Miles Down Under

The Park Hyatt Washington, DC certainly matched our (high) expectations, and we would rate this one of, if not, the top Hyatt properties in the United States.

Park Hyatt Washington, DC The Park Hyatt Washington, DC is located in the West End, with the Embassy Row, Dupont Circle, and the restaurants and bars of Georgetown a comfortable walk (or a short Uber ride) away.

We visited Air New Zealand's new lounge at Auckland International. We were particularly keen to try the "new food theatre with cuisine cooked to order at meal times by the lounge’s resident chef".

Review: Air New Zealand International Lounge Auckland Air New Zealand’s new NZ$14 million (~US$9.2 million) International Lounge Auckland opened on 29 September 2015 amid much fanfare.

American Airlines have just announced sweeping increases to redemption prices for members of its AAdvantage frequent flyer scheme. We've got the details on how it will affect you.

American Airlines announces AAdvantage devaluation

Today we're flying on Etihad's revolutionary A380 First Class Apartment from Sydney to Abu Dhabi.

Look out for our review soon of this stunning cabin!

American Airlines announces flights to New Zealand After a several decade absence, American Airlines has announced that it will fly to New Zealand again. The new daily non-stop service between Los Angeles and Auckland begins in June 2016. Share thi…

We flew Garuda Indonesia in business class on one of its six weekly services between the South Korean capital and Denpasar-Bali, GA871.

Garuda Indonesia have made considerable improvements in recent years. The airline completed its ‘Quantum Leap’ investment program in late 2014, which has seen a complete refresh for the airline.

Garuda Indonesia A330-300 Business Class, Seoul-Incheon to Denpasar-Bali Garuda Indonesia is the flag carrier of the most populous nation in South East Asia and is named after the holy bird Garuda – which is also Indonesia’s national emblem. We flew Garuda Indones…

Review: Korean Air Business Class Lounge, Seoul-Incheon Airport Korean Air operate a number of lounges at its hub, Seoul-Incheon International Airport – the largest airport in South Korea, found 48 kilometers west of the South Korean capital. Share this:Share …

Hot on the heels of its announcement that it will fly to Sydney, Qatar Airways has announced that it fly daily to Adelaide (ADL) from 2 May 2016 using an Airbus A350 aircraft.

That's right. The best business class seat that Qatar Airways offer to Australia will be going to Adelaide.

Qatar Airways announces service to Adelaide

Cathay Pacific business class is certainly up there as one of the world’s leading business class products.

We flew Cathay Pacific in business class from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, a flight of nearly 15 hours.

Review: Cathay Pacific Business Class, Los Angeles to Hong Kong We took one of Cathay Pacific’s four daily flights from the City of Angels to Asia’s World City, those being CX883, CX881, CX897 and CX885. These services are all operated by Boeing 777…

United are launching a new service to Auckland on 1 July 2016. Initially three times weekly, the service will move to daily from 28 October 2016.

www.milesdownunder.com/2015/10/united-to-fly-to-auckland-again-from-july-2016/

Over the weekend, Air New Zealand flight NZ80 went mechanical in Hong Kong, forcing 80 passengers to sleep in the airport terminal. These passengers included Air New Zealand chairman Tony Carter.

Air New Zealand strands its own chairman in Hong Kong

Following months of speculation and press coverage (as first reported by Miles Down Under in May 2015), Cathay Pacific have unveiled changes to its Marco Polo Club elite frequent flyer scheme.

http://bit.ly/1P5oj9U

Cathay Pacific revamps Marco Polo Club to compete with Qantas, others Cathay Pacific has announced changes to its Marco Polo Club elite frequent flyer scheme. The changes come into effect on 15 April 2016.

Qatar Airways to launch Sydney flights in 2016:

http://bit.ly/1QKvl26

Qatar Airways to fly to Sydney from 1 March Qatar Airways have announced non-stop flights between Doha and Australia’s financial capital, Sydney. The new service will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with 42 business class se…

Sometimes overlooked, Belize is a stunning destination. The nation sits between the Central American jungles and the Caribbean Sea, providing some of the best diving locations in the world.

We flew Tropic Air on a short 7-minute flight, 9N0081, from Caye Caulker to Belize City.

Review: Tropic Air, Caye Caulker to Belize City Tropic Air (9N) is one of only two Belize-based airlines. Alongside competitor Maya Island Air (8M), Tropic Air operates all domestic flights to various islands across the small Central American co…

Is Qatar Airways about to launch flights to a new Australian destination?

http://bit.ly/1gPIwT3

Is Qatar Airways about to launch flights to Sydney? According to an article from Reuters, the Australian and Qatari governments have agreed to increase flight capacity between the Australia and the Gulf state by 50%, or an 7 extra flights per week. …

We flew Cathay Pacific first class from Hong Kong to Los Angeles.

What most people will notice first in Cathay Pacific first class is the width of the seat...

Review: Cathay Pacific First Class, Hong Kong to Los Angeles While Cathay Pacific does not currently offer first class service to Australia, it does offer its flagship product on selected flights between Hong Kong and key markets in Europe, North America, an…

It certainly seems like there are now fewer people who are both Qantas Platinum and Virgin Platinum around than there used to be – and that, by and large, they’ve elected to keep earning Platinum status with Qantas over Virgin.

From a commercial perspective, it is very important that Virgin Australia maintains its cost advantage over Qantas. So what could Virgin Australia do to drive Platinum member loyalty? We’ve got six ideas.

Six changes that would make Virgin Australia Platinum status competitive Virgin Australia has made massive strides under the leadership of its visionary Chief Executive, John Borghetti. These include the August 2011 relaunch of its frequent flyer scheme, Velocity, which…

Brisbane’s CBD hasn’t seen a great deal of new hotel openings in recent years and so other things being equal, a modern property is always going to be preferable to a dated one.

We stayed at the Four Points Brisbane, a relatively new property which opened in March 2014.

Review: Four Points By Sheraton, Brisbane The Four Points by Sheraton is the Queensland state capital’s first and only Starwood hotel. This is a relatively new property – having only opened in March 2014 – and is centrally located in…

We flew Singapore Airlines from Singapore to Seoul-Incheon. The first class offering on this flight was surprising.

Review: Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class, Singapore to Seoul-Incheon Singapore Airlines operate four daily services between Singapore and the sprawling capital of South Korea.

We were interested to try out InterContinental’s other Hong Kong property, the Grand Stanford – located in Tsim Sha Tsui East.

We stayed in a Junior Harbour View Suite.

Review: InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong IHG operate two hotels under its flagship InterContinental brand in the fragrant harbour, Hong Kong.

We visited the Singapore Airlines lounge in Perth.

Review: Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge, Perth International Airport T1 Singapore Airlines are the only Star Alliance carrier to operate a lounge at Perth International Airport. Singapore Airlines has its own lounges at all the ports it operates from in Australia: Adel…

We stayed in one of Park Hyatt Sydney's eleven suites.

The hotel’s Japanese owner reputedly purchased it for his daughter because she liked it. We can certainly see why.

http://milesdownunder.com/2015/09/review-park-hyatt-sydney-cove-suite/

Review: Park Hyatt Sydney (Cove Suite) The Park Hyatt Sydney re-opened in March 2012 following an AU$65 million renovation. That kind of investment across a property with only 155 rooms means the hotel has the finest rooms in the city. ...

We flew Air China's 'Forbidden Pavilion' first class product from Beijing to Sydney.

Whilst the seat was similar to other first class products available, the catering and service onboard severely lagged behind other airlines.

http://milesdownunder.com/2015/08/review-air-china-777-300-forbidden-pavillion-first-class-beijing-to-sydney/

Review: Air China 777-300ER 'Forbidden Pavilion' First Class, Beijing to Sydney Air China's fleet of twenty 777-300ER aircraft offer its flagship 'Forbidden Pavilion' first class product. These aircraft are predominantly used for long-haul routes to Europe, North America and a...

We visited the Air China first class lounge at Beijing-Capital airport.

Strangely similar to the business class lounge it's a solid offering but doesn't live up to its name.

http://milesdownunder.com/2015/08/review-air-china-first-class-lounge-beijing-capital-airport/

Review: Air China First Class Lounge, Beijing-Capital Airport At Beijing-Capital Airport (PEK), Air China's international operations run from Terminal 3E, where it operates a pair of business and first class lounges. Most airlines seem to use these lounges (t...

Air New Zealand’s chief executive was calling Qantas “Air Sydney” yesterday. Meanwhile, Qantas was opening their new Business Lounge... in Perth.

"Air Sydney" opens new Perth Business Lounge? We were intrigued by reports yesterday that Air New Zealand's chief executive was calling Qantas "Air Sydney".

We took Qantas flight QF653 from Melbourne to Perth, which was operated by an Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Unfortunately for us, this flight was operated by an ex-Jetstar aircraft – still sporting the same seating as it had in its former life when it shuttled passengers around in ‘Star Class’. Seats from Jetstar’s original premium cabin (later renamed business class) weren’t what we expected when we booked to fly Qantas.

Review: Qantas A330 Business Class, Melbourne to Perth

Virgin claims that this new product, dubbed ‘The Business’, is “setting a new standard in domestic business class around the world”. We agree.

Is Australia's new standard of domestic business class sustainable? This week saw Virgin Australia's new business class product take flight. Its mid-August introduction on Virgin's first reconfigured Airbus A330 aircraft was exclusively confirmed by Miles Down Unde...

American Express Australia have a number of new offers for cardholders, including one for Hilton and DoubleTree properties in Australia which we think will be of particular interest to our readers: spend $250 or more, get $50 back. Registration is required for each offer (per card). Details @ milesdownunder.com

More offers for American Express cardholders in Australia

We flew SQ232 in Suites class for this 8-hour journey from Australia’s largest city to the Lion City

This is certainly one of the premier offerings in the sky today. Exceptional crew, catering and seating make this an unforgettable experience.

Review: Singapore Airlines Suites Class, Sydney to Singapore As one of its four daily services between Sydney and Singapore, Singapore Airlines operate its flagship Airbus A380 aircraft between Australia's largest city and the Lion City. We flew SQ232 in Sui...