A few years ago I made the mistake of flying Air India and like the other thread about getting bumped and rewarded for it, Air India would have none of that.
Years ago on this trip, I left from the US and was flying straight through to Delhi with a stop in Germany. I was told everything was all set when I boarded. The ticket agent even let me pick out a seat on my connecting flight and I was all good to go.
After a long ride into Germany I arrive to find that my connecting flight with Air India did not exist. It wasn't cancelled or delayed but just never existed and I was holding a ticket to a flight to nowhere.
The Air India counter was just shutting down when I arrived and I questioned them about it and they couldn't give me an answer except for "we will try to get on another flight tomorrow" but "this flight today never existed". My luggage as I found out later was being sent to customs and locked up, so I had nothing with me. I asked Air India if they could put me up in a hotel for the night, since they sold me the ticket to a flight that didn't exist. They're reply was "no" but you can sleep in the airport. I thought okay maybe there are beds here, when I asked them where I could sleep they pointed to a bench by the window and then immediately shutdown their office and left for the day. I ended up paying for my own hotel in Germany and wearing the same clothes again (and now I know to always carry my toothbrush with me).
The next day I caught up with my luggage which was now on route to Delhi ahead of me and Air India, probably getting tired of me put me on the next flight. I got the very last seat on the plane and starved the whole flight because when the meal cart got to me they had discovered they were short food. Luckily when I arrived in Delhi my luggage was sitting there waiting for me.
Anyway four months later after a great time in India it was time to fly back. Getting ready to go I went to the Air India office in Delhi to confirm my tickets. I told the sympathetic man behind the counter my story from the first trip, and even presented him a receipt of the hotel where I stayed with the hopes of getting a refund. He was very concerned with what happened and although they wouldn't budge on paying for a hotel, he would bump me up to a higher class seat on the way back. The ticket would be waiting for me at the airport and he apologized for the whole ordeal.
So I arrive at the airport to find that I am on standby and probably won't get on the flight. Somehow my upgraded ticket didn't mean a thing. Luckily, I get a seat and again I am last on the plane and am sat way in the back in of course the last plane on earth with a smoking section. Choking and gagging I was happy this time to at least get a meal. It wasn't good but I was starving and ate it anyhow. A few hours later "bammo" food poisoning sets in. Four months in India and not one case of Delhi belly or anything, and as a matter of fact of all the times I have been in India I have never gotten sick from food and I even drink the water. But the Air India food just set wrong with me and I spent the whole trip home, mainly in the restroom, puking my guts out and turning blue. Airlines don't carry any medicines for this so I was on my own to fight this illness.
Arrived back in the US, could barely walk and collapsed when I hit the airport lobby and had to be assisted to get back to my feet, and all I could think of was when I left the plane the stewardess saying "thanks for flying Air India".
I have never flown them again.
Mike
Years ago on this trip, I left from the US and was flying straight through to Delhi with a stop in Germany. I was told everything was all set when I boarded. The ticket agent even let me pick out a seat on my connecting flight and I was all good to go.
After a long ride into Germany I arrive to find that my connecting flight with Air India did not exist. It wasn't cancelled or delayed but just never existed and I was holding a ticket to a flight to nowhere.
The Air India counter was just shutting down when I arrived and I questioned them about it and they couldn't give me an answer except for "we will try to get on another flight tomorrow" but "this flight today never existed". My luggage as I found out later was being sent to customs and locked up, so I had nothing with me. I asked Air India if they could put me up in a hotel for the night, since they sold me the ticket to a flight that didn't exist. They're reply was "no" but you can sleep in the airport. I thought okay maybe there are beds here, when I asked them where I could sleep they pointed to a bench by the window and then immediately shutdown their office and left for the day. I ended up paying for my own hotel in Germany and wearing the same clothes again (and now I know to always carry my toothbrush with me).
The next day I caught up with my luggage which was now on route to Delhi ahead of me and Air India, probably getting tired of me put me on the next flight. I got the very last seat on the plane and starved the whole flight because when the meal cart got to me they had discovered they were short food. Luckily when I arrived in Delhi my luggage was sitting there waiting for me.
Anyway four months later after a great time in India it was time to fly back. Getting ready to go I went to the Air India office in Delhi to confirm my tickets. I told the sympathetic man behind the counter my story from the first trip, and even presented him a receipt of the hotel where I stayed with the hopes of getting a refund. He was very concerned with what happened and although they wouldn't budge on paying for a hotel, he would bump me up to a higher class seat on the way back. The ticket would be waiting for me at the airport and he apologized for the whole ordeal.
So I arrive at the airport to find that I am on standby and probably won't get on the flight. Somehow my upgraded ticket didn't mean a thing. Luckily, I get a seat and again I am last on the plane and am sat way in the back in of course the last plane on earth with a smoking section. Choking and gagging I was happy this time to at least get a meal. It wasn't good but I was starving and ate it anyhow. A few hours later "bammo" food poisoning sets in. Four months in India and not one case of Delhi belly or anything, and as a matter of fact of all the times I have been in India I have never gotten sick from food and I even drink the water. But the Air India food just set wrong with me and I spent the whole trip home, mainly in the restroom, puking my guts out and turning blue. Airlines don't carry any medicines for this so I was on my own to fight this illness.
Arrived back in the US, could barely walk and collapsed when I hit the airport lobby and had to be assisted to get back to my feet, and all I could think of was when I left the plane the stewardess saying "thanks for flying Air India".
I have never flown them again.
Mike
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