This afternoon in India, Jet Airways’ Board of Directors put their agreement to receive a fresh induction of $380 million by Etihad Airways, who in turn will get 24% of the expanded equity capital of Jet Airways, thus making Jet Airways a part of the Equity alliance of Etihad Airways, where Etihad is sewing up partnerships with various airlines by picking up equity stakes in them. I first wrote about this possibility back in September and while the deal was close to being struck then, it took quite some back and forth in the few months ahead to come to a consensus. Etihad confirmed later in the day that they were taking the 24% stake for $379 million dollars, and…
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Taj offers promotional redemptions at the new Vivanta at Gurgaon
The Indian Hotels company (Taj Group) recently launched their 100th hotel, under the Vivanta brand at Gurgaon. The 208-key hotel has the added, in their own words, the iconic Thai Pavilion restaurant as well, apart from the Jiva Spa which offers ancient Indian and new-age rejuvenation. To encourage more people to try out the property, Taj is offering its Inner Circle loyalty program members a few lucrative promotions till May 31, 2013. You get to earn 100 Bonus Points, per night, for all eligible stays between now and 31 May 2013. For redemption stays, TIC is offering redemptions at 1500 Taj InnerCircle Points instead of the regular 2000 Points, or Points + Cash at 1000 Points + INR 5000 with…
Abu Dhabi to get US Customs pre-clearance
The Wall Street Journal reported a few days ago, that the White House has agreed to open a Customs & Border Protection outpost in Abu Dhabi, which will help passengers flying out from the AUH airport to pre-clear American Customs & Immigration formalities before getting on that plane. The CBP has been offering this facility to some countries, such as Canada, Ireland and its Caribbean counterparts, but this is for the first time it is going almost half way across the world to the Middle-East to offer such a service. Who benefits? Etihad Airways, but naturally, since they are the only ones who currently fly non-stops between the USA and UAE from that airport. Interestingly, this news is coming out…
Etihad offering double miles on economy travel [targeted]
Etihad is sending out targeted mailers to members of its Etihad Guest program, which offers double miles for those flying on Etihad flights before 30th May 2013 in their Coral Economy Class. This promotion, for those who receive it, is valid for tickets booked online, via the call center or via a travel agent as well. The promotion terms & conditions do mention that: This offer is exclusive to a select segment of Etihad Guests, and is available by invitation only. Bonus Miles Promotion is valid for bookings made between 21 April and 26 May 2013 for travel between 22 April and 30 May 2013. Promotion is valid only for travel in Coral Economy Class. The bonus miles earned will…
Hotel deals for you from Hilton, Hyatt & Oberoi in India
Hilton recently launched an India specific website at www.hiltonindia.com. There is a 20% off sale on the site at the moment, if you book your room nights before April 30, 2013 and valid for stays till December 30, 2013. Valid only for advance purchased room rates. Make sure you get the Gold status at the hotel chain for having a shot at upgrades. Travelguru is offering a 3rd night complimentary on booking 2 nights at some of the luxurious Oberoi properties around India. These would be the iconic Amarvilas, Rajvilas, Vanyavilas and Udaivilas, and some other metro properties. It says offer valid for a limited period, and seems like one can book till October 31, 2013 at this moment. There…
Hilton Gold status for India-issued Visa Signature cards as well!
A few days back I posted about the free Hilton status for Visa Infinite card holders issued in Asia Pacific. A reader, AW, left me a comment which said: Worked like a charm with my ICICI Jet Airways Sapphiro Visa Card (Visa Signature). Ah well, I was being lazy and did not try this myself before. So, I pulled out my ICICI issued Visa Signature (the Jet Airways one), and turned out it passes the check. Also, then I checked the same with my Citibank Ultima credit card as well. It again went ahead and asked me to put in my Hilton digits and password. Since I already have status with Hilton, I did not do this bit, but you…
Indigo gets arrogant and pops fun at competitors
I’ve liked the Indigo brand from the word go, including their IATA identifier 6E, their look and feel and their tongue in cheek approach to everything including in-flight catering, crew to their advertising. Most of all, their on-time performance and the tight-ship approach which they follow to ensure a professional experience on every flight. However, it looks like of late the customer-centric approach is being taken over by some amount of arrogance. I’ve met passengers in the past few months who’ve complained of service without a smile, and non-responsiveness from the airline when things don’t go right. I’ve personally faced this issue with them, since they are the only airline who don’t seem to be interested in refunding customers the…
Etihad upgrades its loyalty program with enhancements for top-tier
While my experience with Etihad Guest (Etihad’s loyalty program) has not been the best till date, Etihad may be a serious contender for loyalty games in India given that sooner than later they will have a equity tie-up with Jet Airways. Etihad introduced a Gold Elite tier in 2011, and offered status matches to their Gold tier in 2012, which was a botched up exercise at best. Just today, Etihad has enhanced, and by that I really mean enhanced, their benefits on the Etihad Guest Gold Elite tier, some of which are good additions. The new program enhancements include the following: Increase in tier bonus miles from 50% to 75% complimentary nomination to Etihad Guest Gold tier to a member…
Hyatt announces free internet + breakfast at 5 new hotels in India
Hyatt Corp. recently introduced the Hyatt brand in India, by taking over the management of five erstwhile Ista hotels in India. This brand will be the fifth Hyatt brand to be introduced in India after 11 properties already operate under the Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency & Hyatt Place brands. This switch to the Hyatt brand happened at the beginning of April. The five hotels that join the Hyatt group are Hyatt Bangalore (M.G. Road), Hyatt Hyderabad (Gachibowli), Hyatt Pune, Hyatt Amritsar and Hyatt Ahmedabad. To mark the occasion, Hyatt has now launched a new promotion offering complimentary Internet & Breakfast at these hotels, if you use the promocode GOPEN to book your stay. The promotion is valid for…
Jet Airways downgrades Mumbai–Hong Kong flight from B777 to A333
As per the latest update from AirlineRoute.net, published today, Jet Airways is downgrading its Mumbai-Hong Kong-Mumbai daily service from a 3-class flight flown by a Boeing 777 ER to a 2-class service flown by an Airbus A330 (200 or 300) series aircraft. The new scheduling will be as follows: till 30APR13 A330-300 01MAY13 – 11MAY13 A330-200 21MAY13 – 08JUN13 A330-200 While the reasons can be loads, or efficiency (not having to fly empty first class suites and waste fuel), this sure allows passengers in business to try the new Jet Airways Business Class on the A333, something I flew a few days back. This should also be a relief from the bone crushing 10 abreast configuration on the B777ER for…
Jet Airways introduces transit between Mumbai International & Domestic terminals
Jet Airways has recently made some amends to the international passengers who use their gateway in Mumbai and need to transit further into the country. Till a few days back, one would have to arrive at Mumbai’s terminal 2, clear immigration & customs and collect their baggage, redeposit it with the transfer desk, and then go to Terminal 1B using an airport operated shuttle bus, which used to frequent about every 30 minutes making it a very cumbersome process. Now, they’ve secured a couple of gates at the International Terminal (Terminal 2) where incoming international passengers on Jet Airways flights between 0230 AM and 0645 AM at Mumbai will be able to transit directly to their flights from Terminal 2C.…
