Like I previously wrote in March, Lufthansa has been planning to bring their latest acquisition, the Boeing 747-8i to it’s Delhi-Frankfurt and Bangalore-Frankfurt routes. (Pic courtesy Lufthansa) Lufthansa has recently taken delivery of the second 747-8i plane and is all set to put it on service on the Frankfurt-Delhi-Frankfurt route with effect from August 6. Lufthansa has confirmed the plane swap on its Facebook page as well, making Delhi the launch destination of the B747-8i in Asia, and the second destination of this plane after Washington DC. This will also mark the debut of the new Business Class product in Asia. Anybody booked to fly this bird? Write to me for a guest post please. Related Post: The Lufthansa 747-8i,…
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Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles now offers a Family Club
I recently wrote about the status match opportunity for Star Alliance Gold & BMI that was being offered by Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles. Turkish has now upped the game some more and is offering a Family Club sort of program where miles from the entire household can be credited to the account of one family member (above 25 years of age) and the family will receive their status miles in their own accounts. This facility has been made available to all their status holding members (TK Classic Plus/Elite/Elite Plus). As per the official release: Family membership consists of your spouse and single children under the age of 25. As an Classic Plus/Elite or Elite Plus card holder, you can…
A memorable ‘Behind the Scenes’ trip to the Jet Airways hangar (BOM)
A few weeks back Jet Airways announced a contest where they asked their social media followers to send them their best experiences flying with 9W. I’ve been flying with them a few years and I’ve had some memorable trips with them. So, I found myself on the list of invitees who were going to get exclusive access to the Jet Airways maintenance hangar in BOM on June 16, 2012. I was a happy camper, since the Aviation Geek side of me always loves to see the other side of airlines just as much as I love flying on them. Jet Airways uses only one hangar facility in BOM for their internal maintenance of planes, and it was not a sight…
The smallest and most tasteless economy meal award goes to Cathay Pacific
Just last month I had the unwanted honor of having perhaps the smallest ‘Dinner’ meal on a Jet Airways flight. I’m afraid I’m going to have to institute a rolling trophy on this one and pass it on from Jet Airways to Cathay Pacific. I was flying a red-eye BKK-BOM in economy which the Cathay Pacific staff had confirmed to have dinner service. Since I barely had much to eat in the day, I decided to lounge-hop in the evening at the Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport and I grabbed a little bite at each of the 3 airport lounges I visited. However, when dinner service started, the FA told me there was the option of Chicken and Rice in non-vegetarian helpings…
And we are back…
I received a few emails from readers about why I wasn’t posting the past few days. I can assure you the intent was always there, but I was on a vacation with the family and we got a good six days off together after a very long time, so they got all the attention. We headed over to savour some of the much talked about Bangkok tourist sceneries, and drove over to Pattaya for a few days by the seaside as well. Wrap in an anniversary dinner with the parents, and I think this was much needed family vacation after maybe a couple of years. As I write this, I’m back to my base in Mumbai a few hours ago…
Its raining 40% off sales from SPG, Intercontinental and of course Hilton
Just when vacation plans are already locked in and I’ve made quite a few reservations for the coming days, there is a flurry of sales that have hit my inbox today. I figure some of you may be interested in taking another vacation slightly cheaper. SPG has announced a resort sale in the US, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean which offers up to 40% off for bookings made till July 6 and stays can be made till September 30, 2012. About 70 resorts are taking part in this promotion. Obviously, if you click the link all of them look good, the pictures make them look good! The Sheraton Maui Resort and Spa, Sheraton Old San Juan Hotel and quite some…
Reminder: 1 month to get your Amex LinkedIn referrals
A few weeks back I wrote about the current ongoing American Express referral program that Amex has launched with LinkedIn in India for sourcing the Platinum Reserve Credit Card and the Gold Charge card. Both the cards are going at a discount under this program where you get a 20% discount on the fee for the Platinum Reserve Charge Card and free first year for the Gold Charge Card. I’ve also reviewed the American Express Gold Charge Card subsequently. This is one of my daily usage card now, and I’ve explained the reasons here. I received a few emails from blog readers who I have provided with my reference and they have now started to report that they have received…
New partners on the Citibank PremierMiles card and 1 week to convert from Jet Airways CC
Its been a while since I’ve given you an update on the Citibank PremierMiles credit card. If you’re a Citibank Jet Airways credit card holder, the date to convert to the PremierMiles credit card is coming closer and you have one more week to call the Citibank helpline and get your card converted. I recently reviewed the ‘new’ PremierMiles credit card. If you call before 30 June 2012 to convert your card, you get the new Citibank PremierMiles credit card for Rs. 1,000 annual fee and 10,000 PremierMiles in your account after your first transaction. Here are some pointers to add to your decision-making if you haven’t made your decision yet. Like you know, Jet Airways has been offering 3x…
Is Jet Airways holding on to upgrades too tight?
Like you all know from my little airline dinner post I was over to the Middle-East this past week. While a full trip report will come up soon, this one got me asking why Jet Airways is holding on too tight to their premium cabin seats. Like I do when I travel and I need an upgrade with Jet Airways, I send them an email with the details of the travel team and voucher details. In this case, I wrote to them with the details and I was travelling KWI-BOM. The response from Jet Airways, amongst other things, included the following line: I was looking at the tickets the night before, and Premiere tickets were available on the route, right…
moneylife: My column on international routes from Indian airlines
This week, I wrote a column which summarizes the various routes Indian airlines are consolidating on or expanding to. You can read it here. You can look up the previous columns here! Live From A Lounge is also present on Facebook, Twitter and available via RSS.
Snack is the new dinner on Jet Airways?
Late last week I ended up scheduling a few meetings in the Middle East, and I booked to fly out from Mumbai on Jet Airways to Muscat (Oman). Jet Airways kind of suited the timing as well, the flight was a 10 PM flight which meant I could spend the Sunday at home and fly out in the evening. Me and a couple of colleagues were at the airport at 8 PM grabbing a few beers, but we did not eat too much, since we expected dinner on our flight. Here is what the flight details say on the website. Now, this is supposed to be a ‘full-service’ Jet Airways flight, which meant the minimum meal service I expected, even…
