Some of the better airlines in the world I have travelled with( not in any particular order ) - Singapore - Emirates - Qantas (Australian) - Malaysian ( not of the same class as Singapore. I find that in SA you get a wide variety of drinks - alcoholic and non-alcoholic ) - Kingfisher and Jet airways. - British Airways - liked the flight but not the airport queues at the airport.
Also heard that the new airport at Bangkok is world class. So Thai may me worth a try. I have heard horror stories of American airlines from my friends too. China is in the news for the new Beijing airport http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/2008/02/27/1203788401650.html Less said about Indian airports, the better. JS On Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 5:44 PM, umesh sharma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Ha Ha, > > I am beginning to realise how fortunate I have been in my first flight > experience which was not what I had originally planned. > > My original plan to fly from Delhi to Harvard (sep 2004) was via Athens > Olympics in Greece. To kill two birds with one stone - for extra 400 dollars > have the experience of a lifetime - see Olympics in its place of origin - > Greece. > > But my bro-in-law checked and successfully dissuaded me since you need a > EU visa which was as near-impossible to get as the American one (how > fortunate those who do not need visas to travel - among rich country clubs) > > > So he booked me thru China Airlines - and I have no complaints. Great > hostesses and service. Indian food was good (till I was at Taiwan) and then > I had to adjust my tastes to real Chinese or real America food (either tasty > noodle soup or ham and eggs - neither was spice enough) . American > airlines don't have any good food service - even Indian railways has > better food service - atleast gives you a full meal -- but you could be > traveling for upto 40 hours in an Indian train to reach your > destination (with train on schedule). > > Umesh > Ram Sarangapani <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: KC, > > >From my experience, American (O'Hare - Del) is somewhere nearabouts your > CO > flight. > > The first thing people ought to understand is that if your destination is > say Guwahati (and not Del or Mumbai), you really reach at the same > unearthly > hour, that an overnight at Del/Cal/Mumbai and that doesn't make it > worthwhile. > > On the return from Del, American kept delaying our flight to Chicago every > 2 > hours and of course because of 'technical difficulty', and in the end I > think the flight left 6 hours or later. > > This time, we took Lufthansa - OK service, very clinical, but they are on > time. > > Amlan is correct - any of the Asian airlines are far superior. I wonder > how > Jet Airways - Del-NY is? > > Also for people in Houston, we have a flight now from Houston to Dubai > non-stop by Emirates, and with convenient connections to a number of > locations in India. Its great if you want to get some shopping at Dubai > and > then on to the Desh! :). > > Non stops for 14 -15 hours are not fun. > > --Ram da > > > On 2/26/08, Krishnendu Chakraborty wrote: > > > > We just returned from our trip to India. > > > > This time, we preferred to book in Continental > > Airlines since it provides a non stop flight from > > Newark to Mumbai and we thought we would save some > > time. > > > > Little did we know that it is worse then Indian > > Railways ! > > > > Our flight plan was Boston to Newark at 4:30 PM and > > Newark to Mumbai at 8:40 PM. On reaching airport, > > we were informed that since flights are running > > slightly (!!) behind the schedule due to weather > > conditions, we have been put to 3:30 flight just to > > ensure that we do not miss our connection. > > > > The 3:30 flight got rescheduled to 5:30 and again to > > 6:40. > > > > When I inquired about status of Newark -- Mumbai > > flight, I was informed it was on time and CO Agent > > advised us to take an earlier flight to Newark > > (Originally scheduled at 2 PM, rescheduled to 4:55 > > PM). > > > > The flight was taxing for about an hour and took off > > at 6 PM. At around 7 PM, we were informed that there > > is bad weather and the flight did not have enough > > fuel to wait. No ALS, CAT-3 helped. So they took us > > back to Boston. We were imprisoned in the flight for > > about 45 minutes and then allowed to deplane. > > > > The staff in Boston airport is the rudest I have ever > > seen. They mentioned that the options available to > > us are to cancel our trip or travel to Newark in next > > flight and wait in airport for next available > > international flight. They categorically mentioned > > that CO will not provide any accomodation. > > > > Well, we took the risk to travel to Newark and reached > > at 11:30 PM. CO did not provide food or even water > > during this trip. We were out of food from 5 PM > > onwards !! > > > > All international flights have left. After some > > cajoling, we were provided hotel accomodation > > vouchers in ... guess what .... HOJO !! However, > > CO was again negligent but this time, it was good for > > us. On reaching HOJO, we were informed that they > > are fully booked and pushed us to another hotel > > (Wyndham) ... a decent one. > > > > Next day, they put us in a flight to Paris and then a > > connecting AF flight to Mumbai. Eventually we reached > > Mumbai 27 hours after the scheduled arrival time (did > > I say it is worse then Indian Railways) . > > > > Irony is, Mumbai - Newark flight which we missed > > earlier day was delayed by over 2 hours and had we > > travelled by our original flight (3:30 PM rescheduled > > to 6:40 PM) we could have made it. In fact, our > > luggage travelled to Mumbai one day before us > > > > Apparently, the CO staff at Boston had no information > > that the Newark- Mumbai flight has been delayed. > > > > Also, the CO flight was the Only flight which could > > not land on Newark on that day. > > > > Well the story does not end here. > > > > During the return trip, in Mumbai airport, I was > > told that our booking has been cancelled .... reason > > .. we did not travel per our original booking during > > onward journey. > > > > It took me over 30 minutes to explain them that my > > travel plan was changed because of CO's fault. > > Finally, they made some arrangement even though we > > did not get our preferred seating. > > > > The non-stop flight (16 hours) is not bad except that > > the quantity of food is not sufficient. > > > > Have sent a complaint to Continental and waiting for > > their response. > > > > I have seen people bashing Air India in various > > forums, but compared to Continental, Air India ground > > staff are angel. > > > > Up until now, I have mostly travelled AI and > > occassionaly BA. This was my first attempt with CO > > and I think I will stick to AI or Jet (or Kingfisher > > if they start US operation) > > > > Will share my Mumbai / Guwahati experience in another > > posting. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ > > Looking for last minute shopping deals? > > Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. > > http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping > > > > _______________________________________________ > > assam mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > > > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > > > > Umesh Sharma > > Washington D.C. > > 1-202-215-4328 [Cell] > > Ed.M. - International Education Policy > Harvard Graduate School of Education, > Harvard University, > Class of 2005 > > http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/index.html (Edu info) > > http://hbswk.hbs.edu/ (Management Info) > > > > > www.gse.harvard.edu/iep (where the above 2 are used ) > http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/ > > > > http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/ > > --------------------------------- > Rise to the challenge for Sport Relief with Yahoo! for Good > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
