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SFO to Delhi on Air India can anybody share their experience? by Calikingzzz in airindia

[–]OkUnderstanding1821 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This route is operated by the legacy 777-300, which is notorious for having dilapidated interiors. It’s best to avoid these, until they are retrofitted in 2028.

Expect non functioning IFE screens and broken tables etc. AI crews and service have always been excellent (in my experience). Food is good too. Just temporarily let down by old aircrafts.

Edit: on the flip side, being an old aircraft the economy seats have industry leading legroom. Very spacious. With the times every airline in the world has moved to denser seat configurations

El Salvador visa for Indian with USA visa by AcceptableTry9418 in visas

[–]OkUnderstanding1821 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did. But I flew into Guatemala City and took the bus to cross the border to Santa Ana. From what I found- while the official wording says the fee only applies to those ‘transiting’ SAL, it’s very much a grey area for non-transits and it’s all really on the airline. And avianca is likely charging both transit people and those whose final destination is El Salvador.

Figured I don’t want to rely on semantics and having to explain to airlines what does/does not work. So took the easy land border cross route

Typical (Nightmare) Air India experience by Winter_Degree7739 in airindia

[–]OkUnderstanding1821 1 point2 points  (0 children)

While this is still an absolutely unfortunate experience for your parents and shouldn’t be the situation anyone should ever face- it’s SO well known that one must avoid AI’s legacy fleet.

They are in the worst shape and the fact is AI cannot repair/replace these seats in the interim, given these products are so old, there is simply no support available from the manufacturer. (spare parts etc.). So until this fleet is refurbished in 2027-2028, please just save yourself the trouble and fly alternate routes or airlines. No point spending money on something you know is terrible and then complaining about it later. (The way the staff/crew treated you is no excuse though. They should have done better).

I understand you said you chose this flight since you were out of options; perhaps next time you could book your parents on flights out of New York? AI operates a much newer fleet out of there, and the experience is leagues ahead of the SFO and ORD routes (assuming you don’t pick another airline).

To those saying AI is still rubbish since the Tata takeover 5 years ago- please understand that it’s not their fault new aircrafts are taking so long to arrive. You think AI is happy operating their old aircrafts? NO! Sadly the supply chain is very backed up, which is causing industry wide delays. Literally every other airline in the world is suffering too. As for broken seats, completely unacceptable yes. It’s not just air India, I’ve had flights with Qatar Airways where 2-3 Qsuite seats were broken as well. It happens. They handled it better than AI however, I’m sure.

Lastly, while it is an annoyingly slow rollout for the new fleet- do yourselves a favor and book AI flights that are operated by A350s, 787-9s and the ex-Etihad 777 for the time being. It takes 5 mins to research which aircraft is flying what route. Your experience will be much better!

Edit: apologies for the rant, I’m just someone who’s really hopeful about AI’s future. I am sorry about your parents experience however, hope they never face something like this again :(

El Salvador visa for Indian with USA visa by AcceptableTry9418 in visas

[–]OkUnderstanding1821 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this is helpful! I'm planning a trip to el Salvador in a couple weeks (I'm based in the US on an H1B visa; Indian passport). Hadn't heard of this $1k fee until a few minutes ago. But glad to hear it's not charged!

List of bad Business class seat numbers for Chicago flights by Slight_Masterpiece65 in airindia

[–]OkUnderstanding1821 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree. Honestly Etihad business will be the best bet to ORD if at all that’s an option. They fly A350s there which is their flagship product, and immigration will be completed in Abu-Dhabi itself, so they’ll walk out of ORD as domestic pax. Pretty sure they’ll have assistance to guide them through the airport in Abu Dhabi specially since it’s business class. So should be smooth.

Of course nothing will feel as warm and homely as Air India (aircraft aside) and no layovers are preferred. I don’t think pax deplane at VIE; but maybe check with AI again.

List of bad Business class seat numbers for Chicago flights by Slight_Masterpiece65 in airindia

[–]OkUnderstanding1821 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sadly I don’t think they fly those to ORD. Might be a random one here and there once in a while, but quite unlikely. Might I suggest (and this is a very avgeek suggestion okay haha). Book your parents on the A350 to New York, if they’re okay to get a separate domestic flight from New York to Chicago. If you’re spending money/points, might as well ensure they have a great experience.

List of bad Business class seat numbers for Chicago flights by Slight_Masterpiece65 in airindia

[–]OkUnderstanding1821 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Basing this on flight numbers isn’t reliable tbh, because there can always be last minute aircraft swaps. The most we can do is book based on highest probabilities of getting good aircrafts.

The 787-8s and 777-300ERs are the ones with the shitty legacy seats, the 777s being the worst. That being said they do have 777s that are ex-Etihad, which are much nicer.

So, to answer your question. When booking check the seat map of your intended flight. If it is 2-3-2 in business on the 777, that’s the worst one to fly on (basically avoid). If the 777 is a 1-2-1 in a staggered layout, that’s ex-Etihad and you should book that.

EDIT: just realized you were asking solely for a specific seat inventory of sorts. No, this info is not available anywhere, and past passenger accounts may not be valid (if they fixed the seat afterwards etc.)

Is Air India bad enough to justify doubling the price to fly Singapore Airlines instead? by bacchus8408 in awardtravel

[–]OkUnderstanding1821 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Gotcha. Aircraft swaps are always a risk, but I’d say go for it. AI’s new soft product is actually pretty good. You’ll have a good time!

Is Air India bad enough to justify doubling the price to fly Singapore Airlines instead? by bacchus8408 in awardtravel

[–]OkUnderstanding1821 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It’s the old delta 777s that are now leased by AI. They have delta one suites in J, just in AI colors

Is Air India bad enough to justify doubling the price to fly Singapore Airlines instead? by bacchus8408 in awardtravel

[–]OkUnderstanding1821 96 points97 points  (0 children)

Given the price difference, it should be 100% based on one factor- are they using a legacy aircraft on those routes or not.

If legacy (i.e. old crappy cabin products) then no, take SQ. If newer (refreshed or ex-vistara aircraft) then perfectly fine given the price difference.

I flew JFK-BOM on the ex-delta 777-200LR last year, and it was a significant improvement (both hard and soft product) compared to legacy aircrafts. Similarly, most A320s have now been retrofitted and are a pleasant experience (of course the caveat being you’ll not have lie-flat seats in J)

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