Air India MAA - MLE questions
Dec 14, 2015, 3:52 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: TX
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, AA Plat Pro
Posts: 446
Air India MAA - MLE questions
When I booked this flight it was an all economy plane. It was switched recently (flight is next month) to a A319 with business class. Originally there were two stops and now there is just one.
1. It will cost 11,000 INR per person to upgrade to business, which is double what I paid for economy. I am debating doing this but does Air India sell day of upgrades for cheaper? The plane looks empty (January 26th)
2. When the plane stops in TRV, do we need to deplane? It is the same plane and the layover is 40 minutes.
3. How can I confirm a hot meal is served in business for MAA- TRV
Let me know your thoughts on this flight.
Thanks!
NDTraveler
1. It will cost 11,000 INR per person to upgrade to business, which is double what I paid for economy. I am debating doing this but does Air India sell day of upgrades for cheaper? The plane looks empty (January 26th)
2. When the plane stops in TRV, do we need to deplane? It is the same plane and the layover is 40 minutes.
3. How can I confirm a hot meal is served in business for MAA- TRV
Let me know your thoughts on this flight.
Thanks!
NDTraveler
Last edited by NDtraveler; Dec 14, 2015 at 4:55 pm
Dec 14, 2015, 7:52 pm
#2
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Delhi, India
Programs: Air India Silver Edge, Jet Airways Silver
Posts: 271
Given the length of the segments, Hot snacks will be served in BOTH classes and on both sectors.
The upgrade cost does not reduce closer to the date of the flight. It is distance based.
The upgrade cost does not reduce closer to the date of the flight. It is distance based.
Dec 14, 2015, 10:44 pm
#3
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: LONDON
Programs: CX DM, BA G4L, QR PLT, EK PLT, Hyatt CourtesyC, HH DM, SQ PPS, BonvoyTit, UK, VS, UA, DL, AA
Posts: 1,715
they allow for airport upgrades, but not showing for this sector. My guess is it would be either USD 100 or USD 150 looking at slabs, but these are sub load, and only processed at check-in with ECO baggage and miles so better to pay 11k.
Dec 16, 2015, 2:30 pm
#6
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: LONDON
Programs: CX DM, BA G4L, QR PLT, EK PLT, Hyatt CourtesyC, HH DM, SQ PPS, BonvoyTit, UK, VS, UA, DL, AA
Posts: 1,715
No, and the flight checks-in at the international terminal in MAA, so all border formalities (immigration customs etc) are done at MAA, security personnel come on board at TRV during the halt to check your boarding pass etc. It's actually a very convenient way to get to MLE and quite painless. Good arrival time too.
Dec 17, 2015, 10:40 am
#8
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: LONDON
Programs: CX DM, BA G4L, QR PLT, EK PLT, Hyatt CourtesyC, HH DM, SQ PPS, BonvoyTit, UK, VS, UA, DL, AA
Posts: 1,715
Airport can get pretty crowded with BA, WY and CMB departures, so I would say allow 90 mins, mainly for immigration.
Dec 24, 2015, 10:50 am
#9
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 3,993
We just did this flight recently.
We arrived at the airport between 4:30a and 4:45a and they were just in the process of opening up the checkin counters for our flight. The flight left from the international terminal. Checkin was a breeze and we received fast-track invitation through passport and immigration. MLE passengers must clear passport and immigration at MAA. There wasn't much of crowd there in any case. When you go through security, make sure that every hand baggage has a tag and has a security stamp on them. We didn't pay attention to this detail and we were sent back to security right at the time of boarding to recheck one of our hand bags. Luckily, there's a security scanner air-side in the terminal and we were able to quickly rescan the bag and still make boarding time. This whole exercise was quite bizarre as they rescanned just the one bag that was not stamped but didn't bother to scan the other three of our hand bags.
We also received lounge access to the Maharaja lounge. It was a dry lounge though the lounge manager mentioned that they were in the process of opening up bar service "in the next few days." There were hot breakfast options though all of them were local cuisine. They were quite tasty. There was also an espresso machine that served south indian coffee amongst usual options.
The flight was an A320 with three rows of Business Class. The MAA-TRV sector had 5 seats booked including one dead-heading pilot. The TRV-MLE sector was totally booked in Business with another dead-heading pilot joining us. A couple of folks tried to upgrade this sector but the flight was already full. In TRV, pretty much the entire plane deboarded except for the two of us. We were required to remain on board and our hand bags were checked by a security person one more time.
Even though this was an international flight, both the segments were dry. We were served hot food on both the segments. There's nothing much to write about the food; the lounge food was much better in contrast. The flight attendants were very courteous and attentive.
The Priority tags on the checked baggage were pretty much a joke. We did three different flights on AI and none of baggage handlers in three different airports paid any attention to the Priority tags.
On another note: our itinerary was actually DEL-MAA-MLE with an overnight transit in MAA. However, AI seems to be flummoxed by the concept of retaining checked baggage overnight at transit point while still allowing passengers to leave the airport. The checkin agent wasn't able to print boarding pass for MAA-MLE segment at DEL even though she was able to checkin the bags all the way to MLE. This resulted in a multi-way conference of three agents trying to solve this puzzle for the next few minutes and then the lead agent had an "Aha!" moment.
Agent: Is this an overnight stop in MAA?
Me: Yes.
Agent: What are you going to do in MAA?
Me: Get to a hotel for the night
Agent: How can you leave the airport when your bags are still in the airport?
Me: Eh, I've done this countless number of times at various airports in the world.
Agent: But this is a security risk and can't be allowed. You either remain in the airport overnight or you collect your bags in MAA an re-checkin for your next flight
Me: No way in hell am I going to remain at the airport. Please checkin the bags to MAA instead.
So, the MLE tags were removed from our bags and new tags to MAA were then issued instead. Of course, the priority tags didn't do us any good as usual and we spent more time at the airport on arrival waiting to retrieve our bags.
We arrived at the airport between 4:30a and 4:45a and they were just in the process of opening up the checkin counters for our flight. The flight left from the international terminal. Checkin was a breeze and we received fast-track invitation through passport and immigration. MLE passengers must clear passport and immigration at MAA. There wasn't much of crowd there in any case. When you go through security, make sure that every hand baggage has a tag and has a security stamp on them. We didn't pay attention to this detail and we were sent back to security right at the time of boarding to recheck one of our hand bags. Luckily, there's a security scanner air-side in the terminal and we were able to quickly rescan the bag and still make boarding time. This whole exercise was quite bizarre as they rescanned just the one bag that was not stamped but didn't bother to scan the other three of our hand bags.
We also received lounge access to the Maharaja lounge. It was a dry lounge though the lounge manager mentioned that they were in the process of opening up bar service "in the next few days." There were hot breakfast options though all of them were local cuisine. They were quite tasty. There was also an espresso machine that served south indian coffee amongst usual options.
The flight was an A320 with three rows of Business Class. The MAA-TRV sector had 5 seats booked including one dead-heading pilot. The TRV-MLE sector was totally booked in Business with another dead-heading pilot joining us. A couple of folks tried to upgrade this sector but the flight was already full. In TRV, pretty much the entire plane deboarded except for the two of us. We were required to remain on board and our hand bags were checked by a security person one more time.
Even though this was an international flight, both the segments were dry. We were served hot food on both the segments. There's nothing much to write about the food; the lounge food was much better in contrast. The flight attendants were very courteous and attentive.
The Priority tags on the checked baggage were pretty much a joke. We did three different flights on AI and none of baggage handlers in three different airports paid any attention to the Priority tags.
On another note: our itinerary was actually DEL-MAA-MLE with an overnight transit in MAA. However, AI seems to be flummoxed by the concept of retaining checked baggage overnight at transit point while still allowing passengers to leave the airport. The checkin agent wasn't able to print boarding pass for MAA-MLE segment at DEL even though she was able to checkin the bags all the way to MLE. This resulted in a multi-way conference of three agents trying to solve this puzzle for the next few minutes and then the lead agent had an "Aha!" moment.
Agent: Is this an overnight stop in MAA?
Me: Yes.
Agent: What are you going to do in MAA?
Me: Get to a hotel for the night
Agent: How can you leave the airport when your bags are still in the airport?
Me: Eh, I've done this countless number of times at various airports in the world.
Agent: But this is a security risk and can't be allowed. You either remain in the airport overnight or you collect your bags in MAA an re-checkin for your next flight
Me: No way in hell am I going to remain at the airport. Please checkin the bags to MAA instead.
So, the MLE tags were removed from our bags and new tags to MAA were then issued instead. Of course, the priority tags didn't do us any good as usual and we spent more time at the airport on arrival waiting to retrieve our bags.
Dec 27, 2015, 4:34 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: TX
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, AA Plat Pro
Posts: 446
Thanks for the detailed reply! Very helpful information! Did your flight leave at 655 as well? I hadn't seen a A320 on that route at all.
I am very surprised the flight was dry. I was hoping for a few drinks otw! We will make sure to grab breakfast in the lounge.
Thanks!
I am very surprised the flight was dry. I was hoping for a few drinks otw! We will make sure to grab breakfast in the lounge.
Thanks!
Dec 31, 2015, 3:28 am
#11
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
Programs: Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, IHG Plat, HH Gold, Trident Plat, DL Diamond, AI Maharajah
Posts: 29,668
Jan 20, 2016, 6:30 pm
#12
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Seattle
Programs: United Gold, Delta Silver, SPG Gold
Posts: 81
We just did this flight recently.
We arrived at the airport between 4:30a and 4:45a and they were just in the process of opening up the checkin counters for our flight. The flight left from the international terminal. Checkin was a breeze and we received fast-track invitation through passport and immigration. MLE passengers must clear passport and immigration at MAA. There wasn't much of crowd there in any case. When you go through security, make sure that every hand baggage has a tag and has a security stamp on them. We didn't pay attention to this detail and we were sent back to security right at the time of boarding to recheck one of our hand bags. Luckily, there's a security scanner air-side in the terminal and we were able to quickly rescan the bag and still make boarding time. This whole exercise was quite bizarre as they rescanned just the one bag that was not stamped but didn't bother to scan the other three of our hand bags.
We also received lounge access to the Maharaja lounge. It was a dry lounge though the lounge manager mentioned that they were in the process of opening up bar service "in the next few days." There were hot breakfast options though all of them were local cuisine. They were quite tasty. There was also an espresso machine that served south indian coffee amongst usual options.
The flight was an A320 with three rows of Business Class. The MAA-TRV sector had 5 seats booked including one dead-heading pilot. The TRV-MLE sector was totally booked in Business with another dead-heading pilot joining us. A couple of folks tried to upgrade this sector but the flight was already full. In TRV, pretty much the entire plane deboarded except for the two of us. We were required to remain on board and our hand bags were checked by a security person one more time.
Even though this was an international flight, both the segments were dry. We were served hot food on both the segments. There's nothing much to write about the food; the lounge food was much better in contrast. The flight attendants were very courteous and attentive.
The Priority tags on the checked baggage were pretty much a joke. We did three different flights on AI and none of baggage handlers in three different airports paid any attention to the Priority tags.
On another note: our itinerary was actually DEL-MAA-MLE with an overnight transit in MAA. However, AI seems to be flummoxed by the concept of retaining checked baggage overnight at transit point while still allowing passengers to leave the airport. The checkin agent wasn't able to print boarding pass for MAA-MLE segment at DEL even though she was able to checkin the bags all the way to MLE. This resulted in a multi-way conference of three agents trying to solve this puzzle for the next few minutes and then the lead agent had an "Aha!" moment.
Agent: Is this an overnight stop in MAA?
Me: Yes.
Agent: What are you going to do in MAA?
Me: Get to a hotel for the night
Agent: How can you leave the airport when your bags are still in the airport?
Me: Eh, I've done this countless number of times at various airports in the world.
Agent: But this is a security risk and can't be allowed. You either remain in the airport overnight or you collect your bags in MAA an re-checkin for your next flight
Me: No way in hell am I going to remain at the airport. Please checkin the bags to MAA instead.
So, the MLE tags were removed from our bags and new tags to MAA were then issued instead. Of course, the priority tags didn't do us any good as usual and we spent more time at the airport on arrival waiting to retrieve our bags.
We arrived at the airport between 4:30a and 4:45a and they were just in the process of opening up the checkin counters for our flight. The flight left from the international terminal. Checkin was a breeze and we received fast-track invitation through passport and immigration. MLE passengers must clear passport and immigration at MAA. There wasn't much of crowd there in any case. When you go through security, make sure that every hand baggage has a tag and has a security stamp on them. We didn't pay attention to this detail and we were sent back to security right at the time of boarding to recheck one of our hand bags. Luckily, there's a security scanner air-side in the terminal and we were able to quickly rescan the bag and still make boarding time. This whole exercise was quite bizarre as they rescanned just the one bag that was not stamped but didn't bother to scan the other three of our hand bags.
We also received lounge access to the Maharaja lounge. It was a dry lounge though the lounge manager mentioned that they were in the process of opening up bar service "in the next few days." There were hot breakfast options though all of them were local cuisine. They were quite tasty. There was also an espresso machine that served south indian coffee amongst usual options.
The flight was an A320 with three rows of Business Class. The MAA-TRV sector had 5 seats booked including one dead-heading pilot. The TRV-MLE sector was totally booked in Business with another dead-heading pilot joining us. A couple of folks tried to upgrade this sector but the flight was already full. In TRV, pretty much the entire plane deboarded except for the two of us. We were required to remain on board and our hand bags were checked by a security person one more time.
Even though this was an international flight, both the segments were dry. We were served hot food on both the segments. There's nothing much to write about the food; the lounge food was much better in contrast. The flight attendants were very courteous and attentive.
The Priority tags on the checked baggage were pretty much a joke. We did three different flights on AI and none of baggage handlers in three different airports paid any attention to the Priority tags.
On another note: our itinerary was actually DEL-MAA-MLE with an overnight transit in MAA. However, AI seems to be flummoxed by the concept of retaining checked baggage overnight at transit point while still allowing passengers to leave the airport. The checkin agent wasn't able to print boarding pass for MAA-MLE segment at DEL even though she was able to checkin the bags all the way to MLE. This resulted in a multi-way conference of three agents trying to solve this puzzle for the next few minutes and then the lead agent had an "Aha!" moment.
Agent: Is this an overnight stop in MAA?
Me: Yes.
Agent: What are you going to do in MAA?
Me: Get to a hotel for the night
Agent: How can you leave the airport when your bags are still in the airport?
Me: Eh, I've done this countless number of times at various airports in the world.
Agent: But this is a security risk and can't be allowed. You either remain in the airport overnight or you collect your bags in MAA an re-checkin for your next flight
Me: No way in hell am I going to remain at the airport. Please checkin the bags to MAA instead.
So, the MLE tags were removed from our bags and new tags to MAA were then issued instead. Of course, the priority tags didn't do us any good as usual and we spent more time at the airport on arrival waiting to retrieve our bags.
Apr 25, 2016, 3:12 pm
#13
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: JFK
Programs: -
Posts: 178
Can anyone provide an update on recent experiences? I'm also arriving from DEL around midnight and then taking the MAA-MLE flight next morning at 7am.
I'm flying in J and with carry-on bags only. Usually I can get away with arriving at the airport 1hr prior to my flight. My plan would be to go to a hotel, get ~5hrs of sleep ( wake up around 5:30) and be at the airport by 6am. Any reason why this wouldn't work here?
I'm flying in J and with carry-on bags only. Usually I can get away with arriving at the airport 1hr prior to my flight. My plan would be to go to a hotel, get ~5hrs of sleep ( wake up around 5:30) and be at the airport by 6am. Any reason why this wouldn't work here?
Apr 26, 2016, 5:28 am
#14
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 160
Can anyone provide an update on recent experiences? I'm also arriving from DEL around midnight and then taking the MAA-MLE flight next morning at 7am.
I'm flying in J and with carry-on bags only. Usually I can get away with arriving at the airport 1hr prior to my flight. My plan would be to go to a hotel, get ~5hrs of sleep ( wake up around 5:30) and be at the airport by 6am. Any reason why this wouldn't work here?
I'm flying in J and with carry-on bags only. Usually I can get away with arriving at the airport 1hr prior to my flight. My plan would be to go to a hotel, get ~5hrs of sleep ( wake up around 5:30) and be at the airport by 6am. Any reason why this wouldn't work here?