July closed with a bang as Regional Express (Rex) announced it was heading into administration, but it’s not the only airline cancelling services.

On the other hand, some airlines are resuming flights to Australian cities and, as always, there are movements in the hotel loyalty landscape… Here’s our monthly travel roundup.

Rex Goes Bust

Rex’s administration is largely due to its foray into Boeing 737 flights, which the travelling public largely avoided, often because they didn’t know they existed. While the jet flights are history, Rex’s turboprop flights to country towns continue to operate and are likely to keep doing so — a win if you live in one of those towns.

One of the more interesting post-administration developments is confirmation that Virgin Australia is talking to Rex about codeshares and interline agreements on these country flights, plus extending Velocity Frequent Flyer benefits to Rex’s passengers, akin to what VA currently does with FlyPelican. It’s an interesting move and probably a strategy Rex should have pursued several years ago instead of inhaling the jet fumes and deciding to go head-to-head against Virgin Australia and Qantas.

Flight Cancellations And Reductions

Aircalin started flying to the city last December, but it has recently indefinitely suspended its services to Melbourne and is reducing frequencies to Sydney and Brisbane. Because of the ongoing civil unrest in Vanuatu, nobody is flying there anymore, causing widespread havoc across the country’s many tourist-dependent businesses, including Aircalin, which is now in serious financial strife.

Also pausing flights to Sydney is Thai AirAsia X, which offered the only direct low-cost option between Sydney and Bangkok. However, the airline says it remains committed to the Australian market and will be back in December. Thai AirAsia X is shifting its Bangkok operations from Suvarnabhumi to Don Mueang Airport in October, so when/if flights resume, they’ll be to Bangkok’s old airport.

Virgin Australia is axing its Cairns –Tokyo Haneda flights in February after it failed to convince the travelling public that flying seven or eight hours in a pokey narrowbody aircraft was wonderful. 

Finally, after a big push into the South Pacific, United continues to trim its flights to Australia. As previously reported, United is dropping its LA – Brisbane flights later this year. However, the airline is also cutting frequencies on three other routes over the upcoming Australian summer, including Sydney – San Francisco, Sydney – Houston, and Melbourne – LA.

Returning Airlines

On the plus side, Cathay Pacific is returning to Cairns for a summer seasonal service using two-class configured Airbus A330 aircraft. The thrice weekly flights will operate between December 17, 2024, and March 29, 2025. Cathay used to fly to Cairns year-round but axed services in 2019.

Across in Perth, China Southern is resuming its three-times-per-week Boeing 787-9 flights to and from Guangzhou in November after axing the route during the pandemic. The aircraft type offers lie-flat business class seats, plus premium economy and economy class cabins.

Rydges Revamps Priority Guest Rewards

Rydges Hotels, which also includes the QT and Atura brands, is overhauling its Priority Guest Rewards program. This includes changes to the qualification period and criteria for earning and retaining tiers and changes to membership tier benefits. In addition, the qualification period for earning and retaining tiers is moving from a calendar year to a rolling period.

The biggest losers in this reorganisation are the gold members, who are no longer entitled to room upgrades. Despite this, Priority Guest Rewards remains an accessible loyalty program with some solid benefits and a range of mid-scale hotels in most major cities around Australia.

Double Status Nights At Hilton, Triple Points At Accor

Hilton for Business has a double status nights promotion running through December 31, 2024. The program targets small and medium-sized businesses, but joining only requires a business-specific email address, providing the business’s landing page, and linking it to your Honor’s account. The trick to getting two status nights per night stayed is to flick the business/personal button to business when booking via the Hilton portal. Leave it as personal travel as it’s one status night per night only. Hilton Honors has recently added Small Luxury Hotels of the World to its portfolio, opening up some new earn and burn opportunities.

Meanwhile, Accor, which has a far larger range of properties throughout Australia and the Asia Pacific region, is offering members of its loyalty program triple points on bookings through July 29, 2025. There are a couple of caveats – you need to register for the promotion on the Accor All website or app, and you’ll need to book by August 11, 2024 (August 18 for Accor Plus members). Another trick with Accor All accounts is to link it with your Qantas frequent flyer account to double dip on points.