I was wondering with all the chatter at Jet Airways about increasing ancillary revenue, when were they going to take a profit centre approach towards their frequent flyer program. It turns out, this year is a good time for them to take that road, as per their annual report which was published a while back. The annual report states that a special resolution has been requested for voting with shareholders to establish a 100% subsidiary which will look at managing and marketing the Jet Privilege loyalty program. The loyalty industry is evolving in India. Your Company proposes to leverage this evolving business opportunity by setting up a marketing services company engaged in the business of managing reward points and loyalty…
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40 JP Miles per Rs. 100 spent on flowers till 15th August 2012
Its the festive season and if you’re looking forward to sending flowers to your loved ones around India (or in India, depending on your location), you can now earn 40 JP Miles per Rs. 100 spent on the way. From 1st to 15th August 2012, Ferns n Petals is offering 40 JP Miles instead of the usual 30 JP Miles per Rs. 100 spent on your transactions on their website using this link. JP Miles cost Rs. 1.25 per JP Mile on purchase, and even with the 40% bonus offer, would cost you Rs. 1.12 per JP Mile to buy. If you purely looked at this as a mileage buying opportunity, you’re out of the money by Rs. 65/100, but…
Star Alliance and Jet Airways – 3rd time lucky?
I don’t know if the timing of this bit of news was timed such, but the formal announcement of Jet Airways seeking Government of India’ permission to join the Star Alliance came out in the open exactly a year after Air India’s joining the alliance was put on hold. A news report published in the Mint (an editorial collaboration with the WSJ) last night puts out in the open what has been long known to be Jet Airways’ and Star Alliance’s secret ambition. After Air India’s attempts to join *A faulted and Kingfisher Airlines shrunk rapidly to keep out of oneworld, this is the third attempt of an Indian carrier to join an airline alliance. A meeting between Jet Airways…
Air India double miles on select routes in India and free tickets offer
Air India has launched its annual double miles promotion and is offering 2x of base miles on select routes and flights between 20th July 2012 and 30th September 2012. Since this list is not published on the website, I’m posting it here for your reference. Take note that only these specific flights attract double miles in the Flying Returns program, which is unlike other promos in FFPs on a route basis. Air India is also running another promotion for frequent flyers, something they are advertising heavily in newspapers as well. Called the ‘Desh Videsh Offer’, it allows for frequent travellers on Air India to get free tickets on AI’s International network apart from earning mileage on the various sectors they…
A Thai Vacay: Hilton Pattaya Review
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 After spending two nights in Bangkok, we checked out from the Millennium Hilton, Bangkok and drove to Pattaya. The hotel quoted an exorbitant THB 5,500 or so for a 2 hour long drive, but we were able to look up a cheaper option of THB 1,400 on the internet and picked up a Toyota…
Citibank India to devalue reward points for airmile transfers from 1 Sept’12
If you use a ‘regular’ credit card, i.e., not a mileage earning one or a co-branded card from Citibank, you are most probably earning reward points for your transactions on the card. Now, while most people like to use these reward points for ordering shopping vouchers or gifts from their rewards catalogue, all my reward points are usually transferred to my mileage accounts with one or the other airlines. Citibank offers the capability to convert these reward points to airmiles on Jet Privilege and Air India Flying Returns. They are now going to reduce the number of miles offered per reward point with effect from 1st September 2012 on these regular credit cards. As per the conversion chart posted on…
Go Goaah: Park Hyatt Goa Resort & Spa
Park Hyatt Goa Resort & Spa Alila Diwa, Goa June – September is the time of the year when I am inclined to take a vacation with friends in Goa. The peak Goa season is over in March (starts from October when all the tourists arrive!). The idea is to spend time with close friends and shut down my mental machinery for a few days, also the Goa weather in June-August is marvellous, with the rains. This time around, the destination was going to be the Park Hyatt Goa Resort and Spa, partly thanks to my Hyatt Diamond status last year. We were a bunch of six-eight friends who were going to be going over, so I booked three standard…
Club Carlson Redemptions for 50% off in Europe, Africa and Middle East
A reader Neet left a comment on my recent blogpost about my stays for the Club Carlson Giveaway 2012. I am taking Ma and Pa to Europe in September and took advantage of the 50% off redemptions for Radisson Blu (their best hotel) in Sweden, Hungary and Switzerland. You should check it out and redeem if you can, here’s the link – http://www.clubcarlson.com/offers/5313887 (emphasis mine) Since I did not know of any particular new promotions on Club Carlson which offered this 50% off redemption rate, I clicked away to find out what is on offer. Here is what I saw… Hotels in Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Ethopia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,…
Earn double Avios for your flights from India on British Airways
British Airways is offering double Avios for all return flights booked from India to London and one additional onward sector (and back) for all bookings made on BA between July 19 to August 19, 2012 to commemorate the Olympics, travel can commence anytime on or before October 31st to avail of this offer. And this seems stackable with the British Airways faresale I wrote about yesterday (valid only till tonight!) BA is frequently criticised for the high fuel surcharges on award redemptions for its flights, sometimes the cost of a ticket itself. However, it also provides great value in short segment travel. As per the terms and conditions of the offer, members can avail the double Avios on return bookings…
And now, the new Lufthansa business class on Mumbai–Munich from September 6, 2012
Lufthansa clearly seems to be looking at India as one of the markets they want to dish out a good treatment to. After bringing on the new Boeing 747-8i to Delhi (from Frankfurt) as its second destination globally and first in Asia from August 6, now Lufthansa is upgrading its Mumbai service as well. Later in the year Lufthansa will also put the Boeing 748 on the famous Silicon Valley Express route (FRA-BLR). Back to the Mumbai service, Lufthansa is introducing a retrofitted A330-300 on the Munich-Mumbai-Munich daily service which will have the brand new business class product that everyone has been talking about so much. This one is going to be available on Munich-Mumbai from September 2, and Mumbai-Munich…
British Airways sale upto 27 July 2012 from India to London, Virgin Atlantic is matching
British Airways is offering a 3-day sale from all its Indian ports to London for booking till midnight of 27th July 2012, where it is offering flights from upwards of Rs. 52,000 for a round trip to London. The fare is valid on a 7-day advance fare booking. I looked up the fare on their website, and it does look lucrative as compared to the regular British Airways fares from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. And they are not alone, seems like Virgin Atlantic has matched them on this route. Here is a screenshot of a sample fare from ITA for a Mumbai-London flight in November 2012, and Virgin Atlantic with their new product on the Airbus 330 will…
