2020 has been a tough year for many Australian tourism businesses. But few parts of Australia have been affected as badly as Kangaroo Island in South Australia. The island was still recovering from a disastrous summer bushfire season, which destroyed almost half the island, when the coronavirus crisis hit. With borders now closed, the island’s economy which relies on tourism is struggling. In this episode, Matt takes a close look at how these dual crises impacted Kangaroo Island and its people.

In this episode, Matt also discusses what it’s like flying around Australia at the moment, the future of Virgin Australia and the hierarchy of Qantas award availability.

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Qantas may have retired its last active Boeing 747, but there are still two of the “queens of the skies” on display in Australian aviation museums. One of those, a Boeing 747-200, can be found at the Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach, Queensland.

Qantas has a long and proud association with Longreach, the town where it first started its operations in the 1920s and even manufactured its own aircraft. Today, Longreach is home to the iconic museum that celebrates the history of Australia’s national carrier. As well as the Boeing 747, there is a Boeing 707, Super Constellation, DC3, Catalina and other Qantas aircraft and memorabilia on display.

In this episode, Matt chats to Tony Martin, the CEO of the Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach.

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This week, Australia said farewell to a national icon: the Qantas Boeing 747. Over the past 49 years, Qantas – once an all-747 airline – has operated almost every Boeing 747 variant that has existed. The “queen of the skies” has transported millions of passengers to destinations all over the world, including Olympic athletes and stranded Australians returning home from disaster epicentres – many years ago from Darwin after Cyclone Tracy, and most recently from Wuhan.

Current world events have resulted in an early retirement for the Qantas 747 fleet. Despite the current pandemic, Qantas has still managed to put on three excellent final joy flights for fans of the Boeing 747. In this episode, Matt speaks to some of the passengers that were on board the last ever Qantas 747 passenger flight out of Canberra on 17 July 2020.

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Imagine discovering that your available credit card balance is suddenly over $28 million! That’s exactly what happened to AFF moderator JessicaTam recently after Qatar Airways accidentally refunded her in Australian Dollars instead Indonesia Rupiah. JessicaTam joins Matt on this episode to talk about the story that has gone viral over the past week.

Also in this episode, hear the latest frequent flyer news and learn how to take advantage of various airline status matches & challenges currently available.

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For frequent flyers, noise-cancelling headphones are the ultimate travelling companion. But have you ever wondered how they actually work to cancel out noise?

In this episode, aerospace engineer Hossein Seif Zadeh (a.k.a. hossein_au on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum) explains how noise-cancelling headphone technology works and the difference between a $100 and a $600 pair of headphones. A lot more science goes into creating the perfect pair of noise-cancelling headphones than you may realise!

Also in this episode, found out how Australians may be able to benefit from the great deals available on U.S. credit cards, and how to easily earn Star Alliance Gold status via the Asiana Club frequent flyer program.

And as always, we take a look at the biggest Australian airline & frequent flyer news from the past fortnight, including Qantas’ brutal COVID-19 recovery plan and Virgin Australia finding a new owner.

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With Queensland and South Australia having now announced dates when their borders will reopen, James Green from Award Flight Assist joins Matt in this episode to discuss travel around Australia.

James also explains how to maximise opportunities for Qantas Points Club members to earn status credits from Qantas Classic Flight Rewards. And in a rare reversal of roles, James interviews the podcast’s host, Matt Graham, asking him about his favourite countries, airlines & travel tips.

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As the coronavirus crisis continues, many airline passengers are still waiting for refunds from cancelled bookings. Meanwhile, some passengers have discovered that they would have to pay extra – thousands of dollars, in some cases – to rebook their cancelled flights for a different date.

Recently, a Lufthansa customer in Germany was asked to pay around $5,000 to change their travel dates after the airline cancelled their flight. The matter was taken to court in Germany and the airline lost. In this episode, Matt Graham chats to Dr Matthias Böse, the lawyer that defended this court case.

You’ll also hear about the latest Australian airline news and the current refund policies of Qantas, Jetstar & Virgin Australia.

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Chris Bournelis (a.k.a. AviatorInsight) is a Boeing 737 First Officer for Virgin Australia. As the voluntary administration process continues and many flights remain grounded, Chris joins Matt in this episode of AFF on AIR to talk about life behind the cockpit door.

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When Peru suddenly went into lockdown in March, hundreds of Australians were stranded all over the country, unaware of what was going on or how many others were in the same situation. Within days, Gus Higgins created the “Aussies in Peru” Facebook group which has been credited with connecting most of those Australians and aiding the work of repatriation activities.

In this episode, Gus Higgins tells Matt about his experience and returning home to Australia while mandatory hotel quarantine is in place.

Also in this episode, find out what it’s flying on Air Koryo and travelling to North Korea – a country that had strict rules and border controls well before COVID-19 made them cool. And Matt summarises the current situation with Virgin Australia as it enters voluntary administration.

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As Virgin Australia suspends share trading on the ASX and considers the possibility of voluntary administration, many Velocity Frequent Flyers are watching the news nervously. What will happen to Virgin Australia, and are Velocity Frequent Flyer points safe?

In this episode, Phil Gunter from New World Loyalty shares his insights with Matt. Phil is a loyalty program expert and ran the Velocity Frequent Flyer program between 2006 and 2013.

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