Err, I know the sense of entitlement this post evokes, but stay with me, and hear my story of le-sigh and disappointment. The title of this post the exact words I heard from the TSA this evening at JFK. I am flying the American Airlines First Class in their 3-class Flagship Service First Class today, in fact this post is being written somewhere up in the air right now. This made me eligible to use the brand new Flagship Check-In service introduced by American Airlines earlier this month at Terminal 8, New York JFK. After a red carpet experience with American’s staff at JFK, the agent at the check-in counter hands me back my Indian passport and my boarding pass,…
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Mumbai Airport finally has premium security queues!
On my last trip out of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Sivaji International Airport terminal 2 (Going Dutch), I noticed a new thing I hadn’t seen the last time I was there in December 2012. I was going to fly Jet Airways Premiere (Business class) to Brussels, and after clearing Immigration/Passport Control, I headed into what I thought was going to be a long serpentine queue for the security check. However, I was pleasantly surprised when there was a new signage in the security hall, which said “First Class/Business Class” passengers. To me, this indicated that there was a priority queue put in place for premium travellers and for disabled passengers, which, incidentally was much smaller than regular queue. Your boarding pass had…
Cathay Pacific offers 30% discount on flight redemptions with Asia Miles
I know it has been a Cathay kind of day. Cathay Pacific is offering a 30% discount of miles required on redemption bookings on Asia Miles for travel on Cathay Pacific/DragonAir to India, HK, Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Middle East, Australia and select European ports (USA is excluded). Essentially, the following airports are excluded: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, Amsterdam, London, Moscow, Rome, and Auckland. The promotion is valid for reservations till March 31, 2013 and travel till June 2013 in the economy cabin. What drives me crazy, is that the only way to do this is to call Cathay Pacific or fill up the form online (and the disclaimer in red is…
Flying Blue offers another chance to status match Gold Status (SkyTeam ElitePlus)
FlyingBlue seems to be in the habit of offering a status match every few years to swell its ranks of elite members. They did a massive status match campaign in 2011, where you could get top-tier status with them (Platinum, equivalent to SkyTeam ElitePlus), for 2 years. Now, they are back with a new status match promotion, where your Gold status with any airline will offer you Gold Status on KLM/Air France Flying Blue. I would also assume upwards of Gold Status will also offer you Gold Status only, but this is still to be validated. So, with this promotion, all you have to do is to sign up for a KLM/Air France FlyingBlue account, which you can do here…
I’m back, my bag is not! British Airways … aaargh!
First & foremost, let me take the opportunity to wish you all a very happy, healthy and successful 2013. Now, over to business. Like I mentioned here, I was out trying to make sure I wrap up 2012 on Executive Platinum status on American Airlines. Here was my entire routing, and I started to find my way back on December 30, only to land into Mumbai a shade after midnight on January 1 with the stiff upper-lipped British Airways. Going to the cold zone for a week, I thought it was prudent to check-in a bag, with some clothes for various circumstances (snow included!). The bag held up pretty well with my pace till it was time for to come…
So I had another good flight with Jet Airways Premiere
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…
How to help my kid brother travel better?
My kid brother flies only internationally on work trips, for most years that I remember him working. An odd trip here or there domestically. However, he is a novice to the world of miles and points and enhancing his travel experience (such as sitting in the lounge rather than waiting at the gate). So, every time he has a mandate from work to travel, I take over as what I call myself as the concierge service while he is travelling, all the way from half way around the globe away. Complimentary services include figuring out the best seats on the plane (he flies coach, sigh!), lounge access, hotel room upgrades if possible, banking the miles to the various hotels/airline programs…
Flying Kingfisher Airlines one more time
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…
A Thai Vacay: Airborne flight CX 750 (BOM-BKK), Cathay Pacific, Economy
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 The flight I was booked on was CX 750, a hopping service from Mumbai, which flies to Bangkok and then over to Hong Kong. After buying my tickets online, I tried to assign seats via the Manage my booking feature, however seems like after the reservation systems upgrade CX had earlier this year they…
Turkish Airlines status matching up to Star Alliance Gold
Turkish Airlines, as a member of the Star Alliance, has started to status match members of the BMI Diamond Club program on the announcement of BMI getting sold to IAG (British Airways) and hence breaking away from the Star Alliance. However, as it is now turning out, Turkish is also status matching into other alliances. As of today the following status matching is being done: Silver on another carrier (BD/Another alliance) –> TK Miles and Smiles Classic Plus (*A Silver) Gold on another carrier (BD/Another alliance) –> TK Miles and Smiles Elite (*A Gold) No status match to the Miles and Smiles Elite Plus (TK’s top tier) Status is good for 2 years from the date of status match. Requalification:…
Sunday Plastic: Citibank Premier Miles Credit Card
Last week I reviewed the American Express Gold Charge Card for you all. This week, it is the turn of looking at the other card which has a place of pride in my wallet and gets a lot of my spend: Citibank Premier Miles Credit Card. I picked up this card in December 2011, when the benefits on the Citibank Jet Airways Platinum Credit Card were downgraded, and I must say I am very happy with it so far. Sign-up bonus: You get 2 ‘complimentary’ ticket codes which allow you to book domestic flight segments at least 15 days ahead of travel on any airline in India. These codes have to be used via the PremierMiles portal and you get…
