Global

Category Archives for Global.

Review: Chennai Airport (MAA) and Airborne to Colombo(CMB) on 9W254 in Economy

Introduction & Trip Index Considering Jet Airways was out to prove a point, they had put out their Guest Relations manager at Chennai on the job to make sure my transit at Chennai was smooth. I arrived at the Domestic Terminal of the Chennai Airport, and I had a porter waiting for me right outside the plane waiting to bring our handbags to the International Terminal. He insisted to carry my bag but I had to really request him and plead with him that I was okay carrying my own bag! He brought us to the Arrival area of the Chennai Airport, where I was coming after quite a few years. There was construction going around all over, and I…

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Review: Mumbai Airport (BOM) and Airborne to Chennai (MAA) on 9W 469 in Economy

Introduction & Trip Index Since I was going to be heading to Colombo via Chennai, I arrived at the Mumbai Airport domestic for my check-in on the BOM-MAA leg of my trip on Jet Airways (9W 469). I was going to be seated at the back of the plane, but I found some amusing things happening around here! Jet Airways wanted to prove a point, that they would take care of this entire trip to go event free, because I’ve been poking holes in their service delivery for a short while now. Since this was a long weekend coming up, there was the obvious long queues at the airport on the evening wanting to fly somewhere. On arrival at the…

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Plaza Premium Lounge Delhi Domestic Terminal 3

Introduction & Trip Index After my hectic work trip got over, I had decided to spend the Saturday with my parents before returning to Mumbai (Bombay) on Sunday morning. Ideally, I’d have loved to spend the Sunday home also, but I was going to be gone for a long time on the upcoming weekend, and hence I was planning to pack up some gear on that particular Sunday and catch up with friends. With that thinking in mind, I was booked on a Sunday morning 8 AM flight to BOM. Yeah, a Sunday morning flight, when I’d ideally liked to have crashed at home. But Sunday flights can be fun, and this was proven again after a long while! However,…

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Get upto 1500 Priority Club Rewards points for shopping (outside the US)

IHG Priority Club has launched an offer whereby one can earn upto 1500 Priority Club Rewards points for shopping at the Priority Club Shop at priorityclubshopping.com. The offer is valid uptil 15th September 2011, where for 3 eligible transactions, one can avail of 500 bonus PC points apart from the points credited for shopping on the online mall.   This one should be of interest to those who would be shipping products outside the USA, and works for me if I choose to ship some of these purchases into India. Storewide purchases are anywhere from 1 to 15-30 PCR point per USD purchase value. And looks like I can purchase Air France tickets from AF’s Canadian website and earn PCR…

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Is Jet Airways losing its golden touch?

About 24 hours ago, I got off my flight(s) with Jet Airways which brought me back from a hectic vacation in NYC, SEA and DCA to Mumbai. As usual, I took my favourite airline on the way back, to fly JFK-BRU-BOM in Jet Airways Business Class. The reason I have enjoyed my experiences in the front and the back of a Jet Airways flight is the eye for details, and the hospitable, welcome approach they have to flying rather than most other carriers. I’ve been used to their (very) good service over a period of time, and which is reason enough for me to stick to them as my preferred airline. And sometimes also go the extra mile to convert…

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Jet Airways Citibank Credit Cards devalue upgrade benefits from September 2011

The Jet Airways Citibank co-branded Platinum Card was one of the more popular and advantageous airline credit cards in India. It looks like it had enough of the high table so it decided to jump off right away. I first heard of the devaluation on this flyertalk thread. I have been holding this card for quite a few years, and was in fact the only credit card I used for a very long time and pay a fee for. When I read this new scheme of things, I could not believe my eyes, and since I am travelling I haven’t received my letter from Citi yet. I checked up on Citibank’s India website, and it confirmed the horror story to…

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Jet Airways pilots flying ‘high’!

This piece of news kind of got me scared a bit, but it is definitely not keeping me away from flying. A recent piece of information tabled in the Indian Parliament reported that there were 67 pilots who were found positive in the pre-flight medical test over the years 2009 to 2011, and one third of them were from Jet Airways. Kingfisher followed next along with Indigo. Make your own interpretations, but for me, this did not change anything except for wondering if Kingfisher Airlines was not providing enough brew to it’s crew, considering it is a sister concern of India’s biggest spirits and beer maker! On a serious note, it also meant that Air India, despite all the wrong…

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Things are changing at Indian airlines….

I happened to remember this one series of hoardings I had spotted a while back while travelling in the country. I thought it would be interesting to share, and managed to find this on an aviation humor website.    Looking back, can someone tell me who changed and who did not, eventually? I think 9W/Jet Airways turned out to be the eventual winner. While the flying models of Kingfisher are doing their job at a bleeding airline where service standards are going down and Go Air has no clear direction to go in!

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Heads roll at Air India

When Air India got kicked out of the Star Alliance even before it joined, I had a feeling that someone would be fired to fix the blame. And lo and behold, it did not take long for the Government of India to take a decision that it was the Chairman and Managing Director of the airline, Arvind Jadhav, a career bureaucrat who was not able to turn around the airline. So, this morning, it got into the news that he was removed from his post. Air India was a profitable operation until 2005 when it got merged with Indian Airlines. Earlier, AI used to take care of the international market, while IC was the domestic carrier. The rationale for merger…

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