Trip Reports

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Review: American Express Lounge, Mumbai Airport, Terminal 1C

Just this past long weekend, I was headed out to Goa for a vacation. Usually, I am accompanied by people, so I do not end up using the American Express Lounge at Terminal 1C, but the Carnations Lounge instead. However, since I was alone, and I had access to the lounge via my Jet Airways Amex, I decided to give it a go this time around. The lounge is set inside the Carnations Lounge itself (as a separate enclosure), The same lounge also houses Jet Airways & Go Air passengers, Priority Pass, MasterCard & Visa Access, and the recent Diners Club bearing passengers. In short, it is a crowd out there and hence I’d anyday prefer to access the Amex…

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Going RTW: Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, Central Terminal, LaGuardia

Introduction & Trip Index <Holiday Inn, LGA                                        UA 343 (LGA-DEN), United, First> I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this on the blog before, but I’ve actively started to avoid early morning flights. I’ve done my fair share in the past, and maybe I’ll do more, but I try and plan around them as much as I can. However, this was one of those days when flying early morning was unavoidable, and hence I went over to LGA, groggy! After collecting my boarding pass, I walked over to the security check area. I needed a quick coffee and something to start my day,…

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Going RTW: Holiday Inn LaGuardia NYC

Introduction & Trip Index <EY 101 (AUH-JFK), Etihad, First                         AC Maples Club Lounge, LGA> After my long wait in the queues for passport control, I was kind of tired. So I asked the chauffer to drive me to the hotel and dozed off for 20-30 minutes in the car itself. On arrival, I found myself in a small little cute hotel, which was good enough to spend one full jet-lagged night before heading on for Colorado Springs. Surprisingly, while the redemption rates for this one were 25,000 IHG Club points per night, those for a Holiday Inn Express nearby were 30,000 IHG Club points per night. I did not…

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Airborne: 9W331 (BOM-DEL), Jet Airways, Economy Class

Jet Airways 331 Mumbai(BOM) – Delhi(DEL) Saturday, August 3, 2013Depart: 10:21 AMArrive: 12:33 PMDuration: 2hr12minDistance flown: 708 milesAircraft: Boeing 737-800Seat: 26C (Economy)Meal Service: Breakfast Last weekend, I was on a flight to Delhi, with Jet Airways, who else? For a flight scheduled to take off at 09:55 AM, I arrived at 08:00 hours to check in. My brother was booked in on the same flight but on the JetKonnect codeshare. Due to being listed for a upgrade, I was not going to be able to check into the flight online. So, in a nutshell, the both of us were at the mercy of the Jet Airways crew to get a good seat. As a Platinum, I had the option to…

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Going RTW: Flight EY101 (AUH-JFK), Etihad, Diamond First

a seat in an airplane

Introduction & Trip Index <Etihad First Class Lounge, Abu Dhabi              Holiday Inn, LaGuardia Airport> Like I earlier mentioned, by the time I went through the secondary check gates (for US-bound flights), and reached the gates, boarding was already underway and I queued through a bunch of economy passengers to get through to the jetbridge. However, this was a good time to say hello to the A340. Abu Dhabi (AUH) – New York (JFK) Thursday, May 9 2013 Depart: 10:13AM Arrive: 04:41PM Duration: 14hr28min Distance flown: 6897 miles Aircraft: Airbus A340-600 Seat: 3A (First) Meal Service: Lunch, Snacks Once on board, however, everything was okay. at the gate, the purser greeted me, and asked one of…

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Going RTW: Flight EY205 (BOM-AUH), Etihad, Pearl Business

an airplane on the runway at night

Introduction & Trip Index <Celebrations Lounge, Mumbai T2                     Etihad F Lounge, Abu Dhabi T3> Boarding was pretty disorganised, and I’d begin to think this was a Mumbai Airport feature but there are airlines such as Etihad, and back in the day, Kingfisher which would enforce boarding sequence pretty well. So, the incoming flight was delayed, however, instead of going back into the lounge, I just waited in the boarding area. This was my first time being at Gate 1B, so I wasn’t in the know of what I was getting into later. Boarding started about 20 minutes later, and business class was called first, being the highest cabin on this A320.…

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Going RTW: Celebrations Lounge, Mumbai Terminal 2

a sign on the wall of a building

Introduction & Trip Index < Introduction                               EY205, BOM-AUH, Etihad Business Class> The flight timings for Etihad to fly out of Mumbai are at a very odd hour at 4:50 AM in the morning. Odd for me I mean. I usually prefer day time flights, or even with a night flight, a departure closer to midnight so that I can get on the plane and go off to sleep at the earliest. Etihad offers a limousine pickup and drop service for customers flying with them in Business & First Class. Since I was flying Business Class between Mumbai to Abu Dhabi and First Class there on to…

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Going RTW: Introduction & Trip Index

Introduction Check-in: Celebrations Lounge, Terminal 2, Mumbai (BOM) Airborne: Flight EY205 (BOM-AUH), Etihad Airways, Pearl Business Class, Airbus A320-200 Check-in: Etihad First Class Lounge, Terminal 3, Abu Dhabi (AUH) Airborne: Flight EY101 (AUH-JFK), Etihad Airways, Diamond First Class, Airbus A340-600 Hotel Holiday Inn LaGuardia Airport, New York Check-in: Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, Central Terminal, LaGuardia (LGA) Airborne: Flight UA343 (LGA-DEN), United Airlines, First, Boeing 757-200 Check-in: United Club West, Concourse B, Denver (DEN) Airborne: Flight UA4918 (DEN-COS), United Express, Economy, Dash 8-400 Cheyenne Resort, Colorado Springs Airborne: Flight AA1320 (DEN-DFW), American Airlines, First, Boeing MD-80 Airborne: Flight AA2493 (DFW-LAX), American Airlines, Coach, Boeing 757-200 Check-in: American Airlines/Qantas Flagship Lounge, Los Angeles (LAX) Airborne: Flight AA30 (LAX-JFK), American Airlines, Business,…

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Review: Flight AI 657 (DEL-BOM), Air India, Business

an airplane on the tarmac

Introduction Check-in: ICICI/American Express Altitude Lounge Mumbai Terminal 1A Airborne: Flight AI 660 (BOM-DEL), Air India, Economy Class Check-in: ICICI/American Express Altitude Lounge Delhi Terminal 3 Airborne: Flight AI 657 (DEL-BOM), Air India, Executive Class Since it was only me and the television in the Altitude Lounge at Delhi, I got bored pretty quick and decided to hang out at the gate after my breakfast in the lounge. It was going to be a full flight it seemed from the numbers that were lining up at the gate. While I’ve done tonnes of early morning flights and I’ve begun to not like them much, I like the fact that planes are back at their base and hence there is less…

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Something New: ICICI/American Express Altitude Lounge Delhi Terminal 3

Introduction Check-in: ICICI/American Express Altitude Lounge Mumbai Terminal 1A Airborne: Flight AI 660 (BOM-DEL), Air India, Economy Class Check-in: ICICI/American Express Altitude Lounge Delhi Terminal 3 Airborne: Flight AI 657 (DEL-BOM), Air India, Executive Class After a leisurely few days in Delhi, it was time to go back to Mumbai. I’m usually trying to look away from early morning flights, because I do my fair share on work travel, but this time, I was a little bit greedy to spend some more time at home with the family, so I booked up an early morning flight back. I arrived at the airport in good time, and proceeded to the Air India counters to collect my boarding pass at Terminal 3.…

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Review: Flight AI 660 (BOM-DEL), Air India, Economy

an airplane on the tarmac

Introduction Check-in: ICICI/American Express Altitude Lounge Mumbai Terminal 1A Airborne: Flight AI 660 (BOM-DEL), Air India, Economy Class Check-in: ICICI/American Express Altitude Lounge Delhi Terminal 3 Airborne: Flight AI 657 (DEL-BOM), Air India, Executive Class After an enjoyable experience in the Altitude Lounge at Mumbai, it was time to board my first Air India domestic flight in months. I’d picked to fly an Airbus 321, because these are the newer planes for Air India on the domestic segments, and I guess they use these on the regional segments as well. I’d pre-blocked my seats for months, as the Air India web-booking system allows you to do so. I suspect this would change after the unbundling guidelines coming into effect, and…

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