samoyeddillpickle

Has anyone travelled first class on Air India's Boeing 777? How was the product and service?

Keyser

Its been a couple of years since my last AI trip in First but I have no complaints about the product & service. Seats are comfortable & staff is attentive.

You can't compare it to products from other airlines like EK, EY, SQ, etc but all in all AI F is pretty decent.

PiperAtGatesofDawn

Depends on who is and how much they are paying for it. It’s a very average product.

Wider seat and aisle access and all vs AI J. But no WiFi or IFE. Attentive service - sure. But everything else falls really really short of F especially at equal price points.

I couldn’t ever see myself paying for a cash ticket out of my own pocket for that. Not that I can afford it. But that’s a different story.

It would be easier to understand what draws you to it.. and to get other FTers to validate that.

Anish

As mentioned above, don't expect the wine list or food to be anywhere close to global F standards. You can find some recent pictures here.

erik123

Many steps below others but ground service can be OK with a personal escort. Seat is large and comfortable but that's about it. AI can have very good flight timings on some routes so that may make a difference.

samoyeddillpickle

Thank you for everyone's response. I will be traveling from YYZ to HND next year and I was able to secure a flight using points but this route YYZ > DEL > HND popped up and the dates worked a bit better for me. However, having read a few more responses I decided to keep my original flight instead since it's a direct flight. I'll just have to adjust my return flight.

678flyer

YYZ-DEL-HND will be a very long journey. YYZ-DEL alone is longer than YYZ-HND as per GC Map.

wannaflyinJ

travelled once in 2020 ( before the tata takover). economy class was horrible with most of the screens not working. the crew was apologetic and encouraged me to make a complaint. my brother was in business, he had a decent experience but not comparable to any other major airlines business.

erik123

Does AI fly to HND? In any case - it's a lousy redemption with so many hours in the air.

w000t

just flew F on YVR-DEL and my impressions mirror other posters.

pros:
-great service, very kind FAs, will try their best to make sure you are comfortable
-seat is very wide and unrestricted, even had bedding provided. got some great sleep
-food was delicious if you like Indian food
-TUMI amenity kits & PJs are quite nice
-direct flight with minimal hassle

cons:
-very tired interior, buttons and various seat pieces are very worn or barely working. even the USB port was just sputtering out power
-very limited IFE/barely functioning IFE. I can count the number of English movies that they offer and the moving map was broken
-limited food choice. seems like Indian food was the only option and it was between veg or non-veg? I get it's air india but perhaps offer a western option? especially for F....
-no menus so I had no idea what was available or what I even ate. would be nice for those not familiar with indian food vocabulary or just to see what there is on offer especially for drinks
-service was less proactive than other F airlines I've been on. usually, the FAs are like ninjas and will clear your plates immediately but this did not happen. not sure if one off or if this is the norm?

I did get an escort upon arrival in DEL. i was first to disembark but we disembarked via a bus gate so I ended up on the same bus as the other J pax which kind of defeats the purpose (I mean, I can get on the bus myself....). overall, AI F is alright if your final destination is India or if this is the fastest option to your destination or have no other choice. but if you had any choice, I'd probably choose any other airline unless there was a deep discount. I redeemed miles so I guess the hit was not as significant but it definitely pales in comparison to other F and even J on other airlines

PiperAtGatesofDawn

Generally they do have a western option as well. Did you ask? Of course menus are absolutely required.

What I really don't like about AI F today is that AI can easily fix the soft product problems in 2 months. Get 2 people from Taj... done.

Some of the basic stuff is just so off that is unacceptable and hard to make excuses for anymore. They have the expertise in-house. They have a product they are charging international F rates for. They really need to fix it quickly.

Anish

Agreed. Given the recent improvement in the J soft product it baffles me that they haven't put in the extra 20% effort to improve the F product. Perhaps they are aiming to go down the suite business class model and eliminate F eventually? Makes a lot of sense since their new 772s and 359s come with suites in J.

PiperAtGatesofDawn

The 77Ws aren't going away any time soon. Plus new planes from EY. Plus AI philosophy of being the world class airline they once were would need a special F product.

They need to fix it and they could do some of the basic soft product fixes a long time ago. Tumi was a good start, but that's hardly acceptable to do only that.

leonidas

Just save your points and fly J on another airline. It's a complete waste.

view-with-a-room

I have JAL booked to Tokyo via Chicago next spring, but haven't found a way home yet. The Tokyo to NYC via DEL/BOM is one available option; and one of the few available options. AI in First from DEL to JFK would be interesting but the trip is 120,000 LifeMiles albeit via Delhi or via Tokyo. 120,000 airlines miles is quite a few miles, even if it is LifeMiles. And as noted, the trip is a very long trip. Not sure I have the wherewithall to be in the good hands of Air India for 32 hours. Would Air India improve sufficiently between now and March 2024?

Out of Asia, zero availablity to USA or Europe in business or first via ANA, United, Thai, Singapore Air, etc. Endless availability via Air India, though.