intuition

That would be the second (light) meal.
Yes, not very impressive. But someone with more recent experience can perhaps confirm/debunk if this is representative. Current menu is here.

oliver2002

Doesn't sound very Nordic , but my wife got excited looking at the menu

ffay005

I searched for the DEL catering discussion I remembered and found it. You might want to show your wife this: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29144684-post173.html (from post 173 up to about 182).

Purjelentaja

Yep, that night flight HEL-DEL was really disappointing. But in the case we are talking here it is day flight in opposite direction (DEL-HEL) and based on the menu it seems to be more like normal business class service, luckily they haven't changed service concept on that return leg. It's been some years since I flew to DEL regularly and at least back then catering from DEL was quite good, especially the Indian dishes.

Talking of departure from DEL, the flight leaves in the morning when DEL is quite quiet with reasonably short lines at immigration and security. When frequently there I used to leave my hotel in AeroCity (10-15mins drive from the airport) 1h45mins-2hrs before departure of the flight and always had enough of time in the lounge before boarding. Last time there in december I took metro from downtown to the airport, quick, comfortable and hazzle-free, getting to the airport from the city is not as bad as one could expect.

Sorte

On board of AY121 now and GA wanted to see visa. Also Check In kiosk aids reminded to have the visa at hand when boarding. So the idiotism continues.

Carotthat

Inspired by Intuitions' and ffay005# reports I'm doing this return next weekend.
As been to india and really impressed with their perfect organisation for everything I'm not going to leave the airport - but I applied for the eVISA before (prices raised up to 80USD).
So, I'll report in a few days. Hopefully they don't try to call the men in white gowns on my arrival...

Carotthat

intuition

Ah, they more likely go "ah, it is one of those guys" if anything
Have a nice weekend away!

Carotthat

Thanks. Also quite a trip, coming from STR overnight and squeezing a HEL-TXL-HEL return in Saturday

ffay005

Enjoy! You're going to have fun! Don't forget to make duty free purchases at DEL. They have good prices.

Have HEL print you a boarding pass for the return flight and if you dare, scribble DT on it yourself, in two places, above the date and above the barcode, and avoid the wait at transfer desk.

We should really start forging those eVisa pdfs. Wouldn't be illegal since you don't try to enter the country...

oliver2002

AY has to transmit the passenger APIS data to the BoI: https://boi.gov.in/content/apis-adva...rmation-system
The eTA info is tied to your passport number, which currently is not crosschecked before departure (like for the US). If India starts to offer/require that, showing a forged pdf will land you in deep doo doo (no arrest in DEL, but denial of boarding in HEL)

Carotthat

However the efficiency by indian authorities is not quite reliable: I forgot to enter my earlier entry to india in the application form, and whatever, they didn't care.

oliver2002

Application form is one thing, actual departure control another. The US also doesn't get a rodents behind what you actually write in the ESTA or Visa application, but the officer on the border makes the decision if you are allowed to enter the country, regardless of whether you have a Visa in your passport or an ESTA.

ffay005

This is all very confusing. The APIS guidelines tell AY to send my name, passport number etc to Indian authorities. Fine. It also tells AY to send my address in India. How would AY know that? Moreover, if AY sends my passport info, but no visa info, and the receiving authority sees that I am arriving without a visa, then obviously they think I will be in transit, perhaps on a separate ticket, or? Because if I make an airside transit in India, I don't need a visa at all. (And according to the guidelines, AY should send visa info, too, but they have no idea of that info since they only see my self-printed pdf for a split second on boarding.)

oliver2002

If you look at the example of pax file

The fields you talk about are left blank. So it seems the BoI is OK with not receiving data for some fields

Carotthat

So. I got through the boarding process, and even as I told the finnair agent I'm just gonna be in transit in Delhi, she wanted to see the visa. Crazy.
​​​​​​I got two copies of the return boarding pass with me.
And I bumped für a mere 240€ into Business. Booking class J, by the way 😁