Let me tell you my one and only flight with air india.
3 or 4 years age i booked with them and was promptly delayed 10 hrs at heathrow the air India informed us this was due to bad weather in New York.
After much complaining we got entrance to the v i p lounge, whilst in there the plane arrived from, New York and i got talking to a passenger who was on the flight he assured me the weather was fine dry and sunny in New York.
So i insisted on seeing the person in charge and demamded to know why they had lied to us, usual effect shrugging of shoulders and must of been a mix up.
While we was boarding a group of Indians who had with them passenger who was very ill were being told he was to ill to fly after much ado they let him on.
When we was over the middle east the captain announced we had to return to Frankfurt as a passenger was very ill give you no clues who that was.
Ater all this we missed our flight that had already been re booked and it was xmas eve Air India would not help did not care yet all the problems were caused by them.
Ended up renting a jeep and driver to take us to Candolim.
They are the most useless bunch of cowboys i have ever flown with never never again.

And to be treated like that with a name like JAGGER

Wow, serious cred here, Frankfurt to Candolim by Jeep on Christmas Eve! And I bet you didn't even have a star to follow?
(re-read the original if in doubt)

Seriously though, Air India have always been shite.

In 1999 we were offered by Emirates who were over-booked the opportunity to shift to Air India and have a free Emirates flight the next year.........thought about it for all of...............30 seconds........and refused. After all you only live once and why risk cutting it short by flying Air India?

Some customers of ours, UK resident Indians from Mangalore, last flew AI several years ago. He is a surgeon and she has a good job with IRS so they decided to up-grade to first-class this particular trip for personal reasons.
Shortly after take -off, they are approached by cabin staff and asked what they think they are doing sitting in first-class? They try to explain that they have paid to up-grade, but before they can even get their tickets out are told that the cabin staff are fed up with people (Indians) trying it on and to ***** off back into economy where they should be!
Well needless to say, the "driver" was called, and of course he apologised? Did he hell, he simply denied that the cabin staff had said any of it, and then almost whispered that it was their word against his.
These really nice people fly to see their family at least once a year and we had the pleasure of introducing them to Jet who had recently started international ops. Yes, this story is that recent!

sorry meant bombay 14 bloody hrs

Please dont apologise Jagger, didnt mean to take the piss either, but the image of you arriving in Frankfurt on Christmas Eve and flagging down a Jeep to take you to Candolim.........well you know how keen the Goons are on their Nativity scenes..........could just picture them flogging them at exhorbitant prices in Mapusa this year with all the assorted bits, and someone walking up and saying "Yeah, well fine, three shepherds, three kings, various livestock...................Hey! Wheres the Jagger in a Jeep?"

Hi, Just booked flights for my son and his wife and children with Jet, I did find cheaper fares with Air India but after reading this thread earlier in the day I decided that I should pay the extra and book with Jet as I know Jet are good. Thanks for the info.

HA! Did that same trip standing in a rattling luxury bus Goa to Bombay because AI had overbooked (or had some VIP last minute)!!! Bus was overbooked too but I didnt want to stay another day longer in the thieves den.

You have done right avoid A I at all costs flew with jet last year very good.

Need some quick airline info:

Are Etihad, Kuwait, or Gulf Air any good LHR to BOM?

Do you get free booze in economy, or even any booze? Not like Air India, dry Have only ever used them BOM - BKK - BOM, and GOI - BOM.

Which are the ones to avoid LHR - BOM- LHR? Emirates have always been the best service, flown BA past years (only cause cheapest at time) put they seem to heading towards budget airline service across the fleet?

A month or so ago Kingfisher were doing really good deals. Food excellent (if you like Indian food ) booze brilliant, will leave the big bottle of wine for you. Think they like to give you the drink so you go to sleep. Service second to none.

Jet was our second choice.

BA if we had to - all depends on the prices.

Qatar have a good reputation - not been on it as yet.

If you have your visa why not look at those really cheapie flights and throw the ticket away and buy your return tickets in Goa - much cheaper.
That is if you are going back next year!!

Visas permitting we're going in charter flight hell in December, but fully intend on trying Qatar Airways for our March 2010 trip. They promote themselves as the world's five star airline & the flights go from Manchester to Doha in Qatar & then straight on to Dabolim, thus avoiding Mumbai - might be worth a look at their website (www.qatarairways.com) for prices before trying someone like www.netflights.com for a price comparison.

H.

Would never ever fly Gulf Air again. Flew with them to SA a few years ago. They let a large group of paraletic men on board, and sat solo passengers in between groups of them. These groups found it funny to spit at other passengers and grope females, and the cabin staff LAUGHED when the passengers (inc one very distressed female) asked for help. Complete flagrance of CAA and FAA law !
Furthermore, the delays were horrific - made us sit in an aircraft on the tarmac at Heathrow for 7 hours, then let us off because that airplane was defunct. Not even offered a cup of water, let alone a decent drink or something to eat. Then several people missed connecting flights, and they did nothing whatsoever to help - and made passengers repay for internal GULF AIR flights in SA which had already been booked and paid for.
Also the plane stank as well, and everone's baggage went to Barhain instead of SA.
Im sure some people have had nice flights with them, but I for one had the worst flight of my life with them. I guess when they're bad they're really bad!

Dread
x

Hi what day's do they fly from Manchester? do you know how long the wait is in Doha before the connecting flight
cheers
GC

I think the best connection times are Sundays & Wednesday/Thursdays as it's the Doha to Dabolim flight that doesn't go everyday - it's a 3 hour wait in Doha on the way to Dabolim & just over an hour on the return journey, which is pretty good when you look at some of the 5 & 6 hour waits in Mumbai.

When you put your dates in on their website to get a price, you can select 3 days either side so you can check a few date combinations to get the best connection time flights as well as maximising the time away in relation to minimum days of annual leave taken off work - plus the prices aren't 'batty' if you are trying to be there over Easter, which is not the case with the charter flights.

H.

Just been on not to bad at all,I will definately be considering this for the next trip in April
thanks
GC