Air Asia (www.airasia.com) is set to start direct flights between Bangkok and the Chinese city of Chongqing on Mar 23. Even if you’ve never heard of the place, it’s a massive municipality of some 28 million people, making it a member of China’s “direct-controlled” cities club, along with Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. It looks like more of a business destination to us, but it can certainly serve as stepping stone to the more touristy Chengdu. Air Asia is also launching a regional loyalty program called BIG in Thailand. Every B20 spent with Air Asia or its affiliated companies (notably travel agent Air Asia Go and Tune Hotels) gets you one BIG point. (Apply before before Mar 31 and get 250 points for free). A roundtrip in Thailand is 15,000 points, so you’d have to spend 300,000 baht to earn that. Also points do expire and are only valid for the card bearer (the card is B100). If you’re still interested, log into www.tune2big.com to apply.