Route: Pune-Bangalore
Flight: SpiceJet Boeing 737
Seat: 2A
Well, first of all, a usual rant with LCC’s, their in-flight food is expensive ( a chicken sandwich for Rs. 100, Coke at Rs. 35 are just some examples), but then, if a flight ticket is Rs. 99 (without taxes), I guess we shouldn’t complain too much… I guess we should also not complain about listening to the usual flight delay excuses ‘Due to Late Arrival of Incoming Flight.’ Let me get down to the other details.
The SpiceJet flight was supposed to leave at 3:45 p.m. initially, but that got delayed to around 4:15 eventually. Still, not much to complain about, I guess, after having experienced 3 hour delays on some other LCC’s, namely JetLite and Deccan.
The check-in was relatively straightforward, with SpiceJet’s check in staff at par with the others from Deccan and so forth. I asked for the front most seat for more legroom and got it. In the security check… these days, to new fliers, be warned, you will have to put your mobile phone in for scanning in the X-Ray machine at security check. You can put it in your cabin baggage to avoid the possibility of damaging it.
The plane was a Boeing 737, which had a bit more legroom that Deccan’s Airbus A320, and was at par with IndiGo’s A320’s. IndiGo have the newest aircraft and it looks better inside… while JetLite have an ageing Sahara fleet with hopeless legroom and interiors. Both Deccan and SpiceJet have sombre red interiors.
My seat was being occupied by someone else who had boarded on Delhi… granted, I did not want to make a fuss, but why did they make the mistake of offering that seat to me in the first place? It seems that the Indigo Flight Stewarts also need a bit more training, since they missed offering me a water bottle, until I demanded it. I ultimately got a 3A seat, after much confusion with the ground staff and the cabin crew… who also seemed to take offence at how I loaded my cabin baggage in the overhead tray, for some reason.
Food sales, as I mentioned happened, but I normally never buy things on LCC’s… the only time I got served free food on an LCC was JetLite, or was it because the flight was 3 hours late that day? Anyways, the menu was the same as any other LCC, and also, the staff asked for change.
SpiceJet’s in-flight magazine, ‘SpiceRoute’ was decent, nothing great about it, especially the hopeless jokes section at the back which was filed with jokes you normally get as endless internet forwards.
The Captain made a few announcements during the flight, which was incomprehensible as he seemed to eat his words. However, he made up about 10 minutes during the flying time, to that was good on his part.
The landing was a bit bumpy, and not the most comfortable around, but somehow, The 737’s cabin pressure is easier on my ears than the A320’s, so that was something I preferred.
I did not have any check-in luggage on the flight, so I cannot comment on that. There was a differently abled passenger on board who needed a wheelchair, and it took a few minutes to get that once we landed, but at least they did it relatively promptly, unlike some other airliners.
All in all, SpiceJet was just like most other LCC’s, i.e. we look at convenience of timing and of course, price, when we choose to fly with them. Its cabin crew need a bit of sprucing up and polishing, though.