In the last few years much of my travel has been to France. The preferred airline quiet naturally started with AirFrance with its direct Paris flights. Along the way fares increased and Emirates emerged as the next option. I also got the SCB Emirates Platinum credit card that earns Emirates miles on credit card spends […]
Archive
Vacation surprise for the family to The Leela in Kovalam, Kerala
I wanted to surprise my better half with an awesome travel experience. It had to be short, luxurious & relaxing. In summers, coastal India is considered off-season. Hence an ideal time to experience those aspirational resorts at reasonable rates. These go at some insane prices at other times of the year. The Leela, Kovalam turned out […]
Avoiding early-mover’s curse in hotel bookings – How to catch the last-minute deals
Book early, save more. 90/60/30 day advance booking rates. Most of us are familiar with such offers to sweeten our hotel and resort bookings. Strange are the ways of dynamic pricing + occupancy rate targets + unknown factors, one could be a victim of early-mover’s curse i.e a well-planned booking made in advance turns expensive […]
Earn 5000 miles for a one night hotel booking
New avenues to earn frequent flyer miles (and even bitcoins) have emerged with PointsHound & RocketMiles. Both the services are just like the other hotel booking engines with the added benefit of earning miles for the booking. This is in addition to the usual point earnings from the hotel for the stay. RocketMiles has been […]
Getting to & back the Bangalore airport
The Bangalore airport (officially called Kempegowda International Airport, named after the founder of Bangalore) opened in 2005 and located about 40kms from the city centre. It is the only commercial airport of Bangalore. The old city airport is only used for testing & defense purposes (probably also for private planes. When I own one, I […]
How to earn air miles, bitcoins and cash back for booking hotels, not only staying
It is a funny world out there. Besides earning loyalty program points for staying in hotels, it is also possible to earn airline miles, bitcoins or a cash back for just booking a hotel. Here’s how… Earn airline miles for booking a hotel: PointsHound & RocketMiles Both are like any other hotel booking services, just […]
From a low in August 2013 to lifetime high in March 2014: What changed in 6 months?
On 28th August 2013, the Sensex closed below 18000 and the Nifty at 5285. Headlines in popular media went something like this: – Sensex recovers after morning crash, ends 28 points higher, The Hindu – Sensex drops over 500 points, Nifty slips below 5,150, The Economic Times As always, when markets are down, most of […]
Short take on long distance air travel
Long distance air travel is a mixed bag experience. As much as it confuses the body clock and tires the muscles, it also brings along a few unique thrills, memorable experiences and new ideas An empty next seat :D Free upgrades :O (Those booked in first class have no such hope, sorry guys ;) A […]
Days in Spain/Catalonia: Happy bartenders of Barcelona
One of the positives of solo travel- one has no choice but to watch others! Especially in vibrant cities like the one am in now, Barcelona. It is a insightful and fun experience. Last evening at La Pizza Del Born (If one thinks the best pizzas are always thin crust, this place will change that […]
Days in France: Random train of thoughts
————————————————————- This was written on July 2013!!! ————————————————————- The world was seen in just 2 – India and Foreign! It does seem lame and dumb but this was the belief as a young boy. That was an era of postal letters, telegram, (that died recently in India) and newspapers. No internet, no mobiles, one channel […]
Dubai: A few hours in the desert city
————————————————————- This was written on 26th April 2012!!! ————————————————————- Flying by Emirates, it is hard not to plan a stop over in Dubai, a showcase of how big money coupled with a grand vision could create a mystique that man would yearn to experience discounting the odds of nature. If not for the creation of an […]
Free Reminder! If not now, when?
All the “learned” market analysts, brokers, media is telling us not to invest in equity now! If not now, when? “The time of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy and the time of maximum optimism is the best time to sell.” – John Templeton “The most common cause of low prices is pessimism. […]