OneWorld

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A Thai Vacay: Clipper Lounge First Class, Mumbai

by Ajay 4 Comments

a store front with glass doors

Introduction Check-in: British Airways Galleries Lounge, Mumbai Check-in: Clipper Lounge First Class, Mumbai Airborne: Flight CX 750 (BOM-BKK), Cathay Pacific, Economy Millennium Hilton Hotel, Bangkok Around Bangkok Hilton Hotel, Pattaya Around Pattaya Radisson Suites, Bangkok Check-in: Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge, Bangkok Check-in: British Airways/Qantas First Class Lounge, Bangkok Check-in: Cathay Pacific First & Business Class Lounge, Bangkok Airborne: Flight CX 709 (BKK-BOM), Cathay Pacific, Economy Conclusion Update: New Lounge as of February 2014 is covered here. I must be over 40 trips old to the Clipper Lounge in Mumbai Airport’s International terminal, however, I’ve almost always used the business class section of the lounge all the time. Reason being, I’ve never flown First Class from Mumbai (there are hardly any first…

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Why I am loving AAdvantage all over again…

by Ajay 4 Comments

When American Airlines knocked out the ORD-DEL flight a short while after they entered Chapter 11 protection, I was slightly crossed with them. And I had good reason to be, I had just started to earn top-tier status with AAdvantage due to the OneWorld MegaDo, and was planning to make American Airlines my regular flight for travels to the USA, and switch to the oneworld network for going places outside my base at BOM. With this move, I was still going to be able to use the oneworld benefits, by taking a one stop flight via London on BA or Brussels on Jet Airways, but I was going to be unable to use my upgrade benefits fully, which are valid…

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Review: British Airways Galleries Club Lounge, Brussels National Airport

by Ajay 3 Comments

Introduction Clipper Lounge, Mumbai CSI Airport Terminal 2 Jet Airways Economy Class Mumbai to Brussels British Airways Galleries Club Lounge, Brussels National Airport American Airlines Business Class Brussels to New York JFK and Five-Star Arrival American Airlines Premium Check-in and Flagship Lounge, New York JFK American Airlines Economy Class JFK to London LHR American Airlines Arrivals Lounge, London LHR Sheraton Heathrow Hotel, London American Airlines Flagship Check-in and Flagship Lounge, London Heathrow American Airlines Economy Class London to Chicago American Airlines Flagship Lounge at Chicago ORD American Airlines First Class from Chicago ORD to Dallas Fort Worth Hyatt Regency Hotel, DFW Hyatt Regency Hotel, Bellevue Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles Sheraton Gateway Hotel, Los Angeles American Airlines First…

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“Nobody goes hungry on a MegaDo!”– Randy Petersen

by Ajay 1 Comment

It has been a week or so since I have come back from my first MegaDo, and apart from the many airline moments we had, there was a whole bunch of gastronomic delights lined up along the way. When not flying, we were sampling some very good food which I am assuming airline catering departments were told to keep from interfering with I can promise you these were not GateGourmet or SkyGourmet catering which we get on our flights. The title statement was made by Randy on the MegaDo blog in the planning stages, and I thought I’d test it out during this MegaDo. Let’s take a peep into all the interesting food on the ground! Monday, 23rd January, we…

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Kingfisher Airlines entry to oneworld ‘on hold’

by Ajay 1 Comment

Kingfisher had announced to the world that it was going to be a oneworld member, and then, a familiar scenario happened which reminded of Air India stopping short of joining Star Alliance last minute. In a not so surprising move, Kingfisher Airlines entry to the oneworld alliance, which was supposed to become a full-member as of 10th February 2012, has been put on hold. What this means is that the airline and alliance have agreed to postpone the entry into OW till the time Kingfisher could find a way out of its financial mess. While the whole situation around Kingfisher was known long back, I cannot figure out what takes such decisions to come out at the last minute? This…

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Spending time at the British Airways HQ in Waterside, LHR

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After a lovely welcome by American Airlines, a little party in the Flagship Lounge at JFK, a shower at the American Airlines Arrivals Lounge in LHR, we were all set to go over to British Airways. We received an interesting email a few days ago from BA, which had a boarding pass in a PDF file. I got seat 2A, I am sure they looked me up from my handle on MilePoint and Flyertalk which is A2A! Some of us wanted to check out if we could check in at Terminal 5, LHR. Here is what they got But we sure did manage to check-in on the staff bus of British Airways and find our way to the Waterside HQ…

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A day at the American Airlines Arrival Lounge at London Heathrow

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The American Airlines flight AA 104 was uneventful at the back of the plane, with a largely empty cabin which accommodated a lot many passengers from the MegaDo bunch onto their own fully flat seats by occupying a whole row to themselves. All the action was in the First Class where there was a special dinner on-board for a chosen few flying F, with the new president of AAdvantage, Suzanne Robin. We were lucky to have arrived in LHR an hour early, with the tailwinds in favour (the same Atlantic ones which came in my way to arrive at JFK from Brussels after a fuel-stop). Here is a little bunch of pictures from the back of the plane: Yeah, it…

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The send off at American’s Flagship Lounge in New York JFK

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As soon as the Finnair presentation got over, there was a light reception, this one, at ‘ The Bridge’, where JFK based crew of American Airlines were invited to participate along with the attendees of the MegaDo’s Transatlantic trip in London. There was food, music and a lot of good chat. But then you already know all of that from the last time you heard from me. The interesting party was taking shape in the Flagship Lounge of American Airlines at JFK: This is where we managed to sample the food and the drinks offered by American Airlines at the Flagship Lounges. As someone who has only started to fly to the America’s often now, I can tell you these…

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I’m off to fetch some MegaDo swag for all of you! Its a giveaway!

by Ajay 119 Comments

Its here, tonight. I’m off to my 28,600 miles, ten days, nine airports, meet three airlines and make 171 new friends trip and it is called the oneworld MegaDo. I’ve been chronicling my preparation for the MegaDo over the past 10 weeks, and you all could read it here. It should be exciting, and I’ll learn a lot of ways to travel without sleep and jetlag hopefully! We, the MegaDoers, are obviously not going for anything else but the hunt for the perfect swag. Randy Petersen gave a little teaser of what was coming our way on the MegaDo website which looked like this:   This is only a peep of what is coming. There is all the goodies from the airlines…

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Are you booked on American ORD-DEL/DEL-ORD AA292/293 after February 2012?

by Ajay 2 Comments

I’m jumping into the customer care domain for a bit to inform all of you about your options if you are booked to travel on the service from the soon to be defunct Chicago Delhi service of American Airlines. Like you know, the last flight into Delhi from Chicago (AA292) flies on Feb 28, 2012 and arrives on Feb 29, 2012. On Delhi to Chicago (AA293), the last flight takes off on Mar 1, 2012 and arrives in Chicago on the same day. Now, a lot many of you may be booked on the flight after these dates and may have already heard from AA on rebookings. If you have not, please do contact your travel agent or American Airlines…

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1 Week to OWMD: Preparing for Seat 33A

by Ajay 3 Comments

Its almost looking in my face and I think I am excited for my first MegaDo this coming week. Yes, going away from work for a whole ten days means I am having to do the extra hours over the already extra hours I put in at work everyday. So, I am just trying to make sure everything is in order when I finally leave home for the airport. The next update on the oneworld MegaDo I’ll post is most probably going to be when I get started with my MegaDo journey, but I sure do have something exciting for you all and I am waiting for some confirmations before I post it out here 😉 Lets catch up with…

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