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A couple of weeks or so back, I had written about the Miles and More Monsoon offers in India . Here's a quick update to that. If you use this link to sign up for this card, I believe there will be no expiry of miles. I always thought that was the case, but the mail I received today seemed to suggest differently, so FWIW, I'm posting this. Oh and BTW, I do not receive any commissions for recommending the above link.

A few days back, I had  posted about the Hilton Premium Club  (HPC), and how I found the benefits to be quite valuable. What I did NOT mention at that stage, mainly because it sounded rather foolish at that point, was that I had inquired via their website, if they would consider giving me,  a HHonors Gold member and a reasonably regular blogger on travel/hotels/miles/etc, a complimentary membership to the HPC. The upshot of it was, that on Saturday last, I got a call from one of the agents at HPC reconfirming my address, and yesterday, I received my complimentary kit! You may recall that in my earlier post, I had mentioned that joining the HPC meant you had to select one of their specific properties to align yourself to. This has its own pros and cons, simply because the benefits are a mix of things that are useful if you're (a) a visitor to that city and (b) you're a local. More on that further on in this post. Back to the point, HPC have given me a complimentary me...

Here's a question. I will likely have an opportunity to fly BOM-LHR in business class, in a few weeks time. Best part about this is that it is being paid for by a client, and so I am happy to accrue miles on this. I've almost decided on my options, so let me know what you think. Jet Airways They've got a good product on the BOM-LHR route. There are also the options of taking either a day flight (midnight departure, reaches LHR early in the morning, timely for my meetings), or a midday departure (more waking hours on flight). I recall they had a chauffeur service - their website has it on this page , but I'm not sure if this is still offered. Flying Jet would net me some decent JP miles, and I'll also have an opportunity to upgrade to First class using my JP miles. But are JP miles really worth it, that's what I keep asking myself. Plus, if I do manage to snag an upgrade to First, then I'm out of the money on miles, for this flight. However, the prospect of ...

Traveling with cabin baggage (hand baggage) in India isn't a big challenge. Yes, there are some limitations that are consistent with global travel, that apply in India, yet there is a fair degree of latitude. Here's what you need to know, and I'll also tell you what I use. Cabin baggage dimensions Firstly, the Government of India regulations prescribe the dimensions. For Airbus and Boeing flights, these maximum dimensions are 55cm x 35cm x 25cm, totalling not more than 115cm linearly. And for ATRs and similar smaller aircraft (Bombardier being the other most prevalent one in India), the restrictions are 50cm x 45cm x 20cm, totalling not more than 110 cm linearly. Now, different airlines apply these restrictions differently. Budget carriers - Indigo in particular comes to mind - are finicky about this to various degrees, as are full service carriers operating smaller aircraft. As with most airlines globally, these finicky ones have a measuring tool, usually both at the check...

Outside of overseas travel, my work in India is normally in one of the metro cities such as DEL, BOM, MAA, HYD, BLR, and CCU. Or at least in one of the tier 2 cities like PNQ, COK, VTZ, and BBI. But a month or so back, I had the chance to visit Tuticorin (TCR) [IATA: TCR, ICAO: VO80]. So, check the map (click to enlarge) on the left, and you'll get an idea of exactly where it is. I initially thought it was the southernmost airport in India, till I realised TRV was a bit further south (but mind you, not by much!). TCR is a new yet "quaint" airport , if that word can be applied here. They expanded The runway is oriented 10/28, and the airport itself only serves SpiceJet - one flight each to BLR and MAA. I was coming in from MAA, due south, and we banked right to land - at that time, there was a very clear view of the runway, but I didn't have my camera handy then. The runway is all of 1351 meters long, and so the Bombardier Q400 Dash aircraft utilised it to the full. We...

It has been a really long time now that I laughed aloud, for an entire minute or so, right after reading an email. Today was one such day! I received a mail earlier today, from JetPrivilege, for conversion of hotel points into JP miles, with a 20% bonus . Now, if you've read my earlier posts on What are JP miles good for and Airline FFPs 101 , you'll know what I'm talking about, and the reasons for my mirth. To begin with, JP miles aren't the best currency around. They are barely worth much outside of domestic redemptions, thanks to very high levels of taxes and fees. The partner airline redemptions are marginally more bearable, but inefficient nonetheless. But what takes the cake, is that they want me (hypothetically, of course) to give up hard-earned hotel points to get JP miles, converted a pathetic conversion rate. In fact, "pathetic" doesn't even begin to describe it! You want me to give up 10k HHonors points (which could get me 2 nights at quite a n...

I recently wrote about the SPG Triple Benefits promotion, where you, as an SPG member, you could get a set of 3 benefits (varied by property / restaurant), which included 15% off on lunch/dinner, kids eat free / discounted 50%, complimentary wine, etc. Seems like SPG isn't satisfied with this promotion (or the response isn't spectacular, perhaps?). So what's cooking for SPG members? Read on... The biggie that's been recently announced is the up to 30% off at participating restaurants. (Being an active member of the grammar police, I love it that they wrote "up to" and not "upto" !!!). Now, I haven't tried this out yet, but the key thing here, as I understand it, is that that a member wouldn't be eligible for both the 30% off deal as also the Triple Benefits (where the discount on dining is 15% only). Having said that, the list of participating properties is much larger than the ones that run the Triple Benefits promo. I would also believe...

One of the lesser-known offerings by the Hilton chain, at least in India, is the Hilton Premium Club (HPC). This is a paid-membership proposition, that offers a reasonably good range of benefits. Other chains, particularly Sheraton, have / had similar offerings in the past, and did a good job with telemarketing (before the DND days) to potential customers. I've been a member with Sheraton's Culinary Plus, and I think the Hilton offering may well be superior to that. Benefits HPC is essentially a membership program, that offers a variety of benefits. The membership is to the program per se, but you need to register with one of their hotels as the base - this is likely, because Hilton properties in India have different owners. The cost of enrolling into the program, therefore, depends on which property you choose as your "base". This entitles you to a set of benefits at that property, plus discounts on stays (eg, 10% off on Best Available Rate) F&B discounts, disc...

In an earlier post , I'd written about the lack of maturity in the Indian market, which limits the number of airline and hotel co-branded credit cards. This is so different from other markets, particularly in the US, where credit card bonuses (upon a predetermined spend level) of over 50,000 points are not unheard of. That many points (and some more) could well net you a TATL business class seat! Here's something, however, that is reasonably useful, particularly if you travel on Star Alliance or at least Lufthansa (mind you, there's a ton of ex-India pax that fly LH, so this could actually be worth the while!). The Miles and More program is offering a slew of regional benefits, starting with the MasterCard  Axis Bank Miles & More co-branded credit card . The key selling points are a 5k-15k signon bonus, unlimited mileage earning (unlike some cards, including the ICICI Jet Airways cards ), and non-expiry of miles. Plus the usual trimmings such as lounge access, Priority ...

JetPrivilege keeps coming up with promotions on JP miles, every now and then. The latest one isn't really a "new" one, but if you're the one that has use for JP miles, then this may interest you.  JetPrivilege is offering a 20% bonus on conversion of credit card reward points on cards issued by the following issuers. Offer is valid for conversions up to 30 September 2013. The issuers valid for this offer are: American Express, Axis Bank, Citibank, HDFC, HSBC, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Credit Cards, Payback, Punjab National Bank, SBI Card, Standard Chartered Bank, Tata Cards and RBS Of the above, Jet already has co-branded credit card offerings with ICICI Bank and HDFC. Oh! and it is strange to see Citibank on this list - I thought Jet and Citi parted ways (and not amicably) last year.  The other good thing with this offer, is Citibank, Standard Chartered and RBS cards issued in UAE, and also Standard Chartered cards issued in Colombo, are eligible for this of...

A few days back, I had written about the HHonors Triple Miles promotion for Q3 of 2013. The registration page wasn't ready at the time. As of today, registrations are open. Click here to register.

I travel to DEL reasonably often, and after I got a complimentary upgrade to HHonors Gold , I've been keen to use the benefits (and why wouldn't I) as often as I possibly can. So the last two times I've had the opportunity of choosing my hotel when in Gurgaon, I've picked the DoubleTree Hilton Gurgaon . This is a new property, and a nice one. What follows here isn't exactly a hotel review, but just my experiences here over my last 2 stays at this property. The first stay My first stay was in April. I booked this through my office (the office-negotiated rates were on par with what some of the promo rates allowed), using my HHonors number while booking. I was able to access my booking online, and got a free upgraded to the Executive Floor. To note, that because I was there for only one night, and preferred a full breakfast the next morning, I never got around to using, or even seeing, the Executive Lounge on the 11th floor. It never struck me to take pictures of my ro...

A few days back, I posted about HHonors' promotion for 3x miles when traveling with specified airlines and staying at Hilton properties - this was essentially in the Asia-Pacific region. In the last couple of days or so, two more similar/identical promotions have come up, one each for JAL Mileage Bank and Air China Phoenix Miles . Registration is required, and the above links take you to the relevant registration pages. The Air China promotion also celebrates 25 years of Hilton in China. So, as an additional promotion, each stay at a Hilton property in China qualifies for an entry into sweepstakes for 250k HHonors Points. Both offers are valid until 30 September 2013. The JAL Mileage Bank promotion is for 3x points in Asia-Pac and 2x elsewhere, for Hilton Stays, and is valid toll 30 Septemmber 2013. Air China's promotion is valid till 31 July 2013. (sorry about that) Conclusion Personally, I'm not a big fan of sweepstakes - the odds are stacked quite heavily against any...

SPG seems to be doing a lot of marketing activity to drive traffic to their properties. Earlier, there was the complimentary SPG Gold status offer when staying in Asia-Pacific and paying with a World Mastercard (which is still on). Now there's the Triple Benefits offer, touted as a trio of tasty treats. And no registration required. For three months (July through September 2013), dining at specified properties gives you 3 benefits. The benefits depend and vary by property, but could be from the following: 15% discount on lunch / dinner additional 100 Starpoints when dining with 3 or more guests kids under 6y eat free, and from ages 7-12y get a 50% discount additional 10% discount voucher for the next meal (not sure if it is an additional voucher or an additional 10% over and above 15% base discount) - to be used before 31 October 2013 complimentary glass of house wine with any meal (breakfast also??? I wouldn't know !) additional 10% discount on food bills, when dining with 6 ...

Starwood is offering a complimentary upgrade to SPG Gold until 15 July 2015 (yes, 2015) - that's 2 years' validity from now - if you book for one  stay in Asia-Pacific and pay using a World Mastercard credit card. This is a great deal, if you ask me, considering that SPG Gold otherwise requires 10 stays or 25 nights in a year . You need to register at the promo page - see below. SPG Gold offers the following key benefits, which you can also find on the relevant page, here : Three Starpoints for every eligible U.S. dollar spent – a 50% bonus over base-level membership. 4 p.m. late checkout,1 so you can sleep in, relax by the pool or see more of the local area you’re visiting. An enhanced room at check-in, when available.2 Special elite customer service telephone line (available in most countries). New! Your choice of a welcome gift with each stay. Choose from bonus Starpoints, complimentary in-room Internet access and a complimentary beverage. Now, the promo page for this compl...