always choose a different airline
Written: Jan 19 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: decent food
Cons: everything else, worst customer service ever
The Bottom Line: There are so many other options to India now. Always look at those other options
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| dhavalp23's Full Review: Air India |
Over Christmas my parents were going to India with my brother and I wasn't included in the plans. However, two days before they left, they changed their minds and said that I would have to come for a week. At this late time, the only airline that was under 3000 dollars (2400 for my ticket) was Air India from NYC to Delhi, then to Ahmedabad domestically, so I would be traveling alone and back. (Of course my parents would be flying in the comforts of British Airways).
The flight from NYC to Delhi stops in London where there is a 1 hr delay in which passengers sprint through various areas of the airport going through security again. A complete hassle. Fortunately the flight to London and then to Delhi was surprisingly comfortable. That is if you ignore the lack of any entertainment system, the smelly plane, the cranky flight attendants, cramped seats, and the bloody tampon I found on the bathroom floors. But if you can sleep for 16 hrs, you'll be good to go. When I reached Delhi, I had to take a shuttle from the international terminal to the domestic. Unfortunately, this is not like Europe or North America where shuttles come and go quickly. There was one shuttle that came every hour to and from the terminal. Considering the # of people waiting in line, I waited for 2 hrs to get on the shuttle and then head to the domestic airport where I waited all night for my morning flight.
The route back is where the fun really began. I flew back on New Year's day with the plan being to fly from Ahmedabad to Mumbai then to Chicago via Frankfurt. In Ahmedabad, I waited for 3 hrs in the security and Air India line. All while I watched Emirates and Jet Airways passengers walk swiftly through and check in quickly. Before I finally reached the counter, the airline told us that they hadn't sent a large enough plane for the connection flight (even though it was a 777, an obvious lie), and that all Chicago passengers would have to wait to take a later flight to Bombay as our plane had been delayed anyways. This meant that we were taken to the domestic airport, where we waited for 8 hrs for a domestic flight that kept getting delayed. I finally reached Bombay, where we were taken to the International airport. Here, they informed us that the plane had already left (what a surprise), even though they had reassured us that they had only delayed us in Ahmedabad, because our flight in bombay had been delayed. This forced us to stay overnight in bombay as Air India was unwilling to book me on another flight to the US on one of the other numerous airlines.
It was the next day that we realized that during the busy holiday season, Air India had been pulling a scam where they delayed passengers on purpose so they could sell their tickets to stand by passengers for a much higher sum. We realized this when one of the other passengers whose brother was traveling from Ahmedabad that day, experienced the same thing. Once again, our flight in Bombay was delayed (had gotten extremely used to it by this point). Furthermore, the airline offered no compensation or explanation for the hassles they put us through. I even went to their manager and nicely explained (yelled) at him that my school charges me 200 dollars for each of the initial days of the semester that I miss. Even through this, he would not put me on another flight and offer no compensation. Throughout the flights and at the gates, with the exception of one flight attendant, I experienced extremely poor customer service. If the flights themselves had been comfortable, I might have been able to disregard this. I also noticed how much better passengers were treated on all the other airlines at the airports while Air India passengers were herded like cattle.
I could keep going on and on about the cons of the airline, but I think I've made my point.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
dhavalp23
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Reviews written: 1
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