AI - MAA to SIN
 

Recently travelled on AI from SIN - MAA on J and was told that there was no wine on board to be served..

Is this always the case on AI J short haul flights?

Have a return leg coming up and want to know what sort of meals to expect from MAA to SIN as well.

you'd get much the same as from SIN-MAA. Which is "not much"

Try 9W instead.

I normally fly budget as distance is just short and price difference is huge.. Tried AI J as it was priced almost similar to SQ Y.

Will try 9W J as well as prices are pretty cheap compared to SQ J.

Well, nothing much to complain :D It's a 4-hr flight.

main reason to fly AI J was due to KF miles as AI has partnership with SQ KF. LOL. Have to comment that the equipment was pretty ancient and had technical difficulty during takeoff from SG and we were stuck inside the plane for 2hrs! 4Hr flight and they could not pull it off :D - whereas tigerairways was flying ontime! :(

I flew MAA-SIN on IC in J in March 2009. I was served wine. Surprised AI did not do so.

The J service on AI is rather weak but I think the prices which you can get for it more then make up for it. I will be posting a Trip Report soon from SIN-BOM-SIN on AI J, and there were some interesting incidents which I recall.

The cabin crew came upto me and said the bar service had started, so naturally I thought I'd ask for some cocktails, which was responded with a negative, then I asked for any champagne which was also no, then I finally asked for a mocktail which was also no. I gave up and asked them to make a apple juice/sprite combo for me.

I was also traveling with my parents, and when he asked for a cup of tea, I still don't know how to quite describe it, but it was literally in one of the cups which I would assume I'd expect in a dhaba style restaurant, and sorry I can't describe a dhaba to our non-Indian FTers. There was no cappucino or latte served onboard either.

I think J the service from the crew is brilliant, however the hard product is very weak, but at the end of the day the price I paid for it, it was only a bit more than Y in other airlines, so the other services such as the priority immigration, lounge access and other J benefits really helped, and the recline was also a bit better with slightly larger legspace, and with only 8 seats, the service was on demand which is something which I don't think other J airlines can have, as they reserve that for their FCL

I did SIN-MAA-SIN on AI J in January. Alcohol was available on both flights.

I FLY MAA-SIN-MAA on AI regularily in Business as it is the only day flight from MAA-SIN till Silkair starts on June 14th.
Honestly, I used to get extremely irritated with the lack of service until one day I changed my perception.
If you look at it - it is a Premium Economy experience. You are paying near SQ Y or SQ Y+10% fares and in return you get:
1) Biz Check-in with higher Baggage allowance
2) Lounge Access at Both ends
3) A larger seat with more legroom
4) A more personalized meal service, but economy style tray with economy style beverages
5) Off late they've operating 321's so you get some inflight entertainment

Honestly, if SQ were to bring its day flight back with AVOD etc etc I would choose SQ Y over AI Biz.
I doubt I'll be switching over to MI at 2.5 times the cost in Business class and will not fly MI economy for 4 hours.

However, a little perception shift in expectation will result in a much more pleasurable AI flying experience. The crew try very hard and the pricing on this sector is outstanding.

1 & 2 can be gotten simply with status, though. 3 & 4 are valid enough points, but I thought 5 was standard (or becoming standard) even in Y these days.

Totally Agreed.

Exactly my reasons too.. With an Indian crowd, AI comes in useful with the price to "class" ratio though standards may be far off from the regular biz flights.

They did serve beer but didnt have Wine on my outbound flight from SG.

Am returning tonight to SG from MAA on AI J and am looking forward to the lounge access @ Chennai.

Got my J return tix for < $900 SGD :D

Have booked my first flight on AI in 20 years SIN-BLR in J. Price is great at about SGD600. On the AI website they mention Limo service for J and F pax. Is this availiable ex SIN?

Actually lounge access on AI is very questionable - first of all AI status - silver, golden egde or maharajah comes "by invitation" upon achieving an unknown number of flights or miles that gets updated by AI "from time to time", secondly lounge access is only available at "select domestic and international airports".
Lounge access would be available at Chennai - since there is a Maharajah lounge there, but either way lounge access at SIN would not be available unless flying biz since its a third party lounge.

Point on IFE noted - nothing to do with flying biz or whY, but it is an added benefit when compared to the old and ratty IC 320's that were flying the route.

even though i don't drink, i seem to remember wine being served in j class on all ai short haul international flights....

having said that, i try to avoid all short haul flights on ai or ic....their long haul product is pretty good though....

I tried to do it for my flight to Bombay, but its only in the full fare buckets, which I'm 99.99% sure your fare isn't, those fares would probably cost similar to SQ J