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Things were good till earlier today, and I was looking forward to a rather happy new year. Part of my plans for 2015 was to earn more Citibank Premier Miles over JP miles (I don't yet have an AI SBI card ). However, all of those plans came crashing down this morning, after an email I received from Citibank, highlighting key changes to the program. As with any good marketing spiel, it started off with how the Citi PM card is getting better with the ability to now redeem Citi PMs for merchandise...because that's what users have wanted to do always??? The upshot of the email, which is of more interest to us points and miles people is: Firstly, there's a 10% devaluation on award tickets. This means that 1 Citi PM which was previously worth Rs 0.50, is now worth only Rs 0.45. Which means you need to spend more - about 11% more - points for the same award ticket. That makes JP miles even more valuable , at the moment . Secondly, and more importantly - transfer ratios to ot...

A couple of days back, I wrote about SPG offering free internet in 2015 for direct bookings . IHG and Marriott are already offering or have announced internet for all members, and Hilton HHonors offers complimentary high-speed internet for its Gold and Diamond members. But in all of those cases, there are often restrictions on the number of devices that can be connected or the speeds are not necessarily great. There is great variability in terms of what you get in different parts of the world - in India and Asia-Pac for instance, complimentary internet either isn't usually a problem, or isn't very expensive. Yesterday, Hyatt made an announcement that will surely make the other biggies in this space change their strategies around complimentary internet.  Starting February 2015, all guests at all Hyatt hotels will receive free wifi internet across an unlimited number of devices and laptops. And unlike SPG, this benefit will be available irrespective of the booking source. And t...

There are some aviation geeks in India (and indeed, elsewhere in the world) who try and fly as many different aircraft as they can. Co-contributor to this blog, Vinay , is one of them. However, an A330 is something else! And if you haven't flown one, or want to fly one domestically, here's a limited-period option. Jet Airways will be using A330s on some of their domestic sectors this holiday season, between 23 December 2014 and 29 January 2015. The flights upgraded to Airbus A330 are as follows: Flight Number Origin Destination Departure Arrival Frequency 9W827 Delhi Bengaluru 0805 hrs 1035 hrs Daily 9W828 Bengaluru Delhi 1155 hrs 1440 hrs 1,3,4,5,6,7 9W828 Bengaluru Delhi 1135 hrs 1440 hrs 2 9W835 Delhi Chennai 1540 hrs 1830 hrs Daily 9W836 Chennai Delhi 1930 hrs 2220 hrs Daily 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 refer to Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday respectively. I'd like to take Jet Airways' word that this is to meet the demand during the ...

Last week, Starwood announced free internet for all SPG members starting 2 February 2015, as long as the booking is made directly on spg.com, using the SPG app or on hotel brand sites. This clearly seems to be to compete with IHG (which announced free internet for all members earlier this year) and Marriott (free internet for all members starting 2015). To accommodate this, SPG will be providing differential internet options - standard and premium. Gold and Platinum members will be entitled to premium internet, while other members will get standard internet (upgradeable for a fee). Free premium internet will also be available to partners (such as Crossover rewards with Delta and Your World Rewards with Emirates). In addition, Gold members will receive free premium internet in addition to their welcome gift. ( If you haven't got SPG Gold yet, you could do so with a single stay in AsiaPac, paid for with a World Mastercard. ) The only drawback to this, which Loyalty Lobby also points...

GHA, or the Global Hotel Alliance, is a coming together of some smaller and independent hotel chains across the world, which use the GHA loyalty program as their common program. I've not had the chance to write much about GHA on this blog (mainly because they have limited Indian presence - mostly through the Leela group of hotels). However, that doesn't mean that they don't have some good offers and promotions every now and then. I was able to snag a free upgrade to their Platinum level without having stayed even once with them, in January this year, and immediately got to stay at the the Ambience Kempinski Hotel in Delhi at a fantastic price. They also keep having month-end flash sales every so often,  Earlier today, I was checking that account to see if there was anything new on offer that I could use for an upcoming stay, and saw this as soon as I logged into my account: So, I've been offered Black status, which normally comes after 30 stays as Platinum, after jus...

Just a little while back, I wrote about Air Vistara announcing flights from 9 January 2015 . They will cover routes across AMD, BOM and DEL. Not to be outdone, Jet Airways has reacted (quite predictably, if I might add) with a bonus offer as follows, on the BOM-DEL-BOM, BOM-AMD-BOM and DEL-AMD-DEL sectors : 3x miles (that's a 2x bonus) on business class flights 2x miles (ie 1x bonus) on economy class flights This applies for travel between 1 January 2015 and 31 March 2015. Interestingly, this is touted as a "New Year, New Offer" promotion, though the period and the sectors it applies to is a clear giveaway that this is targeted to compete with Vistara's launch. The bonus is only on the base miles, and not on cabin or tier bonuses. So, you'll earn JP miles as follows on this promotion (this does not consider tier bonuses): Interestingly, the full T&Cs of this promo talks about registration (in the context of registration required before the flight is undertaken...

Air Vistara , the joint venture between the Tatas and Singapore Airlines, will kick off flights from 9 January 2015, after proving flights were completed over the last couple of weeks and their Air Operator Permit was granted. Vistara flights are now available for booking on www.airvistara.com , and with travel portals and aggregators. Here's a low-down on what you need to know, based on information as of date. Flight schedules The first Vistara flight will be UK890 from DEL to BOM at 12:30 pm, and tickets are available for booking if you're interested in being on that first flight. The rest of the flight schedule , which covers DEL, AMD and BOM, is valid till 15 February 2014, and is as follows: Travel class Interestingly, Vistara promises a 3-class configuration that comprises business, premium economy and economy classes. No pictures are available yet, so here's a bit about each of these, (and you can find more here ): In business class 42 inches seat pitch and 7 inches ...

Earlier this week, IHG announced their promotion for Spring of 2015, called "Set Your Sights" . In many ways, this is similar to the Into the Nights promotion for the last quarter of 2014 , in the sense that there are a list of "targets" or goals to achieve (each of which carry their own bonus value), and an overall top up bonus if you do manage to achieve all your goals. This promotion will be valid for stays between 1 January and 30 April 2015 , booked on qualifying rates. You are required to register for this promotion, upon which you will be presented with a set of offers customised for you based on your stay history with IHG hotels. For new members and those with hardly any stays, expect something like this one below as your offer: Staying at 2 different IHG brand hotels, one for 2 and one for 1 night, both booked directly with IHG, will help meeting offers 2, 3 and 4. Downloading the IHG app will meet #1, and then all that's left is to spend $100 on F&...

Jet Privilege seems to be focussed on upping its service proposition, with its recent slew of offers and promotions. Continuing with that theme, here's an offer that's actually quite useful - a 25% discount on your dining bill, plus  up to 3 JP miles per $1 spent (minimum spend $10) at restaurants belonging to SPG hotels. Valid till 31 January 2015, however 24, 25 and 31 December 2014 are blackout dates. You can access this offer and more information here and  here . There are 106 participating venues, and you can find them all here . Here are all the relevant T&Cs: Offer is valid at participating restaurants and bars at participating Starwood Hotels & Resorts in India. Must be a member of the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) program. A valid SPG membership number is required at the time of purchase to receive the offer. Membership is free. To become a SPG member, visit SPG.com/dining or contact our hotel associates. Offer valid from 1 December, 2014 till 31 January, 20...

I recently wrote about earning bonus JP miles with partners and also 2x JP miles for SPG stays . In that vein, here's another offer for 1000 bonus JP miles per stay , in addition to 500 base JP miles, for stays with IHG hotels in India and Nepal until 30 April 2015. This isn't an offer I'd jump at, but nonetheless... The participating hotels on this offer are: Ahmedabad Crowne Plaza Ahmedabad City Centre Holiday Inn Express Ahmedabad Amritsar Holiday Inn Amritsar Ranjit Avenue Bangalore Crowne Plaza Bengaluru Electronics City Chennai Holiday Inn Express Chennai Mahindra World City Goa Holiday Inn Resort Goa Gurgaon Crowne Plaza Gurgaon Hyderadad Holiday Inn Express & Suites Hyderabad Gachibowli (Opening soon) Jaipur Holiday Inn Jaipur City Centre Kathmandu, Nepal Crowne Plaza Kathmandu Soaltee Kochi Crowne Plaza Kochi Holiday Inn Kochi Mumbai InterContinental Marine Drive Mumbai Holiday Inn Mumbai International Airport New Delhi Crowne Plaza Grea...

Jet Privilege, particularly after they've been spun off into a separate entity and Etihad has a stake in that, is handing out goodies! First it was the increased mileage earning at 500, for flights under 500 miles and a rationalisation of miles required for award tickets , followed by pooling family miles and kids' travel also earning miles .  Now here's another benefit, if you hold a Jet Airways co-branded card. That's right, 5 year validity of all JP miles. You may recall that this used to have a 12-quarter limit, ie 3 years. I received this message today, and you should check your mailbox too, if you hold a Jet Airways co-branded card. That is to say: Jet Airways HDFC debit and credit cards Jet Airways American Express credit card Jet Airways ICICI Bank credit cards Jet Airways IndusInd Bank credit cards and Jet Airways Amex corporate charge card (I haven't written about this but AJ has ) There's only one condition - you should have had one activity (read tra...

Jet Airways is running a 20% discount fare sale starting today (10 December 2014), valid for all domestic bookings till 12 December 2014. Jet is doing this as part of the  Great Online Shopping Festival (or GOSF)  that's being organised by Google, which also includes a  host of other travel related offers .  You can book your tickets here or on the Jet Airways mobile app . Here are the key T&Cs of the promotion. Valid for travel in Premiere and Economy Valid on one-way and return flights Date change and refund charges will be applicable as per fare rules Valid for booking 30 days in advance or more Offer not applicable for Multi City booking Discount is applicable on base fare and fuel surcharge only Valid for tickets booked on jetairways.com (India country site) and our mobile app Remember, that if you're booking online, the offer applies only if you're using the India country site for Jet Airways. If you're located overseas and want to book under this offer, ...