Monthly Archives: October 2017

All Airberlin topbonus status match offers to oneworld alliance

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Airberlin’s last day as a oneworld member airline will be October 27, 2017. But it doesn’t mean your topbonus status has to be wasted.  There’re several status match opportunities with several oneworld airlines.

Iberia Plus status match

iberia plus status match

iberia plus status match

Currently the best oneworld status match offer. You can match topbonus Silver (oneworld Ruby) status to Iberia Plus Silver.

In case you have topbonus Gold or Platinum (oneworld Sapphire and Emerald) you can get Iberia Plus Gold (oneworld Sapphire).

You need to fill in the status match request document, which is in German, but… Google translate would help! Send it to ibpcampaign@iberia.es or clasica@iberia.es, including photos or screenshots of your current topbonus status.

The best part of Iberia Plus status match is that it’s not asking to do any flight challenges, so you can just receive the status and start using it immediately.

Finnair Plus status match and challenge

finnair plus status match

finnair plus status match

Finnair will only match topbonus members to Finnair Plus Silver (oneworld Ruby), irrespectively of having higher tier.

Reaching Finnair Gold status will require a Gold Challenge, which requires 40,000 tier points or 23 flights within 6 months. All details are available on Finnair status match webpage.

I got my status matched within 2 weeks after sending the required information to Finnair.

British Airways Executive Club status match + bonus Avios

 

BA Executive Club Silver

BA Executive Club Silver

British Airways, same as Finnair, is only matching to BA Bronze (oneworld Ruby).

 

If you are an existing Executive Club Member,  you need send an email at ABtieroffer@ba.com with your Executive Club membership details and attach evidence of your airberlin topbonus tier status by the 30 November.

If you are not an existing member, you will need to join first. You will also be eligible for an additional 4,500 Avios when you join before the 30th of November.

if you take 4 flights with British Airways before the 31 December 2017, you will receive additional 9,000 bonus Avios.

Full details are available at BA status match page

Royal Jordanian Airlines Royal Plus top-tier status match

Royal Jordanian status match

Royal Jordanian status match

Quite “exotic” status match from Royal Jordanian airlines. The offer is valid only for top-tier statuses (Gold and Platinum). The status match requires a flight with RJ to “activate” the status and member must achieve 20,000 miles within the first 12 months to keep the matched status, otherwise, the card level will be demoted.

Full details are available on Royal Jordanian status match page, This status match is only making sense if you have travel plans with RJ, which has quite nice business class.

Personally, I have already matched to Finnair Plus and plan on matching to Iberia Plus. I don’t see myself using RJ anytime soon. And in good, old-fashioned traditions, British Airways are offering close to a useless status match.

Which program would you choose?

Kaligo and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles promotion

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Kaligo.com is running a new promotion targeting Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer members.

During the promotion period from 1st of October until 30th of November, KrisFlyer members can earn 18 KrisFlyer miles per S$1 spent on every hotel booking with Kaligo.com. 

The hotel stay has to be completed by 30 June 2018.

it’s additional 50% more miles compared to regular earnings of 12 KrisFlyer miles per S$1 spent.

I’m already rebooking some of my hotels stays with this promotion, as I recently started to accumulate Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles for the First Class trip between Singapore and Hong Kong.

Don’t forget to book with a credit card that earns miles.  For example with new Miles and More Mastercard, you can make a double dip, earn both Singaporean KrisFlyer and Lufthansa Miles and More miles within one booking!

You’ll need to register for this offer at www.kaligo.com/krisflyer-offer.

 

Promotional Terms and Conditions:

  1. To enjoy this offer, please register for the offer with your email at http://link.kaligo.com/krisflyer-offer and place your hotel bookings with your registered email during the Promotion Period: 1 October 2017 and 30 November 2017 inclusive. The hotel stay has to be completed by 30 June, 2018.
  2. Both new and existing Kaligo customers are eligible to qualify for this bonus offer.
  3. Eligible KrisFlyer members will receive an extra 50% KrisFlyer miles on top of the regular KrisFlyer miles earned on Kaligo. The regular KrisFlyer miles refers to at least 2.3 KrisFlyer miles per S$1 (equivalent to at least 3 KrisFlyer miles per US$1) spent that KrisFlyer members could earn on Kaligo.
  4. Bookings made under this Promotion will not qualify for Kaligo Affiliate Program commissions.
  5. KrisFlyer miles will be credited to your account within 4-6 weeks after the completion of the required hotel stays.
  6. We reserve the right to retract awarded miles if we suspect fraud, unauthorised stacking of bonuses, collecting multiple bonuses from the same hotel stay (defined as the same travelling party staying consecutive nights at the same hotel), technical errors, cancel/rebooking activity (defined by identical search criteria), or any other deceptive behaviour attempted to circumvent the limits expressed in these terms and conditions.
  7. You cannot use these offers in conjunction with any other promotional offers or apply them to existing bookings or retroactively apply them to hotel stays completed prior to registration.
  8. Kaligo reserves the right to terminate this bonus offer at any time and without notice.
  9. In case of any disputes, KrisFlyer and Kaligo reserve the right to make the final judgment and the decision of KrisFlyer and Kaligo shall be final.
  10. Please read Kaligo’s general Terms and Conditions carefully as they apply to all hotel bookings made through Kaligo.
  11. KrisFlyer’s terms and conditions apply.
  12. Visitors arriving to Kaligo from meta-search sites will not qualify for this bonus offer.

Kuala Lumpur airport lounges review: Plaza Premium, SilverKris and Royal Silk

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During my latest Crazy Trip of September, I had a chance to visit two StarAlliance Gold and one PriorityPass lounge in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL or KLIA).

My flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo/Narita was departing at 7-00, so during check-in, I got an invitation to contracted lounge Plaza Premium, which is the only lounge working during the night.  Singapore Airlines SilverKris and Thai Airways Royal Silk lounges were both opening only at 6-00.

The amazing part is, all three lounges are within 1-minute walk from each other and next to smoking lounge! If you have a long stopover, you can do lounge hopping entire day ;)!

Plaza Premium Lounge in Kuala Lumpur

If you are travelling business class or have elite status with any of the following airlines, and your “native” alliance lounge is not working, you shall get the invitation ticket at the check-in counter.  I could also access Plaza Premium Lounge using PriorityPass that I got after receiving American Express Platinum card.

At 5-00, when I entered the lounge, it was quite empty and only a few passengers were napping there. Closer to 6-00, when most of the airlines start flying, the lounge became much busier.

There is a dedicated bar, which serves coffee and alcoholic drinks.

There is a price list for alcoholic drinks, but I was told to show my boarding pass and got it for free. Not sure who is required to pay, my guess would be PriorityPass users.

The food options were limited to the salad bar, some chicken sausages, fried noodles and omelette.  Next to the food station are fridges with soft drinks. There was also a separated “bread” station with bread, pastries and butter/jams.  A bit later there were sushi rolls available.

Each seat has several power outlets, which is usually one of the biggest deficits in many lounges. WI-FI was working good, but I would expect worse performance during busy hours.

Jumping ahead, I think Plaza Premium is one of the best lounge options at Kuala Lumpur Airport among the ones in the review.  It has the widest food selection and bigger sitting area, Surely, before it gets completely packed during busy hours due to many partners being served.

Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge at KLIA

The second lounge I visited at Kuala Lumpur Airport was Singapore Airlines SilverKris. To be frank, I always prefer SilverKris lounge in Asia, if there is one available, to any other StarAlliance lounge. Clearly, the lounge can be accessed by anyone flying Singapore Airlines business class or StarAlliance Gold members. SilverKris lounge opened precisely at 6-00 and is located 1-minute walk from Plaza Premium lounge.

There were some premade salads stored in the fridge, four options of warm dishes, some bread and pastry, alcohol bar and soft drinks.

SilverKris lounge had a fridge with a few bottles of white wine and red wine available next to heavy alcohol, which is my main food in lounges 😉

The lounge is the smallest one in the review, mostly providing high tables and just a few rows of chairs, but once again, no issue with power outlets or WI-FI connection.

Thai Airways Royal Silk lounge In Kuala Lumpur

The last lounge I managed to visit very quickly was Thai Airways Royal Silk lounge, which is located right opposite Plaza Premium. It’s a bit more spacious than SilverKris, seem to have more comfortable chairs, tables in front of you, rather than on a side,  and decent working area.

The food selection was exactly the same as in KrisFlyer lounge, so there is not much to discuss here. The beverage selection is the same minus any sort of wines.

Thai Airways lounge was completely empty, while KrisFlyer was already getting busy at the time of my visit.

Bottom line

If you travel with StarAlliance Gold and want to have a glass of wine, head directly to Singaporean KrisFlyer lounge. If you don’t care about it and want nicer sitting area, the choice is Royal Silk lounge. Food is equal in both lounges, but Thai seems to be a bit quieter.

If you can access Plaza Premium lounge – there you find a wider food selection, but it can get very crowded and noisy.

Overall, Kuala Lumpur KLIA airport is a heaven for lounge hoppers!