A while ago, I wrote on this blog about how Indigo was inferring unbundling rules on their own tangent, offering upto 72% of the seats on the plane as pay for selection, which was not in spirit of the Indian regulations. They tried being creative earlier as well, even trying to charge for the middle seat. Basically, they were trying to charge for as many seats as possible to maximise revenue. Anyhow, after the post, I see things have changed. I recently booked my parents on another Indigo flight, and after booking up the trip, it was time to assign seats as well. Out here, I saw that the number of seats offered for premium seat assignment was way less…
Will Olacabs compensate for my time?
There are good times and there are bad times, and then there are ugly times with cab companies. One of the reasons I depend on chauffeur driven services is because it helps me be more productive since I can just continue to work while they get me to my destination. In Delhi, all the more I need to depend on one because there are no taxis that I can flag down the road and make a move. Last week, one such day, I was reminded how things can go horribly wrong and the service providers would just leave you to the mercy of the Gods, maybe. I had a meeting to make it to, and I only had my mobile…
Grand Hyatt Mumbai offering 50% off for stays till Sep 30, 2014
Reader Varun Checker, pointed me to a great promotion running at the Grand Hyatt Mumbai, which is are celebrating their 10th year, by offering a straight 50% off discount on Hyatt Daily Rates if booked before March 17, 2014. The promotion offers 50% off for stays booked till March 17, 2014 and made between March 15, 2014 and September 30, 2014. This is a prepaid non-refundable rate, however, there are no restrictions on length of stay, so you could stay for as little as a day or as long as a month here on this rate. Take a look here, the base room is available at INR 4,250 plus taxes (about US$70), and this is cheaper than the cheapest prepaid…
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…
Upto 75% India airfare sales extend till Feb 27 and Jet Airways joins in
On Monday, I wrote about the sale that SpiceJet and Indigo sparked, where they offered discounted pricing on flights at least a month out. They called it “75% off compared to last-minute prices” however, I’d like to look at it more like a marketing gimmick, because who in their right minds would compare last minute fares to 30-day fares. The point is, there is still saving if you book now as compared to booking ten days down the line. The sale has now been extended by SpiceJet to 27th February 2014 midnight, as a response to Jet Airways coming into the fray. Indigo is in the fray as well, but no official word on if the sale is up till…
Get Gold Coins to travel SilkAir Business Class from India
I’ve been around in the miles and points world for a reasonable bit, and I’ve done some convoluted stuff sometimes to maximise my miles & points, but I’ve never heard of someone handing out gold coins to get passengers. But amusing stuff does happen in the air travel business. To celebrate their 25th Anniversary (read as, appeal to the love for gold in South India), Silk Air is offering up to two 4 Gram 24 Karat Gold coins for those who choose to fly SilkAir business class from India to Singapore or onwards. SilkAir operates from the following stations in India: Kochi (COK) Coimbatore (CJB) Trivandrum (TRV) Visakhapatnam (VTZ) Hyderabad (HYD) Bangalore (BLR) Chennai (MAA) Kolkata (CCU) If you’re interested,…
Starwood offering unlimited bonus points for referrals via LinkedIn
Starwood just put out an promotion where they are offering a 1000 SPG points for new signups to the Starwood Preferred Guest program referred by an existing SPG member. The existing members will have to sign up for the promotion here, and then send out references to people they know via LinkedIn. (If you want a referral, please get in touch with me at aj at livefromalounge dot com and I will be happy to connect with you.) This promotion is only valid for those with a resident address in India. The referrer gets 1000 SPG points for every new referral they give out, who sign up for the SPG program before March 25, 2014 and make their first stay…
SpiceJet & Indigo 75% off between April 1 & June 30, 2014
This seems reckless and the way to the bottom, however, the airlines don’t seem to understand that. After a massive sale in January 2014 which SpiceJet started, and Indigo, GoAir, Air India and Jet Airways followed in that order, SpiceJet held its 30% off sale and is now up to its third sale in a month’s time. This morning, SpiceJet has put out a new sale, for the summer months of April 1, 2014 to June 30, 2014 where you get, apparently, up to 75% off (compared to last minute fares). Indigo has joined in as well. Here are some sample fares they’ve put out. I have validated a couple of these on random dates, and they are lower, but…
SPG & Club Carlson award stays to become cheaper in India
The recent changes announced by Club Carlson, followed by the annual readjustment by SPG, seemed to be beneficial for Indian audiences while some of the most luxurious properties around the world went up in award pricing. Club Carlson is readjusting 21 properties in India out of a total of 60 properties, and 20 are going south for awards. These changes go in effect for award reservations made after March 15, 2014. SPG as well is bringing down the award prices on 21 of their properties in India, a lot of them being the Luxury Collection hotels, which are actually signature ITC Hotels. Too bad, ITC Maurya is not one of them!! These changes go into effect on March 4, 2014.…
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…
Uber launches in Mumbai & offers 2 free rides
Uber has been going around India and I have been keenly looking forward for their launch in Mumbai, the city I call home now. The good news is, they just went into Secret Uber phase today, which means they have launched a few cabs in Mumbai already. While I write this post from my first Uber Mumbai ride, which is an uneventful Toyota Innova, the fares seem very competitive at least at this stage (they may go up later). The base fare to start the trip is INR 100, and you pay INR 17 per kilometre and INR 2 per minute of the ride. This is cheaper than Ola Luxury for sure, which I previewed recently. At this moment, they…
