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Please report your successful 9W/AI/UK redemptions here

Please report your successful 9W/AI/UK redemptions here

Old Apr 13, 2018, 2:26 am
  #1396  
 
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Originally Posted by bigapple07
BOM-LHR-BOM in Y for 85K miles + INR 17392 in taxes, approx 3 weeks out.
Enjoy your trip bigapple.

And not to berate you... but I wanted to understand why you chose 9W for accruing your miles. From an earn/burn perspective if you're going to do international travel AI & 9W are the worst mileage partners one can pick. They're usually better for domestic travel.

Do you have a co-branded card for accelerated miles earning? Accrue miles on 9W because you need status?

I used to credit my miles blindly to AI and despite being a Maharaja could barely manage enough miles to fly out of the country. Once I started reading forums like FT and similar FFP blogs etc. about how people are doing suites redemption on SQ and EK suites while I could not fly beyond Dubai in Y, I realized I was doing it all wrong. Blame it on my ignorance.

Once again really not trying to criticize you... just want to understand your reasons. Others are welcome to contribute as well... - why would you chose AI/I9W for earning miles if you want to burn on international travel?
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Old Apr 13, 2018, 3:40 am
  #1397  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
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Originally Posted by PiperAtGatesofDawn

Once again really not trying to criticize you... just want to understand your reasons. Others are welcome to contribute as well... - why would you chose AI/I9W for earning miles if you want to burn on international travel?
What are your preferred programs to credit flights/tier points from domestic travel to, with international redemptions in mind?
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Old Apr 13, 2018, 4:29 am
  #1398  
 
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Delete duplicate post.
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Old Apr 13, 2018, 4:32 am
  #1399  
 
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Originally Posted by L_D_M
What are your preferred programs to credit flights/tier points from domestic travel to, with international redemptions in mind?
Largely depends on your travel patterns and redemption goals.

My preferences - SQ and UA for AI and Delta for 9W. SQ for UK where possible.
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Old Apr 13, 2018, 5:39 am
  #1400  
 
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I've realised it's not much use trying to keep top-tier status on 9W and wanted to know what the alternatives are. The priority check-in counters are the one benefit I'd miss, since I nearly always have check-in baggage. I suppose I've been spoiled by the GVK lounge in BOM, but I hear the TFS one isn't half bad. And I guess the ability to pick extra legroom seats for free. Jet's upgrade vouchers are often as much of a stone around your neck as a genuine benefit.
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Old Apr 13, 2018, 5:54 am
  #1401  
 
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Originally Posted by PiperAtGatesofDawn
Enjoy your trip bigapple.

And not to berate you... but I wanted to understand why you chose 9W for accruing your miles. From an earn/burn perspective if you're going to do international travel AI & 9W are the worst mileage partners one can pick. They're usually better for domestic travel.

Do you have a co-branded card for accelerated miles earning? Accrue miles on 9W because you need status?

I used to credit my miles blindly to AI and despite being a Maharaja could barely manage enough miles to fly out of the country. Once I started reading forums like FT and similar FFP blogs etc. about how people are doing suites redemption on SQ and EK suites while I could not fly beyond Dubai in Y, I realized I was doing it all wrong. Blame it on my ignorance.

Once again really not trying to criticize you... just want to understand your reasons. Others are welcome to contribute as well... - why would you chose AI/I9W for earning miles if you want to burn on international travel?
I agree, AI/9W do not offer the best value on miles redemption. I do have a co-branded card on which I accrue around 60-70k 9W miles annually. I had initially built up a large bank of JPMiles travelling for work within India so I felt it was better to build on that. I have been redeeming them mostly on domestic sectors out of BOM. This time around I needed to book this trip to London 3 weeks out and the cheapest direct flight to LHR was ~ 55k (BA) for my dates, so saving ~37k was my main motivation.

That said, is there a way to accrue miles on Delta form co-brand cards/points transfer in India?
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Old Apr 13, 2018, 6:09 am
  #1402  
 
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Originally Posted by L_D_M
I've realised it's not much use trying to keep top-tier status on 9W and wanted to know what the alternatives are. The priority check-in counters are the one benefit I'd miss, since I nearly always have check-in baggage. I suppose I've been spoiled by the GVK lounge in BOM, but I hear the TFS one isn't half bad. And I guess the ability to pick extra legroom seats for free. Jet's upgrade vouchers are often as much of a stone around your neck as a genuine benefit.
I see only 2 benefits to earning miles on 9W - domestic redemption and status. But 9W's biggest drawbacks in my books are very poor redemption rates and that it isn't in any of the big 3 alliances.

We all have to sacrifice something in pursuit of miles & status. I put up with UA for 16 hour journeys - it's possibly the worst airlines to travel on - so that I can have great holidays with my family.

By TFS I assume you mean the domestic Travel Club lounge in T2. It's pretty decent but doesn't compare to GVK of course. The international PP lounge, while I haven't been to for a long time is quite ordinary and doesn't hold a candle to GVK International.

Don't some credit cards give status benefits on 9W? Or do you have to fly?
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Old Apr 13, 2018, 6:17 am
  #1403  
 
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Originally Posted by PiperAtGatesofDawn
By TFS I assume you mean the domestic Travel Club lounge in T2. It's pretty decent but doesn't compare to GVK of course. The international PP lounge, while I haven't been to for a long time is quite ordinary and doesn't hold a candle to GVK International.

Don't some credit cards give status benefits on 9W? Or do you have to fly?
Yeah, I meant the Travel Club place. Haven't ever been.

Think the HDFC Jet Diners one is the only card that gives status - 15 tier points when you first sign up, I think. I used that to get to Platinum a couple or so years ago. On renewal I think it's five tier points. I've swapped that card for a Diners Black since.
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Old Apr 13, 2018, 7:31 am
  #1404  
 
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Originally Posted by bigapple07
I agree, AI/9W do not offer the best value on miles redemption. I do have a co-branded card on which I accrue around 60-70k 9W miles annually.
Yups thought as much. You redeemed at around Rs 0.44 / mile.

As a comparison with any decent FFP program you can generally redeem domestic Y at that rate - Rs. 0.45 - Rs. 0.50. International Y around Re.1.00, International J around Rs. 2.00 - 2.50 and International F around Rs. 2.50.

So from your perspective since you redeem generally in domestic Y - you didn't really lose anything but at the same time you could have gained a little this time. So look at the glass how you will.

Originally Posted by bigapple07
That said, is there a way to accrue miles on Delta form co-brand cards/points transfer in India?
Nope. No card in India transfers to Delta AFAIK. And that can be a big limitation. You have to be able to accrue enough miles by just flying (miles don't expire on DL though). That's where one generally gets stuck.

Depending on your spending and earning patterns you might want to look at EY, VS and any of the Flying Blue programs for crediting Jet flights. Citibank, Amex and probably a few others transfer to these programs. I don't know how it will affect any of your accelerated earnings through a co-branded card though. I haven't seen the redemption charts lately but redemption opportunities will be much better than 9W for sure.

I'm assuming you don't like AI and UK is pointless to look at unless you're based in DEL.
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Old May 3, 2018, 3:47 am
  #1405  
 
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Wondering if anyone has had any luck in redeeming air india flying return miles on silk air ?
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Old May 3, 2018, 5:46 am
  #1406  
 
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Silk Air is not a Star member as such.. so I don't think it is possible.
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Old May 3, 2018, 7:44 am
  #1407  
 
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Originally Posted by deovrat
Silk Air is not a Star member as such.. so I don't think it is possible.
Since it's a part of SQ, was wondering if there's a possibility.

I did check with the Flying Returns help-line on couple of sectors that are serviced by Silk Air metal, but available as both Silk Air & Singapore Airline tickets..On one route he said there was no availability and the other one, he said it wasn't showing up on his system !
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Old May 3, 2018, 8:56 am
  #1408  
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Originally Posted by bigapple07
IThat said, is there a way to accrue miles on Delta form co-brand cards/points transfer in India?
Originally Posted by PiperAtGatesofDawn
Nope. No card in India transfers to Delta AFAIK. And that can be a big limitation. You have to be able to accrue enough miles by just flying (miles don't expire on DL though). That's where one generally gets stuck..
Slightly convoluted, but India Amex MR converts to SPG (3:1 ratio IIRC) and then you can convert SPG to Delta easily (and with a 25% bonus if you do it in chunks of 20k). Not sure how good/bad the conversion value is, but this is certainly a good option in a pinch if you need to top up your skymiles account for a specific redemption.
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Old May 3, 2018, 1:01 pm
  #1409  
 
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Originally Posted by AJLondon
Slightly convoluted, but India Amex MR converts to SPG (3:1 ratio IIRC) and then you can convert SPG to Delta easily (and with a 25% bonus if you do it in chunks of 20k). Not sure how good/bad the conversion value is, but this is certainly a good option in a pinch if you need to top up your skymiles account for a specific redemption.
That’s a interesting way to do this thanks AJ. Of course this should only be done if you need to top up your Skymiles account.

I think 1 MR point is ~ Rs. 1.8 or so. So 1 Skymile costs ~ Rs. 5.4? Is my math correct? That looks absurdly high.
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Old May 3, 2018, 2:33 pm
  #1410  
 
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Originally Posted by quarryking
Since it's a part of SQ, was wondering if there's a possibility.

I did check with the Flying Returns help-line on couple of sectors that are serviced by Silk Air metal, but available as both Silk Air & Singapore Airline tickets..On one route he said there was no availability and the other one, he said it wasn't showing up on his system !
Thats unlikely. SQ code shares even if they own the airlines will not show up for *A redemption. *A redemption has to be on *A metal. SQ flies a lot of the routes MI flies. Sometimes they alternate dates eg: SQ may fly M-W-F and MI may fly that same route T-Th-Sa-Su.
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