Last Week At The Lounge: February 17, 2019

Hello from Mumbai folks. I just got back into Mumbai after a long week at the CAPA Indian Aviation Summit. A lot of inputs coming from there in the coming days, so watch out for those. In the meanwhile, given I’ve been gone for two weeks in a row from Mumbai now, I’m still on the edge if I should make my way to the Aero India 2019 next week. Let me know if you know something interesting is happening there.

Top Stories

a man and woman with two children

In the top stories this past week, we had one from our reader, who managed to get a free stay at a Taj Hotel, just for picking up a magazine. One of my most favourite planes of all times, the A380, well, is finally going to be closing out sales. Too bad it did not work out for Airbus to keep it going. And last, we try and solve the mystery about all of these IndiGo flights which are being cancelled left right and centre.

News & Views

a man in a white shirt and tie sitting in a chair with a mouse

SpiceJet has claimed they are preparing to launch wifi on board their aircraft, although we could not validate this from other sources. Air India got another new CMD, yet again. Etihad, drowning under the weight of expansion, is now cutting down on its widebody orders.

Cards & Rewards

American Express Lounge Mumbai Terminal 2 Entrance

American Express Lounge Mumbai Terminal 2 Entrance

American Express is going all out with more rewards for members this year. You can get rewards for all sorts of stuff such as International spends and now even Ola spends. In other news, Marriott Rewards is coming out with a new reward chart in a couple of weeks, and you should really steer your ship in the case of that dreamy redemption now if you plan to do something later this year. In addition, Hyatt is changing its chart too, and there is some good news for India there.

In other news, after a successful Mileage Mentor MasterClass in Mumbai last weekend (Roundup coming soon), we will be organising one in Delhi on March 16. The pre-booking is on, where people can pick up the first slots before we open it for the public to guarantee their space. The pre-booking token amount will be adjusted against the final booking amount. Get your spot here if you want to make it to the March 16 MasterClass. It is in Delhi this time, not Gurugram.

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About Ajay

Ajay Awtaney is the Founder and Editor of Live From A Lounge (LFAL), a pioneering digital platform renowned for publishing news and views about aviation, hotels, passenger experience, loyalty programs, travel trends and frequent travel tips for the Global Indian. He is considered the Indian authority on business travel, luxury travel, frequent flyer miles, loyalty credit cards and travel for Indians around the globe. Ajay is a frequent contributor and commentator on the media as well, including ET Now, BBC, CNBC TV18, NDTV, Conde Nast Traveller and many other outlets.

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