Coach to Delhi - which airline is preferable?
Aug 9, 2010, 5:51 pm
#31
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: NYC / Chelsea
Programs: Delta, Avios, Chase
Posts: 1,099
Looks lke $1095.60 in W (outbound), V (return), which is heavily discounted whY. Changes to the return will incur a $75 change fee (in my recollection) and difference in fares classes if V is not available on return. This is a refundable ticket.
Aug 9, 2010, 5:55 pm
#32
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 51
Thanks
But that much I knew...
The change fee is more like $125, plus difference in fare. But the cancellation price was an issue - and apparently was up for debate among the Air India customer service people I spoke with.
My main concern is the seats.
I see no way to assure a seat I want prior to handing over my NON-American Express card! Grrrrrr.
But that much I knew...
The change fee is more like $125, plus difference in fare. But the cancellation price was an issue - and apparently was up for debate among the Air India customer service people I spoke with.
My main concern is the seats.
I see no way to assure a seat I want prior to handing over my NON-American Express card! Grrrrrr.
Aug 10, 2010, 1:42 am
#33
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
Programs: Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, IHG Plat, HH Gold, Trident Plat, DL Diamond, AI Maharajah
Posts: 29,682
Thanks
But that much I knew...
The change fee is more like $125, plus difference in fare. But the cancellation price was an issue - and apparently was up for debate among the Air India customer service people I spoke with.
My main concern is the seats.
I see no way to assure a seat I want prior to handing over my NON-American Express card! Grrrrrr.
But that much I knew...
The change fee is more like $125, plus difference in fare. But the cancellation price was an issue - and apparently was up for debate among the Air India customer service people I spoke with.
My main concern is the seats.
I see no way to assure a seat I want prior to handing over my NON-American Express card! Grrrrrr.
there are tons of travel agents in the US as well that deal with ai on a regular basis....i would definitely go through a ta when traveling on ai....
Aug 10, 2010, 1:51 am
#34
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: PDX
Programs: Don't think it matters...
Posts: 5,240
...http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/airli...n-tickets.html
Aug 10, 2010, 3:31 pm
#36
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 7
Thanks
But that much I knew...
The change fee is more like $125, plus difference in fare. But the cancellation price was an issue - and apparently was up for debate among the Air India customer service people I spoke with.
My main concern is the seats.
I see no way to assure a seat I want prior to handing over my NON-American Express card! Grrrrrr.
But that much I knew...
The change fee is more like $125, plus difference in fare. But the cancellation price was an issue - and apparently was up for debate among the Air India customer service people I spoke with.
My main concern is the seats.
I see no way to assure a seat I want prior to handing over my NON-American Express card! Grrrrrr.
http://home.airindia.in/SBCMS/Webpag...ents-Seat.aspx
Yes, the catch is you need your PNR number (equivalent to record locator), which you get only after making the reservation.
However, preselecting seats seems to be not that popular with AI. When I booked with them for a Nov flight few days ago, there were only 4-5 seats preselected and so I had virtually the whole Y aircraft to choose from.
As for reviews of AI USA-India nonstop flights in Y, please check airliners.net, especially the ones by abrelosojos, which is the gold standard! Those are what motivated me to take AI this time. I have taken CO EWR-DEL/BOM before, which to my opinion is decent by US standards, but nowhere visible by Asian standards!
Aug 11, 2010, 1:45 am
#37
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: PDX
Programs: Don't think it matters...
Posts: 5,240
However, preselecting seats seems to be not that popular with AI. When I booked with them for a Nov flight few days ago, there were only 4-5 seats preselected and so I had virtually the whole Y aircraft to choose from.
As for reviews of AI USA-India nonstop flights in Y, please check airliners.net, especially the ones by abrelosojos, which is the gold standard! Those are what motivated me to take AI this time. I have taken CO EWR-DEL/BOM before, which to my opinion is decent by US standards, but nowhere visible by Asian standards!
As for reviews of AI USA-India nonstop flights in Y, please check airliners.net, especially the ones by abrelosojos, which is the gold standard! Those are what motivated me to take AI this time. I have taken CO EWR-DEL/BOM before, which to my opinion is decent by US standards, but nowhere visible by Asian standards!
Aug 12, 2010, 10:51 am
#38
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 51
You gotta love AI.
I book the ticket and get a PNR number.
Now to choose my seat.
Looking at the seat plan, the seats are in 3 groups of 3:
ABC
DEF
HJK
Where's the G???
On seatguru.com, they list it as ABC, DEF, GHI
Originally I chose H as Air India has it as an aisle.
But Seatguru says H is a middle seat!
This is too crazy. A little too much India before even getting there!
I book the ticket and get a PNR number.
Now to choose my seat.
Looking at the seat plan, the seats are in 3 groups of 3:
ABC
DEF
HJK
Where's the G???
On seatguru.com, they list it as ABC, DEF, GHI
Originally I chose H as Air India has it as an aisle.
But Seatguru says H is a middle seat!
This is too crazy. A little too much India before even getting there!
Aug 12, 2010, 1:22 pm
#42
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
to each their own, but avoiding the three cheapest classes on AA may be a whY ticket that is twice the price of an AI ticket. if $$$ is a key consideration, then AI may win out on that basis as well. and for the non-stop service to India, I find AI's J product (and whY product) to be better than AA or CO.
But if it's coach travel, plenty of people would just as well avoid a non-stop in coach as connect somewhere in the middle.
AI on JFK-DEL/DEL-JFK nowadays is much better than what AI was a handful of years back and before. Ground handling is still an area that AI needs to improve t
Last edited by GUWonder; Aug 12, 2010 at 1:27 pm
Aug 12, 2010, 1:44 pm
#43
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 80
for what it's worth. i took the nonstop AI JFK to Delhi flight in February in business class.
It was pretty nice for the cost. For about $3k (infinitely cheaper than other airlines) you got a lieflat seat, limited movies, decent food, nice flight attendants, and plenty water for the 15 hour flight.
to lay flat at half the cost of other carriers, it worked for me.
It was pretty nice for the cost. For about $3k (infinitely cheaper than other airlines) you got a lieflat seat, limited movies, decent food, nice flight attendants, and plenty water for the 15 hour flight.
to lay flat at half the cost of other carriers, it worked for me.
Aug 12, 2010, 2:04 pm
#44
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SAT / MAA / BOM
Programs: CO Plat; UA 1K; EK Gold
Posts: 5,110
Seatguru has not been updating stuff for a while since they were taken over by trip advisor.
I truly hope you enjoy your trip.
Flying AI is actually not bad at all. I have done 6 sectors (some Y, some J), in the past year (either within India or India-SouthEast Asia). No big issues.
Aug 12, 2010, 11:36 pm
#45
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 7
You gotta love AI.
I book the ticket and get a PNR number.
Now to choose my seat.
Looking at the seat plan, the seats are in 3 groups of 3:
ABC
DEF
HJK
Where's the G???
On seatguru.com, they list it as ABC, DEF, GHI
Originally I chose H as Air India has it as an aisle.
But Seatguru says H is a middle seat!
This is too crazy. A little too much India before even getting there!
I book the ticket and get a PNR number.
Now to choose my seat.
Looking at the seat plan, the seats are in 3 groups of 3:
ABC
DEF
HJK
Where's the G???
On seatguru.com, they list it as ABC, DEF, GHI
Originally I chose H as Air India has it as an aisle.
But Seatguru says H is a middle seat!
This is too crazy. A little too much India before even getting there!
AIs largest aircraft was 744 with 10 seats abreast and so the numbering was: ABC DEFG HJK. When any airline remaps seats to smaller wide-bodies like A332, B77L, etc they always keep the window seat numbers fixed, while taking off any aisle seat. In case of AI that happens to be G and so for B777: ABC DEF HJK.
Had you flown some wide bodies with different carriers you would have easily noticed this peculiarity and not unnecessarily blamed a country for it!
Hope you enjoy your trip...
Last edited by hobbes78; Aug 12, 2010 at 11:43 pm