savneet_batra

So got my latest bill for the month, and right at the end where the MR points used to be was a simple quiet line and i quote -
'Changes on your American Express Kingfisher First Credit Card- w.e.f Jan 15th, 2012
Please note that the 5 Times King Miles on Airtel and 10 Times King Miles on other Platinum Partners would not be valid from January 15th, 2012 on your American Express Kingfisher First Credit Card. You would continue to earn 10 times King Miles at Kingfisher Airlines. T&Cs Apply.'

Is there any point to keeping the card anymore?

Keyser

not really....unless you plan on sticking with kingfisher for all your travels (that is provided they don't go down in the next few months)....

d3vski

Believe it or not, I, being one of FT's most vociferous supporter of Kingfisher am now actively looking to get rid of my last 53K with them.

If and when they join OW, I will credit future flight miles on either AA or BA.

Keyser

i have over a million points & now i'm scared they will all go to waste....i'm trying to redeem them but its been tough....

i've been inquiring about 2 return business class partner redemption tickets on air france in may but kingfisher tells me partner redemption seats are not available....i have checked with air france as well as on expertflyer & on my travel date there are 4 seats still available....i've informed them & am still waiting to hear back....

also trying to redeem a business class return ticket to london for my wife in april & again kingfisher is showing no availability despite the entire business cabin being empty (besides my revenue ticket)....i finally spoke with a supervisor earlier today who told me that the redemption seats have not been loaded that far out & she will put the ticket on a waitlist....

this way i'll burn about 350k miles but kingfisher is making it extremely difficult....

d3vski

No wonder when i tried to find bom/del-lhr flights in may, they kept saying no rewards. The agent on the line first told me that i do not have miles and then when i asked him to waitlist, he hung up. Will try again now and report back what they say.

On a second point, is it worth taking DEL-LHR over BOM-LHR to try the kingfisher lounge?

UPDATE: Now waitlisted for BOM-LHR, Agent stated that it will clear in 72 hrs. Heres hoping.

Keyser

in the past they used to update the award inventory a few months in advance....now i guess with their financial woes they don't know if they will still be operating in april-may....

not at all....

unlikely....i was told that the award inventory for april will be loaded 3 months prior so the waitlist should only clear sometime in january....the supervisor put a 31st january expiry date on my booking & said that if it doesn't clear by that date then she will extend it to the end of february....

d3vski

I have got 29/12, will phone again in a few days to get it extended.

Keyser

keep me posted....i think i'll need to follow up regularly myself....

d3vski

There could be some truth in this as i have just tried making some dummy bookings with interesting results:

BOM-LHR Kingfisher First:

28 DEC 2011 = Available
28 JAN 2012 = Available
28 FEB 2012 = Available
28 MAR 2012 = Available

and then nothing for the 28th April 2012 and 28th of each subsequent month.

Incredibly, on some days, you can book up to 5 Kingfisher First seats for redemption (Keyserbhai, if you feel like treating us with your million plus miles, please feel free to do so!!!)

I am quietly confident of the waitlist clearing some time in Feb 2012.

Keyser

i can just hope the april waitlist clears soon otherwise the million plus miles are of no use....

d3vski

Another option for you is that when IT join OW in Feb, you can blast them on a RTW F trip. That will get rid of the miles pretty quickly. All OW FF programs have a mileage based RTW option.

A2A

do you think kingfisher has the money to pay for those RTW F fares? they are going there to get business not give business. their crude ways which will come will remind me of Starnet blocking like UA!

Keyser

i'm waiting for that....another month & a half to go....

i don't think they would do that initially....

A2A

i just got a new letter from AX saying even the gold card was going over a change. so now 1 MR point per 50 bucks instead of 40, and for fuel and utility bills, 1 MR per 100 bucks.

there is more, the weekend shopping program (5x) is over, and weekend grocery shopping program is on (5x)! Now to find a grocery store which accepts amex.

moreover, they have added a 250 bucks redemptiion fee if you choose to move the miles to an airline program. all this in effect from jan 20, 2012.

grrrrrr

d3vski

As expected, waitlist has not cleared. Ticketing limit extended until 31/01/2012. Will call back at end of Jan to have it extended further.