Last Week At The Lounge: October 6, 2018

Hello everyone from Mumbai. The last few weeks have been gruelling with back to back workshops in Mumbai, Delhi & Hyderabad. This weekend though, we’re taking a breather. That gave us some time to think about pressing issues in the travel space such as passenger etiquette and how airlines can better manage their resources. Read all that and more in our weekly roundup.

Our Top Stories

There are two ways an airline can make money. One is by increasing fares, and the other is by managing costs. A fundamental approach to keep costs low is by better utilising the fleet which seems Air India is not very good at. We take a deep dive into Air India’s fleet deployment and tell you how they can do much better. This past week was also that time of the year again, where HDFC Diners Club credit card holders hold their breath for the 10X promotions. The verdict? HDFC Dines 10X earning opportunities are back, through the end of the year.

Also, our roundup of ongoing hotel promotions for October 2018 is live. Make sure to check it out before you book your next hotel stay. Who knows, you might find a great promotion or deal you did not know of before.

News & Views

After removing hand-baggage security screening tags and moving away from stamping boarding passes, the next big step that the Indian Government is looking at replacing boarding passes with face scans. Though ambitious, I think that there are other pressing issues the need to attended to first. Take immigration, for instance, Shipra zipped through Hong Kong using the e-channel while I had to wait in a queue for 30 minutes to enter into my own country last month.

Cards & Rewards

British Airways is back with its double Avios promotion. We simplify the fine print for you so that you can earn the maximum amount of Avios using this promotion. The other oneworld giant offering bonus miles is Qatar Airways. Check your emails to see if you can earn 5X QMiles on your next Qatar Airways flight

Reminder, if you are looking to sign up for the Amex Membership Rewards Credit Card which gives you 1000 Bonus MR every month, it is free till October 20, 2018. The new Everyday Spend Credit Card, on the other hand, will get you category bonuses in movies, groceries and cabs.

Deals With Appeal

If you haven’t received the email for bonus miles, how about some excellent fares? Fly Qatar Airways to destinations in Europe for as little as INR 35,000. Jet Airways is back with another global sale where you can get up to 30% off on tickets bought through October 9, 2018.

Mileage Mentor MasterClass Tickets

We’re in the final leg of this year’s events calendar. Next week we head to Bangalore for the Mileage Mentor MasterClass and Points & Pints. We have one open seat available in Bangalore. Come, it would be a lot of fun to talk miles and points for half a day!

Given there are still so many people wanting to come in attending the workshops, we can commit to one last workshop in 2018 at a larger venue which should allow us to add another three seats. This would be in Mumbai again, and an early bird discount is currently on offer. Here are the details.