Domestic Business Class in India: Vistara & Jet Airways
May 6, 2017, 1:35 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: India
Programs: Star Alliance Gold, SkyTeam Elite Plus, Hilton Gold
Posts: 907
Domestic Business Class in India: Vistara & Jet Airways
Introduction:
Pune (PNQ) – Delhi (DEL) is one of the busiest domestic routes in India and happens to be my commute twice or thrice a month. Every airline in India operates this route.
My usual travels are back in coach; however as these flights bookended an international J class itinerary, I thought I’d treat myself to a business class for domestic legs too.
I booked Vistara’s premium economy (which was cheaper than their economy class tickets at the time of booking) and then submitted an Optiontown upgrade bid. The bid ended up clearing about 72 hours before departure.
For Jet, I booked an economy class ticket in an upgradeable booking class and then applied one of my upgrade vouchers which they hand out to their elites.
I believe this will be the very first trip report of Vistara’s business class on FlyerTalk. My own review of their Premium Economy on the airline’s inaugural flight can be found here.
There aren't many recent reviews of Jet Airways intra-India business class on this forum either, so hopefully this will be helpful.
Pune (PNQ) – Delhi (DEL) is one of the busiest domestic routes in India and happens to be my commute twice or thrice a month. Every airline in India operates this route.
My usual travels are back in coach; however as these flights bookended an international J class itinerary, I thought I’d treat myself to a business class for domestic legs too.
I booked Vistara’s premium economy (which was cheaper than their economy class tickets at the time of booking) and then submitted an Optiontown upgrade bid. The bid ended up clearing about 72 hours before departure.
For Jet, I booked an economy class ticket in an upgradeable booking class and then applied one of my upgrade vouchers which they hand out to their elites.
I believe this will be the very first trip report of Vistara’s business class on FlyerTalk. My own review of their Premium Economy on the airline’s inaugural flight can be found here.
There aren't many recent reviews of Jet Airways intra-India business class on this forum either, so hopefully this will be helpful.
May 6, 2017, 1:39 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: India
Programs: Star Alliance Gold, SkyTeam Elite Plus, Hilton Gold
Posts: 907
Vistara Business Class PNQ-DEL
Check-in, Lounge and Boarding:
Reached PNQ around 2 hours before departure. Pune airport is a small airport which hosts Civil + Air Force activities jointly and the security reflects this. No photos of tarmac, runways or aircrafts are allowed here.
Vistara had 2 check-in counters open for economy and 1 for business and their Club Vistara Platinum/Gold members.
I asked for seat 1A which was blocked till then, and got it with a smile.
Vistara uses color coded boarding passes, with purple for economy, deep blue for premium economy and golden (a-la SQ First) for business class. I was also issued a handwritten lounge invitation to the airport’s only lounge, the Port Lounge.
My check-in bag was tagged with Priority Boarding pass and another golden hand bag tag was handed out.
I went through security which was deserted at this hour and was in the lounge by 11:30 p.m.
The lounge is upstairs, which you access through an elevator or an escalator. It is basically one small room, partitioned from the rest of the terminal. It has small sofas and a seating capacity of 25 or so. It is also a part of Priority Pass network, so can get plenty crowded.
The food options include packaged finger sandwiches, small cookies, and tea/coffee.
Canned juices are also offered.
The inbound aircraft was on time and soon boarding was announced, starting with Business class, top tier elites, and premium economy, then economy rows back to front. The order was strictly followed with later groups being held back.
Flight:
Air Vistara UK 998
PNQ-DEL
Departure: 01:10 p.m.
Arrival: 03:25 p.m.
Airbus A320-200 (VT-TTG)
Seat 1A
Once onboard and settled, I was offered a pre-departure drink of cold pressed pineapple juice or canned orange juice or water. Indian domestic flights are not allowed to serve alcohol. (Note my classy neighbour
)
As this aircraft was only a year old, the cabin felt very new and was definitely spotless.
The seat was very good, wrapped in leather and with a generous seat pitch. It had a footrest, however I failed to extend it, despite pushing the button that was presumably the correct one. Not very intuitive.
A small pillow was already placed at my seat.
I was also handed out a cold unscented towel of a good size.
After this, menus were handed out by the Lead FA who promised to take our orders after take-off.
Safety demos were manually performed at this point.
Vistara does not have IFE of any sort in any class. There was some news of wireless streaming, but as far as I know that system is only installed in one aircraft in Vistara’s fleet as of now. I had also read that they used to hand out Samsung tablets in the business class with pre-loaded content; but I did not get to sample either of these things.
We pushed back 6 mins before our departure time and taxied to the start of Runway 10, where we were immediately cleared for take-off.
There was some chop after take-off, which smoothened out in about 15 minutes.
As soon as the seatbelt sign went off, the FAs closed the curtains between business & premium economy and took our orders.
The menu read as follows:
I couldn’t decide between the Chicken Biryani and the Massaman Curry, so asked the sweet FA to make a choice for me. She went back to the galley and informed me after a minute that the Biryani looked delicious and that she'd urge me to choose it. Alright alright, you don’t have to twist my arm over a few extra calories!
I also selected a Blue Curacao mocktail to go with my meal. The mocktails they offer are not listed on the menu, so unless you are ‘in the know’, you probably wouldn’t get to sample the range.
At this point, we were overflying Mumbai and soon reached our cruising altitude of 37000 feet.
My table was set up with white tablecloth and I was served my salad and my main on a single tray.
The presentation of the food was very good for a single tray, featuring accompaniments such as Raita, Pickles and individual salt and pepper shakers.
The salad with chickpeas, burrata, olives, beans and lettuce was good and fresh.
The main course was exceptional. The rice grains weren’t too sticky, which is what I look for in a biryani. It was very nicely flavoured and the meat was tender and falling off without a knife. The tomato stew which came with it was thick and rich and was a perfect match.
Some breads were offered out of a bread basket, which I declined.
My drink and water were served in Vistara branded glasses.
After clearing the plates, I was asked which dessert I would like and I picked the Coconut Parfait; which soon arrived. It was very light, spongy and not too sweet. The cherry filling provided a tanginess that complimented it nicely.
After this, I was offered tea or coffee. Vistara serves Starbucks coffee in business as well as premium economy class, which I selected. It arrived in a Starbucks branded cup too! Full marks to the airline for its branding.
I should reserve some special mention for the crew on this flight who were exemplary. Always smiling, always asking if you needed anything else. They were a credit to the airline.
As an example, the passenger next to me asked his lunch to be served to him an hour after departure. They happily agreed and put his selection aside. Then, an hour on the dot, they woke him up and presented him with this meal. Dine-on-demand on a 2 hours domestic flight! Also, the FA working business class would go and clean the lavatory after every use to keep it squeaky clean during the flight. Over and Beyond!
All too soon, the captain announced descent into Delhi, which meant looking at haze outside.
We were cleared straight in for arrival on Runway 29 and touched down smoothly, arriving in a hot 42 Degree Celsius Delhi 20 mins before time.
The priority baggage tags worked well and I was off with my bag 6 mins before scheduled arrival time.
Check-in, Lounge and Boarding:
Reached PNQ around 2 hours before departure. Pune airport is a small airport which hosts Civil + Air Force activities jointly and the security reflects this. No photos of tarmac, runways or aircrafts are allowed here.
Vistara had 2 check-in counters open for economy and 1 for business and their Club Vistara Platinum/Gold members.
I asked for seat 1A which was blocked till then, and got it with a smile.
Vistara uses color coded boarding passes, with purple for economy, deep blue for premium economy and golden (a-la SQ First) for business class. I was also issued a handwritten lounge invitation to the airport’s only lounge, the Port Lounge.
My check-in bag was tagged with Priority Boarding pass and another golden hand bag tag was handed out.
I went through security which was deserted at this hour and was in the lounge by 11:30 p.m.
The lounge is upstairs, which you access through an elevator or an escalator. It is basically one small room, partitioned from the rest of the terminal. It has small sofas and a seating capacity of 25 or so. It is also a part of Priority Pass network, so can get plenty crowded.
The food options include packaged finger sandwiches, small cookies, and tea/coffee.
Canned juices are also offered.
The inbound aircraft was on time and soon boarding was announced, starting with Business class, top tier elites, and premium economy, then economy rows back to front. The order was strictly followed with later groups being held back.
Flight:
Air Vistara UK 998
PNQ-DEL
Departure: 01:10 p.m.
Arrival: 03:25 p.m.
Airbus A320-200 (VT-TTG)
Seat 1A
Once onboard and settled, I was offered a pre-departure drink of cold pressed pineapple juice or canned orange juice or water. Indian domestic flights are not allowed to serve alcohol. (Note my classy neighbour
)
As this aircraft was only a year old, the cabin felt very new and was definitely spotless.
The seat was very good, wrapped in leather and with a generous seat pitch. It had a footrest, however I failed to extend it, despite pushing the button that was presumably the correct one. Not very intuitive.
A small pillow was already placed at my seat.
I was also handed out a cold unscented towel of a good size.
After this, menus were handed out by the Lead FA who promised to take our orders after take-off.
Safety demos were manually performed at this point.
Vistara does not have IFE of any sort in any class. There was some news of wireless streaming, but as far as I know that system is only installed in one aircraft in Vistara’s fleet as of now. I had also read that they used to hand out Samsung tablets in the business class with pre-loaded content; but I did not get to sample either of these things.
We pushed back 6 mins before our departure time and taxied to the start of Runway 10, where we were immediately cleared for take-off.
There was some chop after take-off, which smoothened out in about 15 minutes.
As soon as the seatbelt sign went off, the FAs closed the curtains between business & premium economy and took our orders.
The menu read as follows:
I couldn’t decide between the Chicken Biryani and the Massaman Curry, so asked the sweet FA to make a choice for me. She went back to the galley and informed me after a minute that the Biryani looked delicious and that she'd urge me to choose it. Alright alright, you don’t have to twist my arm over a few extra calories!
I also selected a Blue Curacao mocktail to go with my meal. The mocktails they offer are not listed on the menu, so unless you are ‘in the know’, you probably wouldn’t get to sample the range.
At this point, we were overflying Mumbai and soon reached our cruising altitude of 37000 feet.
My table was set up with white tablecloth and I was served my salad and my main on a single tray.
The presentation of the food was very good for a single tray, featuring accompaniments such as Raita, Pickles and individual salt and pepper shakers.
The salad with chickpeas, burrata, olives, beans and lettuce was good and fresh.
The main course was exceptional. The rice grains weren’t too sticky, which is what I look for in a biryani. It was very nicely flavoured and the meat was tender and falling off without a knife. The tomato stew which came with it was thick and rich and was a perfect match.
Some breads were offered out of a bread basket, which I declined.
My drink and water were served in Vistara branded glasses.
After clearing the plates, I was asked which dessert I would like and I picked the Coconut Parfait; which soon arrived. It was very light, spongy and not too sweet. The cherry filling provided a tanginess that complimented it nicely.
After this, I was offered tea or coffee. Vistara serves Starbucks coffee in business as well as premium economy class, which I selected. It arrived in a Starbucks branded cup too! Full marks to the airline for its branding.
I should reserve some special mention for the crew on this flight who were exemplary. Always smiling, always asking if you needed anything else. They were a credit to the airline.
As an example, the passenger next to me asked his lunch to be served to him an hour after departure. They happily agreed and put his selection aside. Then, an hour on the dot, they woke him up and presented him with this meal. Dine-on-demand on a 2 hours domestic flight! Also, the FA working business class would go and clean the lavatory after every use to keep it squeaky clean during the flight. Over and Beyond!
All too soon, the captain announced descent into Delhi, which meant looking at haze outside.
We were cleared straight in for arrival on Runway 29 and touched down smoothly, arriving in a hot 42 Degree Celsius Delhi 20 mins before time.
The priority baggage tags worked well and I was off with my bag 6 mins before scheduled arrival time.
Last edited by deovrat; May 7, 2017 at 1:24 am
May 6, 2017, 1:41 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: India
Programs: Star Alliance Gold, SkyTeam Elite Plus, Hilton Gold
Posts: 907
Jet Airways Business Class DEL-PNQ
Check-in, Lounge and Boarding:
As I was connecting from an international flight, I collected my bags and showed up at the transit corridor which is manned by security personnel who check your domestic flight ticket and let you board an escalator which gets one into the check-in area.
9W’s domestic check-in counters are located at Pier A, where there was no line for business class (Premiere in 9W talk). I was attended to quickly and handed out the boarding pass. My bags were also tagged with Priority stickers and my physical upgrade voucher was collected.
DEL has a separate security line for domestic F/J passengers and there was nobody in this line, so I was airside in seconds.
9W does not operate its own lounge and points J class towards Plaza Premium Lounge in the domestic section of DEL T3. There is no separate lounge invitation required and simply presenting your 9W business class boarding pass grants you access. This lounge also allows Priority Pass members. It is located above the shopping outlets and accessed through an escalator.
Unfortunately, at the time I visited (~7 p.m.), this lounge was packed to the rafters and there was a huge line snaking out of the reception for entry into the lounge. I was admitted to the lounge after 10 minutes and did not find a single seat vacant. Some people were standing near the food counters, leaning against them. It was a very uncomfortable situation and truthfully, the terminal outside was much quieter & peaceful. I just grabbed a water bottle and left.
This has to be the weakest link in Jet’s domestic J experience. Every other domestic full service carrier (AI, UK) has their own lounge at DEL for premium customers and elites, both of which are obviously much more enjoyable than this.
The inbound aircraft was 45 mins late and the boarding began very quickly after it arrived and was cleaned. The boarding process consisted of all economy passengers lining up, then being told to line up according to their zone, which half of the people did not seem to comprehend. Business class passengers were told to board as per their own convenience. However, there was only a single agent scanning the BPs, so it meant that J class customers had to butt in to the economy class line, which was giving death stares. Not very enjoyable.
Flight:
Jet Airways 9W 363
Delhi (DEL) - Pune (PNQ)
Departure: 09:15 p.m.
Arrival: 11:20 p.m.
Boeing 737-800 (VT-JBB)
Seat 1A
The 737 forms a backbone of Jet’s domestic operations, with them operating -700, -800 and the -900ER versions; so there are a lot of different seating configurations around and its always prudent to check if your incoming aircraft is the same as you booked to ensure that your seat assignments won’t get switched around.
This was a 4.5 year old aircraft, but looked much older on the inside. Some panels looked as if they were uncared for and might come apart.
It is worth noting that 9W offers IFE streaming service to your personal device, Jetscreen on some of their aircraft. However, it is not fitted to all aircraft yet and there is no way to find out at the time of booking. 9W will send you an email a day before departure if your aircraft will feature the streaming. You have to download and install a third party app beforehand for the streaming.
Fortunately, I received the email and the aircraft was indeed offering the same. Furthermore, I found the selection of movies and sitcoms, along with a live flight tracker to be much more than adequate for a domestic flight and this was an area where Jet Airways has a potential advantage over other carriers if they manage to get every aircraft fitted with this quickly.
Once settled, I found a pillow preplaced on the seat and menu card in the bulkhead pocket. I was offered a pre-departure drink of coconut water or regular water.
Hot towels were handed out with a smile by the friendly crew and coats were taken.
The captain made an announcement at this point, apologizing the late arrival of the aircraft and informing that we were still waiting for a First Officer at this point!
Fortunately, the guy in question arrived within a few more minutes and we pushed back 50 mins after scheduled departure.
Safety demos were manually performed as we made a brisk taxi to the departure runway. After waiting for 3 aircraft to land, we were cleared for takeoff ahead of a Singapore A380 and took off from Runway 29.
The seatbelt sign went off quite soon and, the FAs started by announcing that the Jetscreen IFE was streaming now and then closed the curtains between business & economy.
The menu read as follows:
The Indonesian Nasi Goreng sounded good to me, so I went with it.
Pretty soon, my table was covered with tablecloth and I was served salad, my entrée and choice of dessert all at once. No soft drinks were offered with the meal. Metal cutlery was provided along with individual salt and paper shakers. Glasses were unbranded.
The salad with cucumber and water chestnuts was refreshing. It was served with a dressing on the side.
My entrée, the Nasi Goreng was absolutely incredible and the chicken cooked to perfection. I basically inhaled the dish, it was definitely the best entrée I’ve had on 9W yet.
The Opera Cake was a tad too sweet, but provided a good finale to a very satisfying meal overall.
I was offered tea or coffee post dessert, but declined; as I’d been awake for more than 24 hours at that point and didn’t need any more caffeine.
Regarding the crew, I got lucky and got an excellent set on the inbound flight as well. Even though it was well into the night, the crew was very chipper and on great form. At one point, I watched as the lady in my row extended her footrest and slept. When an FA passed by, she pulled out a blanket from one of the overhead bins and proceeded to tuck her up! Wow.
The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful as the cabin lights were switched off to allow those desiring of a few winks.
Our arrival was smooth and we were vectored straight in to land on Pune’s Runway 28.
No aerobridge at Pune for our gate, so we disembarked and stepped into a warm Pune night and walked across the tarmac to the arrivals hall.
The priority tags did their job here too, with my bag appearing as I was reaching the carousel.
Check-in, Lounge and Boarding:
As I was connecting from an international flight, I collected my bags and showed up at the transit corridor which is manned by security personnel who check your domestic flight ticket and let you board an escalator which gets one into the check-in area.
9W’s domestic check-in counters are located at Pier A, where there was no line for business class (Premiere in 9W talk). I was attended to quickly and handed out the boarding pass. My bags were also tagged with Priority stickers and my physical upgrade voucher was collected.
DEL has a separate security line for domestic F/J passengers and there was nobody in this line, so I was airside in seconds.
9W does not operate its own lounge and points J class towards Plaza Premium Lounge in the domestic section of DEL T3. There is no separate lounge invitation required and simply presenting your 9W business class boarding pass grants you access. This lounge also allows Priority Pass members. It is located above the shopping outlets and accessed through an escalator.
Unfortunately, at the time I visited (~7 p.m.), this lounge was packed to the rafters and there was a huge line snaking out of the reception for entry into the lounge. I was admitted to the lounge after 10 minutes and did not find a single seat vacant. Some people were standing near the food counters, leaning against them. It was a very uncomfortable situation and truthfully, the terminal outside was much quieter & peaceful. I just grabbed a water bottle and left.
This has to be the weakest link in Jet’s domestic J experience. Every other domestic full service carrier (AI, UK) has their own lounge at DEL for premium customers and elites, both of which are obviously much more enjoyable than this.
The inbound aircraft was 45 mins late and the boarding began very quickly after it arrived and was cleaned. The boarding process consisted of all economy passengers lining up, then being told to line up according to their zone, which half of the people did not seem to comprehend. Business class passengers were told to board as per their own convenience. However, there was only a single agent scanning the BPs, so it meant that J class customers had to butt in to the economy class line, which was giving death stares. Not very enjoyable.
Flight:
Jet Airways 9W 363
Delhi (DEL) - Pune (PNQ)
Departure: 09:15 p.m.
Arrival: 11:20 p.m.
Boeing 737-800 (VT-JBB)
Seat 1A
The 737 forms a backbone of Jet’s domestic operations, with them operating -700, -800 and the -900ER versions; so there are a lot of different seating configurations around and its always prudent to check if your incoming aircraft is the same as you booked to ensure that your seat assignments won’t get switched around.
This was a 4.5 year old aircraft, but looked much older on the inside. Some panels looked as if they were uncared for and might come apart.
It is worth noting that 9W offers IFE streaming service to your personal device, Jetscreen on some of their aircraft. However, it is not fitted to all aircraft yet and there is no way to find out at the time of booking. 9W will send you an email a day before departure if your aircraft will feature the streaming. You have to download and install a third party app beforehand for the streaming.
Fortunately, I received the email and the aircraft was indeed offering the same. Furthermore, I found the selection of movies and sitcoms, along with a live flight tracker to be much more than adequate for a domestic flight and this was an area where Jet Airways has a potential advantage over other carriers if they manage to get every aircraft fitted with this quickly.
Once settled, I found a pillow preplaced on the seat and menu card in the bulkhead pocket. I was offered a pre-departure drink of coconut water or regular water.
Hot towels were handed out with a smile by the friendly crew and coats were taken.
The captain made an announcement at this point, apologizing the late arrival of the aircraft and informing that we were still waiting for a First Officer at this point!
Fortunately, the guy in question arrived within a few more minutes and we pushed back 50 mins after scheduled departure.
Safety demos were manually performed as we made a brisk taxi to the departure runway. After waiting for 3 aircraft to land, we were cleared for takeoff ahead of a Singapore A380 and took off from Runway 29.
The seatbelt sign went off quite soon and, the FAs started by announcing that the Jetscreen IFE was streaming now and then closed the curtains between business & economy.
The menu read as follows:
The Indonesian Nasi Goreng sounded good to me, so I went with it.
Pretty soon, my table was covered with tablecloth and I was served salad, my entrée and choice of dessert all at once. No soft drinks were offered with the meal. Metal cutlery was provided along with individual salt and paper shakers. Glasses were unbranded.
The salad with cucumber and water chestnuts was refreshing. It was served with a dressing on the side.
My entrée, the Nasi Goreng was absolutely incredible and the chicken cooked to perfection. I basically inhaled the dish, it was definitely the best entrée I’ve had on 9W yet.
The Opera Cake was a tad too sweet, but provided a good finale to a very satisfying meal overall.
I was offered tea or coffee post dessert, but declined; as I’d been awake for more than 24 hours at that point and didn’t need any more caffeine.
Regarding the crew, I got lucky and got an excellent set on the inbound flight as well. Even though it was well into the night, the crew was very chipper and on great form. At one point, I watched as the lady in my row extended her footrest and slept. When an FA passed by, she pulled out a blanket from one of the overhead bins and proceeded to tuck her up! Wow.
The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful as the cabin lights were switched off to allow those desiring of a few winks.
Our arrival was smooth and we were vectored straight in to land on Pune’s Runway 28.
No aerobridge at Pune for our gate, so we disembarked and stepped into a warm Pune night and walked across the tarmac to the arrivals hall.
The priority tags did their job here too, with my bag appearing as I was reaching the carousel.
Last edited by deovrat; Apr 17, 2019 at 10:20 am
May 7, 2017, 12:35 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: India
Programs: Star Alliance Gold, SkyTeam Elite Plus, Hilton Gold
Posts: 907
May 7, 2017, 2:51 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Germany
Programs: Some
Posts: 11,521
Hard (political) question, but let´s be diplomatic. On some routes yes, but they use also the “classical” European configuration. Also routes are very limited. Air Serbia offers also a nice product, but also only on few routes.
May 9, 2017, 9:52 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: India
Programs: Star Alliance Gold, SkyTeam Elite Plus, Hilton Gold
Posts: 907
I indeed made a mistake in my notes, now checked with FlightRadar24 and it is indeed a JB(x) series, VT-JBB to be precise. Post now updated.
Thanks for reading
