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For continuity read the part 1 of travelogue under Air Deccan..
And part 2 under Jet Airways…
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After around 10 days at Chennai my company wanted me to go to Trivandrum so they booked me on Indian airlines so third airline in one months time..
I reached airport a bit early as I already had the printed ticket given by agent. I directly went to counter to check in to my surprise there was no one on the counter :-) govt people how can anyone be on his seat and on time .. finally a gentleman came 15 mins before the security check time and a line formed on his counter- me leading the line... :-)
he switched on the computer and fidgeted with printer and than moved to the next counter declaring that printer is not working .. So everyone has to come to that counter.. So thoughtful of him... I asked him for a window seat and checked in my extra suitcase and got the boarding pass.
We boarded the plane on time and patiently waited for takeoff after the doors were closed than the doors opened and ladders were put again I think some VIP was late as usual.. so flight took off 15-20 mins late.. Nothing unusual I think as no one was complaining.. Since I was in Chennai for almost ten days and eating south Indian food I was looking forward to meal served in-flight. The juice and meal was served together may be to save the hassles or flight time was too less for two trips of attendants. The food was better than Jet, best till now while flying.
In-flight magazine was celebrating the third year and was actually a collector’s edition..Finally we reached.. Definitely late at one of the most beautiful airport.. It’s just next to a beach so looked like you are going to land at beach :-) I collected my luggage.. Not to my surprise it was slightly damaged.. I didn’t expected them to handle my new suitcase bit carefully.. My mistake I should have carried it in cabin... person learns from his mistake only
After around 3-4 weeks at Trivandrum I came back to Chennai.. By this time I had started feeling home sick so I thought of taking 2 days leave and club it with weekend and travel to Delhi.. Now was the time for bargain hunting as this was a personal travel and will be repeated almost every month so need to be careful with my budget..
I was getting tired of searching individually on sites of Deccan, Jet, Indian airlines and Sahara.. I had heard a lot about Make my trip.com so I thought of trying it.. Not to my surprise there were low rate offers from almost all the airlines. Only problem was you can book only after two days.. I mean you can’t book for anything before 2 days. So not suitable for me as I had to travel the next morning.. I checked at Deccan.. It was showing full at a rate of around 6k.. I tried Air Sahara.. Unable to log in.. I tried no of times so gave up.. Tried Jet again nothing below 8k.. So I thought of giving Indian airlines a shot.. To my surprise I got at around 5.5k.. I paid by card and got the ticket.. The site was different from others.. Very good or best of all.. The page gives option of all the available flights and the fare level.. So one can select flight according to time or rate as per the need... intelligent isn’t it.. I took the printout and traveled..
One negative of nose diving airfares I got in the form of my next seat companions.. I don’t have a right to critcise any one but frankly it was disgusting to travel with such people.. all the while cribbing about all the things and also taking all the things like the complimentary toffees etc and hoarding them in the purse and too my shock even the cutlery.. The lady like the bowl in which sweet dish was served.. I saw her putting it in her purse.. GOVT KA MAAL >> BAAP KA MAAL…
Other wise The journey was uneventful.. Except the regular half hour delay.. No reason.. I think just a regular feature..
So I checked for my return... I was getting smart by now.. I kept checking and didn’t booked my ticket till I found a bargain.. Finally I saw a ticket for 4.5 k at Indian airlines I grabbed it immediately.. They also send a confirmatory email but it is not accepted as ticket it’s just a confirmatory mail the printout has to be taken after logging in inside the site. I don’t have a printer at home so I thought of calling the Indian Airlines toll free helpline to check can I travel just on PNR ( as it can be done on Jet and Air Deccan).. The person politely declined.. He said that printout is must.. I thought no probs I will take the print out next morning from any of the cybercafés while going to the airport as the site has a option to take the printout anytime for the booked tickets..
I started from a bit early as I also had to take a printout... I went to one cybercafé.. There net was down.. I said no probs there is no dearth of cafes in Delhi.. So I stopped at one more cafe midway.. To my shock the site was down and the one I downloaded at my home and forwarded it to my personal email for such situation was in a format which wont open at that cafe... now I thought what to do.. So I again called the helpline.. A real helpful feature u can reach it even through your cell phone by adding the city code.. (.I came to know about the Helpline through in-flight magazine only) The person at other end after checking with some one gave me a number to speak with a person who supervises all the net tickets. Now I called this no and to my surprise phone was picked up also.. My impression was govt office closes by 5pm, the person on other side after hearing my problem checked in and confirmed my ticket is booked so I can travel and I can also get the boarding pass on the basis of PNR but to get inside the airport I will need a printout and that is not possible at the outside counter, I will have to come and collect at the Safdurjung office.. By this time I had wasted quite some time and could not go to collect the ticket so I decided to cancel the ticket and buy Air Deccan which I had checked at cafe the tickets were available for a flight around same time. I told the same to the person on other side.. She put me on hold and checked with someone and said she will convey the same to the duty manager and I can get a entry letter from the outside counter and I will have to endorse it from duty manager.. So I thought of giving it a try before cancelling.. To my surprise I got a call on my Chennai no.. which I had given while booking the tickets confirming the same again.
Now I confidently walked to the counter and asked.. But no one knew there about my ticket. Finally I asked for duty manager and on giving him the PNR no he got me a letter and I went inside the airport.. now I produced the same letter to the person on counter.. He asked me to go to some other counter.. The person there directed me to go and get it endorsed from a higher official and directed me to his room.. so I walked into his room.. He was on phone and I expected a govt office attitude by now.. but he just asked my name while reading the letter which I had kept on his table while he was still on the phone he signed and put the stamp and I came out of his office saying thanks to him though he was still on phone.. And finally I was able to get the boarding pass.. Again the flight was 10-15 mins late..
forgot to write about some contest going on.. looks attractive but I was not intrested though eligible..
Comments and ratings on review will be more than welcome..