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SPG has announced its latest list of Hot Escapes hotels, which are basically a selection of hotels hand-picked by SPG and made available at a reasonable to significant discount. Hot Escapes hotels are usually available at a discount of at least 15-20%, and going all the way up to 30-35%, but need to be booked by the Saturday. The deals are usually open for stays up to 6 weeks from the date they are announced. This week’s Hot Escapes list has 50 hotels as follows (click on the hyperlinks under the zone names, to get the hotels available this week): 27 hotels in North America , 1 hotel in  Caribbean and Central America , 4 hotels in South America, 11 hotels in Europe , 1 hotel in Africa , No hotels in Australia and Oceania , No hotels in China , 1 hotel in the Middle East , and 5 hotels in Asia . You can access the  SPG Hot Escapes landing page here , and all current offers at one go, here . There are no properties from India this time round either. SPG Hot Escapes are pub...

Many of us (and myself included) aren't a happy lot with much of the changes Jet Airways is bringing about to the JP program. That said, I must admit (if it wasn't apparent already), that I'm a pretty big fan of the airline and of Jet Privilege. Sure, they've made some flier-unfriendly changes, including Fare Choices , making  JP pretty much a revenue-based frequent flier program , or the changes  to partner   award   structures . Gone are the days of some fantastically  awesome award routes for unbelievably low redemption requirements . But as with any and every other business, Jet simply reacted to the changes in the marketplace, and will continue to do so in the future. And yet, in this post, I'd like to write about what I thought was a very "human" side of the airline. Context This time last year, the missus and I had decided on a vacation to somewhere in the far east. After much debate, we agreed on Hong Kong and Vietnam. We initially booked economy c...

Marriott has announced their promotion for the fall of 2016 called - no surprises here - MegaBonus. However, the sub-text this time is Your Bonus. Your Choice . Unlike earlier MegaBonus promotions, which offered targeted rewards for members based on their stay history, this time the options are fixed for all members, though you get to choose your option. Register is required, and the stay period is 15 September 2016 to 15 January 2017 . Here's more. The two options available are as follows: As you can see, there are two options: 5,000 points after your 2nd paid stay 10,000 points after every 10 nights, up to 50,000 points. The difference between the two is that the first one is based on number of stays, while the second one is based on the number of nights' stay. And as with almost all hotels, a "stay" is defined as consecutive nights spent at the same hotel, regardless of check-in/checkout activity .  Registration is required for this promotion, which can be done her...

It all looks seamless when one's on a bus headed to drop you off at a remote bay or a stand that doesn't have an aerobridge. The heavies are constantly either pushing back, or taxing in, firing up their engines getting ready to head out. In the middle of all this, other equipment like baggage carts, fuel trucks, and ground transportation all run in sync. It all runs smooth, as long as one simple rule is being followed: the aircraft comes first and all else follows after . Procedures and process notwithstanding, 30 SpiceJet passengers at Jabalpur airport in India had a "close one" in a literal sense, late last week. Read on... Screengrab from Times of India The passengers, having just landed on a SpiceJet flight from Delhi and waiting in their bus, would have got the shock of their lives watching an Air Alliance ATR 72 aircraft that had also just landed in - interestingly, 15 minutes ahead of schedule! The aircraft was taxiing towards the gates, and apparently came re...

ASan and I met for lunch over the weekend. If you knew us personally, you'd know that we're both forever thirsty, if you get my meaning. You'd also know that there are always discussions around ideas for posts. Most of them are flights of fancy (pun intended!), and almost always unviable. But two men with some alcohol in them can dream, can't they? Anyway, this time the discussion finally got down to something that interests both of us, though in very different ways. ASan is a bit of a history freak, getting dreamy and bleary-eyed when you talk of anything 20 years or older (he thinks he’d have fit better into society a hundred years ago, than now). And I'm an AvGeek to the core and a huge  fan of REG Davies. So when the talk finally came around to Indian airline companies that used to be, we hit paydirt! After some decent and serious research, we think we've come up with our own Indian Aviation History 101. Given the volume there is to share, we’ll be splitting...

...or, The week that was - 28 August 2016 . Here's a round up of the week that was - a summary of posts on this blog as also other things travel, aviation, points and miles that we found interesting.Hope you had a great week, and here's wishing you the very best in the next one! Airline News Jet Airways' 10% discount on all international routes (including codeshares with Air France and Etihad operated flights) - book by 28 August. Jet Privilege is selling JPmiles with a 40% bonus when you buy miles by 31 August 2016 . That's just over Rs 1.02 a mile. Review: GVK Premium Lounge Mumbai International departures Go Air to go international soon? When? Where? On-board internet access within India soon.  To go or not to go? A Royal Air Maroc B737 is in two minds ! If you're a nightclub person AND in need of some Etihad Guest miles,  here's the perfect offer for you ! Hotel News Hilton HHonors' extends the 2x points promotion through the end of the year . SPG...

A couple of weeks back, I was on a short work trip to Bahrain. I wrote about my stay at the Sheraton Bahrain , but for some reason, I completely skipped writing about another aspect of the trip...my experience at the GVK Premium Lounge at Mumbai International Airport. So here you go! Before I begin, I'd like to apologise up front for the quality of the pictures. I'd picked up a new camera as a standby just that morning, and ended up using it without fully understanding the settings, particularly the ones for low-light photography. The last time I was at this airport terminal  was more than 2 years ago (when domestic operations hadn't moved to the new T2). At the time, this was the status of the lounge. By the time of my next visit earlier in the month, the place was functioning. Access I had access to the lounge because I was flying business class, and this lounge is exclusively for the use of business and first class passengers. After crossing immigration and the duty free...

Jet Airways is offering a 10% discount on flights in its international network, for bookings on just two days - today and tomorrow (27 and 28 August 2016) till 4 September 2016, for travel on or after 18 September 2016  (some exceptions apply). Here's more on the sale. This offer is available: only for bookings on jetairways.com and the Jet Airways mobile app. for both economy and business class, one-way and round trip. for bookings on specific booking classes (see T&Cs below). The following sectors are available under this sale: On Jet Airways operated flights:  India to Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Colombo, Dhaka, Dubai, Hong Kong, Kathmandu, London, Paris, Sharjah, Singapore and Toronto.  On Air France operated flights: India to Paris on Jet Airways codeshare flights. On flights operated by Jet Airways and on codeshare flights operated by Etihad Airways, to (must be via AUH): Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Athens, Belgrade, Brisbane, Brussels, Casablanca, Chicago, Dallas...

Soon, you should be able to update your Facebook status or your Twitter feed, or chat on Whatsapp or browse the internet, when on flights in and over India.  In what is an absolutely fantastic development, there is likely to be favourable news about the use of wifi on board aircraft inside Indian airspace. "We will soon, within 10 days, be allowed to wifi on board on aircraft flying in and out of the country," said RN Choubey, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, yesterday.  Let's take a look at some of the history around this aspect, and how things are expected to change. The situation so far As of now, no airline can allow on-board telecommunications (except within the flight itself) over Indian airspace. This even includes airlines just transiting over Indian airspace, without a stop in India. Which is why if you've flown, say, between Singapore and the middle east, internet services would be suspended as long as the aircraft is over Indian airspace. Sample of ro...