Update: Jet Airways has updated the terms to indicate the 500 bonus JP Miles are those from booking online on Jet’s website or via their app. Jet Airways is offering some special fares on a few domestic short-haul segments for travel between December 10, 2014 to March 31, 2015. The beauty of these is that they also come with 500 bonus JP Miles, which are over and above the mileage for these segments, which makes it 1000 JP miles for short hauls (500 is the new minimum for flights on Jet’s network). You can also earn the online booking bonus miles if you book via the web. Here are the T&C: Valid for travel in Economy For travel between Ahmedabad…
Jet Airways’ Amex offering sign-on bonus of 15,000 JP Miles till Dec 20
That time of the year when American Express needs to meet its target. It has been two years since Amex has offered the co-branded card with Jet Airways, and they recently added some more lounges and some new features to this card. Earlier this year, to make the card more accessible to people, they made a special First Year fees offer of INR 5,000 (plus taxes), where they offer you 10,000 JP Miles + 1 way free ticket. However, if you now apply for the card by December 20, 2014, you should get 15,000 JP Miles as your first year bonus, apart from the 1-way ticket, which I feel is a great deal for INR 5000. I feel the cards…
Le Meridian Mahabaleshwar Resort & Spa to open on March 1, 2015
It is always interesting to see a chain open a vacation property around India, something which has started to happen recently. Apart from Goa, most international hotel chains haven’t worked on their expansion in the leisure market around India and they are catching up now. One of the properties I’ve been keenly tracking is the Le Meridian which is going to open in Mahabaleshwar, a 6-8 hour ride away from Mumbai, based in the hills. Mahabaleshwar is a sleepy town full of tourists when the strawberries are there, and a getaway from Mumbai. However, it did not have a chain property so far. Le Meridian is changing that from March 2015, when they open their gates on March 1. The…
Etihad offering 25% discount on redemption tickets
Etihad is quickly turning into one of my favourite airline and mileage program as well. Not just a great airline First Class product, they are also part owner of Jet Airways’ frequent flyer program in India, and have some great domestic redemptions on offer. Apart from that, they are partners with Citi PremierMiles and Prestige, which ensures you can get Gold Status as well as miles on tap. Of course, there are bonus offers as well off and on. And one more generous promotion just came our way. Etihad has announced that if you book your mileage tickets before December 10, 2014, for redemptions on Etihad metal, you get 25% of your mileage back into your account, after the completion…
Have you won yourself a Powerbank?
Last week, I opened a small giveaway for a PowerBank. My question was simple… what is your favourite hotel around India? There were 27 entries, and they ranged all over the place from Luxury to basic. But I did love them all. It was hard to be subjective on this one, so I went back to my crystal ball, a.k.a. Random.org for an answer… The winner is Amitjivan, who said… The Oberoi, Mumbai – Awesome location, spacious rooms with modern amenities, stunning and serene sea view, friendly & polite staff, exceedingly delicious food (be Italian or Indian) at its restaurants. Its suitable for business as well as leisure. Now, I’ve certainly never stayed at this property, but I go there…
Travel is not the cohort of the rich
While my government (of India!) continues to look at air travel as a cohort of the rich, due to which they are keeping aviation turbine fuel so highly taxed for years, I recently happened to notice a great inspiring story on the Internet about a Tea Vendor, who has been saving diligently to fulfil his travel ambitions… As per NewsMinute, which originally carried the story, a gentleman called Vijayan, based in Cochin, has been a Tea vendor for over 40 years, and he has been saving diligently an amount of INR 300 ($5) everyday for his travels. Not only has he been able to travel around India, which I believe is full of scenic places to go, he has been…
SpiceJet Cancellations Summary
Spicejet has recently been cancelling a lot of flights over the past couple of weeks, or merging flights. As per the airline, this is the result of a restructuring going on at the airline where they are returning planes or having them come back at lower leases. A lot of travel plans have gone awry as a result of these cancellations and there is no commentary on the SpiceJet website about cancellations and how to resurrect your travel plans from there. Initially, the airline promised to resurrect these flights over a week, which are over 50 in number. However, it does seem it will take longer to do so, perhaps even all of December. I happened to recently notice an…
Get 3,000 JP Miles for signing up with Scripbox
Sometimes, there are pretty easy offers out there to get yourself some JP Miles or other mileage currencies. One of the newer ones these days is from Scripbox, an online mutual fund investment platform for investors in India. Scripbox is currently offering 3000 JP Miles as signup bonus for just setting up an account with them. While the promotion was sent out to members much earlier, I wanted to check this out myself to see how complicated this would be, before advising my readership. So, a few days ago, I filled up the online form and complete registration. One needs to take a hard copy printout and enclose some bank paperwork before your account is set up. Once you get…
Claim your new benefits from Jet Airways’ Amex
About 4-5 weeks ago, American Express implemented some changes on their Jet Airways American Express co-branded card. While they marginally reduced mileage-earning, like they do almost every now and then, they did add some new benefits for card holders. Firstly, they added lounge access in some cities where there was none. You can check the details in my earlier post here. Gold Tier Membership for Trident Privilege One of the other changes was going to be the addition of Gold Tier Membership for the Trident Privilege program, along with two upgrade certificates. Now, I don’t really stay at Trident hotels around India, but since they are offering a benefit, I’d love to pick it up for the rare day when…
Buy LifeMiles with 125% bonus only on December 1, 2014
Update: As of December 2, 2014, it is still possible to buy these miles with a bonus of 125% Lifemiles is the frequent flyer program of Avianca, and one of the Star Alliance programs which allows you to make some reasonable award bookings. They are currently holding one of their sales where you can buy miles @ USD 33/1000 Miles, and they give you 2000 miles for the price, all the way up to 75000 miles purchase. While I don’t write about all the Avianca mileage sales so often, here is an old post which makes you aware of why it is an important program for people who love their mileage tickets. I’ve previously purchased miles with their buy1-get1-free promotions…
Only today: Club Carlson 20,000 points for $70
Club Carlson is offering a 24 hour promotion on the occassion of CyberMonday in the USA, where members can purchase Club Carlson points for 0.35 cents per point instead of the usual 0.70 cents per point. This promotion is only valid for the purchase up to 10,000 Club Carlson points, which usually cost $70, and you get a bonus of a matching number of Club Carlson points up to 10,000 points credited to your account. Why does it make sense for my Indian readers to buy these points? Because there are about 50-70 Club Carlson hotels in India, and these are located across the country. Sometimes, it can make sense to use points over cash to stay at one of…
