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In case you missed it, here's my back-story to mile and point valuations . I'd decided that if there was going to be miles and points madness, there should at least be some method in that madness. So here are the results of my valuation exercise. I will try and update these as often as I can, or as necessary. Valuations for January 2016 So here are the India points and miles valuations for January 2016. Some comments I have not previously valued either hotel points or airline miles on a per-mile basis, which explains why there's no comparative value for those. I also haven't covered earn-to-burn ratios for airline miles. Hyatt's earn-to-burn ratio also wasn't valued in 2014. In the absence of these data points, they are shaded grey. In future valuations, you'll see the most recent previous valuation as a comparison.  SPG actually is a better bet now than it was in 2014. Of their 47 hotels in January 2016, category reductions have taken place for 25 of them, ...

IHG Rewards Club has made some changes to reward night requirements in respect of 400 of its hotels, and some of these are rather exceptional changes. However, from an India perspective, the changes are all only good news. And all of these changes take effect from 17 February 2016, which means existing bookings continue to be valid at the old rates.  But I'm getting ahead of myself...one thing at a time. What has changed IHG Rewards Club has changed the number of points required for an award night, in respect of 400 of its hotels worldwide. Of these, exactly 200 hotels see an increase in points required, while another 200 see a reduction. You can read the full list at IHG's page specifying the changes , or you could refer to this sorted out list that I've prepared . Here's a summary of changes: The United States has the most changes, with 132 hotels increasing in points and 62 reducing. China seems to be the biggest gainer - 47 hotels see reductions, while only 6 see in...

There's a great offer from Starwood that was announced earlier this week. Starwood is offering discounts of up to 50% on select properties in the Asia Pacific region, for bookings between 25 and 28 January 2016, and stays between 28 January and 31 May 2016 . This is not a promotion, so no registration is required. The discounts are automatically factored in, if you book from the landing page  for this promotion, or use the promotion code DAILY50 or DAILYRB when you book on www.spg.com . While there are some non-participating hotels for this offer, there are quite a few good ones that are participating, and you can find the list here . With specific reference to India, the following 27 hotels are participating: Four Points by Sheraton Ahmedabad The Westin Gurgaon, New Delhi Le Méridien Gurgaon, Delhi NCR The Westin Sohna Resort & Spa Sheraton Grand Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway Four Points by Sheraton Bengaluru, Whitefield ITC Windsor, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Beng...

A quick update. IHG Rewards Club has announced that they plan to revise the points requirement for award nights, for about 400 hotels worldwide. The list of changes is expected to be released later today / early tomorrow (India time). Preliminary indications are that there will be both upward and downward revisions, in the order of 5,000 or 10,000 points a night. IHG classifies its hotels under 9 categories, and the rewards points requirements start at 10,000 points a night for a category 1 hotel, moving up in 5,000-point increments, to 50,000 points a night for a category 9 hotel. This new announcement by IHG, and the point value changes that they've suggested (5,000 and 10,000) mean that the 400 hotels will move up or down, either 1 or 2 notches in category.  Hotel chains do keep revising the points requirements for properties, sometimes even more than once a year. However, an individual hotel is unlikely to be affected more than once in a couple of years (if not longer). The new...

Found a great fare, but your travel plans are still not final? I've been there, and I can tell you, it isn't the best feeling to know that the fare that's just perfect for you, may not really end up working out. Jet Airways has introduced Fare Lock, to save you that exact regret! Fare Lock allows you to hold a fare for 72 hours, for a nominal charge. Here's how it works. Look for your ticket on the website or mobile app While booking your ticket opt for the Fare Lock option on the guest details page. You will be required to pay the Fare Lock charges, which will guarantee you the selected fare for the next 72 hours. To confirm your ticket, use our Manage Booking feature and click on ‘Ticket Booking’ and then process the payment as you would normally. There are some points to note, like: Fare Lock is applicable only for tickets booked on Jet Airways operated flights. The Fare Lock benefit is applicable for tickets booked at least 7 days prior to flight departure. The Fare...

Marriott’s first promotion for the year, as also their Spring 2016 promotion, is now out. This round of MegaBonus, which is the name of virtually all Marriott promotions in the recent past, has however undergone a change from past offers, possibly in a move to align with the current trend being followed by the other hotel majors as well (we will come to the details in a moment). Past promotions by Marriott were rather straightforward - typically double points starting with the second stay , with an overall  capping on points earned . This, of course, has been the typical base offer, with enhanced offers for Marriott regulars.  However, the current MegaBonus seems different, and is more like IHG's Accelerate 2016 promotion , in the sense that (a) )there are targeted offers for different guests, based on stay history and (b) there are levels within the promotion, which are unlocked once you clear the previous level.  The base promotion is as follows: Register by Apr...

This is a sequel to JP miles 101 - earning JP miles ., and part of the beginner's guide series . In this edition, we will deal with using the JP miles you've earned, and the areas you need to be careful about. And as I mentioned in that post, while I'll be referencing JP miles in particular through these posts, the main principles are common across virtually all airline mileage programs. What can JP miles be used for? As I mentioned in the earlier post, JP miles are a limited-use currency. They can be used mainly to: book award flights on Jet Airways book award flights on partner airlines transfer miles to another user who is in need of miles upgrading to a higher class of service (economy to business, or business to first), on a revenue ticket. We'll deal with each of these, below. You could also read this earlier post on using JP miles , as a primer. Booking award flights on Jet Airways This is probably the most frequent use of JP miles. You can use JP miles to exchan...

In the 30 months that this blog has been running, I've wondered (almost every day) about the value of hotel rewards points and airline miles. Not philosophically, but the value in actual Rupees or Dollars for each point / mile. I'm usually sitting on a smallish pile of points and miles, and though I redeem both of them reasonably often, the question is, am I getting enough value out of them. In fact, the bigger question is, should I exit the points and miles hobby if I'm not getting sufficient value out of the points and miles themselves. The second question is often automatically answered with an emphatic NO. With so many people being involved in or writing about the hobby and its benefits, there cannot be something so fundamentally wrong that I should quit the hobby. If that is the case, then to the first question - am I getting enough value from the points and miles that I've earned ? Why value points and miles in the first place? I can't blame you if you're...

I managed a 2-night stay at the St. Regis, Mumbai  in the very end of December. I was traveling on work, was fortunate that my client has a heavily-discounted corporate rate negotiated with the hotel, as the last minute booking rates of Rs 12k a night (which were what applied to me) seemed quite prohibitive. I've been wanting to stay here just so I could find a suitable alternate to the ITC Grand Central . St Regis Mumbai Exterior view The St. Regis Mumbai has a short, yet chequered, history. Started as the Shangri-la, it operated for a few months before Shangri-la Hotels & Resorts, the brand owner, pulled out of the management operations. The owners of the hotel (Phoenix Mills, on whose land the hotel is situated) then ran the hotel as the Palladium, for a few more months before it became a St. Regis operated hotel, effective 1 September 2015. But anyway, on with the trip report... Before I begin, my apologies for the low quality of some of the images. I use my Samsung Galaxy ...