Team-BHP - The Air Travel & Airports Discussion Thread
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Quote:

Originally Posted by MCR (Post 1740709)
In that case, the best option would be to Check with Lufthansa on their helpline number. I was informed by my friend that earlier in such cases, Lufthansa had made other arrangements. But I am not very sure.

Else ask for a full refund from Lufthansa and book on other airline

The only option Lufthansa is giving is a full refund. nothing else.:Frustrati
all other airlines are way too expensive. However, there is a seat in Qatar Airways. whats your opinion of that?

India and Hyderabad has something to rejoice. Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) has been ranked as the fifth best airport worldwide. It was also rated the world's number one airport in the category of airports handling 5 to 15 million passengers by the Airport Council International (ACI).

There are various news links to this news including Wikipedia. The official ACI announcement can be found here.

Congrats and Kudos to the Airport Administrative team and hope they continue to maintain and improve on the service.

The world's top 5 airports are:
1) Incheon International Airport, Seoul
2) Changi Airport, Singapore
3) Hong Kong International Airport
4) Beijing Capital International Airport
5) Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad

Interestingly, all top 5 are from Asia.

Guys,

We will be booking our tickets soon from Sweden to Chennai, and the best offer we're getting is with Emirates.

Gothenburg-Frankfurt-Dubai-Chennai

Typically we fly with Jet, Gothenburg-Brussels-Chennai. It's smooth convenient and efficient - we love it.

This time however there seems to be substantial difference in price. By flying emirates we're saving ~13000 Rs per head (4 people traveling = 52000Rs saving)

We've never flown Emirates before. It's always been Jet/Lufthansa/BA. Never transited through Dubai either.

Will it be a hassle? Whats emirates like?

Would appreciate some feedback, on especially emirates and dubai's airport.

Cheers!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsjaurr (Post 1740336)
@anyone with govt job here:-Is it necessary to get NOC from concerned dept to get US visa?I know acc to rules one should inform the dept when planning to travel but getting NOC is big headache.
So what i want to know whether visa officer will ask for NOC or not?

ideally you need a NOC and an approved leave application/resignation letter for the tentive dates of travel. My wife was asked for none but she went for dependent visa so you never know. And I am talking about 2006, the rules were still the same.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anekho (Post 1742393)
Guys,

We will be booking our tickets soon from Sweden to Chennai, and the best offer we're getting is with Emirates.

Gothenburg-Frankfurt-Dubai-Chennai

Typically we fly with Jet, Gothenburg-Brussels-Chennai. It's smooth convenient and efficient - we love it.

This time however there seems to be substantial difference in price. By flying emirates we're saving ~13000 Rs per head (4 people traveling = 52000Rs saving)

We've never flown Emirates before. It's always been Jet/Lufthansa/BA. Never transited through Dubai either.

Will it be a hassle? Whats emirates like?

Would appreciate some feedback, on especially emirates and dubai's airport.

Cheers!

Bump! :D

Some help please, guys - it's kinda urgent!

Quote:

Originally Posted by anekho (Post 1742964)
Bump! :D

Some help please, guys - it's kinda urgent!

I have traveled EK couple of times FRA-BLR and FRA-COK. My experience with EK has been OK. DXB airport is nothing much to talk about, but the transit was hassle free for me. Lots of money has been spent for beautification, but user friendliness is quite bad. My suggestion would be that once you go into the terminal building, keep a watch on your connection flight and be there at the gate in time. As I told earlier, the flight information display was available only at the middle of the long terminal. But this was two years back. Never tried EK again.

Hi Anekho! I flew once with Emirates about 2 years back from Düsseldorf to Mumbai and had a pleasant experience in flight but at the same time I must add that they barely have any communication amongst their ground staff. The waiting time at Dubai airport for me then was 4 hours plus an hours delay which was not that bad except that all the flights in and out of Dubai were delayed because of heavy fog and they do not announce anything at the airport. They have information screen only at the the 2 information desks so any last minute changes will have to be dealt without any help. But once inside they have a wonderful cabin and good service. Ohhh....and at the terminal they have a lot of shops, restaurants and cafés, so you can keep yourself occupied.

Last I heard Emirates got a completely new terminal in Dubai and maybe things might be different now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 14000rpm (Post 1741691)
The only option Lufthansa is giving is a full refund. nothing else.:Frustrati
all other airlines are way too expensive. However, there is a seat in Qatar Airways. whats your opinion of that?

Sorry for the late reply 14000rpm.

Qatar is ok. But just check the final post of Sam in his travelouge before booking this. Of course this is on Kuwait airways, but i suspect the experience may be similar.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/1743422-post142.html
May be the experience will not be so good for your wife.

Emirates has improved a lot now since most of the corporates have started to use it.

My parents recently flew Emirates from Chennai to Atlanta and had a pleasant flight and transit. They are both 60 years, my Dad is diabetic.
No serious hassles at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MCR (Post 1743541)
Sorry for the late reply 14000rpm.

Qatar is ok. But just check the final post of Sam in his travelouge before booking this. Of course this is on Kuwait airways, but i suspect the experience may be similar.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/1743422-post142.html
May be the experience will not be so good for your wife.

Emirates has improved a lot now since most of the corporates have started to use it.

thanks a ton for that. I quite sensed it and went ahead and rescheduled her travel dates to a later date on Lufthansa itself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by A350XWB (Post 1743219)
I have traveled EK couple of times FRA-BLR and FRA-COK. My experience with EK has been OK. DXB airport is nothing much to talk about, but the transit was hassle free for me. Lots of money has been spent for beautification, but user friendliness is quite bad. My suggestion would be that once you go into the terminal building, keep a watch on your connection flight and be there at the gate in time. As I told earlier, the flight information display was available only at the middle of the long terminal. But this was two years back. Never tried EK again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Autonorm (Post 1743239)
Hi Anekho! I flew once with Emirates about 2 years back from Düsseldorf to Mumbai and had a pleasant experience in flight but at the same time I must add that they barely have any communication amongst their ground staff. The waiting time at Dubai airport for me then was 4 hours plus an hours delay which was not that bad except that all the flights in and out of Dubai were delayed because of heavy fog and they do not announce anything at the airport. They have information screen only at the the 2 information desks so any last minute changes will have to be dealt without any help. But once inside they have a wonderful cabin and good service. Ohhh....and at the terminal they have a lot of shops, restaurants and cafés, so you can keep yourself occupied.

Last I heard Emirates got a completely new terminal in Dubai and maybe things might be different now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MCR (Post 1743541)
Emirates has improved a lot now since most of the corporates have started to use it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss (Post 1743545)
My parents recently flew Emirates from Chennai to Atlanta and had a pleasant flight and transit. They are both 60 years, my Dad is diabetic.
No serious hassles at all.

Thanks a lot guys for your help. However, the way it looks now we'll be flying with Jet: Sweden-Brussels-Chennai :)

Cheers!

Quote:

Originally Posted by 14000rpm (Post 1743598)
thanks a ton for that. I quite sensed it and went ahead and rescheduled her travel dates to a later date on Lufthansa itself.

Hey 14000rpm,
How was the Lufthansa experience? I believe that the Pilots called off the strike on the day it started. Was it so?

Tiger Airways: Chennai/Singapore Return...

As expected, no frills, no thrills. Take your own everything, even including a blanket. Or buy on the plane!

Departure on the outbound flight was delayed by just over an hour. We had paid the premium (about US$25, IIRC) for the front-row seats for this flight, which made for decent legroom. Hand-baggage weight was not checked for this flight. This is the forst time I've ever been first off the plane; I was able to pretend to be an arriving star, but, unfortunately, when I looked for the crowds to wave at, they were not there!

The return journey departed within a few minutes of being on-time. This time we were squeezed in with the "ordinary folk" (;)) with the standard legroom, or, rather, lack of it. Singapore Budget Terminal is almost as bare as the Tiger service, but, like the rest of the city it is clean and efficient. Don't expect a vast array of duty-free luxury goods --- in fact, I got an impression that what was there was quite expensive. The tea was disgusting!

Hand baggage was weight-checked on this flight. I was going to take my jacket out of the case first, but the assistant insisted on just weighing it first, and, despite warnings of strictness, we were sent on our way slightly over. Our checked-in came to 45.1 kilos, with 45 pre-booked. Phew!

It was fun filling in my seat neighbour's landing form for her, with my wife trying to manage enough Telagu to ask the few necessary questions.

Take a good book and a music player: this trip is not even long enough to really miss the in-flight entertainment --- in fact, I did a lot of reading and barely even used the music player.

Tiger: barely comfortable, expect nothing except to be landed at your destination. For a short flight, why pay more? Recommended! :)

By the way... on approaching Chennai Airport customs to declare my little collection of purchases, they almost man-handled me out of the green-channel exit! I wasn't going to argue...

Kingfisher airlines: Mumbai - London Heathrow Dt: 21st feb 2010. Class: Business. Flight no IT 007

A bit late though but I thought In should pen down my opinion about the Journey.

Lets start with the Lounge service which was pretty much OK kind. The seating arrangement was a bit cramped. The departure gate was Gate 11 and the lounge was at Gate 14. Even though I was one of the early birds the snacks counter was almost empty and it took 20 mins for them to be replenished.
The departure was on time, lucky me. The announcement was not clear since many parents w/children, aged persons could not hear the announcement. When I asked for business class passengers they immediately asked me to board the plane without any annoucement. I was alloted an Aisle seat and I had asked for it. The seats IMO were a bit cramped. I am 6' guy and hence found it rather uncomfortable to stretch. The bed when in the process of aligning to flat bet made a lot of noise. Even putting back to sitting position could hear a lot of squeaks. The display monitor was good 17" one but was a bit far from view and the WORST part is I could see my co-passengers display when the movies were on. A BIG DISTRACTION:Frustrati. The Inflight entertainment was nothing to write about, Early 2009 movies being shown in Feb 2010 both English as well as Hindi:eek:. Funny there were no regional languages mobvies being shown considering Mr Mallaya being a southie. The Bose headset was simply superb and the picture quality of movies was also good.
The best part of the flight was the bar in the centre between the two sections of business class. You could go & sit at the bar or at the side sofas, read magazines, newspaper or strike a conversation with bar tender. The variety of drinks was good. That comes to the bad part i.e the food. I personally did not like the food i.e main course being served although the dessert was fantastic. The food being served in silver thalis is little bit going overboard could have improved the food instead.
The meals and snacks were served on time. Thats one good thing.
Throughout the whole journey I could not find anything Indianess, maybe coz a lot of foreigners travelling aboard, have to please the pound paying guys.
The arrival at London Heathrow was on time. The fast track clearance was pretty good. I was waiting to collect my luggage when I found that business class luggage was already kept aside and not put on the rollers.
All in all I was not too happy to fly Kingfisher which I made clear in the feedback form. Unfortunately I will have to go through the ordeal again this Thursday when I will fly back to Mumbai by King fisher. I hope atleast some of the negative point might have been taken care of.

Any experience on Air Asia and Tiger Airways? Are they really cheap?

EDIT: Just saw the one from Thad.


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