While I am an Executive Platinum and so AA is not sending me out the invitation to Concierge Key, not yet at least, they seemed to have fired out a lot of emails offering targeted status to various American Airlines flyers. It seems AA flyers with no status have received a promotion to sign up for instant Gold status, and they get complimentary status till August 31, 2013 + 10 500-mile upgrades (just for registering!!). If they earn 6000 miles or points during April 29 and August 31, 2013, they get to keep the status till February 28, 2015. The flying needs to be on AA, BA, IB, QF and JA. Some flyers have reported that they have received a…
India, welcome to unbundled fares!
The Indian Civil Aviation market is up for a change, since after years of disallowing unbundling of fares, the aviation regulator & minister have finally come around to allow this move, in line with global practices. As per the new regulations, notified earlier this evening, the aviation regulator has allowed the following services to be charged for separately: Preferential seating Meal/snack/drink charges (except drinking water) Charge for using Airlines’ lounges Check in baggage charges Sports equipment carriage Musical instrument carriage Fee for special declaration of valuable baggage The regulator expects that base prices of tickets will go down when various services will be unbundled, however, I do not expect this to be the case because airlines in India would rather…
Win 86,400 JPmiles with referral contest for Jet Platinum Amex
In case you have no qualms about spamming your Facebook friend list, here is a referral program for you which could get you up to 86,400 JetPrivilege Miles. Jet Airways and American Express, who joined hands to launch the Jet Privilege American Express Platinum Credit Card, are up for an interesting referral contest on Facebook. It is a 3-step contest, on every day from 8 am to next morning 8 am India Standard Time, where the person who refers the most number of applications wins. The contest is on till 11th May 2013. Step 1: Apply for the Jet Airways Amex Platinum for yourself and play a scratchcard kind of game, which gives you up to 1,000 JP Miles just…
ITC Hotels promo: 1 free night for 3 paid stays
ITC Hotels, with its line-up of 50 hotels across India, just introduced an awesome promotion which will be valid from May 1 to September 30, 2013. Taking a leaf from the book of Hyatt, Marriott and others who’ve done a free night promotion in the past, Club ITC, which is ITC Hotels own loyalty program, is now introducing a free night promotion for every 3 paid stays at participating ITC Hotel properties across India. The Club ITC program, which is the common loyalty program for the hotel and the apparel division, asks you to either make 3 stays at the 50 participating properties (listed below), or spend Rs. 60,000 at these to earn one night stay certificates. As per the…
I must be worth $250 as a JetPrivilege member
Like I wrote yesterday, Jet Airways finally dried the ink on their partnership with Etihad Airways. One fourth of the value of the whole transaction is being generated by the frequent flyer program of Jet Airways, which was spun off into a separate company in December 2012. Etihad is going to pay $150 million for a majority stake in the loyalty program, which I assumed was going to be about 60% at least. I tried valuing the different membership tiers to arrive at a value of each membership tiers, and this is pure speculation, but do tell me if you think this is in line with valuations you would expect to be a JetPrivilege member. Related Posts: Jet Privilege to…
Jet Airways to sell 24% stake to Etihad Airways as well as JetPrivilege
This afternoon in India, Jet Airways’ Board of Directors put their agreement to receive a fresh induction of $380 million by Etihad Airways, who in turn will get 24% of the expanded equity capital of Jet Airways, thus making Jet Airways a part of the Equity alliance of Etihad Airways, where Etihad is sewing up partnerships with various airlines by picking up equity stakes in them. I first wrote about this possibility back in September and while the deal was close to being struck then, it took quite some back and forth in the few months ahead to come to a consensus. Etihad confirmed later in the day that they were taking the 24% stake for $379 million dollars, and…
Taj offers promotional redemptions at the new Vivanta at Gurgaon
The Indian Hotels company (Taj Group) recently launched their 100th hotel, under the Vivanta brand at Gurgaon. The 208-key hotel has the added, in their own words, the iconic Thai Pavilion restaurant as well, apart from the Jiva Spa which offers ancient Indian and new-age rejuvenation. To encourage more people to try out the property, Taj is offering its Inner Circle loyalty program members a few lucrative promotions till May 31, 2013. You get to earn 100 Bonus Points, per night, for all eligible stays between now and 31 May 2013. For redemption stays, TIC is offering redemptions at 1500 Taj InnerCircle Points instead of the regular 2000 Points, or Points + Cash at 1000 Points + INR 5000 with…
Abu Dhabi to get US Customs pre-clearance
The Wall Street Journal reported a few days ago, that the White House has agreed to open a Customs & Border Protection outpost in Abu Dhabi, which will help passengers flying out from the AUH airport to pre-clear American Customs & Immigration formalities before getting on that plane. The CBP has been offering this facility to some countries, such as Canada, Ireland and its Caribbean counterparts, but this is for the first time it is going almost half way across the world to the Middle-East to offer such a service. Who benefits? Etihad Airways, but naturally, since they are the only ones who currently fly non-stops between the USA and UAE from that airport. Interestingly, this news is coming out…
Etihad offering double miles on economy travel [targeted]
Etihad is sending out targeted mailers to members of its Etihad Guest program, which offers double miles for those flying on Etihad flights before 30th May 2013 in their Coral Economy Class. This promotion, for those who receive it, is valid for tickets booked online, via the call center or via a travel agent as well. The promotion terms & conditions do mention that: This offer is exclusive to a select segment of Etihad Guests, and is available by invitation only. Bonus Miles Promotion is valid for bookings made between 21 April and 26 May 2013 for travel between 22 April and 30 May 2013. Promotion is valid only for travel in Coral Economy Class. The bonus miles earned will…
Hotel deals for you from Hilton, Hyatt & Oberoi in India
Hilton recently launched an India specific website at www.hiltonindia.com. There is a 20% off sale on the site at the moment, if you book your room nights before April 30, 2013 and valid for stays till December 30, 2013. Valid only for advance purchased room rates. Make sure you get the Gold status at the hotel chain for having a shot at upgrades. Travelguru is offering a 3rd night complimentary on booking 2 nights at some of the luxurious Oberoi properties around India. These would be the iconic Amarvilas, Rajvilas, Vanyavilas and Udaivilas, and some other metro properties. It says offer valid for a limited period, and seems like one can book till October 31, 2013 at this moment. There…
Hilton Gold status for India-issued Visa Signature cards as well!
A few days back I posted about the free Hilton status for Visa Infinite card holders issued in Asia Pacific. A reader, AW, left me a comment which said: Worked like a charm with my ICICI Jet Airways Sapphiro Visa Card (Visa Signature). Ah well, I was being lazy and did not try this myself before. So, I pulled out my ICICI issued Visa Signature (the Jet Airways one), and turned out it passes the check. Also, then I checked the same with my Citibank Ultima credit card as well. It again went ahead and asked me to put in my Hilton digits and password. Since I already have status with Hilton, I did not do this bit, but you…
