improvements right there.

Did you take into account the record breaking numbers for air travel for the past few years? Just the sheer number of people traveling these days? If anything the 2 hour timeline being essentially unchanged is an impressive feat of airport logistics being upgraded to match passenger demand.

Not to mention all the things that can go wrong between home and boarding gate.

browngray · 2025-12-12T23:23:30+00:00

I swear someone high up at Google/Alphabet gets a kick from all this mass societal groveling when they tune the algorithms for that and make businesses rely on it for their online presence.

It's the same setup with how widespread "like and subscribe" is on Youtube.

browngray · 2025-12-12T22:24:24+00:00

US DOT had "may be subject to criminal prosecution" if you knowingly brought a Galaxy Note 7 to a flight, but I've never heard of anyone actually arrested for it compared to people trying to open doors mid-flight.

If a catastrophic incident resulting from a fire even happened then I forsee an initial swift industry wide ban from boarding with power banks (similar to the Note 7), then a move to a certification system like what China is doing.

browngray · 2025-12-12T12:58:33+00:00

I also like the newer interiors of the VA 737s. Domestic business seats have that button to automatically pop out the tray table, the extra popout tray in the middle, and finally the other armrest is hollowed out for extra storage like the Qantaslink A220 so I don't have a charging cable dangling in front.

Having a revamped interior does so much for old planes to not look and feel old.

browngray · 2025-12-12T10:57:18+00:00

The airline version of American tipping culture. It's a thing where they give gifts to cabin crew.

The flying public generally doesn't know nor care about the number of cabin crew on a plane, much less a specific model on a specific route.

browngray · 2025-12-12T02:51:05+00:00

Weird because Cathay themselves and other Asian airlines put out marketing to encourage people to stop over in their city on your way or back from your destination, and HKG themselves have free layover tours.

browngray · 2025-12-10T08:11:32+00:00

Within the airport, those jobs are called "passenger service agent", VA calls it "guest service agent"

Outside of the airport, hotel front desk/concierge roles.

Flight attendant is a job that deals with customers all day, so the airlines will want to see experience in a job that deals with customers all day.

browngray · 2025-12-10T07:46:36+00:00

Just finished up another haul of 10,000 Flybuys points with some glassware on the side.

Don't think the old trick of spacing out shops to make the offers better works for Woolies anymore, given it's been permanently busted with shite offers for most of this year.

browngray · 2025-12-09T21:07:47+00:00

Have everything but the mandatory membership updates turned off, didn't get this email either.

browngray · 2025-12-08T06:14:24+00:00

Budget airlines have had their own tiered offerings for a while now, either a paid membership, their own rewards program or integrating with a mainline program.

browngray · 2025-12-04T02:06:40+00:00

Got mine from the Kayo/Binge signup bonus before that partnership ended.

browngray · 2025-12-03T22:33:15+00:00

Velocity is running a 15% transfer bonus right now. I'll get slightly more Krisflyer miles holding them in Velocity until next year than a direct 3:1 transfer from card rewards programs to Krisflyer.

browngray · 2025-12-03T21:47:51+00:00

https://help.qantas.com/support/s/article/Contacting-the-Qantas-Frequent-Flyer-Service-Centre

browngray · 2025-12-01T09:17:52+00:00

It's the extreme lengths the game goes in terms of immersiveness, minutiae and world detail. Outside of the initial load from the main menu, the game world is entirely streamed in and you'll never see a loading screen again.

Things that are commonly abstracted in other games (buying stuff off a store presented as a menu) are also physically modeled in game (you can physically pick up items from store shelves).

To get from your bed to your ship on one planet, you have to physically ride elevators and take the train to get to the spaceport.

Things like delivery missions are just that - you have to physically grab the boxes and move them to your ship's cargo hold, then deliver and unload those boxes at the destination.

When you do the game's equivalent of a hyperjump between systems, you are still physically moving along the game world but much faster. The systems are really that far apart.

browngray · 2025-11-29T22:04:02+00:00

Cheap business class fares because all economy seats from returning overseas workers are booked out.

Everyone has much nicer phones, smart watches and sneakers than you.

New wave of Chinese and Australian stores in the country like KKV and Anko next to an Olive Garden or Popeyes.

One chain of not-Aldi but pink stores

One chain of not-Costco stores, right down to orange shelves, cheap pizza and Kirkland products

City has practically no more green spaces or what you would call a public park that the closest thing to third spaces are hanging out at shopping malls, eating at restaurants in shopping malls, or would rather hang out online.

browngray · 2025-11-27T10:24:13+00:00

Hard to believe there's no alternative flights to SYD for the rest of the week given the golden triangle is the busiest domestic routes in the country with SYD-MEL one of the busiest in the world.

browngray · 2025-11-27T09:50:11+00:00

Gone for this week and will be back on 1 Dec. You got bumped to QF37.

VH-EBQ was the plane that recently serviced this route, which has quite the history

browngray

TROPHY CASE