Chase Sapphire & Freedom Cards

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Tara

Although I don’t have an affiliate marketing relationship with Chase or any other banks, for a limited time they are allowing current card members to get a bonus by referring friends & family. Anyone who is interested in eco-tourism and birds is a friend of mine! This is what the offer you get by email looks like.

* Always check the Chase forum on FlyerTalk to see if any better offers are currently running.

And here is the email from the Freedom card.

This promo expires on 31 March so if you want to get the card in time so you can pass on your own referrals to your friends & family you should start pretty quick. If you would like to help me and this blog by letting me refer you, please send your full name & email privately.

This is what the credit app looks like when it loads.

Changi Transit Programme – Free Spending Money!

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Tara

Your transit experience in Singapore is now more rewarding. Redeem a S$40 Changi Dollar Voucher when you transit through Singapore, from now until 31 March 2014.

Who is eligible?

Singapore Airlines and SilkAir customers whose point of origin, as stated in their e-ticket, is one of the following countries:
Australia, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey or the United Kingdom.
Customers must be on transit through Singapore, which means that Singapore is neither the point of origin nor the end destination in the e-ticket. For example, a passenger whose itinerary is “Sydney – Singapore – Hong Kong” would be eligible, but a passenger whose itinerary is “Sydney – Singapore – Sydney” would not be eligible.
E-ticket numbers should also begin with 618 or 629, and both inbound and outbound flights must be on Singapore Airlines or SilkAir.
For passengers whose transit (through Singapore) itinerary was issued over two separate e-tickets, please present the two e-tickets to the iShopChangi Collection Centre located within the transit areas of Terminal 2 or 3. Please note that voucher redemption is subject to the terms and conditions stated below.

Where can I use the voucher?

Issued while stocks last, the vouchers are valid for:
A one-time use in retail, food and service outlets located at the transit and public areas of Terminals 1, 2 and 3*
A one-time access to the Ambassador Transit Lounge at Terminals 2 and 3 for up to six hoursLounge usage includes showers with basic toiletries, light refreshments, free flow of non-alcoholic beverages, local and international reading materials, as well as complimentary Wi-Fi

*Changi Dollar Vouchers are not accepted at the following outlets:
Transit area: all Cheers outlets, all 7-11 outlets, all money-changing counters, Hermès (Terminals 1, 2 & 3), the left baggage counters (Terminals 2 & 3), the SATS Rainforest Lounge (Terminal 1). Public area: all money-changing counters, all hotel reservation counters, all Avis and Hertz Car Rental counters, All M1 Shop outlets and counters, all Passenger Meeting Services counters, all Cold Storage & 7-11 outlets, all NTUC & Cheers outlets, Presto Drycleaners (Terminal 3). Arrival Baggage Claim Halls: all outlets.

Where do I collect the voucher?

To claim your S$40 Changi Dollar Voucher, simply produce your e-ticket containing your full itinerary and arrival boarding pass at the iShopChangi Collection Centres, which are situated near the GST Refund counters in the transit areas of both Terminals 2 and 3.
The iShopChangi Collections Centres are located near the transit GST refund counters, and are open for 24 hours.

Terms and conditions

Only effective for tickets issued on 01 October 2012 – 31 March 2014, both dates inclusive.
Only effective for transit passengers whose departure date from point of origin is between 01 January 2013 and 31 March 2014, both dates inclusive.
S$40 Changi Dollar Vouchers are valid from date of issue to 31 March 2014.
A S$40 Changi Dollar Voucher may only be claimed once for each ticket issued, either on the outgoing or the return leg of the itinerary.
Multiple vouchers may be used for payment.
Vouchers may not be used with ongoing in-store promotions.
Vouchers can be used in conjunction with Singapore Airlines Boarding Pass Privileges.

Kithulgala Resthouse – Easy Birding

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Tara

Sometimes you have to work hard to see the best birds. Other times you can just sit back, relax and let them come to you. Kithulgala Resthouse is like this. You can sit in the garden, on your own patio or on the balcony at the restaurant. Since we were pretty tired that first day, we enjoyed a relaxing day just birding the grounds and even got several Sri Lankan endemics, including the beautiful Layard’s Parakeet – albeit from a distance.

The White-throated Kingfisher was easily spotted with his bright blue back and kept us entertained as he caught insects for dinner and fished in the river. I don’t know if this is the same one or not but we never saw two together.

There were several Layard’s Parakeets flying over the river. They never came close enough for a good photo but at least we got to see them! It’s really hard to spot them amidst the foliage and zooming in only blurred them even more.

Alexandrine Parakeets were distinguishable by their larger size and longer tail even though they didn’t want to come any closer.

This Orange Minivet tried to hide from the camera but his bright colours gave him away.

Some Sri Lanka Wood Pigeons were hanging around near the restaurant.

The staff kindly came and got me during lunch when a pair of Sri Lanka Grey Hornbills was spotted in a tree in the front.

A Little Cormorant showing off.

Cute Red-vented Bulbul

Shy Sri Lanka Drongo………..and one not so shy.

Common Mynahs foraging.

Not sure about these, any help?

Last but not least, a squirrel.

Inside Birding: Behavior

Posted on February 15, 2014 by Tara

I recently discovered this series of “Inside Birding” videos on YouTube. In this one, they explain about how a bird’s behavior can help you identify it.

New Birding Guides In French Polynesia

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Tara

While gathering information for a future “bucket list” trip to the Marquesas to see the spectacular Ultramarine Lorikeet, and possibly also to Rimatara for Rimatara Lorikeets, I found this article in a pdf version of Air Tahiti’s magazine. Also see the MANU website.

This is excellent news as the birds could otherwise be difficult to find given the lush mountainous topography of these islands. The local guides would know where to find them.

There are very few airlines that get you to Tahiti on miles, only Air New Zealand (Star Alliance) and Air Tahiti Nui (non-alliance partner with American Airlines & Delta). You need a South Pacific award which falls into the same region as Australia in most cases.

Once you are there, you need to pay full price for the Air Tahiti flight as they don’t have any mileage options…………..and the flights are not cheap!

Layard’s Parakeet (Psittacula calthropae)

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Tara

The Layard’s Parakeet (Psittacula calthropae) aka Emerald-collard Parakeet is a parrot which is a resident endemic breeder in Sri Lanka. The common name of this bird commemorates the British naturalist Edgar Leopold Layard; his first wife, Barbara Anne Calthrop, whom he married in 1845, is commemorated in the specific epithet. In Sri Lanka, this bird is knowns as alu girawa අළු ගිරවා (ash-parrot) in Sinhala Language. This bird appears on a 50c Sri Lankan postal stamp

My photos of this stunning bird were blurry and at a distance so here’s a close-up from Wikipedia.

They are endemic to Sri Lanka and most easily seen (albeit from a distance) flying through the rainforest opposite the town of Kithulgala. I also got a brief glimpse of one flying overhead at Sinharaja. See the red dots below. Use a Central Asian award to get to Colombo, then take a taxi or bus.

Although they share the same habits as Alexandrine Parakeets, the Layard’s are smaller and have shorter tails. If you try to photograph them you will need all the zoom you can get and a steady hand.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PARROT

VIDEO

Sri Lanka For Birders & Gateway Colombo

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Tara

Sri Lanka is an amazing country for birds. Although small, it has a wide variety of habitats and over 435 species of birds can be seen here. Out of these, 235 are resident and33 of these are endemic. I would have liked to stay longer and explore a bit more but I was doing an impromptu award trip based on an amazing promo so I had to cut back to two birding hotspots – Kithulgala & Sinharaja.

DO YOU NEED A VISA?

Yes, most people do but fortunately this is a painless ETA procedure done online. Print it out and show it to the officers when you arrive. You can also get visas on arrival but I thought it was easiest to do it online and pay by credit card. It costs $30 except for citizens of SAARC countries who pay $15. You can get a 2 day transit visa for free at the airport. I can see this option becoming very popular with Sri Lankan Airlines joining One World for people doing RTW tickets! I would certainly do it and spend my 2 days in Kithulgala!

GETTING THERE

You can get here easily on a Central Asian award. Colombo has fewer airlines serving it than the main cities of India such as Delhi, Mumbai & Bangalore but there are still options for all alliances although One World dominates.

STAR ALLIANCE:

Thai Airways – Bangkok

Singapore Airlines – Singapore

ONE WORLD:

With Sri Lankan Airlines joining One World on 1 March 2014, this really opens up the country to awards. Remember, you can use British Airways Avios & American AAdvantage for good deals on award flights.

Sri-Lankan Airlines – Abu Dhabi, Bangalore, Bangkok, Chennai, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Jeddah, Karachi, Kochi, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London, Maldives, Moscow, Mumbai, Muscat, New Delhi, Paris, Riyadh, Rome, Singapore, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirappalli, Tokyo

Cathay Pacific – Bangkok, Hong Kong

Malaysian – Kuala Lumpur

Qatar – Doha

SKYTEAM:

Korean – Seoul

Saudia – Jeddah, Riyadh

China Eastern – Kunming

NON-ALLIANCE (Bookable with miles):

Etihad – Abu Dhabi (AA Partner)

Emirates – Dubai, Maldives, Singapore (Qantas partner)

WHERE TO STAY ON POINTS

The bad news? Very few chain hotels here so few opportunities to use points.

HILTON – Colombo Hilton & Colombo Hilton Residence – both at 40,000 points.

WYNDHAM – Ramada Katunayake Airport – 8000 points

The good news? Kithulgala is 2 hours away by taxi via a non-trafficky road so it’s pretty much just as quick to stay there rather than the city where you can take almost an hour just to get there from the airport! Most flights seem to leave in the late evening or at night so you probably won’t need a layover in Colombo unless you especially want one, in which case I would just use Pointshound to find a good hotel. Our flight arrived at 2:30am so by the time we finished the formalities we were out by 3:00. I don’t like traveling at night so we waited until almost 5am and took a taxi to Kithulgala. Everyone you see here is either waiting for a flight or waiting for their ride. The kiosks in the rear are taxi companies.

GETTING AROUND

Many tourists like to hire a car & driver for the duration of the trip. Since our itinerary didn’t really require a car at the destinations (to drive to temples, cultural sights, markets, etc) it would have been a waste of money and I was really not comfortable with having an “employee” with us all the time and being responsible for him. We used a taxi for the first leg, Colombo Airport to Kithulgala for a negotiated rate of 6500 rupees, then used buses after that. The official taxi rates are here but because of the competition you can usually bargain with some of the operators. The scenery enroute is gorgeous!

The first bird I saw in Sri Lanka was a Common Mynah.

A couple towns we passed through.

Entering the Kithulgala Resthouse.

Our taxi driver and car dropping us at Kithulgala Resthouse.

Buses are dirt cheap for Western tourists, I don’t think a single one was over $5. They are slow though so allow plenty of time for your transfer or do it around mid-day when the birds are having a siesta!

WHERE THE BIRDS ARE

There are several excellent places for birding in Sri Lanka. I have highlighted a few on this map. I wasn’t able to get to Yala but I will be blogging about Kithulgala and Sinharaja in more detail in due time.

Birding Rally Challenge 2013

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Tara

Since we have the Olympics going on at this time I thought it might be fun to see if birding would make a good Olympic sport. I blogged about this Birding Rally Challenge last year so it’s nice to see how it turned out. Birding Adventures followed one team as they logged as many birds as possible. You’ll notice that they flew on One World member LAN for domestic sectors which is an excellent use of British Airways Avios at 4500 miles per sector. Would you like to take up the challenge? Start at the gateway of Lima and grab a North-South America award!

A Shivalik Monsoon

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Tara

If you have enjoyed this series about birding in Southern India, I hope this well-made documentary about the birds of India will further entice you to make a visit. There is some superb footage of a breeding pair of Paradise Flycatchers and their chicks!

SpiceJet – India’s Low Cost Carrier With Great Service

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Tara

I had originally planned this adventure for sometime in 2015 at which time Sri Lankan Airlines would have been a One World member so I could have gotten the Bangalore – Colombo route for 4500 Avios. Since I brought the trip forward, I would have to buy tickets since I couldn’t use miles for this route.

After checking all the local airlines, SpiceJet came in the cheapest but we would have to transfer in Chennai.

You can easily book this ticket online and pay with a foreign credit card – unlike buses & trains which require you to jump through hoops!

The YQ is way more than the base fare but I couldn’t find a way to fuel dump it!

Since the entire ticket only comes to around $85 I wasn’t going to lose sleep over it!

The one drawback was a 5 hour layover in Chennai from 7pm – 1am and there is nothing near the airport to do at that time of night. The aircraft is a smaller one and our carry-on backpacks barely fit in the overheads which was annoying but no one challenged us or made us gate check them.

The one advantage was that the seats were 2 x 2 so we didn’t have to share a bank of 3 with a stranger. The crew were very friendly and a snack and soft drink were offered to everyone. Of course you can’t compare to Singapore or Cathay Pacific but for a low-cost carrier, I thought they were pretty good! Both legs departed and arrived right on time.

Laying over in Chennai was a pita. There was nothing to do but sit and wait. I did have some Kindle books on my netbook, my husband people-watched and dozed off. They won’t let you check in until 3 hours before the flight. Chennai does have some nice artwork in the terminal.

These little shuttle carts will take you from the arrivals terminal to international departures for free but they do expect a tip.

For once I was hoping for a delay as I really didn’t like arriving in Colombo at 2:20am but the flight was right on time! Since we had only carry-ons we were off the plane in no time waving goodbye to the friendly crew!

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