Various airlines use birthday’s as a incentive for people to travel. Personally, I am not for or against the motion here, except I’d love to be in one place on my birthday and not flying, given mine falls right at the end of the year. Some do it with bonus miles and some with Flight Redemptions. Let’s have a look.

In India, airlines use various triggers for the Birthday trigger. Jet Airways used to give out 2000 JPMiles just for being born, but now their strategy has changed to offer a lower number (500 JPMiles if you fly on your birthday!). Vistara offers 200 Club Vistara points if you fly on a revenue flight during your birthday month.

Air India will be putting in place a Birthday incentive as well in 2018. On the occasion of your birthday, if you issue a redemption ticket on your birthday in 2018, you will get 50% of your miles back after completing the flight. If you book for more than one flight, you only get miles back for the first flight of the day. Full details of the promotion here. Given this only starts in 2018, I won’t have a shot at this in 2017 where my birthday is still to come!

Remember, your account needs to be KYC verified to be able to get the bonus. Additionally, if you have any expired points with Air India, you can also revive them for a period of 6 months by paying INR 0.30 per Air India point, only when you call on your birthday.

While I am not one for flying on my birthday given it is an occasion in the end of the year holidays, your mileage may vary. These are good promotions to know of in case you are planning a trip during 2018.