About 7 weeks back I informed you about the on going trouble between Jet Airways and Citibank and how their 12-year long credit card partnership was coming to an end with effect from 15th July 2012. I had hinted on the partners in the works on this FlyerTalk thread, and both my predictions have come true! Now, the new tie-ups have been announced just in the nick of time, just like Jet Airways promised, but it looks like 2 out of the 3 are still work in progress. I don’t thing either of these 3 banks is going to be jumping with joy at their partnerships, since they will obviously be able to offer airmiles as rewards to their customers,…
About Ajay
A Thai Vacay: Introduction
Introduction Check-in: British Airways Galleries Lounge, Mumbai Check-in: Clipper Lounge First Class, Mumbai Airborne: Flight CX 750 (BOM-BKK), Cathay Pacific, Economy Millennium Hilton Hotel, Bangkok Around Bangkok Hilton Hotel, Pattaya Around Pattaya Radisson Suites, Bangkok Check-in: Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge, Bangkok Check-in: British Airways/Qantas First Class Lounge, Bangkok Check-in: Cathay Pacific First & Business Class Lounge, Bangkok Airborne: Flight CX 709 (BKK-BOM), Cathay Pacific, Economy Conclusion Thailand has been a case of so close yet so far for me. I know of a zillion (exaggerating!) Indians who frequent Thailand as if it in were their backyard, some for shopping, and others for a quick vacation. However, for me it just remained an occasional transit airport (BKK) when travelling across to…
Hang on, do not use your Citi PremierMiles for Jet Airways redemptions
So I have been telling you to go get yourselves the Citibank PremierMiles Credit Card for a while, right? Like I recently wrote, Citibank and Jet Airways walked away from the Jet Airways co-branded partnership. But this seems to have had a huge impact on the ability of Citibank to run its PremierMiles program as well. A few days after this move, Citibank PremierMiles portal www.premiermiles.co.in could not display any tickets on Jet Airways, either for revenue or for redemption. What validated the assumption that Jet Airways/Jet Konnect was not showing up on the PremierMiles website by design was this little note that turns up every now and then asking you to book on the Jet Airways website and get…
Get a free night at Park Hyatt Goa Resort & Spa
Hyatt has been running the Freetime promo on its resort properties and quite a few Indian properties are participating as well. So what is the Freetime promotion? For Hyatt properties in India, you get a free night on staying a minimum number of nights paid stay at participating resorts/hotels. The Hyatt promotion, valid from June 21 to September 8, also offers a 2 PM late checkout, when you use the following link to book your stay, or use the promocode FRTIME while making your reservation on the Hyatt website. If you are a beach person, specially in the monsoon rains, Park Hyatt Goa Resort & Spa is your closest bet at getting the free night under the Stay 3 Get…
SpiceJet offering discounts on online bookings
SpiceJet seems to be making a habit of offering discounts on their website SpiceJet.com. In March 2012, they were offering deal-of-the-day discounts on their website, publishing a new QR code on the site everyday for a different discount code. They further tried another way of discounting by asking for your handphone number in April 2012. However, the deal-a-day code is back now for an undisclosed time period on the SpiceJet website again. On 10th July 2012 they launched the Monsoon Hungama promotion. Discounts offered are per person/per way basis, so you get a fixed amount off on every sector you are booking for each passenger. What’s more, the discount is valid on the SpiceJet international network as well, including the…
ANA to return to Delhi after a decade
As per AirlineRoute.Net, ANA is going to be return to Delhi with a daily service which starts from 28 October 2012. ANA last flew to Delhi directly in 2001, with a one-stop service via Bangkok. The service will be operated with a Boeing 767-300ER, while it used to be serving with a Boeing 777-200ER earlier. This will be the second destination in India for ANA, which already serves Mumbai on a daily service on the Boeing 737-700ER. Bookings will open on the ANA website and via travel agents on 12th July 2012. This should sure make life easy for frequent travellers between India and Japan. Live From A Lounge is also present on Facebook, Twitter and available via RSS.
The Lufthansa 747-8i, coming to Delhi on August 6
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,…
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…
