Points Brotherhood launched on 25th August 2019 with a handy guide on how to walk to the Domestic Airport at Sydney Airport and has grown to over 160 different blog posts.
In our first year we’ve reviewed flights, hotels, cards and restaurants. And shared tips, tricks and hacks along the way.
We even managed to take advantage of the Cathay Pacific New Year Deal to visit New York in a pre-COVID world.
In this post:
Our Top Stories For The Year
While we’ve enjoyed writing each of the posts on Points Brotherhood, a few have been more popular than others.
The undisputed winner for unique views is Drew’s review of the CommBank World Debit Mastercard.
Next up when measuring organic views (i.e. via a Google search rather than a direct link from an email or social post) is Milton’s review of the Singapore Airlines flight between Singapore, Sydney and Canberra. SQ288 is unique in that it is a circular flight and one of the few international flights from our nation’s capital.
In third spot is Milton’s review of the SilkAir flight between Singapore and Da Nang, Vietnam. With SilkAir to be folded into Singapore Airlines in the coming year, this is a snapshot in time.
Fourth on the organic views list is Drew’s review of the CommBank Ultimate Awards Mastercard. With no annual fee providing minimum spend is met each month and no foreign exchange fees, this is a great card for the frequent international traveller (or online shopper).
Last up is Milton’s review of the Qantas A380 New Business Class Suite. With international travel off the table for the foreseeable future, Qantas have grounded their A380 fleet for the next three years so we were fortunate to be able to experience the new cabin and lounge.
COVID-19 Changed The World
With the novel coronavirus spreading unchecked from March, the world has progressively shut down with international and domestic borders closing.
With most travel being a luxury, airlines and hotels are seeing less than 10% of their usual traffic and the travel industry as a whole is suffering. Cruise lines like Cunard are pausing operations until early 2022 at this stage, and who knows when it will be possible to do another Transatlantic Crossing from Southampton to New York.
Both Drew and Milton had international trips to Europe and the US planned this year, which have obviously been cancelled. We’ve put that experience to good use with Drew writing up a great guide on credit card disputed transactions.
Without new trips, writing a travel blog has become a little challenging so we’ve started doing retro reviews of some of the best hotels we’ve stayed at over the years. Milton’s series of Iconic, Hip & Historic hotels is worth a read for travel inspiration (and a reminder of how things used to be).
So What Now?
The second year of Points Brotherhood will hopefully see a return to travelling within Australia. Milton’s piece on Lord Howe Island and Drew’s review of the NSW Trains Discovery Pass are a few thought starters.
Australia is one of the world’s top tourist destinations so the Points Brotherhood will enjoy exploring our own backyard in 2021. Using Milton’s post on how to plan travel in a coronavirus world as a guide.
Summary
Our first year of Points Brotherhood has been a great journey in and of itself. Being able to share our travel stories and hacks is rewarding. As is seeing our reviews like Blue Hill At Stone Barns on Page 1 of Google results.
We hope to continue travelling in the coming year, and that you’ll continue to join us for the journey.
