u/Gl0beTrotter2025

Email from Turkish Airlines to travel agents says Miles&Smiles membership will be mandatory if you want to claim the free Istanbul hotel for your stopover.

>We would like to inform you about an important new regulation regarding our Stopover Accommodation Service, effective for bookings made as of 1 September 2026.
To further enhance the travel experience and streamline our services, Miles&Smiles membership will become mandatory for all passengers who wish to benefit from the Stopover Accommodation Service.
Please review the operational details of this new implementation below:
Mandatory Registration: Each passenger’s unique Miles&Smiles membership number must be registered directly in their flight reservation (PNR) to successfully complete and confirm a Stopover hotel booking.
Existing Registrations: If the passenger’s Miles&Smiles number is already attached to the flight reservation, the Stopover booking process will continue seamlessly as usual.
Non-Members & Post-Ticketing Enrollment: This new rule does not restrict the ticketing stage. Passengers who are not yet members can book their flights first, enroll in the Miles&Smiles program after ticketing, and then have their new membership number added to the reservation to complete their Stopover hotel booking.
To ensure your clients do not experience any disruptions or delays with their hotel arrangements, please ensure that the Miles&Smiles membership number for each passenger in the booking is entered into the flight reservation before requesting Stopover accommodation.

>Vietjet looks set to become the next international airline flying to the new Western Sydney International Airport (WSI), with direct flights to Ho Chi Minh City taking off from January 2027.

"Goodbye to the 'dungeon': Qantas locks in plans for an all-new business class lounge on the upper level of Melbourne's T2 international terminal - but it won't be open until 2029."

>Qatar Airways will fly between Melbourne and Auckland from December 2026, in a move which will outgun incumbents Qantas and Air New Zealand on the popular trans-Tasman route.
The same Boeing 777 which now makes the 13½-hour trek from Doha to Melbourne will add a quick 3½-hour hop across the pond, before returning later that day to tackle the Melbourne-Doha journey.

>Qantas’ ultra-long range Project Sunrise Airbus A350 jetliner is coming to Melbourne. Airbus has confirmed to Executive Traveller that the A350-1000ULR will embark on an epic non-stop journey from Toulouse to Melbourne as part of its ongoing test flight program. The A350 will arrive in Melbourne on Friday July 24 (and before you ask, touchdown time has yet to be locked in).

https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/qantas-a350-melbourne

>Qantas will once again let frequent flyers earn Status Credits on points-based Classic Flight Rewards, but as a new perk of a premium credit card partnership.

"Qantas CEO promises we’ll see Classic Reward seats on Project Sunrise flights, even in first class", yeah, we'll see about that! The proof of this pudding will be when these flights go on sale and everybody is hammering away at the Qantas website looking for CR flights up to 350 days in advance!

>Qantas has committed the first six of its globe-striding Airbus A350-1000ULR jets to Sydney-London and Sydney-New York flights, due to launch from October 2027.

But the next six in that initial order of 12 aircraft – which will arrive from early 2028 through to late 2029 – aren’t locked in to giving Melbourne the same non-stop services.

Instead, with the flow of new twin-aisle aircraft still constrained and demand for international travel continuing to soar, Qantas appears to be pivoting on Project Sunrise.

Qantas now sees a role for the A350s as supplementing the existing long-range international network and freeing up its Boeing 787s.

The airline’s longest route to date – the popular Perth-London service – is considered a prime candidate for the A350.