Trip Reports

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Review: Jet Airways Lounge, Brussels

by Ajay Leave A Comment

a room with a few white chairs and a table

Introduction Check-in: Clipper Lounge, Terminal 2, Mumbai Airborne: Flight 9W228 (BOM-BRU), Jet Airways, Premiere (A332) Hotel Manhattan, Rotterdam Hotel Sheraton Brussels Airport, Brussels Check-in: Jet Airways Lounge, Brussels Airborne: Flight 9W227 (BRU-BOM), Jet Airways, Premiere (A333) Like I mentioned in the earlier post of this trip-report, I was intending to rush it in the morning to beat the long queues that tend to form up at the Brussels airport counters of Jet Airways. Even as an elite, you can be waiting for a while because all the counters would be full. Having made it early, I walked up to a bank of empty Jet Airways counters, which was the first time in years I’d seen it like this. I walked…

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Review: Hotel Sheraton Brussels Airport

by Ajay 7 Comments

a bed with a lamp and a table

Introduction Check-in: Clipper Lounge, Terminal 2, Mumbai Airborne: Flight 9W228 (BOM-BRU), Jet Airways, Premiere (A332) Hotel Manhattan, Rotterdam Hotel Sheraton Brussels Airport, Brussels Check-in: Jet Airways Lounge, Brussels Airborne: Flight 9W227 (BRU-BOM), Jet Airways, Premiere (A333)   After my few days in Rotterdam, I headed back to Brussels on the train network. Luckily, I was only making one stop transfer this time around, and made it to Antwerp with 20 minutes to spare before I was going to get to my train to the Brussels National airport. This was good enough time to catch a helping of Fritters, which is something I make it a point to have when transiting via BRU and staying overnight. There are various hotel options…

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Going Dutch: Hotel Manhattan, Rotterdam

by Ajay 6 Comments

Introduction Check-in: Clipper Lounge, Terminal 2, Mumbai Airborne: Flight 9W228 (BOM-BRU), Jet Airways, Premiere (A332) Hotel Manhattan, Rotterdam Hotel Sheraton Brussels Airport, Brussels Check-in: Jet Airways Lounge, Brussels Airborne: Flight 9W227 (BRU-BOM), Jet Airways, Premiere (A333) After landing up from my flight to Brussels airport, my usual routine is to walk up to the train station situated right under the airport, and buy a ticket to my destination in the Netherlands. If I don’t have much time, I choose to take the Thaly’s but if I do have the time, I take the Belgian international trains. However, this time, the snow seemed to have had other plans for me. I wanted to take the Thaly’s and make it quick, but…

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Review: Flight 9W228 BOM-BRU on Jet Airways Premiere (A332)

by Ajay 9 Comments

a glass of beer and a bowl of nuts

Introduction Check-in: Clipper Lounge, Terminal 2, Mumbai Airborne: Flight 9W228 (BOM-BRU), Jet Airways, Premiere (A332) Hotel Manhattan, Rotterdam Hotel Sheraton Brussels Airport, Brussels Check-in: Jet Airways Lounge, Brussels Airborne: Flight 9W227 (BRU-BOM), Jet Airways, Premiere (A333) After the trip to the Clipper Lounge, my flight’s boarding was announced and I headed to the gate. There was a separate queue for Premiere class boarding and I headed through that queue to the plane. There was a secondary security check on the gate as well. Jet Airways 228 Mumbai(BOM) – Brussels(BRU) Tuesday, March 12 2013 Depart: 2:05AM Arrive: 07:50AM Duration: 10hr15min Distance flown: 4,271 miles Aircraft: Airbus A330-200 Seat: 2D (Premiere Business) Meal Service: Dinner (Refreshment), Breakfast I was flying the Mumbai…

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Review: Clipper Lounge, Terminal 2, Mumbai

by Ajay 1 Comment

food in a buffet with plates and spoons

Introduction Check-in: Clipper Lounge, Terminal 2, Mumbai Airborne: Flight 9W228 (BOM-BRU), Jet Airways, Premiere (A332) Hotel Manhattan, Rotterdam Hotel Sheraton Brussels Airport, Brussels Check-in: Jet Airways Lounge, Brussels Airborne: Flight 9W227 (BRU-BOM), Jet Airways, Premiere (A333) Update: New Lounge as of February 2014 is covered here. I intended to arrive at the Mumbai Airport Terminal 2 in good time for this trip. Part of the reason for that was that I had just gotten done with a long day with a client, and I wanted to relax and be at ease on my flight, since I was going to slip into work as soon as I landed up in the Netherlands post my flight. However, the whole expectation of having…

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Going Dutch: Introduction

by Ajay 6 Comments

Introduction Check-in: Clipper Lounge, Terminal 2, Mumbai Airborne: Flight 9W228 (BOM-BRU), Jet Airways, Premiere (A332) Hotel Manhattan, Rotterdam Hotel Sheraton Brussels Airport, Brussels Check-in: Jet Airways Lounge, Brussels Airborne: Flight 9W227 (BRU-BOM), Jet Airways, Premiere (A333) Earlier this month I needed to plan a trip to The Netherlands, not for fun but for work. The direct route from Mumbai (BOM) to Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) has only one flight, which is actually a SkyTeam flight operated by Delta on the route Mumbai – Amsterdam – Atlanta, using their Fifth Freedom rights. However, having travelled on that flight once, I decided I did not like it much. What could you expect of Delta afterall? They took 1.5 hours just to serve me…

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My first flights of 2013, on Jet Airways

by Ajay 4 Comments

Like I mentioned a few days back, I happened to make an impulsive trip to Delhi to meet my family over the first weekend of the month. For this, I used 16,800 JPMiles (+ Rs. 2500) per head for a roundtrip redemption in Economy on BOM-DEL-BOM, including the 20% discount that is available for online redemptions domestically till March 31, 2013. By the time I booked the ticket, the JP Service Centre was closed for the night, and I could not check for the upgrade against cash that would have costed me another Rs. 2,000 per pax on this segment. However, it being a short flight, I was okay with the travel in the back. First and foremost, the amendment…

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So I had another good flight with Jet Airways Premiere

by Ajay 4 Comments

I must admit I have not been flying Jet Airways on my domestic routings of late. I have heaps of trip reports to write, but essentially, when I went by for my little holiday to the Park Hyatt Goa in June, I had a no air-conditioner flight on Goa to Mumbai. I decided I when I got back to be treading away from them for a while, but I already had reservations with them for this November trip so I thought I’d brave it out this one time then. Jet Airways, on the other hand, seemed to have other plans for me. I was travelling my regular BOM-DEL segment, something I do a zillion times. I’d asked for an upgrade…

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Flying Kingfisher Airlines one more time

by Ajay 4 Comments

I’ve come across more than my fair share of people who have patronised Kingfisher Airlines in the past, and still fly Kingfisher Airlines wherever they can. However, with Kingfisher Airlines no longer on the permitted list of carriers by my workplace, I’ve not been flying them for business over a period of time. When a Kingfisher patron Arun made a trip to Mumbai all the way to be on the last Kingfisher flight from Dubai, I warmed up to the airline again. However, they were not flying to places I wanted to go to and hence I had to wait a while to get them on a Mumbai – Delhi flight which is one of the trunk routes they are…

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Go Goaah: Alila Diwa, Goa

by Ajay 2 Comments

a building with a pool in the middle

Park Hyatt Goa Resort & Spa Alila Diwa After a very relaxed few days at the Park Hyatt Goa Resort and Spa, I was going to switch to the Hotel Alila Diwa where a friend of mine was hosting his wedding proceedings for the next couple of days. Since both the hotels are about 10 minutes apart, we used one of the complimentary shuttle cars offered to us by the Park Hyatt to drive down to the Alila Diwa. The Alila Diwa is a large hotel,built on a 12-acre big piece of land next to a paddy field. The hotel received the ‘Top 25 Relaxation/Spa hotels in India 2012’ commendation from TripAdvisor, which it proudly displays on its website and…

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A Thai Vacay: Hilton Pattaya Review

by Ajay Leave A Comment

a round couch with pillows on it

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…

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