Maharaja Club is an elite tier, like Plat. The FFP is called Flying Returns ;)

And of course it is better than 9W. Everything AI is better than 9W... ;)

The biggest advantage of Flying Returns is that you can redeem and earn on the finest airline in the sky...



































SQ.

Y'all weren't expecting that, were you :p.

Sadly, I have never flown SQ, so I can't confirm that it is better than AI. That's what trip reports suggest though. I suggest that the trip reports are wrong ;)

Ok, I have to ask.. how much is AI paying you for this publicity stand..??????:rolleyes:

Rs 0.00 :)

FWIW, I do go over the top in praise of AI on FlyerTalk. I'm not that much of a fan. But I do think they are the best airline in India...

Also, FWIW, AI doesn't have any spare cash to pay me if they did want me to put up a publicity stand. And even if they did, it would be rather useless since in the grand scheme of things, getting all the flyers of the Airlines of India forum here on FT to fly AI would barely make a difference.

Anyone who has known me since I was very little will tell you that AI has been my favorite airline since I was a little boy at 8 years old. My love runs deep :)

1. FWIW- What's that..????

2. See, here's the deal.. I think a lot of our love for airlines is based on
a. What airlines we flew the first time in our lives..
b. How our personal experience has been..

My first flight was Sahara.. followed by a lot of Jet.. I did like Sahara.. so my love for Jet multiplied when they bought it over.. and over all my experience with 9W has been quite good.. though in recent times, things are changing.. but then again, everyday is not sunday..

as for AI.. My experiences with them have been a disaster from day 1.. My BLR LHR CCU was a disaster all the way.. as much as I love their food, that's not a good enough reason for me to continue flying them.. I have a long list of things I don't like about them.. but my biggest hatred comes from the fact that the Babu's of this country use it as their private airlines and we have to pay for it.. the constant meddling, the permanent bailout status, the inconvenience to the passengers at the cost of the common man.. these things make me mad...

Simz..

[QUOTE=simz;18151291]1. FWIW- What's that..????


For What its Worth

For What It's Worth
Well, that's not me then :).

The first airline I remember flying on is DL (well, Song). I also vaguely remember some WN, a lot of US, 1 roundtrip on FL, and a bit of UA when I was little.

My first international flight I remember was on LX. After that, I remember some LH, BA, AF, CO, and then finally AI once (not that I remember the trip).

Domestically in India, I first flew 9W, then DN, then S2, then IT (which I really liked at the time), and then IC, which continues to be my favorite carrier until today... So no, it's not anything about the first carrier I flew on...

My favorite flight of all time has to be the first time I flew on IT. The novelty of TV screens and a full meal on the short BLR-IXE hop on a ATR was truly something special at the time... Since then, I have progressively become more and more disillusioned with them, to the point where they are on my personal no-fly list now.

IC/AI/IX have been consistently decent, but there isn't any one experience which stands out in my mind as a "special" flight...

So my love for AI doesn't quite fit that criteria either...

I liked S2 when I first flew it. After 9W turned it into JetLite, I flew it again and had a horrible experience compared to the first time. Honestly, if that same flight was on DN, not S2, I would have probably thought it was just fine. But the difference between expectation (S2 was a classy outfit) and what actually happened that flight was just too large. I will likely never fly S2 again.

That + reliably good flights is more than enough for me...

I do fully expect that I will like AI much less once I start paying taxes... Right now, since I don't deal with taxes, I have no such issues :). However, you should keep in mind that the more money AI makes on its own, the smaller bill taxpayers end up with...

Those things made me mad. I've long given up on caring about them. This is India. It's the way things work. Just look away and move on has become my philosophy since moving here...

I like AI's product. I like the value I get for the fare I pay. That's why I stick around. I don't like the shenanigans, but there's nothing I can do about it. One day, once I get my degree and become an airline exec, then maybe I'll be able to do something about it. Today? I just keep flying my favorite carrier :)

I wonder if you will still be such an AI fan after you fly SQ.

Same with me.. My first KF was an experience all together.. and till date I like them.. if only they would continue flying.. as per the latest news, IATA has suspended KF license.. It’s a shame.. why don’t they do it to AI..!!!


Same with me.. My fisrt original S2 was a great experience.. Jet Lite was a SHOCK..!! I won’t go as far to say I won’t fly them again.. I now look at them the same way I look at Jet Konnect.. so I am quite fine with them now..

Surprisingly for me, they haven’t been that reliable.. my last flight, I was at the airport for 8 hours becoz of their incompetency.. though I was impressed with a particular AI ground staff who was handling the passengers..

Oh u mean mean fellow.. Not paying taxes and flying AI’s flag..

And as for the idea of flying them so that we have a smaller tax bill.. I don’t see that happening anytime soon.. so I would rather people flew more IT, so that they come out of the mess they are in..


So here’s the deal.. as it still makes me mad, I would want to see this airline shut down.. I don’t see any hope for this airlines to be profitable or viable..

Because AI actually pays its bills?


I won't fly them again because they price themselves way higher than SG or 6E, while giving inferior service compared to those 2...

I guess I've been lucky then... However, their reliability numbers are fairly average for Indian domestic and improving every day... Not sure how AI compares internationally..

My parents are paying taxes, and they like AI too. Mostly because I never book them on anything else ;)

Nonsense. If more people fly IT, yet another (annoying) businessman becomes richer. I'll prefer improving the bank account of the people, not some drunkard thanks :)

I see plenty of hope. And I think that's the difference - I've given up hope on ending corruption and incompetence, but I still have hope that AI will one day return to its glory as a premier carrier of the world. It appears that you are the opposite. That's the fundamental difference :)

i think you mean to say 'we tax payers pay ai's bills'....

They don't.

The bills are paid because the now-permanently-extended begging bowl of the national beggar is always refilled, courtesy of those of us who pay taxes.

That is unfortunate for us citizens (taxpaying or not), the exchequer, the other airlines and the nation as a whole.

That's right. It benefits only the babus and their cronies. And maybe the 0.1% of the population who can afford to fly and benefit from the artificially depressed prices in the market.

Don't forget so many AI employees, who have been enjoying the free ride (and I mean that both literally and figuratively).

Relax, most of his comments are tongue in cheek. I like reading it. If only it were true. :p

A bit late to the party my friend. As usual ;)

FWIW, he's clearly relaxed enough to actually fly AI (and post a positive comment!)...