Jet Airways - New Service to Colombo, Sri Lanka

Jet Airways will launch a new service between Mumbai and Colombo starting on the 5th November 2010.  The flights will be daily and brilliant for those connecting out of other cities such as Johannesburg.  Previously Emirates owned the route but I see Jet Airways closing all of Emirates niche markets soon.

Onboard Jet Airways is fairly decent, entertainment is good but legroom a little dodgy.  Otherwise good value for money.

One last thing, SAA and Jet Airways are partner Airlines, unfortunately you cannot redeem miles on a Jet Airways flight out of Africa on SAA Voyager Miles.



Hotel Review: Holiday Inn Bangkok (Ploenchit Road)

Exterior of the Hotel

Lobby

Superior room

The Holiday Inn Bangkok is suprisingly luxurious and modern.  The interior is warm and welcoming.  Staff are very enthusiastic and always willing to assist.  The rooms are spacious and very comfortable.  After an 18hour flight, the bed was so good:)  LCD tv's in every room with a good array of channels.  Breakfast was divine, enjoyed the food thoroughly.

Its located on Ploenchit Road which has an overhead tram service.  Its brilliant to get around Bangkok.  The stations are simple and cost effective.  Ploenchit Road also hosts the Siam Paraggon mall and other high end brand retailers along the road.  The Intercontinental is situated on the same property.  A little pricey though.

Across the road, theres a Starbucks and Mcdonalds just in case you dont like the local food.  All in all an exceptional experience.

The hotel comes in at $100 per night.  Outstanding price and quality.  I would call it a 4 star hotel anyday.

Emirates Airline online Visa Application Service (VFS Global)



I just booked an Emirates Airline flight and was excited at the fact that I can now apply for my visa via the emirates.com booking portal for Dubai since I was going to be in transit.  So I scanned all the documents into my computer and uploaded it as requested like the passport copy, proof of address and pasport picture.  Then I paid for the visa + an additional security deposit.

I got an email a few hours later asking for all visas to the Europe and USA and if I was ever declined entry to the above.  I mean really, wtf does this have to do with Dubai?  So I reply with all the info and then I get an email asking for proof of an investment of $8000 or more.  Are these guys for real??

Sent them the investment details and the application is still pending after travelling to Dubai 5 times previously without a hitch.  I then find out Emirates outsourced the Visa Application process to VFS Global who is based in INDIA.  What a whirlwind frustrating, annoying, irratating experience.  My advice is to book with a travel agent for your visas. DO NOT USE THE ONLINE SERVICE, take my word for it....

Saudi Arabian Airlines will fly direct flights between Jeddah and Johannesburg starting December 2010.  Only problem is that the bulk of the passengers are pilgrims to Saudi and the Saudi Arabian government has decided not to offer South African's visas during the holiday period (Dec / Jan).  So my question to Saudi Airlines is, who will flying on your airline if you are not issuing visas??

Priority Club - New Point Breaks released

The new Priority Club pointbreaks have been released.  Rush to priorityclub.com to make a booking between 7th October 2010 and 31st December 2010.  Some lovely hotels up on offer.  For just 5000 points per night, this is the best value for money offer by any hotel group worldwide!!!

SAA Voyager is One Useless Excuse for a Frequent Flyer Programme

SAA Voyager has to be the most useless frequent flyer programme that exists:

1.  Very limited flight options.

2.  No miles sharing between members or even family members.

3.  Can only be redeemed for one resort, health spas and car hire.  REALLY???

4.  Whenever you want to travel the damn flights are always booked upto 1 year in advance.

5.  The taxes are so high, you rather just buy the ticket from another airline cheaper.

So I have to ask myself again, why the hell do I have SAA Voyager??  The Emirates skywards programme is amazing.  Since moving over to them as a loyal frequent flyer I am amazed at the options and felxibility.  SAA is in serious need of educated people to help them forward...

SAA Cuts Durban - Cape Town Route

So we have been hearing and constantly reminded about the good fortune of hosting the World Cup.  I personally have yet to see any effect to the contrary actually.

For one, the tourist trade must be non existant for SAA (South Africa Airways) to cut the route altogether as of 1st November 2010.  We now have to fly on a low cost airline between the 2 cities.  Some might argue that this cost cutting measure might be beneficial to South Africa as there might be less likelyhood of a government bailout again.  For a national carrier to cut flights between 2 of the lagest cities in the country is just pathetic!!

 image via: Southafrica.to

Blog back in action

Hi There,

After months of not posting any info, we have received lots of emails to restart the blog.  Thats exactly what I intend doing.  Keep checking back for more news, tips and all travel related info.

In the interim, enjoy the 2010 World Cup in SA wooooooooowwwwwwwww.

Regards
Jet

Pointbreak points are flexible..

We recently made a reservation using our Priority Club points.  Unfortunately we couldnt make it to the destination and cancelled the booking 3 weeks prior to arrival.  We then contacted Priority Club customer support with reference to the redemption manual and asked them to re-instate the points.

Points have been re-instated. So if you booking a pointbreak special for 5000 points also, remember you can cancel without been subject to penalties.  Send us and email if you having a problem and we'll try and assist.

Planning to go to Johannesburg this December ?

Johannesburg is a bustling city, but during the month of December most residents prefer to go the coastal regions such as Durban and Cape Town.  This makes the hotels in Johannesburg cheaper in December than other periods. 

May I suggest you take advantage and stay in top class hotels such as the Incontinental Sandton Towers for very low rates (+-$100) which are otherwise impossible to secure and simply enjoy the luxuries that life has to offer.

Hyatt Offer - 50% off the third night...

Stay 3 nights at Hyatt Summerfield Suites™ and you'll get even more out of your holidays. When you stay two nights at the Hyatt Daily Rate between November 20th and January 3rd, you'll receive 50% off the third consecutive night

Well this is probably the best of the Hyatt offers currently available and its offered during the peak season.  They also have a free blackberry smartphone offer which is crap and doesnt make sense.  Its like taking out a 24 month contract plan with your current service provider, so why is Hyatt involved again?

Consolidate all your Points and Miles Now...

If you one of those people that love collecting miles and points from various stores and service providers then this is the site for you.  You somtimes loose track of all the promotions etc so now you can consolidate it with points.com.  I use the site which is free to signup + you can sell, swap, merge and do just about anything with a wide range of partners.

Hotel Review - One World Hotel Kuala Lampur, Malaysia

One World Hotel - Malaysia (Superior Room)

One World Hotel - Malaysia (Restaurant)



One World Hotel - Malaysia (Lobby)



This week we stayed at the One World Hotel in Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia.  The hotel is rather popular for conferences but an excellent choice for leisure travel no doubt.  The standard is high, with modern and clean rooms.  Service is on on par with the 5 star rating it has.  Although I dont normally travel to hotels that dont belong to an international consortium, I find this hotel somehwhat charming and alluring.  Good value for money and easy access to shopping centres and tourist attractions.  Everybody has a different experience but I can safely say that I will visit again...

Average Price per Deluxe Room per night is MYR325 ($96).

Le Meridien Offer - 10 hours left

Sorry for the late info, book participating Starwood Hotels in the next 10 hours for validity until January 18, 2010 and you will receive up to 50% off the rack rate.  Sounds pretty good to me so if you planning your December holiday, then dont miss out.

Heres the link

Update: Sale has just been extended to November 17, due to lack of bookings popular demand, Enjoy:)

Emirates Skywards - Frequent Flyer changes from 01/01/2010

If you are a skywards member, I suggest you take heed of the new changes.  For those of you that make the most out of your miles, beware because its going to get a little harder to get things for free.

The biggest change is the number of miles granted per sector is based on the fare that you pay.  Although Emirates is one of the last to introduce this approach, it what kept them popular.

Emirates are making too many mistakes for a magnificent brand, they should rather look at why customers are loyal as oppose to how much more many they can make. 

Look at their new skywards changes here

Etihad Airways - Airbus Crash Pics Leak

Etihad Airways ordered a new Airbus 340-600 passenger jet, which was ready for collection in Toulouse, France.  The Etihad cre which were flown in from Abu Dhabi for the inaugural flight were a bunch of idiots.  They apparently disable an alarm that kept triggering due to a full throttle on an empty aircraft via the circuit breaker on the Ground Proximity Sensor.  The airbus new safety feature proved too annoying for them but the aircraft then activated as an inflight mode thinking it is airborne.  The computers released all the brakes and there goes $200 million into a retaining wall...

The pictures of this unfortunate incident were never really released into the mainstream media.  We bring you the leaked pictures exclusively...

Durban Airport Customs - Emirates Flight

Emirates Airline launced a new route to Durban, South Africa from the 1st October 2009.  This new service has proven to be very convenient except flights are not very full.  Well Emirates people, let me tell you why:

1.  Emirates is using an old aircraft and an entertainment system that is substandard, not the usual ice entertainment.

2.  The business class passengers are flying economy as the business class comfort certainly does not warrant the fare. The seats are cramped and once again substandard due to the old aircraft.

3.  And heres the biggest problem of all.  Durban Airport Customs are searching through bags for upto an hour after the flight has landed looking for ways and means of making extra money, hence passengers rather fly through Johannesburg (especially locals).

Thats all im going to say right now.  You better up your game Emirates or you will flying out of Durban Airport faster than you arrived. 

PS. For those that dont know, Emirates flies out of Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town with a total of 5 flights a day.  Gearing up for the world cup I suppose...

Space Hotel to open in 2012

The 1st hotel in space is going to open its vacuum filled doors in 2012.  Guests will be able to see the sun rise 15 times a day and travel around the world every 80 minutes. 

So out of 200 interest parties, 43 people have signed up.  Yes its true.  The cost of a ride on Virgin Galactic is $250000 excl. hotel accomodation.

Virgin Galactic is offering their own package if you not too keen on the hotel idea.  They will offer a trip which takes approx 3 days to return to earth.  They have already received monies from 300 people for their flights which can accomodate 4 guests at a time. 

Image Via [Galactic Suite]

EXCLUSIVE PICS - Cape Town Greenpoint 2010 Stadium

Once again we bring you exclusive pics of the stadiums built for use during the world cup in South Africa next year. The above pics are of the new Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town.  This stadium is truly world class and probably better than most available in Europe.  Because of the recent load-shedding and power problems faced by Eskom, the authorities have come up with a back up plan to ensure the smooth running of all world cup matches. 

Greenpoint is also known for its trendy restaurants and close proximity to the V&A Waterfront which was also recently acquired by the Dubai World group of companies.  If you going for the 2010 Fifa World Cup then make sure you visit Cape Town for atleast 1 game.

Bulletproof vests for German Soccer Team during 2010 Fifa World Cup

It has been reported by a German newspaper that their national soccer team should have bulletproof vests and armoured vehicles if they venture out of the capital, Pretoria during the World Cup next year..  What kind of bullshit is this??  Did players in the ICC cricket cup wear bulletproof vests or the Rugby world cup or even the IPL cricket series.  Oh I forgot, the German's dont play these sports.  The asswipe that fueled the story is linked to a german based security firm that wants to tended to provide security during this period, although he now apologises for his unfounded statements.  Maybe he was still drunk from the Oktoberfest....