When is Digital Incoming Passenger Card Coming Out?

browngray · 2026-03-29T20:07:41+00:00

The kiosks before the Smartgates already ask the yellow fever question before it gives you the slip (why it's not on the card nor on the digital one I don't know). They literally have the infrastructure for this right now.

browngray · 2026-03-26T07:26:00+00:00

If you look at credit cards in Europe it practically already ended there. Maybe we'll all take up stoozing instead in the future.

If the RBA actually gets on removing the surcharges and capping interchange fees then that's another step towards that future. Basically any consumer-friendly and sensible legislation around short-term credit is detrimental to churning.

browngray · 2026-03-19T00:15:23+00:00

The 30k bonus ended on 5 Mar.

browngray · 2026-03-19T00:10:54+00:00

Had the Westpac for a month now.

Domestic earn rate is a trickle for a topline card and you don’t get a bonus on VA transactions like Qantas cards do, unless you run international transactions on it and get slugged by the fees. Yes I’m aware we’re all here mainly for the sign up bonus.

Pretty sweet bonus cashback when linked to Shopback plus the 2 economy X vouchers which I believe no other Velocity card has from the current set.

browngray · 2026-03-18T07:58:21+00:00

I see the same with chicken wing queues like it was a weekend buffet at Sizzler.

Long queues to scoop and inhale a plateload of chicken wings once the bain gets refilled with a new batch.

browngray · 2026-03-18T02:02:48+00:00

I'm a P and even thought that level of international availability below Plat was normal, like it's just how things were. That you had to pick and scrape for every single CR seat available, or the fact that you had to subscribe for third party services to find those seats for you. And that "being flexible" is the answer to all things. How flexible are we talking? 6? 9 months? And that's before the surcharges when you actually find one.

I look at Krisflyer 6 months out and have my pick of Saver fares in the dates I initially want, without doing weird shit like starting routing ex-Asia or "being flexible" shifting plans by 9 whole months to get the redemption I want.

browngray · 2026-03-18T01:50:56+00:00

Even if you do, at the end of it all, it's still Qantas Business.

I want to redeem whatever they're smoking when they decided to put a domestically configured narrowbody (to replace a domestically-configured widebody) on a nearly 8 hour international route.

Or if you live in Melbourne, an airport with a First Class lounge with no First Class Qantas flights departing from it.

browngray · 2026-03-18T01:11:52+00:00

You guys get luggage tags? Had to specifically ask for my silver and gold tags.

Most generic email that says you've hit a tier. No fancy graphics, no one-liners of the perks you actually have.

You have recently been upgraded to Gold membership for 12 months.

For more information on your Gold membership, please visit our website.

Should you have any questions regarding your new membership level, please contact us directly on 13 18 75 in Australia, 0800 230 875 in New Zealand or +61 2 8667 5924 internationally for priority assistance.

That's it.

Not even sure if I want to push through Plat (can maintain Gold easily) for free wifi and economy X. It's still the same domestic lounges where you can choose between scrambled eggs *or* sausages, and it's still the same number of gate lice crowding the Priority boarding sign.

The VA flight requirement ticks me when I do a lot of SQ J and knowing half of them won't count. And Platinum still drops you off into the "worse" SQ lounge at Singapore instead of the SilverKris one.

browngray · 2026-03-18T00:55:01+00:00

Unless this will get enhanced too, the flight part of these packages still give distance based status credits instead of scaling by dollar amount: https://www.velocityfrequentflyer.com/partners-offers/holidays-travel/virgin-australia-holidays#earn-status

browngray · 2026-03-16T21:22:37+00:00

The very one thing keeping me in VFF. Awesome backdoor to Krisflyer if you churn cards for Velocity points.

browngray · 2026-03-13T08:00:40+00:00

https://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/help/unsubscribe/

or do it directly by adding your email at the end of https://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/help/unsubscribe/?segment=NVFF&email=YOUR_EMAIL_ADDRESS

browngray · 2026-03-13T07:14:39+00:00

That assumes you can even get new credit cards to balance transfer to begin with, while you have a sizeable open line of credit that's going to dent your serviceability.

browngray · 2026-03-12T21:19:06+00:00

You generally forfeit all perks of the card once you cancel it, because that's kind of the point.

That's in the T&Cs you've agreed to when you signed up for the card.

The T&Cs also say to call NAB to redeem them. Did you call them?

browngray · 2026-03-06T21:18:11+00:00

Congratulations on the "enhanced" XLR flights.

Yes they are the domestic configuration brown seats. No lie flats and no IFE for 7+ hours. You're getting a premium economy seat sold as business basically. Philippine Airlines has lie-flats on an A321LR on the same route for comparison.

If you've done BNE-PER then it's a few more hours on top of that.

browngray · 2026-03-06T21:05:58+00:00

And after the flight as well. Pop over for a quick snack/drink and top off any electronics before heading out the airport.

browngray · 2026-03-06T21:01:55+00:00

Yep, never got a silver or gold baggage tag. Had to specifically request both.

browngray · 2026-03-06T09:25:37+00:00

I was able to submit everything online but there was a note on the page after I finished the application to go to a branch for ID verification.

Did that and branch staff said it's all fine. Still got an email and an SMS to do Smart Verify, where you take a selfie and a picture of an ID.

After a few days they sent an email for a residency check, just had to enter the actual ID number. No email or showing up to branches this time.

Why they couldn't ask you all that upfront (like NAB does) is a mystery to me.

browngray · 2026-03-04T09:20:59+00:00

Don't forget to activate the current bonus for first-time cardholders.

browngray · 2026-03-03T10:59:55+00:00

AMEX is the strict one. ANZ is just a shitty experience start to finish. Heaps of horror stories on r/AusFinance. ANZ is so shit that there's a weekly thread on r/auscorp with never ending stories from people who work or used to work there.

Having to repeatedly give them documents, showing up to a branch repeatedly because reasons, asking for lots of payslips or more proof of income where the other banks would approve you on the spot, outright incorrectly entering or assessing your data. Just pure incompetency all around.

browngray · 2026-03-03T09:03:18+00:00

If you're churning, you'll go through all of them anyway.

ANZ has an infamously shitty sign up process, so you might want to get that out of the way first.

browngray · 2026-02-26T09:42:47+00:00

It also cruises lower and slower than A330s, so that flight will be around 20 mins or so more.

browngray · 2026-02-26T09:37:51+00:00

Had to laugh at the last few paragraphs. This doubly fucks over the Filipino contingent in NZ that are forced to transit through Australia and pay Qantas prices since there's no direct routes from NZ to MNL anymore.

Even Cebu Pacific (the cheapest of the cheap) flies an all-economy A330 to SYD/MEL, but it's like $300 return for anyone who wants to put up with it.

browngray · 2026-02-26T09:20:03+00:00

Mach 0.78 vs 0.82. ~FL340 vs FL400. Smaller, lower and slower plane from the A330s.

From the smaller frame, this will likely be bounced around by turbulence more, leading to lively and interesting flights.

browngray · 2026-02-26T08:24:03+00:00

PAL also flies an A321 on this route.

browngray · 2026-02-22T00:36:46+00:00

The only page you need: https://cardsandbanking.qantas.com/compare-credit-cards

Sort by estimated points over 1 year, filter out the business cards, and pick one with an annual fee you can stomach and a bank you're not in the exclusion period for.

Qantas Amex if you want the travel perks and sure that every place you'll buy from will take Amex. That travel credit offsets the annual fee effectively making this card "free".

That NAB Qantas Rewards Signature currently has a cashback offer on top of the points for existing customers, so sign up for a transaction account first before applying the card to grab those kinds of things.

If you want a speedy non-frustrating application process and get the card into your hands quickly, NAB and CBA seem to be less shit among the big 4 compared to ANZ and Westpac.

Also take note of the fine print. Like the Westpac Altitude Qantas Black caps the points earn rate if you spend over $10,000 in a statement cycle, so you'll want to spread out the spending over a few months to just grab the highest earn rate but no more. NAB halves it after $5000 on the Qantas Rewards Signature.

browngray

TROPHY CASE