Keyser

On a typical Sunday it will take you anywhere between an hour to an hour & a half to get to the airport from Marine Drive.

I would leave at 5:30pm for a 9pm flight. You would reach the airport between 6:30-7pm, take about half an hour for airport entry, check-in, immigration, security & to get to the lounge, so you would end up spending about 45 minutes to an hour in the lounge before you had to board.

ss1710

Has anyone flown AI144 in F recently on the ex-EY aircraft? Looking to just get an idea of what to expect as I am getting a good deal through Aeroplan for an upcoming flight

Anish

Expect an old EY F seat with slightly better than J food and essentially the same winelist as J.

jasepl

I flew the 130/131 to London. But same plane basically.

On the ground:

BOM departure
It seems someone called (but I didn't answer)
Then they sent a message asking me to let them know about 10 minutes before I get to the airport so that they could have someone wait for be at Gate 1
At Gate 1, there were 3 people waiting. One mid-level guy in a suit, one slightly higher level woman in a saree and a porter
They took me to check in, then through security and immigration into the First section of the lounge
And they were all back when it was time to head to the gate

LHR arrival
Absolutely nothing different from any other passenger

LHR departure
There was a separate F check in desk, but of course, there was a family from Y already being helped. And they took forever.
Other than that absolutely nothing different from any other passenger.

BOM arrival
Same porter but different suit guy waiting for me at the gate.
Walked me through immigration to baggage claim
Miraculously remembered what my suitcase looked like and had it ready to go by the time I came back from the toilet
Walked me past customs, basically telling the officers not to bother with me
Handed me off to my driver


I would say BOM ground service much better than I expected, 8/10. London, non-existent, 3/10.

In flight service flop show and semi-impressive menus coming up!

jasepl

Food Menus and Wine / Beverage


BOM-LHR

LHR-BOM

Wine & Beverages

Anish

As an added point of info, these menus are identical to my BLR-SFO flight last month in J so the only difference between J/F at the moment before the soft product revamp is the seat and ground handling/lounge in India.

PiperAtGatesofDawn

The whiskeys are a little more aged IIRC but rest of the booze is the same. If the food etc. is all the same and soon the seats will also be the same... what's left?

Anish

The soft product post the A350 launch looks very different in J/F.

PiperAtGatesofDawn

Well I think we need lots more information on what that actually means. The new FFP admits that F is marginally better than J, I think there’s a 20% difference between the two.That’s saying something…

jasepl

Possibly. I don't know for sure, but I have a suspicion that - besides the ground service at BOM - the difference is likely pretty superficial.

My guess is something on the lines of same menu, but plated and served course by course (in F) vs plonked on a tray (in J). And pyjamas, bedding etc etc.


Headphones, pyjamas, amenity kit, lip balm (that they made a big fuss over)

Decent quality towel.

Amuse bouche BOM-LHR

Dessert

Amuse bouche LHR-BOM

view-with-a-room

777-300ER BOM - DEL - ORD, First Class. Air India called me and texted me a few hours prior to the flight in Mumbai instructing me to call them when I arrived at the airport. The process was somewhat confusing but when I arrived at the airport and called them the ground staff met me outside the airport and walked me to the lounge. Entry into the airport is problematic with security so the process is of value. Both planes were the old planes with 4 seats in first and the 2-3-2 business class seating. The lounges at both airports include both first class and business class but the amenities were primarily on the business class side. Boarding was typical with the gate agent starting with business class and everyone ran to the gate to board. The planes are old and one doesn't have to look far to find something that doesn't work. The seat didn't work correctly on the first flight and the lights didn't work correctly on the second flight. The staff highlighted the investment in new equipment and the refurbishment of the old equipment. No value in apologizing for the non-working equipment as zero opportunity for remediation. The food was quite good. The staff highlighted the Western items on the menu but I insisted on the Indian items on the menu and I couldn't have been more pleased. Start and end with the Indian items. I told the purser to skip the Western starters altogether for the Indian meals but he seemed a bit confused. The kheer was a wonderful desert. As with other airlines, Air India should have a Indian menu and a Western menu. The Indian food was likely the best I have ever eaten. The online entertainment was working but the options were very limited. The Bose QC20 headphones didn't work with the onboard entertainment due to excess feedback. The Poly Voyager Free 60+ UC did work, oddly enough; albeit with some feedback. The Poly devices haven't worked well on other planes so I travel with the QC20 devices. The staff were competent and personable but didn't quite understand the value of limited interaction on a 15 hour flight. Offering bottled water to a passenger with two bottles of water isn't of value. I was offered tea or coffee or alcohol 10 times despite indicating none of the above were required or desired. The bathrooms were clean and convenient. Two bathrooms are located in the front and access was limited to first class and staff. The amenity kits are nice and the lip gloss has an awful smell. I threw the lip gloss away immediately after the first use.

Air India first in the old planes equal to a good business class. Air India business in the old planes is equal to a good economy comfort. With the new planes traveling east or west via India isn't ideal due to the ground experience.

arjs20

I got lucky with this — Business was 88K but showed O class. When we called UA Customer Service, she couldn’t find it either. Booked it (was super glitchy), while my sister couldn’t see it when she searched the same routes. BOM - DEL - EWR in AI F for 88K UA miles. The ticket shows F and I was able to select seats on the AI app. On Jan 2 (peak travel season EX India).

S.R

I find myself flying AI F JFK-BOM connecting to J BOM-HYD tomorrow, due to Dubai floods causing EK flight cancelations.
Last time I flew AI F was during the pandemic and wow it was bad. Hoping for a somewhat better experience with the "new AI" and being onboard the ex EY 77W.

Anyway, I haven't connected in BOM in years, so would like to know what lounge I will be taken to prior to my J connection to HYD, as well as what amenities are available. What lounge is it, and is there an F lounge/section I can use since I am arriving in F? Are there showers?

PiperAtGatesofDawn

Adani lounge in domestic T3. No F section and no arrival privileges either. Showers available.

S.R

Already off to a rocky start and I just checked in, this should be fun LOL

Had to wait 10 min to check in at the F line as they were helping a J pax with a seat issue.

Then I was told that apparently 4 of the 8 seats in the cabin are inoperable, and I was moved from my window seat to a middle seat. Even though myself and my traveling companion were the only ones booked in F as of last night, so they couldn’t even maintain a window seat for me when they made the switches. Could only laugh at this point, typical AI. People checking in next to me at the J counter were downgraded to Y for their connecting flight in India and when they asked what could be done, agent said “nothing.”

Thankfully I skipped the garbage AI lounge and found solace in the mediocre centurion lounge.

Let’s see how this flight is. As I said last time I flew AI F, why anyone pays real money for this is beyond me.