ICICI Bank and Jet Airways, when they launched their co-branded cards last year, had a huge focus on pushing the American Express versions, and they were (still are), offering upto 9 JP Miles for regular spend. This is a promotional offer limited till October 2013. ICICI Bank, a couple of days back, however, launched a new promotion, where there is a higher sign-on bonus for the Visa version of their credit cards, in case you sign up till October 31, 2013. Here is how it works: Sapphiro (highest): 15,000 JP Miles for sign-on instead of 10,000 JP Miles. Also, 8 JP Miles/INR 100 spend till October 2013, and a free economy ticket code on Jet Airways domestic flights. Rubyx (medium):…
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British Airways offering Club World fares from India to USA at 25% off
British Airways’ business class is available at a 25% off from India to the US routes, if you booked up your travel before 31 July 2013. The promotion is valid for booking uptil 31 July 2013 and outward travel uptil 30 September 2013. However, if you’re headed to New York or Toronto, the promotion is offering tickets up to 31 December 2013. You can book your tickets from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Live From A Lounge is present on Facebook, Twitter & available via email, RSS.
A new Indian Aviation regulator and a new fee for you
Last week was full of news articles about how a new Aviation regulator is coming up for India. The currently existing Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) will soon be replaced with a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which will be an autonomous regulator for Indian civil aviation, unlike DGCA which is under the Ministry of Civil Aviation in India. Business Standard published a very good news report on the proposed structure of the new aviation regulator, and how it needs to be self sufficient. Unlike the DGCA, CAA will need to earn its own bread and butter. Here is how it proposes to do that: CAA will primarily get revenues from three sources: First, the Airports Authority of India will…
Kuwait Airways in the fray for Spicejet?
I know it is easy for names to be thrown around, but this one seems to be from a credible source. Spicejet has changed hands and names quite a few times, with the last being the change of management control, when Spicejet was sold to the Sun Group of India. Rumors going around were that Qatar Airways will be investing in the airline. However, Qatar Airways has rubbished this in the past. Last evening, Indian dealmaking website VCCircle however talked about a new participant in the deal, and they say Kuwait Airways may be interested in picking up about 25% of the airline, for a sum of Rs. 1,000 Crores (about $166 million). Unlike Jet Airways where the deal also…
Cleartrip offering Amex cardholders Rs. 1000 discount till July 20
Cleartrip.com has a promotion with American Express till July 20, where you could use coupon code CT1000AMEX and pay with an American Express card for the following reservations, for a maximum of 2 transactions of each type: Domestic roundtrip flights, for any dates, you get Rs. 1000 off Domestic hotel stays for over Rs. 4,000 or more (minimum 2 nights), you get Rs. 1000 off Domestic packages In case you’re planning to book some tickets this week, do pay with your Amex and get this promotion. Live From A Lounge is present on Facebook, Twitter & available via email, RSS.
Going RTW: Etihad First Class Lounge, Abu Dhabi Terminal 3
Introduction & Trip Index < EY205 (BOM-AUH), Etihad, Business EY101 (AUH-JFK), Etihad, First> After a long trip on the bus again, we got out in the oven furnace kind of heat for just a brief moment and hopped into the Terminal 3 building. Even for transit passengers, there was going to be a security check. Like had become the trend so far, I was not being very impressed with the premium-ness of the Etihad experience. There was one premium screening queue as compared to the zillions for the non-premium passengers. And guess what, they closed out the queue right in front of me, transferring those passengers over to regular queue. Let the confusion ensue. After…
Going RTW: Flight EY205 (BOM-AUH), Etihad, Pearl Business
Introduction & Trip Index <Celebrations Lounge, Mumbai T2 Etihad F Lounge, Abu Dhabi T3> Boarding was pretty disorganised, and I’d begin to think this was a Mumbai Airport feature but there are airlines such as Etihad, and back in the day, Kingfisher which would enforce boarding sequence pretty well. So, the incoming flight was delayed, however, instead of going back into the lounge, I just waited in the boarding area. This was my first time being at Gate 1B, so I wasn’t in the know of what I was getting into later. Boarding started about 20 minutes later, and business class was called first, being the highest cabin on this A320.…
Jet Airways extends Bonus on Points to Miles conversion promo to to 30 Sep 2013
Trust Jet Airways to give me egg in my face when I am trying to help you guys sometimes. Jet Airways started a promotion to offer a 20% bonus on converting your credit card points to JP Miles in June, and it was initially scheduled to last only till July 15, 2013. Just when I posted a reminder call yesterday, I got a new mail from 9W, revising the dates. Anyhow, under the extended promotion, you can transfer your various credit card points to Jet Airways JP program right until September 30 to be eligible for a 20% bonus. I did a small test transaction shifting around some of my Payback points, and everything seems to go just fine.…
Going RTW: Celebrations Lounge, Mumbai Terminal 2
Introduction & Trip Index < Introduction EY205, BOM-AUH, Etihad Business Class> The flight timings for Etihad to fly out of Mumbai are at a very odd hour at 4:50 AM in the morning. Odd for me I mean. I usually prefer day time flights, or even with a night flight, a departure closer to midnight so that I can get on the plane and go off to sleep at the earliest. Etihad offers a limousine pickup and drop service for customers flying with them in Business & First Class. Since I was flying Business Class between Mumbai to Abu Dhabi and First Class there on to…
Reminder: 5 days for Amex MR to Avios
In May 2013, American Express and British Airways started to offer a joint conversion bonus, which offered a 30% bonus on converting American Express Membership Rewards (for cards issued in India), to Avios. Amex MR usually convert to Avios @ 2MR = 1 Avios, however, with this promotion, it goes down to 1.54 MR = 1 Avios. The deadline to convert to Avios is by 15 July, so if you’d like to ride on this conversion, I’d advise you to move your MR to Avios within the next day or two. Amex to BA conversions usually take about 24 hours to reflect in the Avios account. You could find the details in the above mentioned post. In June 2013, Jet…
It is a good time to book your festive travel now
Airfares have been hitting the roof, or that is what I have been hearing for a while now. And it has to be the case, with inflation and oil prices both heading upwards, and the instance of Kingfisher going under, that airlines realised they can’t keep on dishing out discounting tickets and hope to even break even, forget making profits. However, sales come out from time to time, and this year we saw SpiceJet, Indigo, Air India and Jet Airways all throwing their hat in the ring every time one of them dropped prices. For my personal travel, as long as I have visibility on various travels, I prefer to book it far out during one of these sales of…
