Hi Everyone,
I thought id share my experiences of my recent trip to India.
I did the following sectors all in Y
Jet Airways
BOM - CMB - BOM
CCU - DAC - DEL
BLR - HYD - MAA - BOM
Overall Jet were pretty inconsistant they have three brands (Jet Konnect and normal Jet, there is also Jet Lite) Jet is the full cost and Jet Konnect is the low cost, Jet Lite has a different airline code and I believe that the planes are ex sahara. I didnt take any Jet Lite flights and I dont even think it still exists its just the livery on the aircrafts...who knows. The thing is though is that you could be flying Jet connect and no even know it. You use the same check in and most of the planes are normally branded as Jet Airways, it does mention it on the boarding pass however its not like flying Qantas and Jetstar. I was carrying about 23kgs and was charged for being over the limit on two of those sectors, surprisingly it was on sectors flown by the normal Jet Airways which was annoying. Also I was meant to fly from BOM to CCU on Jet too however when I arrived at the airport they told me that the timing of my flight had changed to an earlier time and therefore I missed my flight. They said they sent a message but nothing was received. There were no more flights out that evening and they offered me a flight at 0250 instead!! Are they crazy!! I asked to go on the first flight in morning at a normal hour however it was full. There was no way I was taking the 0250 flight as I was working the next day and needed to be a little fresh. So I ended up booking an Air India flight that left at 6am. Also on my last sector they broke my luggage which I am now trying to resolve from here in Dubai.
Besides the confusing brands, excess luggage charges, Cancelled flight and broken luggage (thats a lot!!) everything else was good. All the planes were relatively new I would say none were more that 10 years old. I flew on a mix of B737 - 700/800 and a couple of ATR 42-500's. All the flights left on time and the staff were efficient and friendly. Check in at the airports was quick and the legroom on board was good. The staff were professional.
Air India
BOM - CCU
OMG Air India...what a dump. Its like the 80's the plane was an ancient A320 the seats were old and had stains all over them. The crew were about 100 years old. Check in was horrible long snaking lines full of angry and disgruntled passengers. The flight itself left and arrived on-time and the food was pretty good, but still you would hate to have to deal with the airline if there were any major delays or hiccups. A distant third in terms of airlines flown.
IndiGo
DEL - BLR
My one sector on IndiGo was a dream. I thought Low Cost and was expecting long lines and to be charged for my few kgs extra in my luggage but luckily I didnt have to deal with any of them. Check in was a dream and they didn't charge me for my luggage. The plane was also an A320 but it was brand spanking new. So new that the old "no smoking" light next to the "fasten seatbelt" light has now been replaced with "Turn off electrical equipment and phones". The one big let down on Indigo was the seat pitch which was really bad the tightest I have ever come across. So they are ok for short flights but thats about it.
Overall even though I had a few problems with Jet they would be my number 1 choice still, then I would look at IndiGo and try to avoid Air India.
I wish one of the airlines would join some sort of alliance so I could get some sort of status points for the journey's. Qantas points on Jet are so minimal that you dont even notice it and India is the type of place where an airline lounge is always a plus.
In regards to the airports India has the classical mix of the brand new or the really old. Kolkata airport is probably the worst I've ever seen in the world (yes worse than Manila)...it was laughably bad also Chennai was not much better but at least they are building a new airport. Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad were all pretty new.
Im just looking to flying with a status again!!
I thought id share my experiences of my recent trip to India.
I did the following sectors all in Y
Jet Airways
BOM - CMB - BOM
CCU - DAC - DEL
BLR - HYD - MAA - BOM
Overall Jet were pretty inconsistant they have three brands (Jet Konnect and normal Jet, there is also Jet Lite) Jet is the full cost and Jet Konnect is the low cost, Jet Lite has a different airline code and I believe that the planes are ex sahara. I didnt take any Jet Lite flights and I dont even think it still exists its just the livery on the aircrafts...who knows. The thing is though is that you could be flying Jet connect and no even know it. You use the same check in and most of the planes are normally branded as Jet Airways, it does mention it on the boarding pass however its not like flying Qantas and Jetstar. I was carrying about 23kgs and was charged for being over the limit on two of those sectors, surprisingly it was on sectors flown by the normal Jet Airways which was annoying. Also I was meant to fly from BOM to CCU on Jet too however when I arrived at the airport they told me that the timing of my flight had changed to an earlier time and therefore I missed my flight. They said they sent a message but nothing was received. There were no more flights out that evening and they offered me a flight at 0250 instead!! Are they crazy!! I asked to go on the first flight in morning at a normal hour however it was full. There was no way I was taking the 0250 flight as I was working the next day and needed to be a little fresh. So I ended up booking an Air India flight that left at 6am. Also on my last sector they broke my luggage which I am now trying to resolve from here in Dubai.
Besides the confusing brands, excess luggage charges, Cancelled flight and broken luggage (thats a lot!!) everything else was good. All the planes were relatively new I would say none were more that 10 years old. I flew on a mix of B737 - 700/800 and a couple of ATR 42-500's. All the flights left on time and the staff were efficient and friendly. Check in at the airports was quick and the legroom on board was good. The staff were professional.
Air India
BOM - CCU
OMG Air India...what a dump. Its like the 80's the plane was an ancient A320 the seats were old and had stains all over them. The crew were about 100 years old. Check in was horrible long snaking lines full of angry and disgruntled passengers. The flight itself left and arrived on-time and the food was pretty good, but still you would hate to have to deal with the airline if there were any major delays or hiccups. A distant third in terms of airlines flown.
IndiGo
DEL - BLR
My one sector on IndiGo was a dream. I thought Low Cost and was expecting long lines and to be charged for my few kgs extra in my luggage but luckily I didnt have to deal with any of them. Check in was a dream and they didn't charge me for my luggage. The plane was also an A320 but it was brand spanking new. So new that the old "no smoking" light next to the "fasten seatbelt" light has now been replaced with "Turn off electrical equipment and phones". The one big let down on Indigo was the seat pitch which was really bad the tightest I have ever come across. So they are ok for short flights but thats about it.
Overall even though I had a few problems with Jet they would be my number 1 choice still, then I would look at IndiGo and try to avoid Air India.
I wish one of the airlines would join some sort of alliance so I could get some sort of status points for the journey's. Qantas points on Jet are so minimal that you dont even notice it and India is the type of place where an airline lounge is always a plus.
In regards to the airports India has the classical mix of the brand new or the really old. Kolkata airport is probably the worst I've ever seen in the world (yes worse than Manila)...it was laughably bad also Chennai was not much better but at least they are building a new airport. Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad were all pretty new.
Im just looking to flying with a status again!!
