Airliners-India.com Forum Index Airliners-India.com
Flickr Group & Facebook
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Visit to the city of lakes, Udaipur (DEL-UDR on Jet ATR 72)

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Airliners-India.com Forum Index -> Trip Reports
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Jaydeep
Member


Joined: 02 Mar 2015
Posts: 37
Location: Gurgaon

PostPosted: Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:34 pm    Post subject: Visit to the city of lakes, Udaipur (DEL-UDR on Jet ATR 72) Reply with quote

Hello everyone, and thanks for visiting this page. Hope my first TR does not get you guys bored Razz

As said by Basheer 1211 in his first TR, this one is also inspired by the excellent TRs posted by many of you. All your inputs & feedbacks are welcome, as me being fairly new to aviation, even as a hobby, the report might not be a very good one.

Purpose of the visit:

The lake city, the beautiful city where I spent good 2 years of my life as a student. Out of my love for the city, and having a few of my friends still staying there, I keep going there every 3 months or so, though every time by train. Wanting to fly to the city some time, the opportunity came in December last week, when our second annual reunion was announced by the college, and at the same time, Jet Airways came up with discount.

Booking:

I received the mail from Jet on 28th December but unfortunately I was travelling almost that entire day, coming back to Delhi from my hometown. The next day I thought of the flights to be booked. Re-union was to be held on Saturday, 28th Feb. So the logical schedule would have been to book outbound flight for Friday evening, and the inbound one on Sunday evening / Monday morning. With that in mind, I visited the site on evening of 29th Dec. For the outbound journey, I had 3 options: 9W 2631 on Friday afternoon (being operated in winter schedule), 9W 2629 on Friday evening, and 9W 2627 on Saturday morning. On the return leg, the 3 available options were of course 9W 2632, 9W 2630 on Sunday & 9W 2628 on Monday morning. Much to my disappointment, discounted tickets for all the inbound flights had been sold out. The outbound prices were around 2100, while the inbound ones were around 3500. Having budget constrain, I decided to take the flight on my outbound leg, and train on inbound leg.

The obvious choice was 9W 2629 scheduled to depart at 18.35, which would allow me to be in office for the entire day. The aircraft would be ATR 72, my first. So another reason for a bit of excitement. The booking experience on Jet was good as always, and I was done within 5 minutes.

The Day of Travel – Checking in:

Considering the traffic in Gurgaon, which goes haywire after 5 in evening, I left for airport at around 16.30, taking a cab directly from my work place and I was at T3 within 20 minutes. The airport was crowded considering the peak time I had chosen to travel, but I had done the web check in and I only had cabin baggage. So I had nothing to worry about. Enter the airport, and head straight to the security – It was supposed to be easy and quick. But wait, I was unfortunate enough to have forgotten to get a print out of my boarding pass. Life is not so easy, I reminded myself and headed to the check-in counters only to find a long queue even at the one designated for web check ins. After around 20 minutes of wait, I reached the counter to get my boarding pass. The gate was 42B.


Crowd at the check-in counters

Ignorance? Or manpower shortage?

When I was standing in the queue, a senior passenger in his 70s arrived at the counter asking for a wheelchair. He had a flight to Dehradun, scheduled at 17.50 I believe. The person behind the counter asked him to go to next counter, which asked one of the support staffs to arrange for a wheelchair. The passenger kept waiting there, unattended, even after I got my boarding pass (must be around 15 minutes at least). While heading to the security, I brought this to the notice of one of the senior staffs. The guy asked another support staff to get a wheelchair. The person asked me where this passenger was standing, and indeed asked me to get that passenger out of all the crowd, while he arranged for a wheelchair for him. I got the guy out, ensured that everything had been settled for him, and then headed to the security. Was not really a nice experience, at least I had not expected so much of ignorance towards someone in need.

Exploration, and the wait:
Since I had almost an hour before the boarding would start, I decided to roam around for a while. But before that I just confirmed where the gate was located. Though I had travelled from T3 a few times, I had never really paid attention to these 3 gates, 42A, B & C. In fact I had always wondered where the smaller aircraft would be boarded from. Finally the mystery was resolved.


After getting to know where the gate was, I started roaming around, looking for which are the other destinations scheduled around that time, airlines and so on. Was happy to see TTD parked at one of the gates, getting ready for Mumbai as UK 979.


VT JGC was also getting ready departure to Mumbai, though I did not note its flight number.



After roaming around for some time, I decided to go downstairs, and wait for the boarding to start. It was only at 18.25, when the timing of the flight was changed to 18.55, a delay of 20 minutes. The incoming flight from Jaipur had been delayed because of the congestion at Jaipur airport as per the reason given by the crew. I had tried to figure out which aircraft it would be, but limited records were available on FR24, and hence was just waiting to see which one it would be, X, Y or Z.
After another 10 minutes, the timing was changed again, now to 19.10. Well I didn’t mind that considering that I really did not have much to do even after reaching my destination. I made a few calls, played some games on mobile, and at 18.50 somebody said that the incoming flight has arrived. After another 20 minutes, the boarding was started, a bus took us to the back side of the building, the side where 42C is located. And it was VT JCX, looking nice under the yellow floodlights.


The boarding was complete in just 15 minutes, and we were ready for departure at 19.25.

Travel, and food:
I had booked seat no. 1A, an emergency exit seat on ATR7. The FA explained the procedure for things to be done in case of an emergency. The guy seemed new, as he was not really fluent in giving instructions, which was observed during the later parts of the flight as well. At 19.30, we finally pushed back, only to go to the far end of the airport. The flight would be taking off from run way 9. The take off was just fine. And soon the FAs started serving food, which was a chicken / veg sandwich (of course cold), accompanied by a 5 star, the ‘trademark imli’, and a water bottle.

Seat view from back


Food

I will never know if the taste was actually good, or it seemed so to me just because I was damn hungry. Nevertheless, 5 star & imli were actually good Razz. A lady in second row asked for coffee, to which she got know from the FA that the aircraft does not have oven / coffee maker on it. The temperature inside the aircraft was pretty low, and few passengers did ask for blankets, which were happily given to them by the crew. The rest of the journey went fine though the landing was little hard.

De-boarding & exit:
Considering the small size of Udaipur airport, I was surprised to see 2 aerobridges. Our aircraft was parked right in front of the gate, and I was the last one to de-board, before the crew would start preparing the cabin for return flight to Delhi.

Seat view from front


One last pic, though not in a way I wanted

The distance between the aircraft and the gate was hardly 50 meters, with tight security all around. As soon as I got out of the plane, I saw another Jet from Mumbai landing. I wanted to click a few more pics, but the security asked me to get out immediately, and did I. The exit from the airport was quick, and there was a large crowd standing outside the airport. Now I got to know the reason for security, Prince of Mewar was arriving on the flight from Mumbai that had just landed, and a nice Porsche was awaiting him right outside the airport. So, the journey ended on a good note indeed, with the city of lakes welcoming me Smile.


The Porsche and the crowd


The welcome Smile


Last edited by Jaydeep on Sun Mar 29, 2015 8:38 am; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Jaydeep
Member


Joined: 02 Mar 2015
Posts: 37
Location: Gurgaon

PostPosted: Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not sure of why the images are not getting posted... Let me know if any of you know the trick Smile
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ameya
Member


Joined: 09 May 2007
Posts: 3671
Location: Pune,Maharashtra

PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 12:11 am    Post subject: Re: Visit to the city of lakes, Udaipur (DEL-UDR on Jet ATR Reply with quote

Jaydeep wrote:
Hello everyone, and thanks for visiting this page. Hope my first TR does not get you guys bored Razz
As said by Basheer 1211 in his first TR, this one is also inspired by the excellent TRs posted by many of you. All your inputs & feedbacks are welcome, as me being fairly new to aviation, even as a hobby, the report might not be a very good one.

Thanks for the TR Jaydeep. Keep writing. . ! Dont worry about what others feel about this. Everybody on the group enjoys reading more and more travel experiences!

Does DEL have kiosk check in now? where you could have got your boarding pass ?

Sad to see the attitude towards the senior pax.

How did you find the ATR ?
_________________
www.networkthoughts.com
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
sumantra
Member


Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 1:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Welcome to the forum, Jaydeep, and thank you for a nice report!
The pictures will not come due to a forum rule I guess: it needs a minimum number of posts before pictures start appearing inline. Thank you for covering a sector which if I remember correctly, has not been covered as yet!
You have posted a very well-organised TR:details of the planning and optimisation over the list of choices. The anecdotes show an eye for detail: the incident with the senior gentleman was not one Jet Airways would be proud of. Lucky you, to get an AT7-6 on your first try with AT7s! Thanks for the nice set of pictures, as well. I just hope you reach the minimum number quickly, and given your knowledge about aviation as seen from this TR, I am sure we will see in-line pictures from you soon in your next TR! Post getting all full-service, the 9W food seems to be getting better, on an average. Good for the airline! No over/coffee-maker on an AT7-6? I am surprised.
I have flown on JCY, and got a hot BoB breakfast: that was in 2013, IIRC. Much to my delight, I was told that there is indeed one oven on board.
The Maharana Pratap Airport at Udaipur: I had seen the new terminal in the Wife's parents' pictures, from their 14 Sep 2009 IC 472 UDR-JDH-DEL trip, and had been really impressed with the AAI-bult new terminal, in those days!
Thanks once again for sharing this with us, please keep it coming!
Cheers, Sumantra.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
sumantra
Member


Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 1:15 am    Post subject: Re: Visit to the city of lakes, Udaipur (DEL-UDR on Jet ATR Reply with quote

ameya wrote:
Does DEL have kiosk check in now? where you could have got your boarding pass?
Yes, DEL T3 has had self check-in kiosks for quite some time now: even the T1-D check-in area has them. I do not like the thermal printer-generated material: they are not good for official purposes Smile Anywya, I like the cardboard ones much better: that is what real travel is, right? Smile
Cheers, Sumantra.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Jaydeep
Member


Joined: 02 Mar 2015
Posts: 37
Location: Gurgaon

PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 1:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you sir!

Quote:
Does DEL have kiosk check in now? where you could have got your boarding pass ?

No, I could not spot any. I am sure, if they are there, then the crew would have re-directed the passengers with cabin baggage towards those.

Quote:
How did you find the ATR ?

The aircraft was fine, except for the higher noise level, and it was a bit more shaky, in winds of ~50 kph, as was said by the captain.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
airindia787
Member


Joined: 18 Nov 2007
Posts: 770
Location: DAB & ZTF

PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 3:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice TR. The reason the pictures aren't showing is because the url needs to end with the extension .jpg or the appropriate format. You can get this extension from the tool you used or by right clicking and selecting "Copy Image URL".
_________________
http://openflights.org/user/akumanduri
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Jaydeep
Member


Joined: 02 Mar 2015
Posts: 37
Location: Gurgaon

PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 8:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
The reason the pictures aren't showing is because the url needs to end with the extension .jpg or the appropriate format. You can get this extension from the tool you used or by right clicking and selecting "Copy Image URL".


Thanks airindia787. Have edited it Smile
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
sri_bom
Member


Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 2365
Location: Singapore

PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 11:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great Report Jaydeep, I would recommend keep posting TR's and don't bother about the niceties as none of us our writers.

It was great to note you enjoyed your short flight and the photos of the Porsche car was a good catch.

Sri_Bom
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
Jaydeep
Member


Joined: 02 Mar 2015
Posts: 37
Location: Gurgaon

PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 11:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Welcome to the forum, Jaydeep, and thank you for a nice report!

Thanks for the kind words Sumantra Sir.

Quote:
Yes, DEL T3 has had self check-in kiosks for quite some time now

Need to check it out, will do it on my next trip Smile

Quote:
Anywya, I like the cardboard ones much better: that is what real travel is, right?

I agree. I usually stand in the queue even if I have done web check-in, provided I have some time in hand. Smile

Quote:
Thanks once again for sharing this with us, please keep it coming!

Quote:
Great Report Jaydeep, I would recommend keep posting TR's


Thanks sri_bom, would soon post another one on DEL-BDQ-DEL sector Smile
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
sumantra
Member


Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 11:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jaydeep wrote:
Thanks sri_bom, would soon post another one on DEL-BDQ-DEL sector Smile
Nice...that will be another first for this forum!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
pradeep777
Member


Joined: 21 Nov 2014
Posts: 57
Location: Mangalore

PostPosted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 2:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice TR Jaydeep.
great pictures. i just luved the pic having numerous 9W tails.
please do keep posting more. and thanks again for posting this unique sector.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Nimish
Member


Joined: 16 Dec 2006
Posts: 9757
Location: Bangalore, India

PostPosted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great TR Jaydeep - thanks for sharing!
_________________
We miss you Nalini!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
Jaydeep
Member


Joined: 02 Mar 2015
Posts: 37
Location: Gurgaon

PostPosted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 11:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you Pradeep & Nimish Smile

Another trip on same sector is on cards for July with SG on Q400 (hopefully the aircraft would still be there in the fleet, and I stay in NCR till then)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Optimus.Prime
Member


Joined: 21 Dec 2009
Posts: 302
Location: VAJJ (No, not Va-Jay-Jay)

PostPosted: Sun May 17, 2015 12:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice writeup . Hope you enjoyed the ATR72-600.
_________________
Why can't Donuts be square?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
sukritmunjal
Member


Joined: 23 Jan 2013
Posts: 178
Location: FMO

PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2015 2:13 pm    Post subject: Re: Visit to the city of lakes, Udaipur (DEL-UDR on Jet ATR Reply with quote

Jaydeep wrote:




Exploration, and the wait:
Since I had almost an hour before the boarding would start, I decided to roam around for a while. But before that I just confirmed where the gate was located. Though I had travelled from T3 a few times, I had never really paid attention to these 3 gates, 42A, B & C. In fact I had always wondered where the smaller aircraft would be boarded from. Finally the mystery was resolved.




Not only smaller aircraft are boarded from these gates. I boarded a 787 from 42C on my last flight. Well actually we were bussed to the aircraft from 42C, which was standing in the International Bay.

Took around 7-8 bus trips.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jbalonso777
Member


Joined: 05 Jul 2012
Posts: 1501
Location: Never, never land

PostPosted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 10:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey Jaydeep, thanks for sharing this wonder ATR TR with us! Smile

I don't get why they say online check in is convenient because you still have to pick up a cabin luggage tag and only then head for security. And so, you wait in line anyways.

I've had some of the worst check in experiences at DEL, both with Jet. The incident you shared looks no different.

That B739 was 9W362 to BOM.

The Jet ATRs do not have water heaters perhaps, but they do have ovens for sure (since Sumantra sir and I have had hot meals on the older ATRs)

Any experiences to share from the train? That'd be nice! Very Happy

Regards
Jish
_________________
http://www.youtube.com/c/JishnuBasu777
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Jaydeep
Member


Joined: 02 Mar 2015
Posts: 37
Location: Gurgaon

PostPosted: Tue Jun 23, 2015 4:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jbalonso777 wrote:
Hey Jaydeep, thanks for sharing this wonder ATR TR with us! Smile

I don't get why they say online check in is convenient because you still have to pick up a cabin luggage tag and only then head for security. And so, you wait in line anyways.

Thank you very much sir. Smile

The tags are usually available at security, at least at DEL & BOM. So you don't really need to go to the counters if you have only cabin baggage.

jbalonso777 wrote:
Any experiences to share from the train? That'd be nice!

Well sir, it sure was interesting but I would like to forget it fast: First, for the heavy heart to leave the campus again just to get back to the corporate life, second for delayed train, by 5 hours and third, for untimely rains in Gurgaon making it difficult to travel from the station to home.

Here is a brief TR on that:

There are 2 trains that connect Delhi to Udaipur: 12982 (Chetak Express) leaves Udaipur at 17.10 and goes to Delhi Sarai Rohila station via Ajmer, Gurgaon. And 12964 (Mewar Express) leaves at 18.15 & goes to H. Nizamuddin via Kota, Mathura.

It was obvious choice for me to take 12982, which would drop me at Gurgaon at around 4.30 in the morning. I was travelling with 2 more friends, in Sleeper class!!

I had taken this train a couple of times in past and had a decent experience on cleanliness as well as timeliness. It has a 20 minutes halt at Chittaurgarh, where the engine is reversed and food gets loaded in the train. There is a decent canteen at this station where you can buy packed lunch / dinner - with some variety available (vegetarian only). The train was right on time till we left this. By around 21.30, we were done with our dinner, and after some chit chat we were ready to sleep. Now the train had got delayed by around half an hour - it was scheduled to reach Ajmer by 22.35, but did so at around 23.00. I was asleep after that... Only to wake up to big & loud bangs on the doors at around 3.00 in the night.

Some one inside the bogie was shouting: "Darwaze kholna mat, khologe to pachhtaoge" (Dont open the doors - you will regret it if you do so). Within next 5 minutes I got what & why he was saying that. The doors were opened and a big lot of people just got pushed inside: At least 50 of them. Once inside, they started looking for place to sit (and sleep if possible) now. It was all chaos. Fortunate that night: I was in the middle birth Very Happy

With the reserved passengers now started shouting to maintain some silence! Slowly it all subdued. Apparently, those passengers were devotees back from some 'Yatra' of Krishna Bhagwan at Ringus. So train was already 2 hours late when it reached Ringus, and standing there, it got delayed further by half an hour more.

Now with so many people on board, the express soon turned into a passenger train: taking halt at each station & dropping these devotees. The delay went on increasing, it started raining, and... right, it all got messy!!

Finally instead of 4.30, we reached Gurgaon at 9.30!! And to home at 10.30, and to office at around 12 Razz

Now you know why I want to forget it!! Very Happy
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Airliners-India.com Forum Index -> Trip Reports All times are GMT + 5.5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group. Hosted by phpBB.BizHat.com