iXiGO9 Bonanza Super Winners

They came, they searched, they booked, and went home winners!! Recently concluded iXiGO9 Bonanza was a splendid success with our support team being flooded with redemption requests. And why not, on iXiGO.com, fliers not only got the best air fares, but also assured gift vouchers on every Jet Airways booking done after redirecting through iXiGO. Voucher values ranged from Rs 300 all the way upto Rs 2000.

Here is a partial list of our Super Winners (people who won more than Rs. 1000 for their air bookings). We wanted to list out all the winners, but then that would have run into hundreds of pages!! :-)

1. Sangam, Pune
2. Ramesh, Pune
3. Arun, Bangalore
4. Dhananjay, New Delhi
5. Subhash, New Mumbai
6. Mayank, Jaipur
7. Sehul, Mumbai
8. Sandipan, New Delhi
9. Nirmalya, New Delhi
10. Rohit, New Delhi
11. Shailajan, Pune
12. Vinayagam, Itarsi
13. Karthic, Mumbai
14. Rajesh, New Delhi
15. Nagaraja, Hyderabad
16. Anitha, Pune
17. Anup, Bangalore
20. Shaila, Bangalore
21. Arvind, Mumbai
22. Lee, Bangalore
23. Dheeraj, Mumbai
24. Anant, Balasore
25. Rajiv, Bhowanipur
26. Nitin, New Delhi
27. Sanjay, Guwahati
28. Sachin, Indore
29. Saji, Kochi
30. Dorab, Mumbai
31. Jairath, Chennai
32. Vandana, Ahmedabad
33. Chowdary, Itarsi
34. Pandey, Patna
35. Dinup, Pune
36. Anshuman, Bangalore
37. Mridula, Bangalore
38. Atul, New Delhi
39. Champa, Mumbai
40. Arunima, New Delhi

And the list goes on...!

Do check out Monsoon Madness and dive into the fun!

Planning a great bike trip - the dos and donts

Ever rode beast at speed so fast, that the world around turns into a vivid blur? There is nothing around but a vast stretch of barren land, ice covered mountain peaks or maybe the vast expanse of the sea on one side. Its like being the only one in the middle of a small barren universe. Complete Isolation. Oneness with the self. And then the wind, which was relentlessly lapping on to your face with undying fervor, mysteriously starts to talk...
Or wait.. is that GOD himself?

There are many people who go for bike trips all throughout the year. In fact even as I write this post or you read it, there will be thousands of people all around the globe taking their machines on some wonderful escapades. While the very idea of a bike trip sounds exciting to everyone, it requires a little bit of preparation in advance in order for it to be a thrilling, yet safe experience :)

Be as meticulous in your preparation as you can be. Here is the list of dos and donts that will be helpful if you are preparing for a bike trip somewhere.
Dos

• Try to book hotels in advance - If you book a hotel/accommodation before you start your journey, you avoid the last minute shock of finding no decent accommodation available. Or at least you can check out online if there are reasonable number of hotels available during your travel dates. If yes, then it might be safe enough to book upon arrival. And of course the best and cheapest hotel deals can be found at www.ixigo.com/hotels
  
• These things MUST be taken - Map, Water bottles, first aid kit, pain killers, torch, puncture repair kit, biscuits, glucose, phone numbers of police stations/hospitals on or near the route, rain coat(if you going to mountains esp.), ploybags to cover electronic devices/important stuff in case it rains, a wind cheater, camera
  
• A GPS device can come in handy and be cool as well
• Always keep a tab on the distance you have covered since the last petrol refill. Keep refilling the petrol tank to full capacity after traveling a good distance. You never know how distant the next petrol pump is. If you are driving on a stretch where there might be no petrol pump for 2-300 kms, then carry some fuel with you.
  

Donts

• Never ever ride without wearing helmet. I know you might be tempted to do that, but DON'T ever take off your helmet. A combination of a solid skull + safe thrill/fun is definitely better than a crushed skull bone any day
• Avoid traveling during nights. Generally in remote places/hills there are no street lights on the roads. Mountains are especially dangerous during nights. Even the truck guy is in a hurry to cover as much as he can during the night. And they are not the most careful/responsible drivers either . So in any case it is quite unsafe to ride during nights/ after sunset
  
• Do NOT drink while driving. While this might seem too preachy, it is perhaps the sanest thing you can do. Most of us tend to ignore commonsense over whims when our hearts cry out for cheap thrills. Resist this temptation at any cost
  

Making your trip awesome

• Estimate your expenses before-hand. Then carry 30% extra, just for the times of emergency or a sudden urge for being pampered :)
  
• Carry a camera. There will be a lot of "Kodak moments". From old dilapidated forts, to beautiful pine covered hills, the occasional chai shop, and or general horsing around. Be rest assured that you will have a range of memories that you will cherish.
• Take breaks. Go easy. You are not in an F1 race. The point is to enjoy your ride.

Once you are done with all this preparation and start on the journey, leave your office/girl/guy trouble, bitching landlord/landlady, abusive maidservant/manservant, nosy friends, nagging parents, taunting relatives and the overachieving cousins behind. It's time to unplug and be at peace.

We just launched our first audio visual

An in house production, late Saturday night with all iXiGEMs super charged to get out our first Audio Visual. We have hosted this on Youtube. Have a look and tell us what you think of our visual for India's biggest hotel search.

And when you are done, read about our main features of Hotels 2.0 - smarter, easier and faster.

Hotels 2.0- Presenting all the features.

If you have been keeping tabs on us you'll no doubt notice a new offering from us. We have rolled out the new and improved Hotels 2.0 feature. This revamps Hotels in a smarter, easier and faster way.

Let's look at some of the features we are offering here and how it would help you. You can click on the images to enlarge the images.

Hotel Description Boxes - If there's one thing that we think would be the most appealing to the user, it would be this. We have an improved design, lots of information and a better placement of descriptions and pictures. This is a new-age lightbox designed to be simple, sleek and sexy.


Hotel Reviews - With this feature you can now get to read all the reviews of the hotel before you book it. This is available on the bottom right corner of our new hotel description box.


City Map Views - This feature lets you locate and narrow down where exactly your hotel is on a detailed city map. We now show you key landmarks within the searched city displayed on the city map view.


Distance Filter - With this great filter you can now choose the distance of the hotel from the city center, airport, railway station or your desired address. You can now see all the other hotels located closest to the destination you choose. This gives you multiple selections within a certain radius.

Hotel Property Types - Now you can filter out hotels based on property types. So, if you want to see only hostels or guesthouses, just flick a few check-boxes and narrow down to the exact property you desire. And the rates are printed along side each filter. This is on the left bar.

Amenities - Search for whether the hotel you are searching should have the internet, a gym, a spa, a bar, a parking space and a swimming pool by just checking the features you want and unclicking the ones you don't. It's that simple!


Smart Bar - If you wanted quick options to print the hotel details, bookmark in your browser, expand to see the main map view or change the name of the hotel you are searching for, you can do all of that now with the smart bar. Easy to use, fun to click and very useful.



Go through all these features, click around and tell us what you think in our feedback. We would love to hear from you.

Happy searching,
The iXiGO team