There used to be a free city bus tour. did it once with only a 3 hours stopover. Went to a temple, a park and then train back in. Very chilled way of doing a stopover ironically.

I use the citibank prestige visa overseas as the 5 points per $ offsets the FX rate % they take and the ability to transfer to multiple airline programmes after you've checked availability.Ironically it can make it more cost effective to buy online overseas with such a great earn rate - given the...

Have used both the business and first class section of the Krisflyer lounge and they both beat hands down the old Air NZ lounge (even just based on soft products - food and beverages).Haven't sampled the new Air NZ lounge but it looks much better. I would suggest asking to have a look in both and...

The status bonus is just for extra points, not status credits unfortunately so silver won't help there...

Good choice. I flew this over a year ago and it was not bad and brilliant for the price.It was BYO device but the movies are free. There's an app you need to download first.I don't think there's a lounge you can use in Sydney unless they have a tie up now. You can pay to enter the Air NZ lounge f...

It seems to be according to the terms and conditions No match to other oneworld carriers though.

Some of the high end credit cards give lounge access such as ANZ Black Frequent Flyer. This gives access to the DCA Business Class Lounge T1. You get Amex plus visa as standard and then get one additional card which will allow all three of you access.

You can of course always buy points..... Alaska Airlines, AA, US Airways, BA Avios lifemiles (when they have bonus deals)... for cheaper travel, or get them through credit card signups, paying tax by credit card (for some cards) etc...

Scoot Business was not bad. Like an older business class product. Very no frills though foodwise but good leg room and the price of economy on other carriers so you can't really complain. Not flat bed seats though. I've flown Thai and Singapore First and Cathay and Thai Business and they are a lo...

Building on what gippsflyer says, I have recently found that a cheap one way to international hubs like Singapore allows you to access cheaper fares than ex-Australia. the fare element that is often overpriced is the SYD,MEL, BNE etc outbound flight to the gateway e.g. SINAlso avoiding LHR and go...

If you're flying any Star Alliance airline Business Class you can also use the Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Lounge which is much much better anyway.

Commonwealth Diamond card has a good points earn rate at 1.5 per $ (and better if you time transfers to when 10 or 15% bonus offers are on). The other (gold, platinum cards) aren't as good.

You can pay $55 for four hours access to the Koru lounge according to the Air NZ site. I think eligibility for Virgin domestic Lounges is only with a domestic ticket

In Bali, cheekily including 100,000 rupiah cash in with the passport at the indonesian only desk may work wonders ;)

No worries.. I should mention also, it's worth getting to check in early and ask for row 3. They may offer row 4, but if you then state you would prefer row 3 (I am personally tall so I need the legroom) they may let you have it. The room is about the same, maybe better than business class but th...