Travelogues

 These were the noticeable developments in travel from last week. 1. Priority Pass allows entry via credit cards This week I got notification from Priority Pass that I can now enter Priority Pass lounges with just my credit card. The notification was for my Capital One Venture X priority pass but OMAAT reports that even Chase Sapphire Reserve will be getting this benefit.  Priority Pass access by card email 2. Priority Pass adds limited access to 4 British Airways lounges in US Priority Pass members will now have limited access to British Airways lounges in Seattle, Newark, San Francisco and Washington. The timings are awful. For e.g. 5am to 10am for the Seattle lounge. It is more of a capacity use play here than anything else, as British Airways flights are not being served during these times. Something better than nothing I suppose. Although beware of the Amex lounge details page as it reports the wrong times currently. Beware of Amex Lounge timings for BA lounges From...

I am currently flush with so many spending offers from credit card companies that I am finding it difficult to track. I will list the offers that I have received so far and it might be worth while for you to check for them as well. 1. +1x on Chase Business Credit Cards on 5K spend, up to 3x [From 5/1-7/31] Enrollment Required?: Yes I am seeing this on my Chase Ink Cash and United Business credit cards making them effectively 2x everywhere and 6x in office stores for Chase Ink Cash which is as good as it gets outside of sign up offers. You need to spend exact multiple of 5000 USD to achieve that rate and you can do it up to 3 times. I think the way this offer is worded, even if you activate it late into the cycle, you will still get the extra points for all your expenses during that period. I got this offer in email, so look out for emails with title "Announcement: XXX, we're excited to offer you extra points on your business expenses". 2. Bank of America +2x on all spend ...

I recently flew Air India Business class from Vancouver to Delhi. In this post I review how I booked it and the details of the flight. Booking As described in my earlier post about Delta's IT fiasco, I had to book a Seattle to Delhi flight on short notice after Delta denied me boarding on a 7-month-old ticket. The options that Delta representatives offered me were poor in both terms of value and comfort - routing through Denver and London for instance and costing more than $2800 round trip for economy. I refused the offers with the best grimace I could offer in that situation. I next tried to find a good cash rate on Google Flights instead but none of the options looked appealing. I consider paying anything more than $800 for one-way in Economy to India and $1400 roundtrip as bad deals unless it's an emergency. What I ended up doing is booking via Aeroplan and that too in Business class.  I paid a total 85000 Aeroplan points + 46.20 Canadian Dollars (~$36) for the one-way ticke...

Good news for those seeking to travel to United States in the near future as USA on June 10th, 2022 lifted the testing requirement that had been in place since January, 2021 that required all those entering USA, including citizens and green card holders, to have a negative Covid-19 test.  The new order goes into effect starting June 12th, 2022 Eastern Time, so if you are on a flight arriving on Sunday anywhere in US, you no longer need to present a negative Covid-19 test. If you are a US citizen or green card holder, you no longer even have to show your proof of vaccination, whereas if you are a visitor you do need to show proof of vaccination before boarding. USA is dropping all Covid-19 testing requirements for entry The CDC requirement for entry was instituted in January 2021, when it required a test within 3 days prior to start of travel. It was made stringent in December, 2021 when the requirement was updated to have the test be conducted within 1 day of travel. The requireme...

I recently flew Air India's direct flight from Vancouver to Delhi and had a chance to try the lounges in the international terminal of the Vancouver airport. Vancouver airport's international terminal had the following lounges that were open and that were near the Air India gate: SkyTeam lounge, Plaza Premium Lounge, and Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge. There was also the Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge but it was closed. A walk-through Vancouver Airport crossing many lounges Of these I had been to the SkyTeam lounge before, so I tried the other two lounges on this visit. I summarize my experience from this and my last visit to these lounges below. 1. SkyTeam lounge     This is a nice lounge with hot food options that is accessible via Priority Pass. There are a number premium credit cards in US that come with some form of Priority Pass access, allowing you and some guests to visit these lounges. Last visited: Sep 2019 Access: Priority Pass Packaged food: Yes Hot food: Yes...