Air India First Class
 

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Good to hear these reviews of AI F. Just grabbed a F award for the husband flying from RDU to YVR( J in business) and YVR to DEl (F with AI) Oct 2024 for only 88k miles via United. Giving AI a year to work on the soft product and NOT telling him if can go South. Lol

AI's 77Ws should ideally be in refurb by then and he might just end up on an ex-EY/SQ 77W :)

I did the NRT - DEL - JFK ticket this year, though in J. People have spoken about the DEL - JFK leg in F, I will add that the NRT - DEL leg in J was actually surprisingly comfortable. Much, much better than the aging DEL - JFK 777 J with the angled flat seat.

Offered today for Sundays flight J->F for 474 quid. As of now, doesnt seem like anyone is in F.

Any offered anything lower at check in for the upgrade?

The airport rate used to be 600GBP at the counter in LHR for flights to India:

https://web.archive.org/web/20200302...k-to-india.htm

So if 474GBP suits you I would take it.

Yea was curious, I'm not looking to be impressed but the extra bed size may be nice. Thanks for the input!

Where are you flying to?

Well, their system wont take my payment, keep getting errors. Rang them up, said wait a bit then try again :)

LHR-BOM

That would be the ex-EY plane. 8 F seats would confirm it.

It's great upgrade deal as long as you can afford it.

Correct, ex EY and 8 seats.

Can't still purchase the seat, their systems arent working well.

To give a bit of reference, when I booked my upgrade and selected a seat, the cabin was empty. The entire flight was full, the FA said they were oversold and everyone else in the cabin were upgraded. Hence, why I think my upgrade fare was a bit cheaper than the normal 600 or so. AI figured they could get a bit more revenue rather than free upgrades. Upon arrival in BOM, I was the only passenger with AI staff waiting for me to escort me to immigration.

Good flight, seat def needs some upgrading/cleaning. Parts were falling off, bed was a bit harder than I'd like and food was average. Staff as always was great!

Hi all, can anyone share what the domestic ground handling experience is like for F pax ? I booked an AI F award (was going for Biz, but F was availalble so thought it might be fun basically for the novelty). My flight is BOM-DEL-ORD with the domestic segment also on the 777 with F cabin. There is a 3.5 hour layover in DEL.

Nothing in BOM, in DEL you will be received on arrival and someone will take you to the AI F lounge and then to the gate.

They used to do curb side pick up and escort in BOM. Is that no longer a thing?

Curb side is available in BOM & DEL if you depart international from there. They usually call you ahead of time and check where to meet.

Any clue if they have anything similar at LHR? Or at DEL for F->J connection as I'd have to recheck bags ? Taking 3 massive suitcases back to India so it'd actually be helpful this time.

Does anyone know if companions can join F pax for ground service or any other parts of the journey? May be booking a flight with 1 in J and 1 in F due to award availability on DEL-SFO.

looking for suggestion.. got a UA award for next week - 14th - DEL-ORD in F but via YVR (i'll have to book a separate flight from BLR-DEL which is ok, i can work one day from DEL office)... other option is direct BLR-ORD via MUC on LH in J.. same number of UA miles (88k).. MUC connection involves a 6+hr wait

is AI F still something worth experiencing? or better to take the LH connection? also not sure about all these strikes in germany..

Fly direct via MUC. Why waste time flying around in the wrong direction? AI F is not really so grand ...

Hello all -
Does AI offer any assistance for pax arriving in F (from ORD) and departing in F (to MAA).
Connection time seems tight (1hr 50 minutes).
Is this a doable itinerary (both flights on the same ticket)?

It's a tight connection since you need to collect your bags in DEL, clear customs and re-check them, but it's doable. AI will have a porter meet you at the plane on arrival from ORD and escort you all the way to domestic check-in.

Ah thank you!
Will update this thread if I end up doing this itinerary.

Please update after the trip. I have the same itinerary April, 2024. I booked the the same itinerary for the exact same reason; for the novelty.

My flight is in July 2024, so may not be too helpful for you, but I will certainly share an update after it !!

hello all - Anyone know --- Does AI release more than 1 F redemption seat on the LHR BOM route? (e.g., close to departure date)?