Jet Airways ran the “Wheel of Fortune” contest in June, where it asked for your guesses on which were the banks it was going to partner with. The prize for the correct answer was going to be a complimentary first year membership to the bank’s card you picked (it was correct), and later on, modified to become 1,000 JP Miles. Now, in July 9W announced that it had formed a partnership with three banks: HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and American Express. And while there was a lot of push and shove on how Jet Airways was going to honor the complimentary first year membership, they figured that along the way. The 1,000 JP Miles for HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank…
So Long, Kingfisher!
I’ve got reader mail in the past few days about what was going to eventually happen to Kingfisher Airlines. I have to admit I’ve been very busy offline to respond, but like I wrote in my last post about this airline, their license was at stake a few days back. And now, it is finally over. Yesterday, the Indian aviation regulator DGCA, which had given Kingfisher Airlines 15 days to respond, finally went ahead and suspended the airlines’ aviation license. On October 5, Kingfisher Airlines received a notice from the regulator, with a 15-day timeline to respond. On October 19, Kingfisher responded back, asking for more time to respond to the notice. They had tried to convince the employees a…
Spot the mistakes [and win a prize!]
Last week sometime I was at the Mumbai Airport, and I happened to notice the e-ticket printing machines installed there. Like you know, to access an Indian airport, you need a printed itinerary (not an electronic one, but a paper copy!). Now, here is a picture of all the options presented at the machine: Now, there are at least 3 mistakes on this board, there could be more! And remember, this picture was taken before Kingfisher was officially grounded by the DGCA! Contest time! Here is the contest, in the comments section, you have to tell me what 3 mistakes are on the board, and your country of residence. One of the entries, which has all the three correct answers,…
American Express offering 30% bonus on transfer to Avios (British Airways!)
I was just waiting for this to happen in India. American Express has been offering a transfer bonus on British Airways currency Avios for a while now, and different time periods for different countries. I was hoping India was on the map as well, and I just heard that was indeed the case. For a limited time, till November 30, American Express is offering members who have Amex cards issued in India a 30% bonus on transferring their Membership Reward points to Avios (the mileage currency used for British Airways and Iberia). Usually, 1.6 MR transfer into 1 Avios, but in this case, the redemption level looks better, and you can convert MR into Avios at 1.23 MR = 1…
Indigo launches Priority check-in & Priority Baggage services
Indigo, India’s no. 1 domestic airline, has launched ‘Fast Forward’, a new Priority check-in and Priority Baggage service at the metro airports in India. Chargeable at Rs. 200 per passenger per flight, Indigo is promising quicker processing of your Boarding Pass (which can in some cases directly be printed from a self check-in machine), by creating Priority Boarding counters on 6 major airports in India –> Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad. You also get baggage first on arrival. To avail this service, please report to the ‘Fast Forward‘ counter at the airport and show your itinerary. You can either pay for this service online on www.goindigo.in or during check-in at the airport. The fee will be applied for…
Maldivian to launch services to Mumbai and Chennai (and Dhaka!)
Maldivian, the national carrier of the Maldives, acquired their first jet plane a week back, an Airbus 320, which will join the fleet at the end of October 2012. Maldivian is now preparing to launch non-stop flights between Maldives and India (Mumbai-BOM and Chennai-MAA) from mid-November 2012. © Clément Alloing Mumbai and Chennai do not have direct connections to Male at this moment, so this is a a great move on their part to make a direct inroads into these two airports. At the moment, the Air India flight to Male flies via Bangalore (BLR) and Trivandrum (TRV), so this will cut down the flight time to a direct 3 hours flight from Mumbai to Male…
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…
Sign-up for Lufthansa Miles & More, try your luck for 80,000 miles
If you don’t have a Miles & More account and you are based in Asia, right now seems to be a good time to sign up. Miles & More is the frequent flyer program for Lufthansa and group airlines such as Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, etc., and through October 14, 2012, they are running a sweepstakes to enrol new members. If you go to this link and sign-up, you will automatically be participating in a promotion, where the winner will be awarded 80,000 Miles & More miles, good for a return ticket in economy from Asia to Europe. The Sweepstakes is limited to residents of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Australia and India, and…
Air India 787: Flying to Frankfurt from Oct 15!
Air India recently received its third 787 plane, the first one completely built in their new facility in Charleston. This plane, VT-ANI has arrived in India on Tuesday, and now Air India has the sort of numbers to rotate planes for an international flight of the medium/long-haul variety. Like I posted earlier, this was the plane expected to be handed over a while back. Another 787 is coming to them in October 2012, and then one more expected by the end of this year. Air India is now expecting to launch their international flights on the Delhi-Frankfurt route from October 15, 2012. However, habitual of them, they have not updated this in the GDS yet, and there is no trace…
Indian Government admits to being partisan to Lufthansa
I was just about to shut my laptop after writing my last post on the Air India – Star Alliance wriggle. But I just happened to note a new news report from The Economic Times, which also got a soundbyte from the aviation minister of India at the same place Reuters got its news from. For posterity sake, rather than quoting the article, let me leave a screenshot, because stories can be refiled online after an intervention. Now, let me quote the relevant bits: Civil Aviation minister told media that Lufthansa, which is the founding member of Star Alliance, was given a lot of benefits to ensure that Air India joins the grouping. “I believe a lot of facilities were…
Air India is back to Lufthansa for Star Alliance again
You have to give it to Air India, they are making an attempt unparalleled in history to join an alliance. When they had the ball in their court, they just wouldn’t move fast enough and took 4 long years getting ready for integration. As a result, last year Air India was given the boot from Star Alliance, making them the first airline ever to be thrown out before joining. Jet Airways was extended the official invite to join the alliance instead. Now, Air India has gone back to Lufthansa for the nth time to ask for their assistance in getting into the little circle of airlines. This has been reported by Reuters today. India plans to ask Germany’s Lufthansa AG…
