Points decision due for Qantas frequent flyers

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Points decision due for Qantas frequent flyers

By Kay O'Sullivan

Time to transfer

You can't put it off any longer. The deadline for deciding how to manage your Qantas frequent-flyer points is looming.

Qantas frequent flyer members have until the end of the month. Any points left in all the credit card rewards programs after April 1 can't be converted to Qantas points.

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Qantas threw the credit card companies into a tizz last year with its decision to change the way it operates its program, claiming the old system lacked transparency and was too complicated.

Etihad turns two

It's been a big month for Etihad Airways. The airline is celebrating two years in Australia and on March 30 it will begin non-stop evening services from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi, taking its number of flights from Australia to 21 weekly.

Also this month, Etihad signed a code-share arrangement with Qantas, meaning it will have access to selected Qantas services between Australia and Auckland and Qantas domestic services between Adelaide and Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney and Cairns and Sydney.

(On the Qantas side of the ledger, the arrangement will extend the Qantas network through Abu Dhabi to Amman, Beirut and Bahrain.) See www.etihadairways.com.

Doha direct

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Qatar Airways has announced plans to introduce new non-stop services from Doha to Sydney and Melbourne. There's no firm date but it is expected they will take off at the end of the year.

On the right track

Tasmania's Overland Track is one of Australia's iconic walks. It covers more than 60 kilometres through one of the world's great wildernesses.

But it has to be said, for those of us particularly attached to our creature comforts, the prospect of six days in the elements, especially in the capricious Tasmanian weather, is a tad daunting.

Sure, you can take the softer option and travel with Cradle Huts, the company that built and operates the extremely comfortable eco-friendly huts along the track and has guides that cook gourmet meals and pour excellent Tasmanian wine for you at the end of the day. But even then the track demands six days out of the office.

But now the time-poor among us - and the easily daunted - can tackle the track in more manageable chunks.

Cradle Huts has two shorter alternatives to the full six-day hike. There's a three-day Cradle Mountain loop walk, which does as it says and literally loops around Cradle Mountain, and there's the Arm River to Lake St Clair walk, which takes four days to traverse 40 kilometres.

The shorter walks are scheduled for various dates through October and November. The four-day walk is $1750 and the Cradle Mountain loop walk is $1350, including food, accommodation and transport from Quamby Estate in Hagley, 20 minutes from Launceston.

See anthology.travel.

Holiday with a princess

If you are looking for something to do with your government handout, the travel industry has plenty of ideas.

Every day something new arrives in the inbox suggesting the cash bonus would be well spent on the hotel-tour-flight being spruiked.

But a missive from Far Horizons, a travel company operating from the Barossa Valley, didn't even bother to mention the money.

Far Horizons is trumpeting the fact that on its 25-day tour from Istanbul to Samarkand you will be able to rub shoulders with Princess Michael of Kent.

Far Horizons director Martin Wright says the highlight of the tour will be seven nights on the luxury private train, the Golden Eagle, as it rumbles from Sevastopol to Moscow. Which is where Princess Michael of Kent comes in, literally.

The princess is an expert on European history and will join the trip to give a lecture on the life of Catherine the Great and her role in the history of the Crimea.

But royals don't come cheaply. The price for the 25-day tour is $45,900 and Wright says there has been no shortage of interest from his well-heeled clients. And to be fair, it does include return business class air fares, all meals, air and train travel. And, of course, if you use your bonus, the figure comes down to a much more manageable $45,000. The tour departs on April 22.

Phone 1800 083 141; see farhorizons.com.au.

Festival back on

The Yarra Valley's Grape Grazing Festival in Victoria, which was postponed because of the bushfires, will be held on April 18-19.

Twenty-six wineries are participating in the 22nd festival. Tickets are $27 and entitle the holder to an entry wristband, souvenir wine glass, bottle of water, a glass of wine and a coffee.

See www.grapegrazing.com.au.

Send news items to smarttraveller@fairfax.com.au.

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