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ameya
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Joined: 09 May 2007
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Location: Pune,Maharashtra
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sumantra
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Joined: 28 Oct 2007
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 Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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| ameya wrote: | | This trip was sponsored by Vistara as part of the Chefs Table event and I flew premium economy. I continue to question, what is the price differential one would pay to travel in PY |
Lovely two-line summary to start an equally wonderful trip report, Sir.
Web check-in 48 hours prior to departure is interesting, for all classes on a full-service carrier. 8With Indigo, I managed this at the time of booking itself in a case, a good fortnight before departure). With Air India, it gets to nearly 48 hours before a flight as long as it is `the next day'. Yes, Jet's 24-hours-earlier is often a dampener for those on the base FFP tier (B6: `Jet Blue'  ) like Yours Truly, especially since I do not take Internet access on my phone when on the move.
Vistara's colour coding is beautiful, and clearly shows the SQ heritage.
It is neat that W class travellers get lounge access. I have always longingly looked inside the lounge(s) at my home airport. I guess it will not happen any bit too quickly, for me!
The picture of VT-TTE in the fading monsoon evening light...was a beauty!
The organised boarding process on Vistara: I have seen it at DEL, and this is impressive.
| ameya wrote: | | The service was warm and started with cold towels |
Nice way to put it 
This with the spiced butter-milk is a good start.
The drinks trolley with fizzy drinks also is interesting. I wonder why domestic airlines avoid fizzy options in India. Unhealthy yes...but then, most fruit drinks are also chemical cocktails.
The presentation looks very nice: it is Economy, after all, but Vistara's containers look nice, along with a good arrangement. Yes, letting the passenger know the whole meal is a good gesture. The quantity is really nice for the time of the day, which technically qualifies as a snack. My only quip is a possible off-day for Taj-SATS, or Vistara in general. The egg-rice looks a bit on the oily side.
I guess everyone agrees with you on the price differential between W and Y, and whether people in India would really queue up for W.
The pricing thus far has been quite weird.
I also do not know how the lack of IFE will affect UK, given that AI has re-started IFE services on longer legs, and of course, the domestic wide-body service is excellent in that regard as well.
Thank you once again, for an excellent TR!
Cheers, Sumantra. |
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sumantra
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| Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 9:23 pm Post subject: |
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...and I forgot to mention this: I wonder how a foodie and connoisseur like you missed the Ricotta-based item
I would have perhaps been shameless enough to request to `try both'
Ricotta is something a bit abused in India. As you know, Ricotta is a very low-yield whey cheese (and hence, high on the health quotient, and attractively fine-grained). In most dishes in India, cottage cheese/paneer is passed off as Ricotta, and cheesecakes have alternatives: most original cheesecake recipes involve fine Ricotta. I am sure you would have tasted the Italian original when you and Mrs. Joshi made your Italy trip some time back.
Cheers, Sumantra. |
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ameya
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Location: Pune,Maharashtra
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| Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 9:26 am Post subject: |
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Thanks Sir for reading!
No lounge access for premium economy. Thanks to few members on the whatsapp group I made my way to Plaza premium for credit card loyalty access.
The boarding is indeed impressive. No second thoughts.
The egg rice thankfully wasn’t oily!
UK is going for the BYOD concept (Bring your own device) and an aircraft or two should be equipped before the end of the year. Lets see how the concept is accepted in India. My immediate reaction was, are you offering charging points. A person on business meeting will not spend battery watching something in the aircraft when he has to run around and will not get a charging point soon.
I have given an idea to them – to sell pre charged power packs!
Ricotta was something which I wanted to try, but I also wanted to try much more! Hope I have more trips on UK and can try some more options
Thank you again!
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sumantra
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| Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 10:27 am Post subject: |
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| ameya wrote: | | Thanks to few members on the whatsapp group I made my way to Plaza premium for credit card loyalty access. |
Sir, can you tell me this secret, perhaps over email? It will take me a while to get back on WhatsApp, and I do not have Mastercard/Diner's Club cards: only Visa ones, and that too, none of them are co-branded. And I am loathe to pay for lounge access, more so, for a lounge without a view of the tarmac.
| ameya wrote: | | My immediate reaction was, are you offering charging points. |
Precisely, Sir. they are not even going the SouthWest way, in offering WiFi onboard (free+paid content). That needs some hardware, and the typical dome on top of the plane. In-seat power-ports are there in Air India on J on the narrow-bodies, and on wide-bodies, on every seat on the Dream)liners, and 2 for a set of three seats, on the B777s. UK have some catching up to do with AI, for one.
Cheers, Sumantra. |
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jbalonso777
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| Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2015 6:04 am Post subject: |
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Hey Ameya, another fantastic trip report!
One thing - Jet does allow selection of seats after booking, even on redemption tickets. That is how I found out that a recent flight of mine changed from a 737-800 to a 737-900ER!
Its a flight like this that makes me want to give Vistara another chance - they were okay on my only flight with them, just the crew were real children. Meal looks good, drinks selection was awesome!
Looking forward to more!
Regards
Jish
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ameya
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| Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2015 9:33 am Post subject: |
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Thanks Jishnu
9W does not allow for domestic is what I believed. It did not on the PNQ-DEL sector for sure.
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PAL@YWG
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| Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 2:59 am Post subject: |
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Foodie & AV geek - Two great passions one can have, Ameya
Liked your TR on Vistara. Thanks for sharing. I don't know the ticket price difference between Premium Economy and Economy but it appears that except for food, in a A320 and that too short haul, airlines can't really offer much to make an impact to justify that extra fare.
You didn't take us through those inviting Mutton Kebabs , Sumantra would have done a better job
I hope they see success. I have to try them in my next trip to India.
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ameya
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| Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 9:51 am Post subject: |
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| PAL@YWG wrote: | Foodie & AV geek - Two great passions one can have, Ameya
Liked your TR on Vistara. Thanks for sharing. I don't know the ticket price difference between Premium Economy and Economy but it appears that except for food, in a A320 and that too short haul, airlines can't really offer much to make an impact to justify that extra fare.
You didn't take us through those inviting Mutton Kebabs , Sumantra would have done a better job
I hope they see success. I have to try them in my next trip to India. |
Thanks. I completely agree Sumantra Sir would have done a better job. . no doubt about it
I agree on the premium part - food, service, comfort - may be they could have done the premium economy 2x3 and charged premium ? Just thinking aloud !
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sumantra
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| Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 7:54 pm Post subject: |
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| PAL@YWG wrote: | | Foodie & AV geek - Two great passions one can have, Ameya |
| PAL@YWG wrote: | | You didn't take us through those inviting Mutton Kebabs , Sumantra would... |
| ameya wrote: | | Thanks. I completely agree Sumantra... |
Samir-da and Ameya Sir: the differences between Ameya Sir and I cannot be more stark.
Ameya is an aviation analyst with an in-depth knowledge of the industry. Yours Truly rants form the comfort of his armchair.
Ameya is a connoisseur and a foodies. Yours Truly is a glutton, with his biases.
As different as cheese, and...chalk, to put the proverb in a different way `round!
Cheers, Sumantra. |
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stealthpilot
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| Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 6:30 am Post subject: |
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Great TR.
Apart from the weird configuration Vistara looks pretty good from all the TRs I read. Obviously there's room for improvement but for domestic flying on a 320 the product looks good.
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sri_bom
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| Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2015 7:36 pm Post subject: |
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Great TR Ameya.
Although a new kid on the block I think with time Vistara will give good competition. I do know on this forum there is apprehension regarding premium economy on domestic sector and rightly so since they are unable to fill up seats on business/premium economy but with the re-configuration announce I think they should come out of it. I think Vistara needs to be commended to come out with a product distinction which is not so easy in todays time. |
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ameya
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Location: Pune,Maharashtra
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| Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2015 9:30 am Post subject: |
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| sri_bom wrote: | Great TR Ameya.
Although a new kid on the block I think with time Vistara will give good competition. I do know on this forum there is apprehension regarding premium economy on domestic sector and rightly so since they are unable to fill up seats on business/premium economy but with the re-configuration announce I think they should come out of it. I think Vistara needs to be commended to come out with a product distinction which is not so easy in todays time. |
I agree with you on this. A new class is absolutely commendable and there is a market need there. . the question is how many seats.
Thanks for reading
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