I usually prefer not speculating about things going bad at an airline, trying to give the longest rope to the airline in the absence of facts. However, it looks like this time the facts are not on Kingfisher Airlines’ side. Like I mentioned yesterday, Kingfisher Airlines is now in industrial action, undergoing a situation where all the flights are grounded, however the airline prefers to call it a partial lockout. The airline’s CEO reportedly met about a 100-odd staff today in Mumbai, trying to buy time (one more time!) from the staff. While the staff have refused to work without all their dues being cleared for the past 7 months, the regulator DGCA has also asked them to pay all…
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Kingfisher: its not over yet?
My previous coverage of the Kingfisher Airlines and disruptions Kingfisher Airlines could just have been that lucky child which has been pulling off a lucky streak for the longest time. I am sure you’ve already read quite a bit on its current disruption, where unpaid employees have caused industrial action, which has been quoted as a reason by the management to ground all flights till October 4. While they may have had their reasons to not pay salaries for 6 months, I still don’t appreciate the management calling their employees’ actions Illegal, while not commenting on their own where they have not paid salaries for half a year (See press release here) The airline management, which was holidaying away, was…
Today only: SpiceJet discounts upto Rs. 3,500
SpiceJet knows the promotions game and it keeps churning out new ones every now and then. There is one going on till midnight of 02 October, 2012 (India Standard Time) valid for travel till 15th October 2012 where you can get upto Rs. 3,500 off for your oneway / return trips on the domestic segments of the airline. This discount is valid for all tickets booked via the phone, travel agents, at the SpiceJet ticketing counters on the airport or via www.spicejet.com and does not need a discount code to book, i.e., the discount is already built into the ticket price announced/displayed to you. Here are the salient T&C: Offer valid for booking made between 7 pm, 1st Oct to…
Get closer to your free ticket to the Star MegaDo here…
AvGeek or not, this should definitely interest you. A MegaDo, as some of us airplane and travel nerds define it, is an opportunity to get behind the scenes with airlines and alliances and see how an airline works. I was on the oneworld MegaDo in January 2012, and I met people from all over who were excited about flying. Check out the full details of that experience here. Here are a few of the experiences we shared: A simulated water evacuation A trip to the Boeing 737 plant in Everett Inside the charter flight…at 35K feet BoardingArea is giving away a couple of seats on the StarMegaDo 4 charter this year. You get to hobnob with the United executives, fly…
Jet Airways withdraws Lounge Access for Silver members
Jet Airways is under tremendous pressure, yes we know that. 75% or whereabouts of its domestic flights now fly under the JetKonnect tag, we know that as well. It is withdrawing international routes, including the latest one MAA-BRU. And while it revamped lounge access policies just 9 months back and revamped its JetPrivilege program only about 6 months back, it has now decided to go onto its ‘enhancements’ again. Be aware that lounge access may be bought in the future if this post of mine is true. I just received an email a while back, where Jet Airways has withdrawn lounge access for all Silver members from the domestic network, which by the way, includes yours truly since I am…
And the 20% off on JetPrivilege redemptions continues
Jet Airways had brought out a fabulous redemption offer where they were inviting travellers to redeem JPMiles for 20% less on domestic legs. It is actually a very good offer, because this allows you to redeem a full-service 9W flight in economy for the same mileage as a redemption on a low-cost carrier on PremierMiles (i.e., BOM-DEL is 8,400 PM for an LCC, and 8,400 JPMiles for a 9W flight). The promotion was valid for redemption and travel till December 30, 2012. Now, they are extending it to March 31, 2013. This might be a change for good, or a phase when Jet Airways is trying to encourage redemptions so that they can burn some miles off their balance sheet.…
JetPrivilege clarifies on ‘Wheel of Fortune’
I’ve been wondering a while about how the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ was going to be honoured by Jet Airways, and some answers had begin to emerge when the complimentary credit card mailers were sent out last week to those who picked HDFC Bank. Now, I got an official response from Jet Airways a couple of days back and I am reproducing the relevant portions for you here below: Dear AJ,This is with reference to your feedback on Twitter and your telephonic conversation with my colleague ____ at the JetPrivilege Service Centre. Allow us to respond to your queries point wise:- 1. All those JetPrivilege members who had participated in the Wheel Of Fortune Contest and had chosen any one of…
Jet Airways to discontinue Chennai (MAA)–Brussels (BRU)
In other news, Jet Airways is now chopping off international routes like the airline is going out of fashion. First it was the South African route that went away, then they withdrew the Brussels – New York JFK flight a while back. A route realignment here or there is not such a big deal in the scheme of things but I gave 9W the benefit of doubt. However, it now looks like the trickle is turning into a storm. As per AirlineRoute.net, Jet Airways has decided to pull the plug on the MAA-BRU segment as well after it withdrew from BRU-JFK earlier in September 2012. The airline has stopped selling tickets for MAA-BRU flights from 15 November 2012 onwards, which…
American Express Platinum Travel Card for a reduced fee
Amex India’s Platinum Travel Card is being offered for a reduced fee of Rs. 3,500 + taxes if you apply before 31 October 2012. I’ve received a few queries in the past about the card. My review is here, and my answer to the reader queries is here. If you’d like to apply for the card, this is a good time to go for it! Related Posts: Sunday Plastic: American Express Platinum Travel Card Reader Question: Amex Plat Travel v/s Citibank PremierMiles,what is better? Live From A Lounge is present on Facebook, Twitter & available via email, RSS.
Citibank PremierMiles: New promotion and Indigo redemptions
Citibank is notching it up a few levels with the PremierMiles credit card. If you remember, they offered double miles for all hotel and international spends for the period June to September 2012. Now, there is a new one. For the period 1 October 2012 to 31 December 2012, Citibank is offering to double the miles of its top 2,000 spenders up to 25,000 PremierMiles. This being an opt-in promotion, one needs to pre-register by 30 November 2012 and only whose who register will have their spends considered for the promotion. Use this link to register, it takes you to the Citibank India website. All spends done by registered PremierMiles Cardholders during 01 October 2012 and 31 December 2012 will…
Spoof on Air India’s 787 Dreamliner
I saw this interesting spoof on Air India’s new 787 planes, which I am sure would leave you in splits! Please scroll over to 16:00 Minutes, or use this link to watch it directly on YouTube! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZetzkhvLUk&feature=youtu.be&t=16m Enjoy the dreams! (H.T. to BangaloreAviation.com) Live From A Lounge is present on Facebook, Twitter & available via email, RSS.
