UA 1k is star gold - but United Club access is only allowed in US locations for INTL flights as noted above - not UA domestic (exception is connecting INTL-Domestic or Domestic-INTL flights).. if you are Star Gold via SQ/LH/AI or any Star Alliance programs, access is granted per star gold rules and includes domestic UA flights as well..

https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...es/access.html

UA*G on domestic UA flight itineraries could access the Star Gold lounges operated by Lufthansa in the US even while the UA lounges would be off limits to UA*Gs flying UA domestically. Some of us UA*Gs without United lounge membership at the time would drop into the LH DTW and LH IAD lounges when flying UA domestically since UA wouldn’t have us into the UA lounges because we were UA*G. Is this no longer possible for UA*Gs?

It will take a little bit of time for Tata to implement their style of working. A few short years from now I can picture a very different airline than the one AI was before or even is currently.

There is no doubt about the fact that US carriers are much easier to deal with. India has not reached that level of professionalism & customer service in the airline industry. But I have a lot of expectations from the Tata group. They did a good job with Vistara & there is no reason why they cannot do a better job with AI.

UA *G can absolutely go to any *A lounge on a domestic UA ticket. So LH, TK, SK,LX, AI, AC etc. will happily accept you. I have heard conflicting reports about *A (LAX) not allowing UA *G on domestic itineraries. But the others 100% would welcome you.

The earlier discussion was more about United Clubs not accepting UA *G on a domestic itinerary.

Modiluft was providing me a high level of customer service in the air and on the ground, and it did so at a level that was above that of the US airlines. But that’s in terms beyond the scope of FFP customer service.

Modiluft paled in comparison to Damania, Jet Airways and later Kingfisher... 😂🤪

For me, Damania, Jet Airways and Kingfisher, even at their prime, were way more inconsistent and spotty with service and service attitude on the ground — and definitely in the air — than what I got from Modiluft.

I doubt we are going to see Air India became as good for me on domestic routes as those (now defunct) carriers were for me.

Location cannot compete with the ME3 for US flights to Asia or Africa, but can for flights from EU to Asia or Aus/NZ
India used to be like the US with full immigration queues and delays upon landing
- that always kills a transit passenger market.
The Indian Govt did not let AI play the transit game as in EU, ME3, HKG, SIN etc
Now that those entities are well developed the chance to grow AI in terms of connecting traffic through India is gone
Ex- India traffic has a lot of connecting options to US now and the long direct flights are only profitable to good solid markets like NYC or SFO due to the distance


True. How you find the time and energy to fly all these places and airlines is beyond comprehension.
You have been truly knowledgeable about most places and airlines ever since I have been on flyertalk and I have flown a lot !

Come again? India always allowed international transit without any immigration (like in the US). It dates back to the days when aircraft didn't have the range and European flights to S.E. Asia had to stop in India.

Sorry for error - my transit I had to go through immigration lines a while ago.
In any case their chance to grow that exEU is gone over the past 20 yrs and now the ME3 are the choice 1 stop for both EU and US travelers
TK is trying to grow that as well ex EU as is Ethiopian.
To change service culture to what AI was 40 yrs will take a while.

I think you meant to type “unlike in the US”, but otherwise yes.

There was also UA transiting DEL to connect LHR with HKG. Wasn’t that a route which was picked up from PanAm but routed that way for reasons beside aircraft range?

Either way, India sort of squandered an opportunity, an opportunity which it not only left to the GCC but which it fed like no other. In some ways the Partition of India could be blamed for this, as the consequences of that meant neither India nor Pakistan would be able and willing to consolidate South Asian traffic. India didn’t even want to consolidate with Bangladeshi traffic after delivering Bengalis in East Pakistan independence from Pakistan. And Nepal wasn’t going to cut it with population figures to make India a major international transit hub. Into even the late 1960s and maybe early 1970s, wasn’t there even India-Europe traffic going via BEY? Of the earliest wave of Indian-American doctors, many used to take their exams in Beirut. Not sure how they got to BEY, but the test results were coming from those administered in Lebanon.

Yes, that was the PA RTW flight which United took over in the 1990s. It flew ORD-HKG-DEL-LHR-ORD with the new long(er) range B744. PA started out in the 70s with their new B747 like this:

http://www.timetableimages.com/ttima...4/pa704-12.jpg

The deliveries have started... Air India welcomes its first airbus A321neo (msn.com)

Nah, that A321 is from a previous order.

Ah... that explains a lot. I assumed it was from the new order because I think this again was a plane originally intended for a Russian airline....