This trip started as I redeemed a North Asia to South Asia award on US Airways Dividend Miles, providing me the opportunity to try out Singapore Airlines First Class to New Delhi, as India is one of the few destinations which has First Class cabins on Singapore Airlines. In addition, this trip will also add another new country visited in 2013.
When I started planning for the trip, I was fascinated by the travel packages offered by Oberoi Hotels and Resorts around India due to the beautiful scenes but I decided that it probably was not worth the money since they would cost me about $575-585 per night and I am not sure if I am ready yet to pay those kind of prices for hotels in India. Thus I decided to forgo Oberoi and instead chose to stay in a Park Hyatt since India probably has the cheapest Park Hyatt stay anywhere in the world. And they do have up to 3 Park Hyatts to choose from, which I settled on the Park Hyatt Goa.
The winter Fairmont promotion also allowed me to take advantage of the promotion between AMEX and Fairmont allowing me to save further on my stay in the new Fairmont Jaipur. For the rest of my stays in India, I chose to stay with Hyatt since they have some decent properties for a good value around the city. And for the landmark Taj Mahal visit, I picked the ITC Agra, a Luxury Collection property part of the Starwood Hotels Group, which was running a promotion that would include a major meal.
After finalizing my destinations and lodging, it was time to decide on transportation arrangements within India itself. When I embarked on the trip, I had no plans on how to get myself from Delhi to Jaipur, then to Agra and finally returning to Delhi. All I knew was there was a way to hire a driver and cab for the ride and thus I negotiated with a driver for a rate of 30,000 INR (~US$500) for 5 days of driving between Delhi, Jaipur, Agra and back to Delhi. This would cover all tolls, parking fees and any other incidentals related to the car. I thought this was a decent price since I know the car was clean and the driver was a decent guy who speaks good English.
With me returning to Delhi, I would take a flight from there to Mumbai that was booked on an Air India 777-300ER and one that I was eagerly anticipating for. There was also a short Mumbai to Goa flight on JetKonnect and a Goa to Mumbai to Delhi flight on Jet Airways that would connect to a Malaysia Airlines flight to bring me back to South East Asia. Well that was the plan until the domestic flight segments got messed up big time, but that would be in the tale from here on!
How did I end up on Malaysia Airlines on a US Airways miles redemption? Well that is because I got an additional ticket between Delhi and Bangkok and Malaysia Airlines was selling tickets in J for US$700 which was a good deal when prices for economy was around US$500. This was due to the need to attend a friend's wedding in Bangkok and thus I had a same-day KUL-DEL-SIN turnaround later in the trip. I have completed some of the reports but this would take some time to complete so bear with me and enjoy this TR!
The contents in this report are as follows:
Le Méridien Jakarta Executive Suite
SQ Regional First Class to Singapore
The Private Room by Singapore Airlines
SQ First Class on the 77W to Delhi
Hyatt Regency Delhi
A Day in Delhi and Dinner at Bukhara
Hyatt Regency Gurgaon
Fairmont Jaipur
Amber Fort and the Pink City
Lunch at the Rambagh Palace Hotel
Fatehpur Sikri and Taj Mahal
ITC Mughal Agra
Air India Economy Class Delhi to Mumbai
Grand Hyattt Mumbai and Dinner at Soma
A Day in Mumbai
JetKonnect Economy Class Mumbai to Goa
Grand Hyatt Goa
Park Hyatt Goa
IndiGo flight from Goa to Delhi
Malaysia Airlines Business Class Delhi to Kuala Lumpur
Thoughts on India