This is the one thing that Wataniya Airways have been missing and its a frequent flyer program, now they have finally launched their service I was looking at the details. They have really put an effort into catering this frequent flyer program to the families in the Middle East, you can register up to 8 family members including 2 domestic servants, and managing the account as head of the family for all the members so you can share your awarded miles and tickets between each other.
Purple:
You get this when you sign up!
Silver:
Automatically recieveds a 25% extra on all mileage when booking your tickets with this level
Priority Check-In @ First Class Counters
Access to First Class Lounge
Gold:
Automatically recieveds a 50% extra on all mileage when booking your tickets with this level
Priority Check-In @ First Class Counters
Access to First Class Lounge + 1 Guest
Guaranteed seat in Economy even if the flight is full and you book it 72 hours before the flight
Bonus Mileage:
50% extra miles with Premium Economy Flexible
150% extra miles with First Class
200% extra miles with First Class Flexible
You can get your Gold or Silver membership for a long time if you keep it for over three consecutive years at that level.
I think this is a fantastic program, really giving out rewards and making sure that people have different ways to benefit from the rewards program and see some results from it. I already signed up for it, and it was very easy, now I’m signing up the rest of the family.
Casting Call:
Date: Wednesday 18th November 2009
Time:5pm to 9 pm
Location: Bayt Lothan
For those who are good with trivia, gameplay and other types of active gaming then you should try out for this event. 5 friends or siblings can participate, the details are listed above so if you are up for a challenge then you should check it out. The show has been picked up by Al Watan TV with more details on my previous Ken-Niz post, I still want to see what games they have planned out for Kuwait.
Got an email last week about some sort of screening to take place about a game show, it was a pilot episode of Ken-Niz which is a treasure hunt type show across Kuwait between two teams. The people involved in the show were very enthusiastic, the meeting spot was at Plaza Starbucks, then we were taken to screening room of EVMG which is an independent production company.
They were very enthusiastic, there were other bloggers there and a few people who were there. I went Thursday around 5:00 pm, right after work so I wanted to see what this was all about.
The show was a lot of fun, it was a little rough around the edges, but independently put together by an all Kuwaiti team, including the people working on the show, the editors, producers, pretty much everyone and that really impressed me. They asked us to be brutal with the commentary, we had our comments but everyone pretty much enjoyed the show and it turns out that they made it over two years ago and it took this long to get it into full swing and it has been picked up by Al Wattan TV.
Now they are looking for participants, teams of 5, a group of 5 friends, 5 siblings, a family of 5, people who could work together to win the competition and those who win go to the next episode and more and more prizes to get with an interesting story line. Since the show has been picked up by Al Watan TV it is set to air March of 2010, I know I want to check it out and see how they plan out these treasure hunts.
Casting Call:
Date: Wednesday 18th November 2009
Time:5pm to 9 pm
Location: Bayt Lothan
There are a few cars that girls like and this one tops the list, most first cars that girls purchase out of college or during collage even is a Range Rover. I’m not exactly sure as to the reason why girls love this car, but they do some damage with it when they driving since it is a big car and some throw it around. Every girl has found the right spot for her make up or bag inside the car with lots of space, and some girls do look good in the car. I still don’t understand the relationship between women and this car, its as if its the automatic first choice for most girls. I’m not a fan of the Range Rover, its too plasticky for me, the dash is too far from you, and it feels like parts come apart at the seams.
Now this has been an interesting machine over the years, Aston Martin has improved their vehicle line up and now they have the Rapide coming up. Every girl’s dream car is the Aston Martin, the DB9 is preferred on that list. I always thought that a loud machine such as that wouldn’t be appealing to a girl but surprisingly lots of girls want this car, I would think they would want a Ferrari or a Maserati but I was completely wrong, girls talk about this car as if its the top of the list. I do like the cars but I think the dealership in Kuwait is a disaster, but girls only care about the car and they do love this one.
Sout Al-Kuwait is a civic lobby group protecting personal and social freedoms through the activation and preservation of the rights stipulated in the Kuwaiti constitution. The Group meets its target through organized media campaigns, public relations and direct communication with the Parliament member and other State decision makers. Since its establishment, the Group published several booklets and brochures providing simplified review of constitutional rights, their impact and importance, and their conflict with some of the current legislations – (available on www.soutalkuwait.com). Sout Al-Kuwait also participated in several exhibitions, rallies, and carnivals in an attempt to educate the youth about the Constitution articles and relate them to our daily lives. We lead several educational activities in schools, colleges and universities introducing students to concepts like citizenship, human rights, constitutional rights and encouraging their involvement in volunteer civic and social work.
One of our most important events is the celebration of the anniversary of the Constitution of Kuwait which was signed off by Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem in November 11, 1962. This year we plan a grand carnival in front of the Kuwait Parliament (Sahat Al Irada). This event will be a collaborative effort by other NGOs and some civic groups. It is a family event filled with activities suitable to all ages and interests. There will be a special area for children and another for art and poetry national music band lead by Belal Al-Shami and many other outdoor activities. Participants will be taken through the amazing journey of the Constitution in a fun and friendly environment.
We hope that you and your family will join us celebrating the Constitution anniversary this year on Wednesday, November 11 in front of the Parliament from 5:30 to 10 pm
Coming in Kuwait Airport, I had one bag that I checked in and my briefcase, passed immigrations and waited for my bag to come out on the belt. There were a few late night flights arriving on Jazeera as well as our flight so it was packed. There were lines at the bag scanning machine, we placed our bags, mine came out first and I gave my coworker his bag and I said hello to the Kuwaiti guy standing behind the screen.
As I was about to pick up the larger bag, the customs guy spoke to the other customs guy right behind him behind another counter. As I was walking around about to head out the other guy said hello and asked for my passport. I asked him which bag he wants to see, the next is towards the left so he asked me to step towards the right slightly away from people. He opened my passport and said hello Marzouq, I said hello and asked him which bag he wants to search, he seemed nice enough. He then said, he doesn’t want to search my bags and thanked but was wondering what was in my pockets, I took out both my phones in my right pocket, so the he asked about the left one and I pulled out my wallet. He then said sorry for the inconvenience but sometimes guys sneak in small bottles of alcohol in their pockets, and they just take them and throw them without doing anything about the guy. He was very courteous, and I spoke to someone about this today and he said they do this because they know the person isn’t selling it, and since its personal use they just does it and let the person go, they don’t want to embarrass the person which is pretty decent of them. It was something new for me, I don’t mind when they search and I’m happy they are doing their jobs at 1 am.
Got my car back at last, on a flat bad at the end of the work day on Thursday, it was dirty so the first thought that came to mind even before food was to head to Al Falah Car Wash. The car really needs to be detailed, there were smudges inside all over, dirt all over the car so there was no way I could leave it this way on its first day back in my control. I took off to Al Falah Car Wash, and I knew the timing was perfect and it wouldn’t be too busy at the end of the work day on a Thursday. As soon as I got it, the guys even remembered that they needed to cover my intakes when I forgot, they got to plastic bags to cover the intake while they wash the car, and they did give it a thorough cleaning.
I knew that I wanted to detail the car but I missed it too much to leave it their for a day, I wanted to drive it, anywhere and everywhere. The best part is these guys knew what they were doing, I love when they use an airhose to get the water out of all those annoying places. It drives me nuts that I see water coming out of these small places leaving dry trails across the car. The leather was cleaned, it looked really good and there were no longer those blotches in the interior, but they said they need time to really clean it up and bring back the normal look. The tires were given the right shine, they worked on it for about 35 minutes before it was really done, and as soon as I got back into the car it felt brand new, that is one very satisfying wash.
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The Ministry of Interior really does have its work cut out for it, they seem to be getting worse and worse and the processes they setup for fees or giving out types of fines. I check on a monthly basis if there are any fines and I usually pay them right away, I have managed to stay out of the radar or in order for a while now, keeping it within limits of tolerance. Then I check last week to find three speeding tickets from past months and four parking tickets, with no specific dates. The speeding tickets seem very random, only two have the month date not even the day and one just say 2009. So basically they can give you any speeding ticket and you can’t even contest it, the funny part is two of the three speeding tickets were in cars registered in my name but are the home cars. All together with the parking tickets they added up to 100 KD, but the MOI guy told me that I will have points on my driving license and one more and I will have my license in Kuwait revoked for three months. I asked how would a father who usually registers all the cars in his name sort this out, his son is driving, his daughter, his wife, or the house driver. So basically they don’t have a solution for this and only fine the person who is registered to the car, in the US and the UK you would have a chance to prove that you aren’t the driver so you wouldn’t be the recipient of the points. They really didn’t think through all the possible situations, I really think that they make the system work in a way so that you have to talk to someone to get these dumb issues sorted out.
Tickets
- 136 in a 120 in June of 09
- 129 in an 100 April of 09(Mine)
- 122 in an 80 in 09
- 4 Parking Tickets
Note: This is the solution told to me from the MOI guy, that I do not know, is to get file for a replacement license and keep to driving licenses and when they want my drivers license for three months I just give them one of them and the request to pull my dirvers license will be revoked from the system and I can drive with the one driver’s license. And this is from a guy that I don’t even know, they really know how to make a very dumb system work.
Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you for choosing Aramex as your transportation partner.
The Kuwaiti Customs Authority has recently notified us that all courier shipments containing non-documents shall undergo customs inspection upon arrival at Kuwait airport. While Aramex shall continue providing its clearance services, we are unable to provide a specific time frame as to the duration of the clearance period, which may exceed five working days. Aramex therefore encourages all its customers who require speedy clearance to collect their shipments’ documents for self-clearance at the Aramex Ardiya office.
Should you need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us on + 965 1820011.
Best Regards,
Aramex Shop&Ship Team
What this sounds to me is that Aramex is trying to make an excuse and basically says that we will take your money to bring your packages to a certain point but your better off picking it up. One note, I have done clearance by myself before and its hectic there and you can barely find the clearance people from one Ministry to the other, for example you need clearance from the Ministry of Communication when ever you bring an odd piece of networking equipment or server and you won’t have time to get it back to clearance, and recently they lost a package of mine after I got the clearance. These guys don’t have a clue what the hell they are doing, I’m not blaming Aramex but that is a very cheap ploy on their part to exit from the responsibility. They are providing a service and people are paying for it, even after increasing their prices they say this after all that people have gone through with their deliveries. Most of my packages get stuck in custom clearance in the first place and I wait for it to be cleared because if it gets lost its not my fault. Also I don’t think customs will be able to handle the volume of packages that come in from all the different courier companies on a daily basis from Kuwait Airport, I have seen how many staff they have and if one guy goes to work you would be lucky. I remember my server taking over two weeks to clear and thats with me calling them consistently, I wonder how long they will try stopping every package before going to back to normal and leaving the items. About a year ago these guys pretty much let everything through without a headache and in reality if people just pay the fee they owe then that’s fine, why does it require clearance, let people just pay the tax for it.
QVERT will be organizing a walkathon, along with the Scientific Center in Kuwait, MRC, British Industries, and many other environmental activists.
We will be gathering at the Scientific center, and then walk to Marina Mall (Marina Crescent). Throughout the walk and at Marina Crescent, participants will be provided with flyers to give out random people and explain our cause, 350’s cause. (www.350.org)
DATE: Saturday, October 24th, 2009!
TIME: 11am-1pm (Gathering starts 10am. A commencement speech 10:30am. Walk @ 11am)
PLACE: SCIENTIFIC CENTER – Salmiya, Arabian Gulf St.
DRESS CODE: Blue.. Anything Blue!
Don’t miss it, one planet, one chance..
For more information logon to www.350.org/kuwait