A Trip News

Qantas and Woolworths have combined loyalty programs in a bid to secure more market share.
The plan means members of the airline’s frequent flyer program will receive one point for every dollar over $30 spent at Woolworths and some of its other chains.
The scheme was launched for staff on Monday and will start on June 22 for customers.
The deal was first announced in December 2008 and forms part of a broader restructure of the airlines’ loyalty program.
Qantas’ frequent flyer chief executive (more…)

A Swiss holiday resort is offering mountain-cleaning courses after an April Fools spoof caught the imagination of a nation known for its cleanliness, the tourism board said yesterday.
Authorities in Engelberg, an idyllic ski resort where tens of thousands of skiers come annually, said the April Fools joke had such global impact that they were now using it as a marketing tool to attract holidaymakers.
“We are offering four weekend courses after which participants can call themselves qualified (more…)

Passengers arriving at and departing from Melbourne and Avalon airports this morning are facing lengthy delays as a thick blanket of fog shrouds the city.
Domestic and international flights have been diverted and delayed at Tullamarine, some up to three hours after their scheduled arrival and departure times, as fog decreased visibility to 100 metres.
A number of arrivals and departures have also been cancelled.
A Melbourne Airport media spokeswoman said at 7.50am the fog had affected international (more…)

A 36-year-old woman imprisoned in Thailand for the “prank” theft of a bar mat has compared her experience to that of convicted drug runner Schapelle Corby.
Montrose mother-of-four Annice Smoel, who was reunited with her family today at Melbourne Airport, says she had endured the worst experience of her life and would never return to Thailand.
“Being locked up in that cell for two days on a concrete slab … and worrying … so many times it went through my head this is just like Schapelle (more…)

An Australian mother charged in Thailand with theft for allegedly taking a bar “slops rag” says she is innocent and has made an impassioned plea for help from the Federal Government.
Mother of four Annice Smoel, 36, of Montrose in Melbourne’s outer east, says her arrest for allegedly stealing a bar mat from a Phuket bar during her mother’s 60th birthday celebration was “totally unbelievable”.
Speaking from Thailand in a conference call with her Melbourne lawyers this morning, Mrs Smoel broke (more…)

P&O Cruises has developed the novel idea of weekend food and wine “sampler cruises”, which allowed the company to showcase the fine food and wines of the region to a growing cruise audience.
Ann Sherry, CEO of Carnival Australia which operates P&O Cruises, announced the partnership today alongside the Hunter Valley ’s only two-hat chef, Andrew Clarke of Rock Restaurant.
“The Hunter Valley is famous for fresh produce, innovative menus and the amazing local wines, which are so popular (more…)

Pandaw Cruises, the operator of the largest River Cruise Company in Asia, has announced the successful transfer of the newest ship in the fleet, from Saigon where the ship was built, to Sibu in Borneo,
The brand new R V Orient Pandaw will undergo some additional fitting out in Sibu, Sarawak prior to the start of the new Cruise on the Rajang River, to commence in July 2009.
This new ship brings the total number of Pandaw ships cruising the Rivers of Asia to six.

(more…)

To celebrate her 60th birthday, neither a European holiday nor an African safari was exciting enough for Glenys Ambe.
Instead, she’s booked to go to space.
Ms Ambe, 53, is the first Australian to buy a ticket on Virgin Galactic - Richard Branson’s commercial space travel project - through a travel agent.
“I have always wanted to go up in space,” she said. “The only day I wagged school in my whole life was when my father gave me permission … the day they walked on the moon.
“I never (more…)

Pilots of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Thursday agreed to end their go-slow protest over pay which had forced the flag carrier to cancel dozens of flights, the government said.
After negotiations with pilots and PIA management at the defence ministry in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, both sides had agreed to revert to a normal schedule, the government said in a statement.
“The talks were held in cordial atmosphere. The issues were discussed at length. Both sides came to a mutual agreement, (more…)

A FEW moments of stunned silence was the response from three-year-old Holly Foard-Whitelaw when she cast her eyes on snow for the first time at Thredbo yesterday morning. Then it dawned on her: where were all the presents?
The snow and the “Christmas trees” surely meant that Santa was nearby.
“She was really excited,” said her mother, Caroline Foard, “but then when we told her [it wasn’t Christmas] she was still pretty excited to pick it up and throw it around, and make snowballs … it’s a (more…)