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I wrote yesterday about Air Asia starting commercial flights from 12 June 2014, with ticket sales starting today (30 May 2014). The original expectation was an all-in Rs 990 fare (just under the Rs 1,000 price point), which would have been dirt cheap anyway. It is another matter that SpiceJet attempted to start a sale late last evening, but I think Air Asia has trumped them all with a Rs 5 fare (taxes extra), valid for the first 15,000 tickets booked on their website. The rest will be at up to Rs 990 a ticket, though some fares are available in between those price points too. With an assigned call-sign of I5, the current flight schedules of Air Asia India are: I5 1320 BLR-GOI 1510-1625, I5 1321 GOI-BLR 1655-1805 (From 12 June 2014) I5 1211 BLR-MAA 0555-0655, I5 1212 MAA-BLR 0730-0830 (From 19 June 2014) I5 1217 BLR-MAA 1835-1935, I5 1218 MAA-BLR 2050-2150 (From 19 June 2014) It is interesting that all three of their current flights originate in Bangalore, which lends more credence to

And so it is final. After months of effort and one stumbling block after another, Air Asia India will fly the Indian skies from 12 June 2014. Bookings will be accepted starting tomorrow - 30 May 2014. They got their DGCA permit on 7 May 2014, and their first aircraft arrived around that time too. The DGCA cleared the proposed flight schedules earlier today (29 May 2014), and both Tony Fernandes of Air Asia, and Mittu Chandilya of Air Asia India tweeted quite enthusiastic about the whole thing. Very very proud to announce AirAsia India open for sale tomorrow. Wow. First flight June 12th. Ser you all In India on the 12th. — Tony Fernandes (@tonyfernandes) May 29, 2014 AirAsia India would be opening for sales tomorrow! Guess where we would be flying to. — Mittu Chandilya (@MittuChandilya) May 29, 2014 The first flight was originally expected to be ex-Chennai, as was the location of their India base, but I have word that both of these might change - possibly to Bangalore. And while I'

A reader question prompted me to hasten my series on hotel loyalty programs in India. This is the final part in that series, and is about  Marriott Rewards . You can read the other posts (that have been published, or will soon be) using  the master post as an index , or go to the end of this post for individual links. Marriott Rewards 101 Marriott Rewards has four levels - Basic, Silver, Gold and Platinum -  read more here . At the base level, Marriott Rewards earns 10 points per eligible US$ of spend. Redemption rates vary by hotel category, and can range from 7,500 to 45,000 points (6,000 to 40,000 points under PointSavers awards), with a separate list for Ritz-Carlton hotels. While there's a summary below, you can  search for hotels by specific categories, here .  Marriott also offers a 5th night free, when you redeem 4 nights' worth of points (free night at the same property as the other 4 nights).  Marriott in India Marriott operates (or has immediate plans to operate) a t

In the beginning of May 2014, I wrote about Citibank's  promotion of 2x Premier Miles  on all international spends. I received confirmation of my registration for this promotion, a fortnight back. You need to register by 31 May 2014 to be eligible for this promotion. There's just a couple of days left. Have you registered yet? If you haven't, then click  here  to register.

A reader question prompted me to hasten my series on hotel loyalty programs in India. This is the third in that series, and is about  IHG Rewards Club . You can read the other posts (that have been published, or will soon be) using  the master post as an index , or go to the end of this post for individual links. Also, I recently  wrote about my thoughts on IHG Rewards Club , so I'll try not to repeat a lot of what was said there. IHG Rewards Club 101 IHG has three levels - Club, Gold Elite and Platinum Elite -  read more here . At the base level, IHG generally earns you 10 points per eligible US$ of spend (though it really depends on where you stay -  see here for more on that ). IHG also keeps running promotions, which are stackable (see section on  IHG and me , below). Normal redemption rates vary by hotel category, and can be anywhere between 10,000 and 50,000 points a night (each category jumps 5k points, starting with Category 1 at 10,000 points). IHG also comes out quite fre

A reader question prompted me to hasten my series on hotel loyalty programs in India. This is the second post in that series, and is about  Starwood Preferred Guest . You can read the other posts (that have been published, or will soon be) using  the master post as an index , or go to the end of this post for individual links. SPG 101 SPG has three levels - Preferred, Gold and Platinum -  read more here . (There's also a little-publicised SPG Preferred Guest Plus , between Preferred and Gold, which offers a room upgrade on check-in and 4 pm late checkout.) At the base level, SPG earns 2 Starpoints per eligible US$ of spend. Redemption rates vary by hotel category, and can be anywhere between 3,000 (2,000 for weekends) to 35,000 points a night.  You can use this link to search which hotels are under what category, which in turn determines the number of Starpoints needed for a room night's redemption. Like HHonors, there's a 5th night free when redeeming 4 nights' worth o

About two weeks back, Jet Privilege sent me an email . That left me clutching at straws, trying to understand what exactly they were trying to tell me. Maybe it was this - Etihad today announced more news that may help both Etihad Guest and JetPrivilege members. Though I haven't heard any of this from Jet, yet. Readers may recall the 24% stake that Etihad acquired in Jet in April 2013, for $379 million, which has had its own share of problems (read, regulatory approvals). Clearly, one of the main operational intents of this acquisition was to enable Etihad to get more traffic ex-India to destinations worldwide, that otherwise would be taken up by Emirates. Towards this end, an initial set of codeshare routes were announced. This has now been extended, which will further increase ex-India capacity and traffic to Abu Dhabi and onwards. The shared network now represents 132 destinations globally. The new codeshares include: But the most interesting (and confusing) part is what's

If I've not been clear till now, let me make it known that I'm a big fan of Uber, the transport service, and their operations in India. I agree that much of their promotional stuff is pure marketing, nonetheless I find it unique and refreshing - like the free cupcakes delivery on Mothers' Day , or a free ride to and from the polling booth during elections. However, the one thing I've not been a big fan of, is their flat rate for trips to/from the airport and anywhere in the city. In Chennai at least, this used to cost a flat rate of Rs 1,200 irrespective of distance. I've written to them a few times, and it is clear that others have too, expressing displeasure at this pricing. And it seems to have worked. In what is a really sensible decision, Uber will no longer charge flat rates for airport trips. Instead, starting today (21 May 2014) , the pricing will be the normal rates as: Rs 50 base fare Rs 15 per km Rs 2 per minute In addition, however, they will charge Rs

A reader question prompted me to hasten my series on hotel loyalty programs in India. This is the first in that series, and is about Hilton HHonors . You can read the other posts (that have been published, or will soon be) using  the master post as an index , or go to the end of this post for individual links. HHonors 101 HHonors has four levels - Blue, Silver, Gold and Diamond - read more here . At the base level, HHonors earns 10 points per eligible US$ of spend. Redemption rates vary by hotel category, and can be anywhere between 5,000 to 95,000 points a night. Redemption rates also vary by timing of stay. You can use the HHonors Points Search Tool to see how many points you'll need for a stay at a particular hotel. HHonors also offers a 5th night free, when you redeem 4 nights' worth of points (free night at the same property as the other 4 nights).  HHonors in India Hilton, amongst global hotel chains, has the smallest presence in India - they operate or will soon operate

Reader Ravikiran left a comment on the blog  recently, asking (among other things) about the " best hotel chain loyalty program out there, primarily for stays in India ". My answer to that question, as is generally the case with every such question on loyalty, is " it depends ". However, that got me thinking. For some time now, I've been meaning to write about hotel chains in India, and Ravikiran's comment has now forced my hand. So I propose to do a series with an Indian perspective, of some of the major international hotel chains. And because the content for this is likely to be too long for a single post, I propose to go about it in pieces - a separate post for every hotel chain - in which I propose to cover: Hilton HHonors Starwood Preferred Group IHG Marriott While I've stayed at at least a couple of the Indian properties of the above chains (also see the section on trip and other reports ), I'll be the first to admit that my extent of stays ma

Marriott recently announced their summer promotion, Getaway bonus , which followed summer promotions by SPG ( Earn Away, Get Away ), Hilton HHonors ( Double points or double miles ), and IHG ( Reel Summer ). In addition, Marriott has also launched Marriott Rewards Plus Points, touted as a new way to reward yourself, in which you will earn Marriott Rewards points for joining the promotion sharing or retweeting Marriott's posts to your Facebook or Twitter feeds each day checking into properties on Facebook or Foursquare every day you visit posting a photo each day to Instagram and tagging it with a property’s location using #LoveMarriottRewards, #RenHotels or #Autograph in your daily Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts liking and following select brands and properties in Facebook or Twitter You will first need to register for this promotion here  and entering your Marriott Rewards account number. The promotion offers the chance to earn up to 2,000 points in a 30-day period, and up

Rocketmiles , if you haven't heard of them yet, is a hotel room booking service that earns you airline miles with select airlines (excluding Jet Airways and Air India), for hotel bookings done through their portal. Schrödinger's cat , if you haven't heard of it, is a thought experiment about paradoxes. There's a cat in a box, which could be both dead and alive at the same time, and you won't know which until you open the box. [That is the concept, at least, though I'm sure there's something wrong with my technical understanding!] I've not used Rocketmiles yet, but it does seem like both a great deal and a very bad idea, at the same time. I am not sure how beneficial it will be to me, until I try them out. And that's why it is my personal paradox. Here are my main reasons why. And why not. Why You can earn air miles on your favourite airline loyalty program, choosing from Aeroplan, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, American Airlines AAdvantage program,

I've been thinking Maldives for some time now. Great beaches, some excellent hotels, overwater villas...What's not to like about the place? Maybe just the cost. While there is a range of options available, peak season hotel rates can begin to look obscene. Particularly if you're looking to pay out of pocket (in India, we don't have credit cards with huge sign-on bonuses) . This is what I mean. The one above is with Hilton. Below are the options with SPG. The above rates with Hilton and SPG aren't encouraging at all. It isn't any different with points either. So I was really looking forward to booking an entire year's worth of stay when I saw THIS . Notice the currency - MVR . 295.50 MVR is approximately Rs 1,145 (or US$ 19.20). For a room night in the Maldives? Are you kidding me? Sadly, yes. Turns out, the currency is displayed wrongly on the search results page, and should actually read as US$. That's right, this base room costs US$ 295.50, or more tha

Despite what I said about not actively looking to renew my elite status , I must admit that elite status with loyalty programs is always good to have. Which is why it always makes for a great story when you read about ingenious, fascinating or simply brilliant ways to maximise points, miles or elite status in general. And when you read a story like Will's , you'll agree with me that it combines all three of those adjectives! This is a bit old, but is an evergreen one to me. Will is a reader of Head For Points , and this story was reported there. It truly warms the heart to find out that there are people that can game the system like him! A big thank you to HFP for permission to refer to this piece, which begins like this... ... I’m already Hilton Gold …. and emailed Hilton to request a Diamond Status challenge. They obliged and offered me Diamond with 21 nights in 90 days. [Note: given that Diamond usually requires 60 nights in 365 days, Hilton probably doesn't feel that

I'm really beginning to like Uber, the car rental service. I wrote about them a few weeks back , and since then I've used them quite a few times. Every trip has been fantastic - clean cars, courteous drivers, and good timing. They've even been quite active otherwise, offering free rides on election day , and generally doing all the things that score lots of brownie points in my book. That's right, Uber does seem to love moms (in the nicest possible way, of course!). And so, on the occasion of Mothers' Day tomorrow, ie Sunday, 11 May, there's a lot on offer by Uber. Chennai: Uber will deliver cupcakes for free. To clarify, both the delivery and the cupcakes are free! Delivery is between 11 am and 3 pm, within the core service area. More instructions here . And if you aren't on Uber yet, you could sign up using this link , and get Rs 300 off on your first 2 rides with Uber. (This is not an affiliate link. However, if you do feel like supporting my blog, you c

Earlier today, I received an email from JetPrivilege (JP) with this eye-catching (not) and important-looking banner. (I'm sure many of you did too, though I'm not certain if you read through it.) Naturally curious, I started to read on. The flirtation began with how JP is important to me, that they are planning stuff to "further develop" the program, reorganisation of the program, separate entity handling JP, etc etc. Okay... Then the smooth talking about earnings, rewards, on-ground services, online access (really???) and general stuff. Fine, you're warming me up... Playing footsie next. They will keep my data secure and confidential, and I don't have to worry about that. How nice! And now that you've titillated me enough, for the climax that was to follow. At JetPrivilege we constantly strive to improve our service and provide you with nothing but the best. This next step in our journey is testimony to our endeavour to achieving excellence in the product

I'm probably a bit late on this piece of news, though I heard it more than 24 hours back. AirAsia has been given its Air Operator's Permit by the DGCA in India. This makes them the 7th airline to operate in the Indian skies. AirAsia India received its first Airbus A320 aircraft over a month ago, and interestingly, has been given the registration code VT-ATF (VT for India, A for AirAsia, and TF for Tony Fernandes!). If you don't believe me, here's proof... Proving flights were flown earlier this month (May 2014). Mittu Chandilya, CEO of AirAsia India, expects to commence commercial flights within the next three months or so. Unless the new government in India decides to throw more spanners in that particular wheel. I personally think that any time till June / July is a bad time for airlines in India - it is only somewhere in the late second quarter of the fiscal year (that'd be September onwards) that action really begins, with plans for the festival season and Decem

Close on the heels of summer promotions for 2014 announced by Hilton , IHG , and SPG , Marriott has now announced "Getaway bonus", their own promotion for the summer of 2014. This is valid for stays between 1 June 2014 and 31 August 2014, so it isn't exactly a "summer" offer, in my view! You need to register here to be eligible for this promotion, and do so by 31 July 2014 (though you could / should register right away, if you can). The base promotion is for double points, up to a maximum of 25,000 bonus points. However, you may be targeted for a different promotion, based on past stays with Marriott. So you might qualify for one of these instead: 20,000 bonus points after 12 paid nights + 10,000 points after 18 paid nights = total of 30,000 bonus points 25,000 bonus points after 15 paid nights + 10,000 points after 20 paid nights = total of 35,000 bonus points 35,000 bonus points after 20 paid nights + 10,000 points after 25 paid nights = total of 45,000 bonu

Summer vacations are on (or just getting started, depending on where in India you are). With temperatures already at the high 30s or early 40s, that means it is time to take the kids out on vacation, hopefully to some cooler climes. And Indigo is looking to cash in on exactly this kind of travel, by offering "Family Fares" - up to 25% off on family travel, on all domestic travel. To qualify for the family fare, there needs to be at least 1 adult, and also minimum of 4 people, travelling, up to a maximum of 9 passengers. And all of them need to be booked on the same PNR . Make sure you check the box called "Family Fare" on the left panel of the booking page. I tried this out for a few options, and was generally able to score discounts between 8 and 12%. For instance, on MAA-DEL in the middle of June, an individual r/t fare (same fare for adult and child) is Rs 12,437, compared to an average price of Rs 11,318 under the the Family Fare promotion. That translates into

I've been away on some personal work these last few days, and it looks like some of the airlines have been working on promotions and offers during that time. Specifically, I'm talking about BA and SpiceJet. You've probably already read AJ's pieces on Live from a Lounge, here and here . Nonetheless, here's my 2p worth. BA's offer for all-inclusive visa fares. British Airways is now offering a visa fee included fare. Rather, the fare will be discounted by the amount of visa fees. This was being offered earlier only through travel agents, but is now available on ba.com too. In effect, you get a fare waiver to the extent of the cost of the visa . I was hoping this would be more not having to go through visa processing if flying on BA, but I guess I was a lot more optimistic. The discount is for Rs 8,400 , which is the cost of a 6 month visa (tourist, business and some professionals). This is the base category visa, by price. If you're looking at a visa for a l

In spite of being a Hilton HHonors and SPG loyalist for as long as I can remember, IHG's Rewards Club program is one that has caught my attention rather recently. I like the fact that they run as many parallel promotions as they do, most (if not all) of which are stackable, meaning you can qualify for more than one promotion for each stay, which can really get the points earning going along rather nicely. They also used to have rather easy (if convoluted) access to get status matched to the Platinum tier of the program, and it was not a challenge. Sadly, IHG has recently stopped offering status matches. I applied to get matched to their Platinum level last year, expecting some stays, and it was granted. Unfortunately, those stays didn't happen, and so I was downgraded earlier this year. Since their status matches (as with virtually all loyalty programs that offer matches) are one-time, I decided to forego the 2k points I'd earned on that account, and I set up a new account,

Citibank's summer promotion on the Premier Miles credit card seems to now be consistent - which isn't a bad thing. [edited] The 2014 offer is the same as that for 2013, which is double points on all international spends between 1 May 2014 and 30 June 2014. This is all wrong. I mixed up 2 separate offers! They did have a 10 miles / Rs 100 on international spends 2 years back, and a 2x miles promotion some time back. Registration is required, here , or click on the image below. You will need to register by 31 May 2014, but why wait? This means that you will earn 20 miles per Rs 100 on international airline spends (instead of 10 miles per Rs 100), and 8 miles per Rs 100 on other international spends (instead of 4 miles per Rs 100) Note that airline spends do not include spends with travel agents. There's a maximum of 25,000 PMs that can be earned under this promotion. Do remember, that if you have two separate PM credit cards, you'll need to register each of them, and the