Training all guns on IPL 7 - deals and offers in the middle-east

Here's a quick update.

Season 7 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) kicks off later this week, and will have its initial round of games in the middle-east. There are reasonably good cricket grounds in Sharjah (where a lot of cricket used to be played until some years ago), Dubai and Abu Dhabi (where some international matches are now being hosted).

It is therefore no surprise, that middle-east based hotels, and airlines flying the India-Middle East sector are coming out with tons of offers. Here are a few, if you're interested.

  • Sheraton Dubai Creek is offering 20% off on 3 nights' stay, breakfast and internet included, 100 Euros dining credit per night (this has to be my all-time favourite hotel in Dubai).
  • Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa has a deal for 10%, 20% or 30% off on 2, 4 or 6 nights' stay.
  • Air Arabia (Sharjah based) is supposedly offering round trips for Rs 20,499 for a round trip, which includes meals, luggage fees and even visa cost.
  • Jet Airways is currently offering slightly discounted fares from India to the Middle east, starting at Rs 13,100 one-way.
  • Etihad has signed up a sponsorship deal with the Mumbai Indians, one of the more successful IPL teams. This will mean that some good fares are likely to be in the offing.
  • Air India also has some un-advertised roundtrip fares starting at Rs 18,500, though that's in May 2014.

And here's a look at a calendar of airfares ex-India to Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi:



Not bad.

I also hear that private tour operators are putting together packages where they will likely share some of their discretionary discounts with customers. Mind you, these airlines (except for Etihad), hotels and tour operators are not affiliated to or partners/sponsors of IPL, so they can't use the "IPL" term or logo or anything of that sort, to promote these offers. So if you're doing your own research, you'll probably have to look for "cricket season" or some such terminology.

If you are looking to head to the ME for the IPL, these could be useful deals for you. Let me know if you find others, and I'm happy to update this post.


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