Arrivals & Departures Weekly Travel News & Views 29 January 2025

VIRGIN REWARDS

Virgin Australia has tripled the number of Reward Seats available on its codeshare flights to Doha with Qatar Airways for Velocity Frequent Flyer members travelling between June and September 2025. The flights are on a Boeing 777, under a partnership agreement that starts in June. Velocity members can redeem points for Business Class Qsuite seats from 89,500 points and Economy Class seats from 42,000 points.

QANTAS CHANGES

A revamp of the Qantas frequent flyer program will make it more expensive for frequent flyers to redeem seats on some flights. The changes will be rolled out over the next 12 months. From the start of August, Qantas will increase the number of points needed to book a Classic Reward seat or make upgrades across domestic and international flights. As an example, Classic Reward business class seats on the Sydney-Melbourne route will take 19,300 points, plus $76 — up from 18,400 points and $55. Sydney to London in economy will increase from 55,200 points to 63,500, plus $263. But, from July, frequent flyers will be able to earn up to 25 per cent more points on domestic flights.

SCOOTING TO VIENNA

Scoot airline will fly to Vienna, Austria, from June 3, 2025, connecting through its base in Singapore. The low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines will start with three weekly flights on a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. It carries 329 passengers in two cabin classes. For mid-July, flying return in economy from Perth might cost between $1200 and $1300. booking.flyscoot.com

On Vienna, a Scoot spokesperson rightly points out: “The city enchants travellers with its majestic architectural charm, rich heritage and timeless artistic allure. Its central location makes it an excellent gateway to explore Eastern Europe and an ideal starting point for multi-city European adventures on scenic road trips. Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is just 50km away from Vienna International Airport, while Budapest, Hungary and major cities in Czechia, Croatia and Slovenia are all within a three-hour drive.”

And Scoot will start flying to Iloilo City in the Philippines on April 14, 2025. Using an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, the airline will start with two flights a week. The Embraer carries 112 passengers. Iloilo is home to Spanish-era churches and the Dinagyang Festival — one of the biggest religious festivals in the Philippines. It honours Santo Nino, the holy child, and can attract more than a million people. For mid-July, there are flights to Iloilo City from $257.94, with returns from $187.94. booking.flyscoot.com

CITILINK TO BALI

Readers continue to ask about the possibility of Garuda Indonesia flights to Bali but the airline has a codeshare agreement with Citilink for the Perth-Bali route. There was a formal signing ceremony for that codeshare in September 2024. citilink.co.id

ETA IS HERE

There has been a lot of reader correspondence about the ETA (electronic travel authorisation) which started on January 8, 2025, for Australians entering the UK on an Australian passport. An ETA is needed: it lasts two years and costs about $20 (£10) for anyone aged 16 to 70, and is free outside that age bracket. You apply online and it comes back in days. gov.uk

Reader Iain Cameron says his son, who has been working in London since 2017, became a British citizen in late November but there was not enough time for him to obtain his UK passport before he flew to Perth on December 21. Iain says: “We were concerned he could have a problem when checking in for his flight back to London on January 12 because he did not have an ETA, now required for all Australian passport holders. Happily there was no problem as his mobile phone had a photograph of his UK citizenship certificate which was deemed sufficient.”

Australians who have a valid British passport will not require an ETA to enter the UK, as they can use that passport.

ROUGH RIDE

Travellers go cruising as a holiday — a way to relax, be entertained and see something of the world. But I am always acutely conscious that we are on the same high seas that have claimed countless ships and lives. I particularly think of that anywhere south of Cape Horn (which is, after all, Cape Horn ) and in the North Sea. I have a long experience of the latter, which is relatively shallow, with strong, fast-running and tangled currents, an uneven seabed and unpredictable weather. Its geographic position and the air movement between sea, continent and surrounding landmasses help to make it stormy. It has been calculated that there are about 1000 shipwrecks in the North Sea.

I have heard from a reader cruising from the UK to Norway who has encountered rough weather — “very rough seas, 160km/h winds and 9m waves”. He says the itinerary has been changed because of the weather and the cruise company is offering a voucher worth 60 per cent of the amount paid for the cruise. It is always interesting to me that cruise companies go so far in compensating for weather over which (rather obviously) they have no control.

ONE YEAR ON ...

It’s just over a year since storm Pia disabled a Hurtigruten ship on a northern lights cruise in the North Sea. There were 266 passengers aboard MS Maud. More or less halfway between Denmark and the east coast of England, a big wave hit the ship, broke windows and disabled electronics. The captain sent out a mayday call. After three hours sitting in survival suits and five hours at muster stations, passengers were allowed back to their cabins, and the ship was towed by a tug, its main engine was restarted and it made it to Bremerhaven. Hurtigruten has since renamed the ship MS Midnatsol.

ANTARCTICA OFFER

Viking has an offer on its most popular polar voyage, the 13-day Antarctic Explorer voyage from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia. Prices start from $19,195 per person, twin share in a Nordic balcony room. Until March 31, 2025, there is free airfare for a companion, valued up to $2400 per booking, and a $500 shipboard credit. The voyage is on an expedition ship with lots of indoor and outdoor viewing areas for up to 378 guests. The ships have two yellow submarines, a fleet of military pro Zodiacs, Viking’s special operations boats, and two-seater kayaks. vikingcruises.com.au, 138 747

OPEN FOR BOOKING

Holland America Line’s 2026-2027 South America and Antarctica season is officially open for booking. Itineraries for November 2026 through March 2027 are between 14 and 31 days, with Oosterdam and Volendam taking guests to destinations in the Amazon River, Falkland Islands, Antarctica and (new for the season) the Pio XI Glacier — the southern hemisphere’s largest glacier outside of Antarctica.

Pio XI Glacier is in southern Chile — a huge outflow of ice westward from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. The glacier is more than 60km long. It is in the area of Torres del Paine and Puerto Natales, in Bernardo O’Higgins National Park (named for Gen. Bernardo O’Higgins, the first head of Chile). Also known as Bruggen Glacier (for Juan Bruggen Messtorff, a German-Chilean geologist), the name Pio XI Glacier was given by Spanish explorers to honour the pope.

FINDING YOURSELF ...

Lots of our readers take to boats, not just in their WA travel but also when they travel overseas, and GME’s new MT605G EPIRB has approval for worldwide operation.

A step forward in emergency position indicating radio beacons, it has a GNSS receiver (global navigation satellite system) for good accuracy, a high-intensity IR (infrared) strobe light to help search and rescue teams, and a 121.5MHz homing signal.

The MT605G EPIRB, above right, has a 10-year battery life. It is priced about $470, depending on store, with stockists listed at gme.net.au

... AND FINDING A CHARGER

Tech company Twelve South’s new PlugBug travel charger can be found with Apple’s “Find My” technology. If a PlugBug is misplaced, borrowed or buried in a suitcase, just launch the Find My app on an iPhone or MacBook to track it down, anywhere in the world.

There is a two-port 50W charger that powers two devices simultaneously, or a four-port 120W option that can power up devices for the whole family.

The chargers use GaN (gallium nitride) and the 50W PlugBug is $139.95, and the 120W is $219.95 from twelvesouth.com.au

... which reminds me of the photon going through airport security. When asked why it doesn’t have any luggage, it replies: “I’m travelling light.”