Air India has been operating a new lounge at the Delhi Airport Terminal 3 since a few months now. While I haven’t been inside this lounge, I’ve walked by on my way to the other lounges at the Domestic wing of this terminal. It is an expansive lounge, with the looks of buffet meals, big couches and is generally empty, because most of the traffic is directed to the Plaza Premium Lounge by the credit card companies, Jet Airways and Priority Pass. However, Air India offers paid lounge access to this lounge for a small sum of INR 500 ($8) only per visit (valid for two hours), and you can also ask for a shower for another INR 200 to…
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Tag Archives for Air India.
Air India to introduce Premium Economy aka European Business Class on some routes
Air India largely has deployed an Airbus 320 series fleet on domestic operations, but these come in two varieties: All Economy and Economy + Business seating. The decision to make all economy seating happened a couple of years back when Air India found itself not being able to sell premium cabins on non-metro routes to the extent it wished it could. Anyhow, they are now trying to monetise the limited opportunity that exists on some of these routes, such as Delhi – Guwahati – Imphal, with the introduction of a Premium Economy class of service on these A320 serviced routes. The strategy is similar to European carriers, who create a business class section on intra Europe routes by blocking off…
Yet another Air India 30 day sale till 6th Feb 2014
I might just decide to rename this blog to the deals site or something, with the number for fare sales that are out there these days, however, I’ll just try and keep up with the barrage flowing through. This morning, I noticed, Air India has brought out their recently running +30 days sale again, where the period of sale is between 4th February 2014 and 6th February 2014. Period of Travel is 3rd March 2014 onwards. Here are the details. While the details look sketchy here, when I pulled up some sample fares, it looked like it is a rehash of the recent 30% off sales. But the good news is, you do have some more days to book up…
Air India planning to offer inflight internet
Air India is trying to find a unique selling point to stay relevant to the travellers it serves, and in-flight internet might just be it from their perspective. After the new found acceptance from Star Alliance, they might just be trying to build a customer-focussed organisation. According to The Times of India, the airline is now investigating the proposition to buy and install wifi internet services on their planes. As per the report, the early steps have been taken to look at vendors, and while this may not indicate that it will have wifi anytime in the next few months or years, it is a start. AI chairman Rohit Nandan has set up a panel of top AI officials to…
Last Chance: Air India 30 days+ sale ends today
Last week, all the domestic airlines of India had brought out their fare sales, which was first started by Spicejet, and then followed by Indigo, Go Air, Air India and Jet Airways (Jet Konnect) in that order. While the other airlines have tempered it down and finished off with their sales over the weekend, reader Sriram Hariharan alerted me via Twitter that the Air India fare sale has been extended till the end of today. A notice on the Air India website reads, Air India announces the extension of the Jaldi Jaldi Sale offer. Discounted Fares on domestic sectors across the network Period of Sale : Upto 27th Jan 2014 Period of travel : 21st Feb till 15th April 14…
Air India expected to join Star Alliance by Summer 2014
This has been the subject of discussion since 2007: the inclusion of Air India in Star Alliance. Like I discussed in December 2013, Air India had finally got its second invitation to be included in the Star Alliance, with the first one having been put on hold in July 2011. While it seems far fetched that Air India will move in such a fast speed to be included in the Star Alliance, the Alliance CEO Mark F Schwab, who visited Air India last week in Mumbai, seems to be confident that the airline would be included in the alliance as per Summer 2014. Here is a quote from the Aviation Week: Without giving a specific date, one can say that…
Indian Fare Sale update: Air India joins in the 50% off sale
Yesterday I wrote extensively about how it was a good opportunity for you all to pick up very cheap flights 30 days out (at 50% off), on SpiceJet, Indigo and GoAir. All these fares are available on Online Travel Agents such as Yatra.com, MakeMyTrip.com and GoIbibo.com as well. There was also speculation that Air India would join into this sale, however, nothing had been heard about it so far. Last night I heard the Air India tickets were on sale from midnight of 22 Jan 2014 onwards, and available on Air India’s website, and also the travel websites mentioned above. You can also call your neighbourhood travel agent for these fares. Have a look here at Mumbai Delhi fares from…
Rock bottom fare sale on Air India till Jan 15, 2014
It is purely my fault that I did not take this seriously before and notify you guys. Maybe we can also blame Air India for not going to town about this sale. But, we still have time to make up for it! Air India is selling tickets anywhere around India at low-fare carrier prices uptil January 15, 2014. I was looking to book some tickets for later in the year, considering I am just about starting to plan my travel for the year, and I came across this promotion. Here is a comparison for BOM-DEL for a long-dated ticket, which I booked for Rs. 8200 on Air India for later this year and tickets are supposed to be their cheapest,…
Peeping into 2014 for the Indian skies
I’m back at my desk early this morning thinking and all excited about how 2014 would shape up for work, personal life and my travel plans. As an aviation geek, of course, I am looking forward to trying out new products in the skies and trying to decide what goals should I work towards in 2014. This year might just be a very exciting year for Indian aviation. Here is why: Air India might get accepted into the Star Alliance this year. Air India has been trying to get into the Star Alliance for a long time. After much back and forth, last month, they got invited to join the Star Alliance the second time over. Whether they will join…
The hidden traps of having the Air India SBI Credit Cards
I somehow do hate it when various companies do not give full disclosure on their products. The flavour of the season has been the Air India SBI Credit Card, where the issuing company took a lot of time to come out with the first set of cards. Check out my post a few weeks back, where I discussed the launch of the card, which is also now being used by SBICards as a customer problem resolution centre of sorts with stock replies! Now a couple of things I could not find out on the website, or I was not informed about when I was signing up for the credit card. First and foremost, when a credit card company states that…
Air India offering 1000 miles for opening new frequent flyer account
Air India’s Flying Returns might be turning into an important program to look up again because of their recent in-principle acceptance in the Star Alliance, and the ability to earn these miles with credit cards as well now. For those of you who do not have an Air India Flying Returns account, this might be a good time to start-up on one. Air India has been offering 1,000 miles towards opening a new account for a while. All that it requires of you to be doing, is to go to this link, and generate a new account for yourself. Miles will post on taking the first flight. Related Posts: Air India finally gets invited into Star Alliance Credit Card Review:…
