Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Fly away!

As a kid(like most, I guess!), I had a huge fascination for aeroplanes. Every time I heard one going over my head I used to look at it with awe wondering when I was going to experience flight. That chocolates/candies were offered(only in Indian airliners??) during flight was all the more enticing!!!

When my father got qualified to take family on plane for vacation, we excitedly planned a trip to Delhi from Bombay. With me and my brother fighting about who was going to get the window seat even before arriving at the Airport, my parents were relieved to find all our seats at the middle row!!! It was such a short flight that even before we could meddle with anything, our destination had arrived!

Probably because of the short first flight, I still had the fascination for flight journeys till my first trip abroad, little knowing how I would come to hate it! "ALavukku meerinaal...."!!! Like in those maayajaala kadhai(s), one has to endure the 7 malai thaandi, 6 nadhi thaandi kind-of torture to reach the destination!

The last couple of times I have been flying Lufthansa and it's been terrible. At Frankfurt, after 4+ hours of waiting(to my utter dismay, the flight always gets there earlier than expected making our wait time at the Airport longer!!!), with an already jet-lagged, starved kid wailing in the stroller, the Lufthansa personnel gets us to stand in a queue with the whole waiting area cleared. As most people who travel to Chennai in Lufthansa would know how many people generally are at the waiting area and how most are senior citizens and passengers with kids. Has anybody else experienced this situation in any other Airliner? Both times when I expressed displeasure at their treatment of passengers, all I got in return was a special "Passengers with kids first" entry into the Air craft. This time the lady at the counter went even so far as to tell me that that is Lufthansa policy and if I wanted I could complain!!

All said and done, I would again be flying out to India in the future, probably in the same Air liner cursing the long journey, the policy!

11 comments:

Jinguchakka said...

After all these complaints why you say that you'd be flying Lufthansa still? I fly Lufthansa and agree with you regarding Franfurt.
If you are in West Coast, you can try Eva Air. That's cheaper, I heard. If you are in East Coast, try Austrian Airlines (I don't their exact name)

Jinguchakka said...

oops, sorry I didn't notice that you are in Georgia!
:-))

Munimma said...

I am doing Luft again. The last time we took it, on our return flight my little one had turned 2, but since at the start of the trip, she was less than 2, we got her the infant ticket. For the Frankfurt-Atl leg, they wouldn't let us board unless we bought a full ticket for her. This, inspite of confirming with the folks a few times before we flew from chennai. My hubby threw a very controlled fit (:-D) and finally they talked to their superiors and worked it out.But they were very rude about it.
But then, we chose it this time too. My hubby tried Delta last year and liked it. It is indeed a nightmare travelling back and forth, and now that they have made it even worse, I can't say I look forward to the trip.

kuttichuvaru said...

u scare me.... i am plannin for a trip soon :-) but I am single.... so, lets see ;-)

mitr_bayarea said...

hmm...doesn't sound positive for sure. When I was a grad student in the east coast, I used to fly both Lufthansa and British Airways from BOS and have always liked it.

I hated it when I flew Singapore Airlines to SFO from India when I re-located after my wedding. Am yet to make an India trip, planning one next year and there is a constant arguement between me and my hubby as to whether we should fly SA or LUF.

Me too said...

JC, that is b'cos there aren't many choices if you are particular about "strictly not more than one hop"! Now which is that Austrian Airlines *pulling hair* ??

Munimma, "But they were very rude about it." - Guess, they are famous for it! They also found my hand luggage not as per their size specifications(when it was allowed in the first leg!)and made me check-in!!

KC, ensoy! no probs for you guys!

Mitr, I thought atleast the food would be better in SA!! Hope you'll choose the one with the shortest travel time.

Anonymous said...

Ditch luft, fly delta, get skymiles to grab the free ticket to Hawaii :)

Among delta's partners, KLM, Nothwest and Alitalia are quite lousy. Dont think SA is possible from eastern states

Raju said...

My travel this time was through the direct Continental flight from Newark to Delhi. 14 hrs. of non-stop sleep and then u r in India. It was very convenient. I was relieved of the transit time in Europe. Another thing is that over 90% passengers are Indians, so if you want to chit-chat, u can always find someone. Downside: the air-hostesses were not the typical courteous type, probably bcos they were fed up with us, and the flight becomes sooo dirty on the floor when it reaches the destination.

Me too said...

ttm, I underestimated the desi vacation crowd! Being new to the area, by the time I found out about the various agents, all Delta tickets were sold out!! :(

Raju, 14 hrs non-stop-a??? aaahhh!! Now I don't know which is better!! :)

Raju said...

Though 14 hrs might sound long, but it was pretty cool.. I can guarantee that it is better than the 'other'.. Most people keep sleeping all the time, so u r in India after a 'long nap'. Isnt it cool?

Me too said...

Raju, adhellaam thookam (engeirundhaalum) varavangalukku! After 5 hrs, I start my countdown(3 hrs to go, 2 hrs and 40 mins to go...)!!