April Roundup at Points of Arabia
April 2019 was only the third month in the life of this blog. It was very eventful.
Hotels
The focus for this month was hotels and loyalty programs in Middle East. I had covered three loyalty programs which many readers may not have come across
There were some great deals on hotels (many have expired since). Preferred hotels offered upto 50% cashback, Wyndham had 30% discount and you could earn triple miles on your stays in AccorHotels and Jumeirah hotels.
Sadly, two Marriott properties I have stayed in have shut. They were Sheraton Charles Square in Prague and JW Marriott Deira in Dubai.
Airlines
While we are on the topic of shutting down, Jet Airways – once India’s largest airline – stopped operations due to lack of funding. Although, its loyalty program, JetPrivilege continues to function. Etihad – the majority owner of JetPrivilege – allowed members to redeem their miles on other airlines. However, the value obtained is questionable.
Etihad was in news for other reasons as well. It launched its ‘Fully-Customizable Economy Experience‘ with two major changes – doing away with screens and introducing buy-on-board concept for food. Etihad operated the first single-use plastic free flight. It made some interesting choices which you must read about.
Etihad also announced a free 2-night hotel stay when you transit through Abu Dhabi. There are some good hotels in the list.
Emirates was even more active in making announcements. There were agreements with AWA for West Africa and SpiceJet for India. Emirates also announced the arrival of 4K screens.
I just cannot get over the fact that there were no Emirates tickets available (in Economy) for 13 Days on the DXB-LHR route.
Personal Finance (UAE)
In April, I discussed one of the most important topics for expatriates in UAE – remittance options. UAE Exchange – one of the largest exchange houses – had a great deal through which you could get cashback on your remittances.
I also reviewed Citi Prestige credit card – the newest entrant in my credit card portfolio.
This is an area I want to write more in future.
BOTTOMLINE
I would like to thank everyone who read these posts. I would also love to hear more from you on the topics you would like us to cover.
In May, I plan to focus on the following
- Best hotel deals for Ramadan. Some of these are incredibly cheap!
- Dissecting my credit card portfolio further
- Summer travel out of Middle East
Keep reading.
We are looking for more content providers. If you love travelling, taking pictures and writing about your experience, please get in touch.
