Last week, I wrote the Mileage Earning 101 – India Edition 2013, where I had provided you my views on all the credit cards you could use to earn miles in India. I got quite some feedback and requests, including one for a calculator. That prodded me to pull out an old worksheet from 2011 and add some columns to it, adding all the new information available to it. I hereby present to you Version 1.0 of the worksheet, which you can directly access from Google Drive here. Here is how to use it with just a few simple inputs: Step 1: Input if you are a JetPrivilege Platinum Member or not. Step 2: Input your monthly domestic spend and…
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Category Archives for English.
The economics of Spicejet’s fare sale and justifying the regulator’s action
I got quite some amount of pushback on the SpiceJet sale that happened last weekend and I thought I’d pen down my thoughts here. I think there were 2 sorts of concerns, firstly about people not being able to find the fare and secondly about the concept of the sale as a whole, with a bleeding market as a whole. I first heard about the sale on Friday morning 0800 IST approximately, and immediately got down to work on rearranging some of my existing travel which would have anyways happened for me or my family. For instance, I had a ticket booked for my brother, who was going to be on a DEL-JAI-BOM flight during the sale period and was…
American Airlines’s new look at 0900 Central Time today
I know AAdvantageGeek already gave us all an advance notice that the new look of American Airlines would be revealed today, but today I got a mail from American Airlines stating that they will do an online microsite as well, which goes live at 0900 hours Central time at www.aa.com/newamerican. That is where I will be headed to check out the inauguration today. Hop on if you’re a fan! Live From A Lounge is present on Facebook, Twitter & available via email, RSS.
ICICI Bank Jet Airways welcome offer is back for Jan 2013
If you’ve been reading my recently updated Mileage Earning Credit Cards 101, you’ll notice I’ve given a thumbs up to the ICICI Bank credit cards’ top end versions for their mileage earning capabilities. However it is a pain to predict if and when you will get the card because ICICI Bank’s internal systems are not still up-to-speed in this department. I recently received my blue cloud ICICI Bank American Express Sapphiro followed by the Visa Signature version a few days later. I am happily swiping away the Amex version for 7 JP Miles/ Rs. 100 on domestic spends. ICICI Bank had offered a welcome bonus in October 2012 for those who applied for the card in the first month, and…
Air India grounds 787 fleet
Air India has followed the rest of the pack into grounding its 787 fleet of 6 planes as of 17 January, following the FAA advisory issued in the USA. The Indian regulator DGCA followed into the steps of the FAA, and directed Air India to ground all the 6 planes, till Boeing could prove sufficiently to the FAA that the planes are safe. The Boeing 787 serves largely domestic routes at this moment, and 3 international services to Dubai, Paris CDG and Frankfurt from Delhi. The DGCA has formed a committee to look into the safety and engineering aspect of the 787 as well. Air India’s 787 had a technical snag on the inaugural flight as well, and reportedly had…
Mileage Earning Credit Cards 101 – India edition 2013!
I met a fairly well travelled bunch of people this past weekend for a coffee in Mumbai, and I was very surprised at the end of this conversation when we pulled out our wallets to pick the tab. The payment was split between two of the folks, and I was not allowed to pay. However, both the cards used for payment were not mileage earning or anything close! The scene was repeated later that evening with a bunch of friends. Someone beat me to reaching out for the check, and another non-mileage earning credit card went into the payment mode. Look, I have nothing against non-mileage earning credit cards. I was using them at a point of time (when there…
The mess that is Air India, feat. #snacksonaplane
Just a quick rant on Air India, looking at some very unimpressive news I read about how things are run at this government-owned airline today. Apparently, one lady pilot at the airline decided to take things into her own hands, defy crew scheduling instructions and operate a hopping Mumbai – Jodhpur – Delhi flight, because she had a food parcel to pick up at the Jodhpur airport. Best part, they let her in. The humor in this situation, the local tabloid which reports the incident has published the recipe of the speciality snack as well in the newsreport. Snacks on a plane, anyone? Yesterday, we also found out that the clerks and the top men of Air India, as in…
Flying from Delhi? Get a refund.
This just looks like a Monopoly game instruction but for those who are flying out of Delhi from January 1, 2013 onwards, it could be some money in your pocket. The Delhi Airport has had to reduce their Airport Development Fee, one of the highest in the world, to more moderate levels from January 1, 2013 on the instructions of the regulator. Before January 1, 2013, the ADF used to be Rs. 200 ($4) for domestic flights and Rs. 1,300 ($ 24) for international flights taking off from Delhi airport. The entire fee is supposed to contribute to the development of the airport. From January 1, the new ADF applicable is Rs. 100 (~$2) for all domestic departures, and Rs.…
Indigo & GoAir matching SpiceJet sale on some routes
It turns out price warrior SpiceJet is not alone in this fare war since this morning where they released tickets for Rs. 2013 all inclusive. Indigo joins in, without advertising the sale on a lot of routes with an all inclusive price of Rs. 2010. I suspect this would last as long as SpiceJet offers the low fares, so if you are looking for a weekend trip of sorts or a visit someplace, do also look up the Indigo website for your options. Like with SpiceJet, the tickets are also available with travel agents, including online travel agents such as Yatra, Cleartrip and the others. Update: GoAir is also now in the game with Rs. 2007 fares to most places…
Spicejet sale: Rs. 2013 a.i. for travel anywhere in India
I love SpiceJet sales because they end up making me book tickets when I have no plans to go anywhere. To beat the lean season of travel (February – April 2013), they just unleashed a new promotion this morning which is valid for tickets booked on January 11 – January 13 2013, for travel between February 1 to April 30, 2013. Here are the offer details: SpiceJet, India’s preferred low fare airline, presents The Big Sale, 10 lakh seats up for grabs at an all inclusive fare of 2013! Simply log on to www.spicejet.com and book direct flights to any domestic destination on SpiceJet, for travel between 1st February to 30th April, 2013. Terms and Conditions: Offer valid for bookings…
American Airlines all set to codeshare with Qatar Airways
Like we know, Qatar Airways is getting ready to be inducted into the oneworld alliance somewhere late 2013 or early 2014. As a part of this induction, they will be individually cooperating with each member airline to work on a synchronised flight plan to offer connections around the world. Seems like the work with American is done, and American and Qatar Airways will be good to go live with a Codeshare agreement as of 26 February 2013. As per American Airlines, The agreement with Qatar will include codesharing on nonstop flights between the U.S. and Doha, flights connecting at the carriers’ European gateways such as Paris and London, and flights to cities in the U.S. and beyond Doha. Additionally, members…
