Airliners-India.com

[jbalonso777]

Link to previous TR: http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?p=116197#116197

INTRODUCTION

Once we had moved into Sri Lanka, Mum had visited India thrice, and Dad, four, maybe five times. This trip was scheduled, nothing unexpected for me, as this was during holidays. But the setting of dates began just a week after we came back from South Africa.

We had also planned that Granny would come from Kolkata and stay with us for six weeks. That was top priority for me. So I found her the best possible deal, as there isn't any direct flight to Colombo from Kolkata. The cheapest flight from Chennai to Colombo was the Air India Airbus A321 late afternoon service. This meant, the Kolkata-Chennai routing would be done on the morning IndiGo flight.
This also meant that Dad had to go to Chennai to pick her up. Likewise, even he had to book the Colombo-Chennai-Colombo sector on Air India.

Now for my part. So, I didn't have to go only to Mumbai to meet my friends, I now had to go to Kolkata and drop off Granny, in other words, two more flights! Looking at the times and cheap fares, here is what I had planned:
SpiceJet to Chennai (DH8!! YES!)
--3 hour layover--
Air India to Kolkata (I tried to fly Air India a year ago, it didn't happen. I prayed nothing would go wrong)
IndiGo to Mumbai (they and JetKonnect had same prices, something new maybe?)
SriLankan to Colombo (or use my 24000 JPMiles on a Premiere ticket!)

But sadly, the above (mouth watering plan for me No Jet Airways, four different airlines) plan didn't happen.

SpiceJet changed its flight time, which meant that we had only 10 minutes to change planes. Not even remotely close to possible!
Then, Dad had got a 35000 miles boost in his JP account. Not my miles. no business class. All I hoped of 4 different airlines, 2 new airlines, a new aircraft type went into thin air.

So here was the final plan:
9W253 CMB-MAA 0530 0655 14JUL 73H
AI766 MAA-CCU 1650 1905 14JUL 320
6E324 CCU-BOM 1120 1355 16JUL 320
9W256 BOM-CMB 0210 0440 25JUL 73H

Even Dad told me: 'All the roller coaster you tried has ended up in flying with Jet Airways. Hah, maybe next time.' DAMNN!!!! Honestly, I would have risked flying with Kingfisher, getting ready for cancellation. I need another flight with them, before they close down! But sadly, they had stopped flying international and Kolkata. No flight with them.

Jet Airways booking was quick and efficient as usual, no problem. But, just like you'd expect, the Maharaja was tired. Dates selected, flight selected, seats selected (WOW!), credit card number given....and the page in which the tickets were supposed to be shown didn't even load! I waited for 45 minutes, and called up the call center. Guy was surprisingly friendly and efficient, I got my tickets (which were confirmed, whew!) sent to my email ID. IndiGo was as efficient as Jet. I selected IndiGoPlus for this (an extra 600 Rupees). This meant I had a free meal and drink selection (went for non veg, obviously!) and seat selection. I selected 7F for this flight. (Oh, 19A and 19B for the MAA-CCU flight). Another reason why I selected 6E was because of its On time performance. I didn't want to waste even a SINGLE minute in Mumbai, no matter what! For this flight, my options were open. The only condition: go in a mid morning flight. The last two times I left from CCU were in early morning flights, really irritates Granny!

A few days before Granny left from Kolkata, the Air India pilots strike saga started. This got Granny worried, knowing that 2 of her 4 flights would be on that airline! I tried to convince her the 'BIG' Air India pilots are on strike, not the 'SMALL' Air India pilots. (By big and small, I mean the aircraft size )

Dad's departure day arrived. Even before entering the airport he realised the flight was delayed by 2 hours. After he checked in, he sent his seat number to me, which was seat 5A. The Air India A321 has 20 seats in Executive class. I told him that he may have been upgraded! But that was short lived, because now the flight was delayed by more than 4 hours. Air India definitely showing its signs! But when he saw the aircraft, he told me its an A320. I was...surprised. Equipment changed caused the delay maybe? I was even more surprised when told me another thing: SINGLE CLASS! When did this happen to AI/IC's A320?! Anyhow, the aircraft was more than 17 years old, VT-ESL. I told him to enjoy the 'sweet sound' of the IAE2500 engines! Oh well, Dad was now on his favorite aircraft, just a lot more older, that's all. He told me that the flight had about 60% loads, and the food was good.
On the return sector, flight was once again delayed, by about an hour only this time. VT-PPL this time, extremely well maintained A321 as compared to the A320 according to Dad. Quieter engines also! PTV options were good, food excellent, loads brilliant! Is this a loss making route for AI? Nobody knows (experts?) . It was surely a tiring day for granny. She was sitting for about a total of 7 hours, no where to rest. This is the problem if you transit through there...

Anyways, Mum and Dad had planned a trip to Lucknow just before my trip to India, and even my brother decided to drop by in Colombo.
I'll keep this one short:
Jet Airways 255 CMB-BOM
-Mum and Dad were late, big traffic jams on the way to airport, nearly miss flight, last ones to board. VT-JGE, the unfriendly International aircraft (drop down screens). Everything was usual, Jet Airways style. (Dad had been on this aircraft on BOM-SIN-BOM route, BOM-DXB, CCU-BOM, DOH-BOM, BOM-DEL-BOM flights)

JetKonnect 2665 BOM-LKO
-They sell only Economy class tickets on this sector, so the usual business class are used for Economy as well. Did web check in, let Mum and Dad sit there VT-JNZ it was. (Dad has done many domestic flights on this frame)

JetKonnect 2666 LKO-BOM
-Same stuff, business class seats for Mum and Dad, VT-JGA (Dad's second time only on this frame!).
-Dad also bought a Sigma 150-500 lens during the transit. WHAT A BEAST!

Jet Airways 256 BOM-CMB
-No exit seats, all seats taken, VT-JBR. (He traveled on this BOM-BBI and MAA-CMB when the a/c had 2 different colored winglets. See my TR)

Now, back with my trip. 9W's aircraft utilization is like this:
9W256 arrives (BOM), goes back to India as 9W253 (MAA).
9W254 arrives (MAA), goes back to India as 9W251 (MAA).
9W252 arrives (MAA), goes back to India as 9W255 (BOM).

This meant that I was in a shot of flying on the same plane twice. Sadly, that didn't happen. But I was also glad, because that meant 4 different planes I'd fly on! Jet Airways sent an email, rescheduling the CMB-MAA flight, downgrading it from a 73H (IFE) to a 738 (Konnect). I actually wouldn't have minded flying on GE, GF or GG on this sector, who watches TV on a flight which is an hour long anyways? But anyways, that's how it was. This meant a 10 hour transit in Chennai! OH GOD!!! HELP!!!! Lucky for me and Granny, Mum has a friend who is based in HYD, working for AI. She told us that MAA has retiring rooms in the airport, but we needed to be lucky for that.

ENOUGH WITH THE BLABBERING!THE FLIGHTS!
Oh, sorry if I diverted But yeah, before this trip, there was intense planning. First, the timings of the flights: On an average, 9W253 would reach 15-20 minutes before time, while AI766 would leave 45 minutes late (in one instance, it departed at 2000 hours, and another went via Hyderabad!). So this meant, our 10 hour transit could be 11 hours long. We decided, that if I request a wheelchair for Granny on the CMB-MAA flight, we may have a boost of chances in getting the retiring room.

14TH JULY 2012:- YOUR MISSION FOR THE DAY: LEAVE GRANNY IN KOLKATA
With a long transit and a delayed second flight in mind, I web checked in for our flight to Chennai. Because of the wheelchair, I was blocked from checking in. I made the request to a no wheel chair and web checked. Once again, I was SEQ.1!! Seats 26F and 26E, the 'massage' row on 9W's 738. I didn't do it on the Air India flight, knowing their website is hopeless and our seats were anyways reserved. Because BIA airport is really far from the Colombo city, we had to leave home at 0130. Whole night awake, once again.

PRE-BOARDING STUFF
We reached the airport. But we had to wait for someone to push the wheelchair. This meant, a bit of a long wait outside the terminal. Over there, a porter, an old guy was sitting. He asked me stuff in Sinhala and then in Tamil, which I didn't understand obviously, so I couldn't reply. So then, he went back doing his stuff. He kept burping or farting every few minutes. With that, he was smoking, of course, no surprise. Well, he thought he was the God of Hellfire anyways. I just stood there. Later, a uniformed SriLankan Airlines employee came and assisted granny. While Granny was sad, telling goodbye to her daughter, Dad gave this, really weird and funny goodbye to me, telling me to enjoy my time! But with that, being careful with the money and my spine.



Anyways, the responsibility of the passports and tickets were with the cheerful UL lady, but I had to keep track of the bags: taking it through security checks, check in, etc. So, we through the first security check quickly, but the second one (right before the check in) looked like it would take a bit longer. This was surprising, this security never usually happens! One line for many flights (not forgetting the Royal Jordanian A340!). Lucky for us, Granny was on the wheelchair, so we sailed through. But the area was narrow. After picking up the suit cases (already pissed by this new system ), I pushed my trolley a bit far, hitting the table, toppling it. Everyone looked at me. Oh come on people! I didn't win the 2012 World Championship! Board your flights and go! The Jet Airways check in were at the place (surprising), where the Emirates check in counter was. All the Emirates mats and boards were thrown in the area! Now I don't know whom to blame. But it was untidy. A terrible sight. Anyways, our boarding passes, already printed as usual, were given to us, and bags taken in quickly. I had to take my suitcase as hand luggage, because it was overweight, part of the plan (assuming the AI flight would be empty ). There was also a Buddhist pilgrim group flying with us: a first time for, with any religion. Surely more than 50, but I don't know how many exactly. So once that was done, we went to towards immigration, across the Royal Jordanian counter. Oh my God this airline makes so much money on this sector! The line was huge! Most likely every seat on the A343 was filled up!


Royal Jordanian line!

Same story in immigration. Never seen such big lines in Colombo! Lucky for us, Wheelchair sailed us through this also. We were taken up by the lift. My original plan was to sit at the Palm Strip Restaurant, but because of Granny's Wheelchair, it wasn't possible. Instead I went to the duty free, buying stuff for every one in Mumbai! (Not the ones in Kolkata, they keep getting stuff from us ) Our flight was departing from Gate 12, which, a completely unknown side of the airport for me. I have arrived there twice, never have I departed. After I bought my things, I began my long walk to the gate. The aircraft standing in gates 15, 14 and 13 were: Etihad A320 to AUH, Qatar A321 to DOH and Gulf Air A320 to BAH. The 3 middle eastern Airbus party was about to be crashed by the arrival of an Indian Boeing! Which obviously meant, the aircraft wasn't there yet. On the other side, an Air Arabia A320 to SHJ. Really rare to see a Boeing narrow body in Colombo! Here is a list of 9W aircraft I hoped not to fly on that day, because I flew on them already: BM, BP, BT, GA, GN, NL, NN, NZ. Obviously, this was an international flight, so I was sure winglets would be there.

That wasn't the case. I saw the aircraft arrive, it didn't have winglets. This was followed by the announcement of the aircraft arriving from BOM, 15 minutes before time. A Dark Knight followed, the A343 SriLankan from Jeddah, parked right in front of me. No winglets on my 738..right? Now, to make it worse. It had the new 'JetKonnect' titles on it. Fantastic! Really old for sure! Many passengers walked out of the aircraft. Almost 170, that's for sure! By now, the three Arabians left in quick succession.

BOARDING
Row wise boarding had begun. The UL lady kept asking me if I was sure that Granny could walk down through the jetbridge into the aircraft. 4 times to be exact. 100 points for the SriLankan Airlines ground staff! Fantastic! But now, for the aircraft: it was one in which I had already flown. VT-JGA. Brilliant. My third time on this aircraft. Why couldn't they give the one with the Sky Interior?!?!?! I flew on her twice in 2007, CCU-BOM and BOM-CCU. Ironic. I was also a tad lucky to be honest, to have the new 'JetKonnect' on the aircraft. Oh wait, Mum and Dad flew on this bird just two weeks ago! After my boarding pass stub was torn off with a warm 'Ayubowan', my and granny slowly walked down the jet bridge. A bit disappointed about the aircraft already. We were in the middle of all the pilgrims. As we walked in, there was only one cheerful FA (no, not the lead), greeting all the passengers. It was an all female crew. But anyways, they were all pissed for sure. They didn't want to help the pilgrims putting the bags in the over head compartments! They also kept hurrying us up. What? Why? The last time I flew Jet, one of the crew members was pissed, but here, EVERYONE! Anyways, back to the aircraft. Nothing too different. I simply didn't know that I was boarding a nine and a half year old Boeing, probably just like boarding BP or BM! This shows the fantastic maintenance of all Jet Airways aircraft.

'WHERE'S YOUR CROWN KING NOTHING?' Jet Airways 9W-253 Colombo-Chennai 14th July 2012
Airline: Jet Airways (9W/JAI)
Aircraft: VT-JGA, Boeing 737-85R
Seat: 26F, Economy.
Departure time (Scheduled): 0530 hours, actual: 0523 hours
Arrival time (scheduled): 0655 hours, actual: 0642 hours.
Loads: J=? Y=80+

As boarding went on, I clicked a few quick pictures..


Here is what I had expected: a winglet and the 3 Arabian planes. Instead? This. Huhm.

Just then, the leader of the pilgrims, took a video inside the cabin. Surely, the cabin crew WASN'T EVEN IN THE FRAME of the video. This got one of the FA really pissed, as she screamed at that man. She also grabbed the video camera out his hand and tried to delete it. She called the lead FA, and now even she was pissed! This caused a lot of action in the aircraft, meaning that I couldn't take videos! For the first time since 2008! Surely a sad start to the trip! Noo! But back to the crew, they were really sparking up something which was supposed to be small.

DEPARTURE
After all the heated action, push back began, before time. A FlyDubai B73H taxied behind us before or pushback. The really pissed FA was doing the safety demo from row 25, which meant I had NO CHANCE of taking ANY sort of videos! To be honest, this CFM56 combustion and start, sounded probably the best I had ever heard! Extremely disappointing that I couldn't get the video
We then taxied slowly towards the active, where I saw the Royal Jordanian A340 and a Kuwait Airways A300. The first signs of sunlight was showing in the horizon, more pictures of the sunrise, YES! A powerful Boeing take off followed, as we went turned over Negombo Lagoon, climbed over the clouds, just in time to see the sun rise!

INFLIGHT




The fantastic clouds and sunrise was sort of interrupted by the drink service. Hiding that big camera isn't easy!

Look how less they gave!




The whole crew were disturbed during the whole flight. They also didn't answer my call for a bottle of water!




Arrival cards were given out before food service. Food service, yes. Last time I flew on 9W, was MAA-CMB. I had got full dinner for that. Right? I expected a full breakfast on this sector. Instead, BHAM:

DISGUSTING! Cold, NO taste, hard. All the bad experiences I had heard on Jet Airways, I used to think it was fake. But now I see, its all true. Not even half way there and I already rated this as my WORST FLIGHT WITH JET AIRWAYS. I hadn't eaten anything, knowing that Jet Airways would have given a full meal! Very, very disappointing.


Bottles of water were given out. No, they didn't give it. We had to LEAN over and the bottles! Bad crew for sure! Worst flight on 9W for sure!

Just while entering Indian airspace, clouds started gathering. Rains were around for sure...


If only that winglet was there

No photos/videos of the cabin? Burn in hell!

DESCENT, ARRIVAL AND TRANSIT
Thick and dark clouds meant one thing: A roller coaster ride without the support and rails!! It was bumpy all throughout! The cabin grew silent. Everyone was silent, fearing the worst. Maybe, I was the only one silently happy about what was about to happen in the next twenty minutes! Oh, yes!!


Obviously, pissed crew being pissed, they angrily advised everyone to put their seats in front, close tray tables and open window shades.




I hope 9W retire the B738's. It's getting overly repetitive for me. I hope this is my last flight on a winglet-less B738.

^ At this time while flying, I should my granny some interesting activity below. It looked like dolphins, a whole bunch of them!

So no video for landing then
Let continuous pictures do the talking












Super fast landing!!!

0642 hours.

Touch down!

And the big splash of heavy rain!





To be honest, this is the welcome I was half expecting: cold, rainy, dark. Well, this was the way to finish a bad flight anyways. But the usual 'fellow Indian's welcome home' announcement was given.




The AIX B73H, one bird you ALWAYS WILL find in Chennai!

Alright! Rain has stopped, time to change sim cards, get off the plane, ENTER HOME!!

Well, cabin crew wasn't there to say goodbye, I didn't even want to tell them a goodbye! They'd rather learn first! Instead, I met the captain. I'm being honest, he looked like Jenson Button! Is that the reason for the fast landing? xD Anyways, I complimented on his 'sir like but fast' landing. He certainly looked tired, after flying in from BOM more than 5 hours ago! At the aerobridge, a person was waiting with the wheelchair, which was wet. The floor of the aerobridge was wet. This certainly looked a bit sad, I hope they open the new terminal ASAP.


I missed the winglet throughout

The 'ct' of JetKonnect (Rishul has a better picture in his TR )

I took my own sweet time walking towards immigration. Slowly. But, this was the only activity:


Immigration and customs were cleared really quickly (once again, thanks to the wonderful wheelchair!)
But baggage. Jet Airways messes up, once again. It took FOREVER for bags to arrive. Come on! This is Chennai! And the aircraft is a Boeing 737! Not an A330! Cabin crew tried to sneak through customs, but they were stopped. Sadly, their argument was invalid, and had to wait. HAH take that! Most of the passengers (including the pilgrims) were transit passengers to New Delhi. Maybe we were the only ones to Kolkata, or, we were the only ones going to Kolkata on Air India

With baggage taken (thankfully it took some time, but it was too long, our transit time was cut down by 45 minutes now! ), I went to the AAI office. They saw Granny, and said that we are top priority, because of her wheelchair. But they told, the room would take another 45 minutes to get ready. Alright, 45 minutes. But they also said their shift ends in a while, (fantastic), so they'd inform the new people also. So then, the wait began. Granny almost fell asleep on the wheelchair.


The glass is the office..

45 minutes later, I went back into the office. The guys who had left, didn't tell the new people ANYTHING! Ah, well, GOI. I told them the same story, even they said 'another 45 minutes.' I now realized, they were doing what the Government does best: The Extension Game. I then give him a long story saying how much we've traveled around Sri Lanka in the last 24 hours, being awake the whole night, tired, etc. He then told me to wait in front of the door for just 15 minutes, room will be ready. So with that, I paid for the room, just to prove that I WILL get the room. Victory is mine I guess?


Already busy!

So then, we were instructed to go up to the retiring rooms. I was hoping that I'd get a view of the tarmac, but that was hoping way to much. After reaching the room, the Jet Airways guy took the wheelchair, we paid him a bit.


The room. Wasn't bad at all! Very clean!

At 0855 hours, I hit the bed, and I fell asleep, but hungry. I hoped for a better flight with Air India...but now, I was asleep..........

Link to next TR: http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=12555
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http://www.youtube.com/c/JishnuBasu777

[abhijith16]

Hahaha! Another awesome trip report!

I flew VT-JGA last March and sat right near the engine. I loved the sounds of the engine, but at the same time it's the worst place to fall asleep! GOD! I wanted to sit at the seat you sat, but thanks to the "ultra delightfully superb and efficient" web checkin, I ended up sitting there!

Regarding the food, yep, you've also been hit with a "Jet Airways famous cost cuts delight" pan. Smacked in the face. I've been there too. On both legs DOH-BOM-DOH, they served me burnt casserole with some sort of dry sambar or curry and offered me Cadbury Dairymilk in consolation. AWFUL! AWFUL! AWFUL!

And the crew, what can I say, I've also been in the wrong end, and was told off for filiming the boarding scene. They are basically JetChildren.


CALL JASEPL! Let the rants and whines begin!!! AYIYIYIYI!!
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[jbalonso777]

[sumantra]

Thanks for yet another nice report, Jishnu. You too have a JP account, right? Given the flying that your family does, I am sure you and most of your family members would be JP Plat, right?

On a different note, it is sad to see the almost sudden decline in Jet's standards - they seem to be simply collapsing. The quantity of food being reduced - this has happened on almost every carrier. However, the behaviour of the cabin crew - this cannot be a product of the recession. This is almost like some of the old IC and AI obnoxious bad eggs, before the pleasant turnaround happened, around 2007-08.
Regarding photography, it may help to carry along with you, a printout of the DGCA AICs in this regard:
http://www.dgca.nic.in/aic/aic7_2004.pdf
http://www.dgca.nic.in/aic/aic08_2005.pdf

I have never been a fan of Jet's food (I have had some mixed experiences), though I had a good experience once:
``The City of Lakes: Mother's Heart, Heart of the Motherland''
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11556.html
Mostly, even if the food has been tasty, the oil in their recipes has been a slight dampener. On my Nov'11 Bhopal trip, in response to Nimish's point about whether there had been an oil slick there,

I had jokingly replied that though this was an Air India gate, perhaps a 9W catering truck had done a wheelie in the near-abouts.
The reduction in the food quantity has impacted AI (and of course, long back, IT too), though on an average, I have found AI food to be the best in the domestic skies, and have admired the international offerings, too (I have travelled on BA, NW, UA, CO, DL, CX, CA, SU, SAS - some, more than once, with CX coming quite close, in my ratings). IT in its prime would have had the best cusine in the domestic skies, with AI not too far behind.

Looking forward to the other parts, and more!
Cheers, Sumantra.

[jbalonso777]

[sumantra]

Good for you, Jishnu - I have been on the lowest rung since I joined, JP Blue, and will possibly stay that way. That flight was the only one whose timings suited me, hence the choice. I have had some bad experiences with JP in general, especially their stinginess with points, which I have written about on this forum.
Cheers, Sumantra.

[jbalonso777]

[sumantra]

Jishnu, your good experiences could also be because you have flown
with 9W regularly enough to have `status'. My experiences start
from 2001, when on a CCU-BOM flight with Captain Deepali
Gadolikar in command. The flight itself was nice (the food was
nice in quality and quantity), and I had
enrolled for JP that day. When I flew with them the next year
BOM-CCU-GAU and GAU-CCU-BOM, I was aghast to find that I was not
yet registered. I sent them a stinker, along with proof of my
earlier travel. I put this down on the in-cabin complaint sheet
as well. After some email exchanges, they got me in. The last two
segments were my first experience with bad food. The foils were
not closed properly on the return, the food was unevenly heated
and burnt at a few places. That was in the early 2000s.
On a few flights later, they were tardy with points getting
registered. The Bhopal trip I have quoted here was one in which I
had success - on a few others, it was not so. A JetLite flight -
after some protracted email exchanges, I was finally told that I
could not earn a single point on this segment in this fare class.
Two other times, I was told that I could not web check-in for the
flight, even though the ticket satisfied their condition for
web check-in: there is something in their rules about the ticket
number. Why? It was booked by a travel agent, and something at
their end could not be changed.
I have once had a problem with the 9W website in booking an award
ticket, when the system deduced my points, debited money from my
credit card, but did not book a ticket, giving a `system error'.
I went to their Delhi city office, and there, was debited the
amount again (I was told that that was the procedure), and that
they would look into it. A few emails later, I had my ticket as
well as my points, and the money was credited back.
I do not fly that often with Jet, on many occassions, even when I
had a choice. I had patronised Kingfisher in their heydays,
though I did not qualify for any `status'. I still have quite a
few Kingfisher points left behind. Their food was a slight notch
above even Air India/Indian Airlines, both in quantity, and
quality. Their IFE was good (live TV), planes were clean, the
amenity kits were nice, and the service was good, in general.
Now, I hardly fly them, for obvious reasons.
I fly Jet when there is no alternative, and my flights with Jet
come in with an average of about slightly less than one a year,
since 2001.
On this forum and others, I have read Jet being nice to JP
members with status, though this has fallen a bit these days.
Cheers, Sumantra.

[jbalonso777]

[sumantra]

Jishnu, you may have missed something I wrote above.
The Kingfisher standards have fallen like anything.
Food is an apology of what it used to be.
I have had a horrible experience at their City booking office last
December. I will document it all in the trip report after the
next, a two-part report on a Hampi trip.

Why do I often fly on Air India?
I work(!) for a Semi-Government organisation, where most of our
official trips are on Air India.
It is a different matter that I the glutton that I am, I love the
Air India food, and the sea change in service standards since
about 2007 or so. This has however not really stopped my flights
on other airlines, I have flown IC/AI, 9W, IT, G8, SG, 6E
domestically, and BA, CX, CA, SU, AA, UA, CO, DL, NW, U2(!), SAS
- to name some, internationally.

Me and a few family members have been denied 9W miles on a few
international segments e.g., got them on KL DEL-AMS but not
AMS-SEA on DL - both 9W partners, for trips done on the same
ticket in the same booking class, one that should have accrued
miles (according to their stingy table, where every class with a
`partner' airline does not earn miles). That was two years back.
Things came to a flash point on a recent trip, where The Wife and
Junior, and The Wife's parents did a trans-con EWR-SFO on UA
(a `partner' airline), where after a few email exchanges, we were
told that the booking class would not accrue any miles. Fine.
The Wife's parents questioned the validity of The Wife's parents'
accounts, given that the email address for correspondence was the
same in both of them. We were asked to provide a photo ID proof
that they were indeed genuine travellers.
This was by one Ms Fatima Khorakiwala at JP.
This is outright insulting, and not acceptable in terms of behaviour
with customers. The Wife's parents have been JP members for a few
years now, earned and burned quite a few miles, and are suddenly
asked to prove their identities, simply because the email address
for correspondence is the same, something that JP dug out because
we pointed out that their miles had not been accrued.
Overall, I have been quite disappointed with Jet.
There are a large number of Jet fans on this forum - you and
Rishul and your families patronise Jet quite a lot, and I have
also heard a lot of good things about the airline from you, as
well as from quite a few others.
However, I'm sorry, my experience hasn't been very nice with Jet
- ditto for quite a few members of our family.

Air India on the other hand, have always been quite generous with
miles - accrual, very generous lapsing policies, and I have foudn
the member services centre at both Mumbai (the Air India building
at Nariman Point), as well as the Safdarjung Airport one in Delhi
to be nice, courteous, and efficient. Yes, I have been a Flying
Returns member for quite some time.

Cheers, Sumantra.

[jbalonso777]

[shivendrashukla]

Nice TR again. Keep up the good wrk,

Cheers
Shivendra