Air India

[Pattayarox]

Hi guys,

I took the plunge to fly Air India as the cost was approx500euro cheaper than Etihad for my dates, I was really worried as they weren't getting great reviews and not to many BM's flew with them.

Anyway I had booked to go for 20 days but something came up for me to come back a few early so I rang the crowd at HOODAKI to see if I could change, they quoted me £290, I told him that was too expensive and it wouldn't be worth my while to change, then he called me back 10 mins later and said the airline will do me a special offer of £249, I told him still too expensive and left it at that.

Now i arrived in Heathrow from Dublin and went to check in thought it was funny as the line was fairly long and I was the only white person in it, I thought to myself there definitely isn't too many non Indians using this airline. Anyway checked in and started to head for the gate when I don't know why but for some reason decided to go to the ticket desk to see if the airline could help me directly. Well they were great the girl at the desk explained to me that I could change my ticket to any date as long as there was a seat in the same class so the day i wanted to change it to and no seat in economy so she said that I would have to pay for business I asked her what about the following day and she checked and said yes there is a seat available, so I said how much for the change and the fee was £00.00 that's right zilch your man from hoodaki was chancing his arm ha.

Anyway I changed my dates for that fee hahahaha.

The important part the flight itself.

We left Heathrow on a boeing 777 (I think), the plane was in great condition fairly new the hostess were a little too old for me but the women in the seats on the flight were hot I mean super hot I'm after developing a thing for Indian women now I think they are fine! Lots of eye candy for me I loved it......oh back to the flight the inflight entertainment is better than EVA Air never thought I'd say that but it honestly is. They have 10 new movies, 10 classic movies and about 50 tv show episodes from friends to csi.

The food was delicious the stewardess were great inflight was great I would give this leg of the trip a cool 10/10.

Now the 2nd leg.

It was a wait of about 2 and a half hours in Delhi then to an A380 airbus(again I think) we all got on luckily for me I got a window seat

This plane was old real old :( but the air stewardess on this one were hot hot hot!

The seats were shabby my inflight entertainment didn't work but I brought my psp with 10 hours of movies and stuff so that wasn't too bad, alot of the lads were getting fueled up but I promised myself not to touch a drop till I landed in LOS.

The 2nd leg was a 3h30m flight and it wasn't to bad tbh so this leg was rated 7/10.

Return flights were almost identical except the airbus from Bangkok was better all in all I would rate this airline

17/20

If you include value for money 18/20

I would defo fly with Air India again although for future trips I think I will use Eva air just because it is direct.

My advice is USE AIR INDIA!

oh 1 last note when I was checking in on my return flight in BKK they charged me 1400baht for admin for flight change I tried telling them the woman said it was free but they weren't listening so I just paid the 30euro haha still great value to change a flight.

 

Reason for edit is just to let you all know that

 

PATTAYAROX!!!!!!

[chivas]

Flown with them-excellent.

 

777 to Delhi and a single aisle A321 Airbus to Bangkok.

 

Big seats as well.

 

Wouldn't say they compare with Etihad Qatar or Eva but a good alternative.

[Pattayarox]

Flown with them-excellent.

 

777 to Delhi and a single aisle A321 Airbus to Bangkok.

 

Big seats as well.

 

Wouldn't say they compare with Etihad Qatar or Eva but a good alternative.

 

Yes the value for money in my experience with them is 2nd to none....

[pattaya shipping]

is air india worth the money

[splitpin]

is air india worth the money

I am beginning to think you are a troll, what did he just say in his last post, yes its value for money

[xtc]

Air india owned by govt of india and the experience we have in india is mixed. Just for your info kingfisher and jet airways are one of the best airline in india.

[Soi Six Snatch Sniffer]

in my opinion, air india cannot even hold a candle to jet airways. have flown air india before and it was not a good experience for me.

[chivas]

in my opinion, air india cannot even hold a candle to jet airways. have flown air india before and it was not a good experience for me.

 

As I said on another thread all changed now with application to join Star Alliance.

 

Couldn't praise them enough and having flown 23 airlines Lon-Bkk have a little experience re good or bad.

[Pattayarox]

Yes I read up or your dealings with Air India BigReg but my experience was completely different.

[Soi Six Snatch Sniffer]

Yes I read up or your dealings with Air India BigReg but my experience was completely different.

not knocking your opinion pal, and i absolutely believe you. i certainly wouldnt disregard ever flying with air india again if they came up with a really cheap deal, just that after one bad experience, naturally people tend to make their minds up quickly, however seeing as though the airline is joining the alliance, maybe its worth giving them another try. my main worry as i have said is that they cancelled a bms flight a week before take off when he had been booked for 6 months but they were still selling tickets to last minute travellers. glad your air india experience was better than mine pal, not gonna rule out flying with them again, as for 3 weeks time, air eva will do me very nicely

[sonny]

Air India may well be a good airline to fly with, however you have to get on the plane first. Thats the worst part about booking with Air India they are not reliable, in fact they take the pi££.

I would'nt book with them at any price.

[chivas]

Air India may well be a good airline to fly with, however you have to get on the plane first. Thats the worst part about booking with Air India they are not reliable, in fact they take the pi££.

I would'nt book with them at any price.

 

Do you have any proof of your statements ?? Prior to flying with them checked everyday for incoming flights to Heathrow and on not one single day were they late ?? Every day slightly earlier than scheduled appearance time.

[Shuggy]

As I said on another thread all changed now with application to join Star Alliance.

 

Couldn't praise them enough and having flown 23 airlines Lon-Bkk have a little experience re good or bad.

 

Air Indias Star Alliance application has been "suspended" for the moment. They are blaming Lufthansa for it.

[Thaihot]

With respect to have a real proper review on Air India we need some pics of the Airports & the Cabins along with the seats & food.

 

Star Alliance have not let Air India join because they do not meet the required standard.

[chivas]

With respect to have a real proper review on Air India we need some pics of the Airports & the Cabins along with the seats & food.

 

Star Alliance have not let Air India join because they do not meet the required standard.

 

Yes so it would seem (I did mention that couple days ago on another thread)

 

Seats are seats (and big ones at that) and food is food !! Delhi airport was superb-would imagine you can google up some pics of new airport.

[sonny]

Do you have any proof of your statements ?? Prior to flying with them checked everyday for incoming flights to Heathrow and on not one single day were they late ?? Every day slightly earlier than scheduled appearance time.

Nothing to do with being late. I booked a flight with them June last year for December flight. They gave me confirmation, took my money, then come xmas i was told i had the flight to Mumbai but no onward flight to Bkk.

So had to book onother flight, and it took me months to get my money back from Air India.

Again, i would'nt touch Air India with a bargepole.

[sonny]

Nothing to do with being late. I booked a flight with them June last year for December flight. They gave me confirmation, took my money, then come xmas i was told i had the flight to Mumbai but no onward flight to Bkk.

So had to book onother flight, and it took me months to get my money back from Air India.

Again, i would'nt touch Air India with a bargepole.

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews-all-94683.html

[chivas]

Nothing to do with being late. I booked a flight with them June last year for December flight. They gave me confirmation, took my money, then come xmas i was told i had the flight to Mumbai but no onward flight to Bkk.

So had to book onother flight, and it took me months to get my money back from Air India.

Again, i would'nt touch Air India with a bargepole.

 

All airlines have aircraft that go Tech from time to time for operational reasons.

With respect if you booked in June than obviously you paid in June same as all of us. No one has the choice to make reservations and day before flights due to go decide yes you are going to pay for it.

 

Having said that you must always check the live reservation system at Amedeus which is updated with your reference number-any schedule change is noted in real time.

 

On an aside anyone who books a flight online etc should check with Amedeus once they get their reference number to check its been done properly and that if you have a transit that all 4 flights are showing Confirmed. Human errors do occur.

Edited August 9, 2011 by chivas

[sonny]

With respect if you booked in June than obviously you paid in June same as all of us. No one has the choice to make reservations and day before flights due to go decide yes you are going to pay for it.

That is not the point. The point is they took my money and never produced the goods. Simple as that.

When you recieve your E Ticket one would assume 'hey i've booked a flight. Then a couple of weeks prior to flying i get Emails telling me the second leg of my journey does not exist (wtf) Further to that ( as Reg pointed out above ) they were still advertising the same flights i was supposed to be on.

I was in constant contact with Air India and to be honest they were/ are a total waste of space.

If anyone ever needs confirmation how crap the airline service is, simply punch in reviews for Air India.

Never had this problem before and do'nt need it againg. So Air India can go take a flying f£$k.

[chivas]

That is not the point. The point is they took my money and never produced the goods. Simple as that.

When you recieve your E Ticket one would assume 'hey i've booked a flight. Then a couple of weeks prior to flying i get Emails telling me the second leg of my journey does not exist (wtf) Further to that ( as Reg pointed out above ) they were still advertising the same flights i was supposed to be on.

I was in constant contact with Air India and to be honest they were/ are a total waste of space.

If anyone ever needs confirmation how crap the airline service is, simply punch in reviews for Air India.

Never had this problem before and do'nt need it againg. So Air India can go take a flying f£$k.

 

You're missing the point not me !!

Airlines have every right to change schedules when ever they desire-check out terms and conditions.I have no doubt they offered you an alternative onward connection as dont believe Air India suddenly decided to cease operations to Thailand !

 

Like I said it happens. Have personally been stranded overnight in Sofia after Balken flew the Bangkok-Sofia sector but didnt tell us the connection to Heathrow was cancelled till we got to Sofia.

 

Edited in,

 

Who did you purchase your eticket from ?? Netflights are one for a fact that oversell flights on website.

Edited August 10, 2011 by chivas

[sonny]

You're missing the point not me !!

Airlines have every right to change schedules when ever they desire-check out terms and conditions.I have no doubt they offered you an alternative onward connection as dont believe Air India suddenly decided to cease operations to Thailand !

 

Christ chivas 'your hard work. Try to read my replies a little more slowly.Then you might get the point.

" Then a couple of weeks prior to flying i get Emails telling me the second leg of my journey "DOES NOT EXIST".

"( as Reg pointed out above ) they were still advertising the same flights i was supposed to be on".

 

YOU HAVE NO DOUBT ? well i'm afraid that counts for nothing when you go on your own mission with replies about 'change of schedules' & 'alternative onward connection' when its not relative to anything concerning my flight ticket, that Air India deemed worthless. They offered me sweet f£$k all.

 

Like I said it happens. Have personally been stranded overnight in Sofia after Balken flew the Bangkok-Sofia sector but didnt tell us the connection to Heathrow was cancelled till we got to Sofia.

 

!!

Edited in,

[chivas]

Not hard work, and its "you're" not "your". I'm trying to point out that a booking can be changed for a multitude of reasons.

 

It would have been IMPOSSIBLE for the booking to complete via Amedeus in the first place if the onward connection did not exist. Before going on try and understand that simple point. You would NOT have been able to receive an eticket-period.

It existed when you booked but was taken out of schedule AFTER for any number of reasons such as Air India losing slots at Bangkok for any number of reasons. That was very unfortunate and at Xmas time perhaps more so.

 

Again I make the point to all reading-use checkmytrip.com regulary or into Amedeus if you are listed/confirmed on perhaps dubious airlines.

 

Point in question being Eva who are currently cancelling flights every week out of Heathrow at last moment for whatever reason.

[stmapede]

Air India is currently in financial crisis. The government already injected huge funds, yet they are still in the red and see no signs of turnaround. They were also having problems with their worker's union regarding pay packages & incentives.

 

These could be the reason for schedules change, route change or direct flight changed to 1 stopover etc.

 

So till Air India is more stable financially and settle the employee's problems, no one can be sure of constant quality service from them.

[gullible]

I had the pleasure of AI via Delhi on my last outing , I must admit that I was worried about my fellow passengers stinking of curry . After check in , I noticed that I was the only whitey on board . But apart from having to pick up another boarding card at half time , it was OK . I never get taken in by all that , one carrier's better than the other bolocks

Edited August 24, 2011 by gullible

[chivas]

I had the pleasure of AI via Delhi on my last outing , I must admit that I was worried about my fellow passengers stinking of curry . After check in , I noticed that I was the only whitey on board . But apart from having to pick up another boarding card at half time , it was OK . I never get taken in by all that , one carrier's better than the other bolocks

 

What on a flight from UK to Bangkok via Delhi you were the only white on board ??