I’ve been a big cheerleader of Citibank’s credit card products, and earlier this year I posted about the Citibank Prestige Credit Card being launched in India. The product indeed seeks to take the premium product space that was vacated by the Citibank Ultima, which sort of went downhill last year. Citibank, with this product, has been put in the same league as American Express Platinum, which wants to target the premium end of the market, what they lovingly call the affluent segment. Anyhow, when I reviewed the product, I decided to get me one as well. However, I finally went about the process a few days ago and I just received my welcome package late last week which included the…
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Credit Card Review: Citibank Prestige India (2014)
A couple of months back, I’d put out some of the feelers I was hearing about Citibank Prestige being launched in India. I’m glad to report the rumours are mostly true! You see, Citibank went downhill with the Ultima, then decided to reinvent the product as the Citibank Prestige in India. Ultima will now be an invite-only card again going head to head with the American Express Centurion in India. The Citibank Prestige has been on offer since about a month now, and is looked at as a lifestyle card, however, I look at it as a great travel credit card. Lets have a look at all the features of this product. Citibank Prestige is offered as a Visa Infinite…
Flight Review: 9W 572 Mumbai to Kuwait, Jet Airways, Economy
Last month, I was on my way to a meeting to Kuwait, and I did my standard drill. I usually arrive there on one of the two evening flights with Jet Airways, stay the night at a hotel, do the meeting, and wait for the flight back which only happens the next evening. Perhaps I need to optimize these a bit, but anyhow, this time I was back on my old warhorse, Jet Airways, which was going to take me from Mumbai to Kuwait International Airport on the early departure flight. For the 17:55 flight, I arrived at the new Mumbai Terminal 2 at about 15:00, which was an early arrival by all standards. I was joined by a colleague,…
Clipper Lounge Cochin: the barest lounge ever?
Mumbai Airport Terminal 2 Clipper Lounge, Mumbai Terminal 2 Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, Kochi Airport Air India 682, Cochin – Mumbai, Economy After our three day stay at the Courtyard by Marriott, Kochi Airport, we were dropped off early morning at the Airport in a shuttle car of the hotel. We were already checked-in, and flying Air India. The airport had a Clipper Lounge, however, this was before the security hold area in the Domestic section of the airport. To access, I used my MasterCard and guested my partner using my Priority Pass. It was early morning so the lounge was empty, or maybe that was the way of life here, because it did not seem like this lounge was…
American Express adds 7 lounges across India
American Express is trying to step up their product offering in India after a very very long time (say 5 years!). In 2012, they came up with the American Express Jet Airways co-branded credit card, which has been in my wallet since, and now they are adding some serious muscle to their existing offerings. American Express cards did not offer much of Lounge access in India, apart from access to the Mumbai and Delhi Platinum lounge, that too, not for everyone, only Platinum and Centurion Card holders, and Jet Platinum Credit Card holders without any guests. Of course, Platinum Card holders and Centurion Card holders get Priority Passes as well, but this did not have the convenience of having a…
Citibank to launch Prestige Credit Card in India
Citibank has been working on two new products to replace the existing Citibank Ultima, which has been their lifestyle and travel credit card in India for about five years or more, and was their product equivalent of the American Express Platinum. Over a period of time, the Jet Airways and Priority Pass privileges went away and the product proposition was vastly reduced. Since American Express launched their Centurion in India, Citibank will be relaunching the Ultima to compete with the Amex Centurion, and Citibank Prestige will be launched in India at INR 20,000 plus taxes to be the lifestyle credit card for Citibank. My guess is this product will be issued as a Visa product in India, while it is…
Amex Platinum Reserve and Jet co-brand cards available at INR 5,000 for first year
One of the less widely covered American Express Credit Card on my blog is the American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card. Originally meant to be the credit card version of the American Express Charge Card, the Credit Card comes with some limited but still useful benefits. While a full review of this product will have to wait, here are some of the benefits of this card: 22,000 Bonus Membership Rewards Points on signup 1 Membership Rewards Point for every Rs.40 spent Access to the American Express Lounges at Delhi and Mumbai Dosmestic Airports Complimentary membership to Taj Epicure Plus Gold Tier in the Taj Inner Circle program Priority Pass, with two complimentary visits per annum Now, the usual fees for…
Clipper Lounge, Mumbai Terminal 2
Mumbai Airport Terminal 2 Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, Kochi Airport Clipper Lounge Cochin Air India 682, Cochin – Mumbai, Economy Like I mentioned last week, I’d taken a short getaway out of town last week, and I booked a trip out on Air India, partly to check out the new Terminal 2 at Mumbai Airport, which has been built recently. Air India is the only airline which offers domestic segments out of the international section of the airport as well, so, I thought of them. My first thoughts about the Terminal 2, Mumbai Airport are here, while here are some pictures of the airport lounge which is being used by the airlines. Apart from the airline lounges, there is also…
Travelling through Terminal 2 Mumbai: first thoughts!
Clipper Lounge, Mumbai Terminal 2 Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, Kochi Airport Clipper Lounge Cochin Air India 682, Cochin – Mumbai, Economy I planned a last minute weekend getaway earlier this week, and I decided to head to Cochin for the weekend. However, I also wanted to check out the Terminal 2 in Mumbai, which went live about 10 days back. At the moment, the terminal only serves international flights, and my first international trip for the year is still a few days out. So, for a change, I decided to fly Air India and use one of their domestic flights that fly from the Terminal 2. I’d been walked through this airport a long while back, when it was still…
My 2014 Credit Card Strategy
Last week, I wrote about my 2013 Mileage Credit Card strategy, where I told you guys I managed to get something about 264,000 miles basis credit cards issued in India for the full calendar year. For 2014, here are the credit cards I am looking at having in my wallet. Take note that while I intend to publish full reviews for each product at some point of time, it may be a while before I would be able to bring them all in the fold. To make it simple, I’ve updated my Mileage CC calculator for 2014 numbers, so have a look and see which is the best one for you. Here are the cards I already have, and I’ll…
Air India offers lounge access in Delhi for INR 500
Air India has been operating a new lounge at the Delhi Airport Terminal 3 since a few months now. While I haven’t been inside this lounge, I’ve walked by on my way to the other lounges at the Domestic wing of this terminal. It is an expansive lounge, with the looks of buffet meals, big couches and is generally empty, because most of the traffic is directed to the Plaza Premium Lounge by the credit card companies, Jet Airways and Priority Pass. However, Air India offers paid lounge access to this lounge for a small sum of INR 500 ($8) only per visit (valid for two hours), and you can also ask for a shower for another INR 200 to…
