Air India Officially Joins Star Alliance

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Tara

Air India has finally joined Star Alliance!

This is great news for eco-travelers as India has some amazing places to see birds in the wild! I’ve been to Coorg, Kerala, Wayanad (accessible from Bangalore) and Bharatpur near Jaipur, Agra & Delhi. You will also have more flight options to Sri Lanka using Star Alliance partners where more beautiful endemic birds await! See my guide on getting to India and Central Asia for more information on how many miles you need.

The domestic route possibilities are very interesting, especially when you consider how large India is and how difficult it is for a foreigner to book train tickets without an Indian mobile phone! These routes haven’t been loaded into United’s booking engine yet so I can’t wait to see what they price out at!

If you live in India and want to learn about possible credit card deals specific to Indians, Live From A Lounge can help you. The blogger lives in Mumbai and is familiar with the Indian frequent flier mile scene.

50% Off Sale – Various Airlines In India

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Tara

If you’ve been reading my recent series on birding in Coorg or my series last year on birding in Kerala and are inspired to make your own trip you are in luck! 3 of India’s airlines are offering 50% off sales. They had a similar sale last year too. Use your miles to get to India, then pick up on some of these bargain domestic routes!

SpiceJet

IndiGo

Go Air

HT: Live From A Lounge

If you are going to Delhi, why not tag on a visit to Bangalore, then to Coorg?

Or combine Bollywood glamour with dazzling birds in Kerala!

Air India Joining Star Alliance Soon

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Tara

The Indian national carrier was originally accepted as a future member of Star Alliance in December 2007, but the integration process was halted in July 2011. The suspension was a joint decision which allowed Air India to focus on completing its merger with Indian Airlines, without the distraction of the work required for full integration into the Star Alliance network.

With India being a country that boasts many fantastic national parks and eco-tourism ventures, this is great news! It’s also great news for Indians who are seeking more airline miles opportunities for their own travel plans and want to use a local credit card to earn miles.

A date has not been confirmed yet but the full story is here.

I just got back from a birding trip to India & Sri Lanka which I will be blogging about in the New Year.

Air India website

Domestic Routes

International Routes

If you live in India, you may wish to investigate the ways they have to earn frequent flyer miles. I see 2 co-branded credit cards and various other partners.

Live from a Lounge is a blog based in India and has more detailed information on Air India along with a free 1000 miles promo link to join Air India’s program.

Mileage Earning Credit Cards – Asia, Latin America, Middle East And Africa Edition

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Tara

There are probably locally based blogs for these areas which would cover how to earn miles from credit card sign up bonuses so what I will do here is create a reference for the major airlines so you can see who partners with what bank, then Google for a local blog that tracks special offers on these cards. No matter which country you live in, always check with American Express as they have the Membership Rewards program available in most countries but the partners vary widely.

A good rule of thumb no matter where you live is to sign up for your local airline’s program (preferably one in Star Alliance or One World) to get credit card miles and any possible points from everyday living such as shopping, phone, internet, petrol, insurance, etc. While you are looking at the credit card pages I linked below, always check for any other “everyday” promos.

Then join the 5 main programs I recommend for eco-tourists as I will be concentrating on these when I post special promos. These programs have the best redemption levels to places where people usually want to go birding and offer the best promos throughout the year.

ASIA

Asians will have a lot of choices as it seems that the main Asian based airlines have partners not only in all Asian countries but some have partners in Australia and the USA as well. The links below will take you to the airline’s credit card page. Also check on FlyerTalk in the airline’s forum as people will usually post any new signup bonuses there. This blogger specifically caters to Indians with mileage earning credit cards and he would be more familiar with that market.