Last Week At The Lounge: September 1, 2018

If you were wondering why wasn’t I posting anything for the past few weeks, it was because I was out exploring the blue waters and lush rainforests of Indonesia for a better part of a month. I’m back in my trusty writing chair and oh boy, I’m glad that I didn’t miss last week’s action in the travel space. While I sift through the hundreds of photos for my upcoming trip report, catch up on last week’s stories with our weekly roundup.

Our Top Stories

This week we saw GoAir finally announce their new international routes. Starting the second week of October, the airline will start flying to Phuket and Male from Mumbai and Delhi. Now you can finally fly directly to that destination wedding in Phuket. And if you’d rather fly full service, Vistara also might launch their international flights to Phuket. If you are craving some amazing seafood at the Ministry of Crab, Vistara may fly you to Colombo! Hope they make a formal announcement soon.

We kick off this season’s event calendar this week as too! We are looking forward to meeting you all at the Mileage Mentor MasterClass BOM and Point & Pints BOM meetup this week. Delhi NCR folks, your turn join in on the fun is on September 22, 2018. Register now for the Mileage Mentor MasterClass Delhi NCR. Expect RSVPs for Points & Points to open shortly.

News and Views

Staying with new flights, the Maharaja will start flying to New York to Mumbai, skipping the stop at Delhi this winter. On the flip side, if you were hoping to fly to Los Angeles direct, you might have to wait a bit longer till Air India frees up their planes for this route. Looking for something more exotic? How about Tashkent in Uzbekistan? Now you’ll be able to fly directly to Tashkent from Mumbai later in the year. I’ve heard that Central Asia is one of the last few pristine regions on the backpacker trail, better add this to my list.

Cards and Rewards

Next time you are picking up a cappuccino or the latest paperback at the Mumbai, Delhi or Bengaluru airport, use your American Express credit card which will get you 5X Membership Rewards points. Duty-free stores, spas, lounges and hotels inside the airport are fair game too.

Get 5X Bonus Amex Membership Rewards at the Airport!

Deals with Appeal

I woke up on last Thursday morning to see a barrage of Facebook and Twitter notifications about some incredible deals that a few online travel agencies(OTAs) were offering on Jet Airways flights to Bangkok, Tokyo and more. These fares appeared for a couple of hours and then we were back to normal. Did you manage to book any of these discounted tickets?

Mileage Mentor MasterClass Tickets

Happy reading and hope you have a great week ahead!