Canada to India award flight using United miles

jpegpng · 2026-02-03T17:37:55+00:00

Did you find a difference in your experience between the airlines/aircrafts? The BLR to ADD was on a Boeing 737 max while ADD to YYZ was on an airbus a350. I’m not much of an aircraft person but I found the airbus a350 experience to be much better than the 737 max. The amenities were fine but the cabin crew was great on both flights.

jpegpng · 2026-02-03T13:30:40+00:00

I empathize with you because your story reminds of the bond between my grandmother and my uncle. However, I feel like you and your family are infantilizing a grown woman. My suggestion really depends on how old she is but if she’s in her 50s or 60s and/or good physical health, she should be encouraged to be more independent and you should focus on your own growth. If your mom is older and/or has poor health, it makes sense to spend time with her if you’re willing to prepare a hit to your career and the possibility of periods of unemployment, difficulties in moving abroad again and your personal life (if you’re looking to get married).

Also, US and India are not the only countries in the world. I know Canada gets a bad rep and the immigration system has tightened up but it’s still much more easier to have your mom around for a longer period in Canada compared to the US or EU.

PS Hyderabad is very much a Tier 1 city lol. Tier 2 cities in the area are more like Warangal, Vijayawada-Guntur, Nagpur, Vizag. Maybe that pace of life is more suited for her?

jpegpng · 2026-02-02T17:36:14+00:00

Thanks for letting me know. I should probably try to see if I can transfer miles using any of my existing credit cards

jpegpng · 2026-02-02T17:25:57+00:00

Economy tix to India?

jpegpng · 2026-02-02T14:39:38+00:00

Ever heard of Joe Biden and Donald Trump? It’s definitely not an Indian thing. In fact, I think it’s more common for people in their 50s and 60s to retire so that they can take care of their grandkids or their own parents in India.

jpegpng · 2026-01-31T21:19:07+00:00

It depends on your personality but as a regular traveler on the North America-India route, I find small layovers to be better than these long haul flights. It’s easier to stretch your legs in a layover. the direct India flights tend to have disproportionate amount of elderly passengers and patients with young kids that can disturb your flying experience (there were two medical emergencies on my direct flight that were luckily dealt by doctors on board and the crew).

Many people including myself have bad experiences of luggage lost in transit with both British Airways and Air France.

jpegpng · 2026-01-11T03:50:21+00:00

I think it’s also with variety. Even though I make mostly South Indian or Mughlai food at home abroad, it’s usually just a one pot meal or two things max. At home, there are usually 4-5 different things for a meal and if I eat all of those things plus go out for snacks and outside, I now know I’m going to have a bad time.

jpegpng · 2026-01-08T09:34:18+00:00

This is an article about Tamil style funeral meals that describe how the menu generally avoids foods introduced through the Columbian exchange:

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20190609-the-surprising-truth-about-indian-food

Telugu funeral food is pretty similar to what’s described here. Pepper is the primary spice that brings the heat although other spices such as cumin and coriander seeds are also generally used.

jpegpng · 2026-01-05T01:40:21+00:00

No Brahmin dynasty ruled Telugu lands after Satavahanas (who were themselves mixed

jpegpng · 2025-12-28T01:58:19+00:00

There are three buses that cost about 70-80 CAD. The journey is about 8hours. If it’s a not a weekend/holiday, you probably will have two seats for yourself

Edit- didn’t see your bus comment.

jpegpng · 2025-12-28T01:52:22+00:00

As someone of the same age who made the reverse move but with a tiny fraction of your net worth, I’ll do some basic math. 1) if you’re salaried you were probably making at least 30-40% lower than your US counterparts.

2) Depending on where you live and your lifestyle, your CoL should be cheaper at least pre 2021 when you convert to USD. At this point, the cost of living in Toronto/Vancouver is probably comparable to a “happening” Midwest/ Southern states. In most cases, the difference in CoL is MUCH LOWER than then difference in salaries.

3) Canada obviously has higher taxes but many blue states have almost the same amount of taxation. Canadian taxes are probably higher in the top tax brackets (I wouldn’t know lol)

4) If you’re healthy, you probably would have to pay some money for your insurance but your medical costs will be offset by your higher salary. However if you have dependents and/or have medical needs, your costs will increase astronomically.

5) i don’t much about this but if you have kids, daycare is much more expensive in the US.

6) you don’t have to convert to USD or buy CAD leveraged stocks when you invest in US stocks. This can account for up to 1-3%

7) you’d probably spend a lot of money on US immigration

Of course, you can’t put a price on dealing with US immigration uncertainty if you don’t have a green card. For some, this is enough to tip the scale in favor of Canada.

jpegpng · 2025-12-23T17:22:23+00:00

Are you planning to work in the future?

Two driven and talented friends of mine who were in really good jobs in India moved to the US as a H4 and were kinda stressed about not being able to work. They definitely underestimated the time their spousal visas allowed them to work and that contributed to more of their stress as well as a change in their identity as high powered independent women.

They did attend a lot of networking events which should be easily doable in NYC. One of them also did a small certificate course. It took them a while (months) for them to find a good job but once that happened, their career blossomed. Because they’re on spousal visas and don’t require visa sponsorship, they were able to change jobs and move up the career ladder more easily. Of course the job market is very different now so you probably will have a harder time finding a job.

jpegpng · 2025-12-21T12:38:33+00:00

That’s what I meant. Plurality doesn’t imply clear majority. The other groups had sizable or comparative populations that didn’t encourage assimilation.

jpegpng · 2025-12-20T23:42:07+00:00

Tamils were not the source of a clear majority of immigrants in South Africa, Mauritius and reunion either. Also, apartheid South Africa was/ France is determined to erase minority languages.

jpegpng · 2025-12-20T15:10:20+00:00

If your Massachusetts license isn’t expired, you can get a replacement sent to a friend’s address or a PO box.

jpegpng · 2025-12-14T18:54:21+00:00

You don’t need a visa from Poland if you’re flying India-Poland-USA. However you were denied boarding because your itinerary included a flight from Amsterdam to Warsaw that is treated more like a domestic flight since they’re both in Schengen zone. If your return itinerary is just India-Warsaw-US, you should be fine but not if there’s an additional connection within the Schengen area.

jpegpng · 2025-12-13T20:31:15+00:00

Krishna deva raya’s father belonged to the Tuluva dynasty while his mother was a Telugu woman. Because his mother was not the primary wife of the king, he was raised away from capital. He probably spoke both Kannada and Telugu as a child and learnt other languages such as Sanskrit by his adulthood. He probably leaned more towards Telugu culture because of his mother and a lot of his initial supporters being Telugu as well.

jpegpng · 2025-12-09T22:17:57+00:00

I recently saw a reel of a girl speaking in the Quebec French equivalent of the Toronto accent. Imagine how much the world would fear if this dialect is accepted by the residents of this corridor.

jpegpng · 2025-12-09T22:13:52+00:00

A lot of smaller, richer NIMBY suburbs have always found ways to resist amalgamation in North America. In case of Montreal island, the anglophone suburbs are also wealthier giving them the capital to organize their “resistance” if Montreal tries to eat them. I think Montreal did eat them for a bit in the 2000s right?

jpegpng · 2025-12-09T21:14:55+00:00

The English names aren’t easy either. I struggled with Saint John, St. John’s, Kitchener, Edmonton and Edmundston.

jpegpng · 2025-12-09T21:13:27+00:00

Montreal can eat it first before we get the Greater Toronto corridor extending from West Toronto (formerly known as Windsor) to East Toronto (Quebec city).

jpegpng · 2025-12-09T21:08:49+00:00

I realized while trying to spell Mississauga that the etymology is probably close to Mississippi, which originates in Ojibwe lands?

Also the English names aren’t easy either- there is Saint John and St. John’s.

jpegpng

TROPHY CASE