Air India Flying Returns Program Information

[desaik231]

Hello Guys,
Can any one points to the good source material / video other than air indian website to understand their Flying returns profram and also best cards to maximise the benifits?

 

[tsj49]

Check out Air India SBI Signature and Platinum card.

 

[desaik231]

Check out Air India SBI Signature and Platinum card.

thanks mate. Bt any simple explanation of their program? on website its just very complicated to understand anything at all

 

[theglobalinvestor]

AI is a very poor program per my assessment a few months ago. Better to go with a different star alliance member like Turkish etc. Unless you will be flying AI extensively. I chose Asiana for my needs.

 

[catcat]

Would anyone know what's the "hold period" for a flying returns booking with miles? What I mean by this is the following: I want to go from A to B, I tried to book using miles on the portal, ticket was available, I entered more details, and then page timed out. Now, when I try to book, its showing not available.
Just to test this, I tried to book tickets from C to D (4 tickets available). I closed the tab. Now, I see that 3 tickets are available.

I know this is a very nuanced question, but I wouldn't be posting here if the knowledge level of the folks here weren't extraordinary!

 

[catcat]

Update: Appears to be 3-4 hours, from observation. Expected AI to be smarter than this.

 

[rutgersbach]

Update: Appears to be 3-4 hours, from observation. Expected AI to be smarter than this.

That's actually a sound decision from a technical pov as an engineer we want to make sure that the ticket has actually not been booked. Yes the reason detection should be better and only delay by 3 hours if it's actually required like by payment processors

 

[catcat]

That's actually a sound decision from a technical pov as an engineer we want to make sure that the ticket has actually not been booked. Yes the reason detection should be better and only delay by 3 hours if it's actually required like by payment processors

Not really. The right thing would be to book the ticket once the payment is confirmed. And in case no ticket is available after payment (because someone else has booked it), then reverse the payment. That's how irctc does it. Thats how I've done it when there's a fixed resource (e.g fixed # of coupons). Not difficult.

 

[Arosaurabh]

@sankar7000 @Tejas @CARDBITRAGE @sadhunath I have just received a message from Flying Returns that 961 points are expiring on 31st Dec, What is the best way to extend/ transfer or redeem these points if there are no travel plans before 31st Dec.

 

[CARDBITRAGE]

@sankar7000 @Tejas @CARDBITRAGE @sadhunath I have just received a message from Flying Returns that 961 points are expiring on 31st Dec, What is the best way to extend/ transfer or redeem these points if there are no travel plans before 31st Dec.

The miles can be reinstated in exchange of a certain fee/mile once it expires, but I’m not sure it is worth it considering the poor redemption value of Flying Returns. Also, I don’t think you can extend the miles preemptively.

 

[Arosaurabh]

The miles can be reinstated in exchange of a certain fee/mile once it expires, but I’m not sure it is worth it considering the poor redemption value of Flying Returns. Also, I don’t think you can extend the miles preemptively.

@CARDBITRAGE Yes have realized Flying returns is not that attractive FFP unless, but always enjoyed full service features for domestic flights, if you keep Vistara aside.