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Earlier this year, Hilton HHonors announced that they will no longer have multiple promotions during the year; instead, there will be 2 promotions for each year that will be global promotions (meaning, these won't be for specific geographies, though there could continue to be some non-participating properties for each promotion). The first of these promotions for 2015 has just been announced - Double Points or Miles . It is quite simple really - you earn double points or double miles (your choice depending on your earnings style) for eligible stays between 1 March and 31 May 2015 . You need to register for the promotion here . Also make sure that you choose your earnings preference carefully - once made, the choice cannot be revoked or changed for the duration of the promotion. While the promo landing page has a link to non-participating hotels, there isn't anything listed on that page as of now. You could, however, keep checking here . Also note, that unlike earlier promotion...

Earlier this week, SPG made changes to its hotel categories (which affects award redemptions), which were generally good from an Indian perspective because there were more category downgrades (12 to be exact) and fewer category increases (4). It seems to be a similar, if better, story with Marriott Rewards' recent category changes that were announced yesterday, and are effective 20 March 2015 , although if you look at it globally, the changes represent a devaluation in points. Let me explain, but first, the India position. There are currently 28 Marriott hotels in India , and there have been changes to categories of 9 hotels. The only category increase among these is for the  JW Marriott Chandigarh Hotel, which moves from category 3 to 4 . There have been no changes to 19 hotels' categories, and downgrades have been effected for the following: Courtyard Bilaspur (2 to 1) Courtyard Chennai (2 to 1) Courtyard Hyderabad (2 to 1) Courtyard Kochi International Airport (2 to ...

SPG is on a roll with their "crossover" or partner rewards. First they introduced a crossover rewards program with Delta, then with Emirates that I wrote about a few days ago . The latest, as recent as today, is a partnership with Uber that will earn you Starpoints based on your spends with Uber. The number of Starpoints earned will depend on (a) the amount spent on Uber services, (b) your SPG status and (c) whether you're staying at an SPG property at the time of the ride. It works like this: For earnings during SPG stays, these are applicable for rides between the day of check in (12:00 am to 11:59 pm) and day of check out (12:00 am to 11:59 pm), all reckoned in local time. So essentially, your ride say from the airport to the hotel will entitle you to the tiered bonus earnings, as opposed to the 1 Starpoint per $1 rate. All earnings under this offer kick in only after your first SPG stay when you use Uber. These Starpoints are in addition to what you'd normally ear...

It's only February, and I already can't keep pace with the fare sales that have been launched this year so far. Yesterday,  SpiceJet launched a sale in advance of Holi , for tickets at Rs 1699 all-in (domestic) and Rs 3799 all-in (international), which followed a sale for tickets on one-stop flights. The next biggie here is JEtihad's  Global Seat Sale , that was launched today. Here's what you need to know about the Global Seat Sale, which promises discounts up to 35% on total fares . Booking period: 25 February – 3 March, 2015 Travel period : 3 March – 12 December, 2015 (International flights)                          11 March – 9 April, 2015 (Domestic flights) Valid only on bookings on jetairways.com , etihad.com and the Jet Airways mobile app You can book here . Additional terms to keep in mind. Flights within India: Valid for travel in Economy on select flights within India Valid for one way journey on Jet A...

A few days back, Etihad once again announced a status match to Etihad Guest Gold, the mid-level tier of the Etihad Guest frequent flyer program. They've run  similar promotions in the past  (I'm a beneficiary!), though some of them are restricted to specific geographies -  like this one for Australia residents ,  As always, Etihad will status match your Gold (or equivalent) or higher status with a competitor airline (which means members of loyalty programs of Etihad Airways Partners  are not eligible), if you have one, to Gold on Etihad Guest. Here's what you need to do, if you believe you're eligible: Existing Etihad Guest members: Send a scanned copy of your Gold card with another airline loyalty programme, copy of your latest miles statement along with your Etihad Guest membership number toEYGCorporate@etihad.ae Non-Etihad Guest members: Send a scanned copy of your Gold card with another airline loyalty programme, copy of your latest miles statement along w...

Once again, SPG has made changes to its hotel categories, as part of its annual reviews and revisions of the program. The last time this happened was last February , and that worked rather well for Indian properties. This time, about 22% of all SPG hotels are changing category in all. Of these, 10.5% are moving up and 11.8% are moving down. This time too, there's good news from an Indian perspective . But first, let's get done with the relative bad news! Four Points by Sheraton Dehradun - from cat 1 to cat 2  Four Points by Sheraton New Delhi - from cat 1 to cat 2  Le Méridien Mahabaleshwar Resort & Spa  - from cat 3 to cat 4 The Westin Pune Koregaon Park  - from cat 2 to cat 3 And if I recall correctly, AJ (Live from a Lounge) had written about the Le Meridien Mahabaleshwar actually deferring its opening! So much for the vagaries! Now for the good stuff. In all, 12 hotels are changing categories. They are: Hotel From Cat To Cat ITC Gra...

A few months back, Hilton HHonors introduced a captcha requirement as part of verifying members' login credentials. This was on the back of a lot of news around compromised accounts with loyalty programs in general, and Hilton was looking to enhance the security it provided to users' accounts. Continuing with this focus on security, Hilton HHonors is currently offering a bonus of 1000 free HHonors points, simply for you to change your account password. Talk about getting a security benefit AND getting points credited for it!  Here's what you need to do: Login to your  Hilton HHonors account On the panel to your left, click on "Personal Information" Change your password, and click "Save Changes" at the bottom of the page. Make sure you get the confirmation message that your account details have been updated. This is an unadvertised promotion, but I like it that HHonors is giving out 1000 points for this. To be honest, 1000 points doesn't get you far,...

In spite of what I'd expected when I wrote about being at a crossroads, I've been downgraded to Hilton HHonors Silver this year. Which means I need to be keen as mustard when it comes to keeping track of good hotel offers, particularly from Hilton which is a chain I generally like ( along with Marriott ). So when I found these offers/promotions, I just had to let you folks know about them! New promo - free breakfast plus £50/€50/$50 credit per day Hilton has launched a new "Leisure Escape" package which applies at over 80 participating hotels in the Middle East, Europe and Africa. This promotion offers free breakfast, plus a credit of £50/€50/$50 per day of stay. Even if you're Hilton Gold or Diamond (which automatically entitles you to free breakfast), this might be worth your while. This applies to all weekend stays in 2015, and is cancellable up to 1 day before arrival. You need to book directly with Hilton and apply the promo code RPTVS1 , or you can check o...

Earlier today, I wrote about earning up to 3x miles through a bonus / promotion offer on Etihad Guest , when flying first or business class on an airline belonging to the Etihad Airways Partners "alliance-of-sorts". Jet Airways, dutifully, has toed the line, and offers a similar bonus JP miles earning opportunity when flying Etihad or 9W. Consistent with the Etihad offer, this offer by 9W is for 3x JP miles (including a 2x bonus) when flying First class, and 2x JP miles (1x bonus) when flying Buiness class, for bookings made till 10 March 2015, and flights between 25 February and 30 May 2015. You can register for the promotion here . So basically, you have a choice of earning JP miles or Etihad Guest miles. I'm going with the latter. How about you?

In early October 2014, Etihad announced the launch of Etihad Airways Partners , a quasi airline alliance whose members are airlines that Etihad has investments and other strategic tie-ups with. They have now announced a promotion that offers up to 3x Etihad Guest miles for travel in first / business class with specific member airlines of the alliance, for flights between 25 February and 30 May 2015 (both dates inclusive). The promotion details are as follows: 3x Etihad Guest Miles in First Class on  Etihad Airways  Jet Airways. 2x Etihad Guest Miles in Business Class on  Etihad Airways,  Jet Airways,  Alitalia,  airberlin,  Niki,  Air Serbia, and  Air Seychelles The bonus miles can be earned on all Etihad Airways operated and marketed flights with the above airlines. You can register for this promotion here , which page also contains the T&Cs. Some of the key points to remember here are: you need to book before 10 March 2015, for travel ...

These last few months, Jet Privilege seems to have been working overtime to make changes to their program, and I think they've done a real good job of it. First they streamlined earnings and removed fuel surcharges on award tickets , then came the new redemption structure (which was good on the whole), then pooling accounts / kids earning JP miles in full and changes to kids' award tickets , extending JP miles validity to 5 years , and most recently, streamlining miles upgrades and removing cash upgrades on award tickets . However, I'm almost licking my lips here with the most recent set of changes, which they've announced today. Here's why. Change to tier points earnings - faster tier upgrade/renewal Starting Monday, 16 February 2015,  flight counts will now be based on the fare class in which the travel is booked . This means, that the higher the fare class is, the more flight counts you'll be entitled to. The upshot of this is you'll be able to retain / u...

I've been tied up with some work (who isn't?) and there's every chance I've not posted about some of the stuff that's happening in the aviation space - mainly in India, but some overseas as well. So here's a quick list of things I may not have specifically written about. Jet Airways now allows a 24-hour window where you can cancel your ticket without paying any cancellation charges or other penalties . This should work for cancellations up to 1 hour before the flight for domestic segments, and 3 hours before for international ones.   Having the HDFC Bank World Debit card just got cheaper - by Rs 500 (it is free for HDFC priority banking members, ie, Classic, Preferred and Imperia). This is a good way to hold a Jet Airways co-branded card, which in turn means your JP miles validity gets extended from 3 to 5 years . You can now earn and burn SQ miles flying Vistara and vice versa . Something good had to come out of that association! I realise that there are more ...

SpiceJet has just launched its latest promotion, called "Cheaper than train fares", which is open for bookings today through 13 February 2015 , for travel between 1 July and 24 October 2015 . There are limited seats available, but the fares are a steal, starting at Rs 599 for domestic sectors and Rs 3,499 for international ones. These tickets are capacity controlled, and are non-refundable and non-changeable. These promotional fares don't include taxes, CUTE fees, PSF and UDF , which will be added to the ticket prices. Nonetheless, there are some pretty good deals available under this offer, if you're able to block your travel dates for sure. For instance, one-way tickets on MAA-DEL (according to me, the most expensive domestic route on average), can be booked for under Rs 3,500 and BOM-DEL for less than Rs 2,200.  These are great fares, but on the whole, don't expect to find too many flights at the promotional price of Rs 599. The full T&Cs are here: Fares di...

Yesterday, Air India launched a new promotion (they prefer to call these "schemes") called My Dream Destination , which entitles passengers to free tickets on the AI network, depending on the amount of revenue spend on AI's domestic network. Only those spends made on AI's domestic network (Air India and Alliance Air flights) between 9 February and 9 May 2015 qualify for this promotion. These spends can be for travel in both Economy and Business (Executive) classes. On achieving the necessary spends, you'll qualify for economy class tickets as follows: Or if you're interested, a spend of Rs 200,000 can be used for 2 return tickets within Destination A, a spend of Rs 300,000 can be used for 3 return tickets within Destination A, or a spend of Rs 300,000 can be used for 1 return ticket each within Destinations A and B. These promo tickets - which can be used by you or someone you nominate - are essentially waived off for base fare and fuel surcharge, though you...

I have some travel coming up on Emirates, and as I was checking on a few related things including my hotel bookings, it struck me that there's something I haven't written about. And that's the SPG Emirates World Rewards promotion. In November 2014, SPG and Emirates came together in a partnership, to offer what's called  World Rewards  to members of both the SPG and Emirates Skywards programs. I remember reading and registering for it at the time, but how I missed writing about it is quite beyond me. Having said that, its never too late if it is going to result in extra points or miles, so here goes. SPG launched a similar partnership with Delta (called Crossover rewards) a couple of years back, and the concept is the same that. Essentially, it is a sort of double-dip if you will, that entitles members of SPG and Emirates Rewards programs to earn additional Starpoints or Emirates Skywards miles, if they use the other's services. Let me explain. Benefits for SPG membe...

Jet Privilege has made some more rather large changes to the JP program, after a slew of changes they made in July/August 2014 and October 2014 . A quick read of these suggests that it isn't all bad news - there are some great positives as well. No convenience fees for online award bookings Let's be clear on this. No convenience fees on online award bookings. Jet charges a convenience fee (on domestic tickets, this is Rs 105 per person on the ticket). If you book your award tickets online directly (and not through the call center, IVR, etc), then this charge is waived. That sounds natural. Though Rs 105 isn't much, it is something, and on a matter of principle, I'm glad they're waiving it. Because there's no additional service (that can be called a convenience) that Jet is providing passengers for the benefit of booking award tickets online. This applies from today, 3 February 2015 . Miles upgrade streamlined There's something called RBD (Reservation Boo...