My experience with JetStar Pacific Airline in Vietnam

Recently I flew for the first time in Jet Star Pacific airlines in Vietnam. I flew between Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi n back. This post is my review of the experience.

Intro: Jet Star Pacific seems to be a partnership between jet Star and Vietnam Airlines. But the airline gets part of its name from Jet Star, subsidiary of Australia's Qantas which holds a stake in Jetstar pacific.

Booking: Jet star was offering the cheapest flight between Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, only INR 4500 approx for the return ticket. This was the main reason I booked on them. They work on a low cost model which means everything costs extra- seat selection, bags, food... I am used to that model so no concerns there. Same flight when checked on MakeMyTrip was showing about 1.5 k higher, so book direct on airline website.

On time: Yes, but when I had booked, my flight was for 2.30 PM, but they moved it to 7.10 PM. In a way it was good, because I got some more time and could go to Cu Chi tunnels. Else I wouldn’t have been able to return to airport in time for 2.30 PM flight. Boarding was complete before 7.10 but when it took off it was close to 7.30. The return fight was also moved by 45 minutes- this sort of spoiled my day's plan at Ho Chi minh- all one day tours had left before I could reach the city.

Seats on one of the flights was thicker than normal. Seats on return flight was normal. Leg room was decent.

Food: Nothing vegetarian, nothing written in English. Notice that all drinks- water or juice or coke cost 20000 VND (almost 1 USD). I ordered a coffee, strangely they served it with a straw and didn't have sugar packets when I asked for one.

 

One of the thing they can improve is deploy 3 buses instead of 2. For entire plane load of passengers only 2 buses were used, increasing waiting time, making it too crowded inside the bus. Providing one more bus would make it lot convenient. Also there's no point buying the extra cost first row seat- you may be the first to leave the plane but you will be last to reach the terminal, as the bus would wait till every passenger from plane boards it.

Also noted that cabin crew nameplate has a number- Like Ann 2. Probably because too many people have similar names in Vietnam.

Should you fly Jet Star? Absolutely. Don’t have any serious enough concerns to say don’t fly. But I had only 1 flight- you might want to check more reviews online.

The curious case of Air India ATR 72-600

I flew Air India this weekend after a long time- Chennai to Coimbatore and back. It was an ATR 72-600, I guess my first time in this aircraft in recent times. Last time I flew in one was JetAirways Coimbatore to BLR in 2015

During the onward journey, I had selected seat 2A, the first row with extra legroom  (unlike spicejet, Air India doesn’t sell emergency seats for extra money). As I reached my seat, I noticed that there’re 2 seats facing the opposite direction- 1 C and 1 D. These were bigger and better cushioned seats but do not recline. There were only 2 of them, not 4 as left side space is used for cargo I guess. One of the passenger was allowed to sit in this seat, but soon after take off, he went back to his original seat. Flying backward would have been a different experience, not necessarily a comfortable one. I sat on it for a while- would have been great choice if were to face forward and have some recline. Not very sure what was Air India’s idea to position these ulta- may be to save some legroom- both 1C and 2C passngers share the legroom as they sit facing each other. Also it will be an awkward position to sit- you’ve to keep looking at every passenger’s face and everyone gets to keep looking at you!

On my return journey I was trying to select this special seat, but this time it was a different configuration. No special seats facing backwards.

Also unlike Spiecejet’s Bombardier, ATR 72-600 has its cargo hold in the front- between passengers and cockpit. What this means is passengers have to enter and exit through back door only. Those sitting in front will be the last to exit.

Also this flight is operated by Alliance Air-something new to me- learnt that it is a fully owned subsidiary of Air India.

Now that I am at it, few other points- food- stale set of 2 sandwiches, which gets described as “meals” if you’re booking ticket on MakeMytrip or such sites.  Anyway, something is better  than nothing. Also AirIndia has decided not to bother serving non-veg to economy passengers, so there’s no need to specify veg or non-veg now.

On time- Yes, both my flights were on time. Rest of the services were good too, nothing to complain. Read my previous Air India experience here.

Ever flown in this VIP seat? How was your experience? Do share.

Trujet flies Hyderabad-Chennai-Mysuru- Rs 2300 one way

Update: TruJet Chennai Mysuru fares have now increased to Rs 2080 + convenience fee.

Original post follows

Lesser known airline Tru Jet has announced flights to Mysuru from Hyderabad via Chennai.  Chennai to Mysuru now costs Rs 999 + 200 Rs convenience fee one way, only marginally expensive than KSRTC Volvo. However Hyderabad-Mysuru via Chennai will cost you Rs 4000 one way. Departure at 3.30 PM from Hyd to Chennai. Flight leaves from Chennai at 5.25 PM and arrives in Mysuru at 6.40 PM, non-stop (no stop in Bengaluru). 

Mysuru airport was operations ready long back but didn’t have enough patronage. Kingfisher, Spicejet had flights to Mysuru, mostly during Dasara/peak tourist season and later pulled out citing low patronage. I had attended Kingfisher Mysuru airportactivation long back. Most airlines earlier did a mistake of connecting BLR and Mysuru by air. It was a big mistake. It would take 3-4 hours to reach Mysuru by road from BLR, whereas flight would take much longer- 2-3 hours to reach Bengaluru airport from South BLR, then 2 hours for airport formalities and some 45 mins of flying- total 5-6 hours door to door- not very exciting proposition. Trujet has taken smart decision flying Chennai-Mysuru non stop without stopping in BLR. Chennai airport is cheaper to operate and has equally good connectivity to rest of India as BLR, so guests can connect to rest of India or world with ease while flying to and from Mysuru. Mysuru airport is on Nanjanagud road some 12 kms from city. Being able to fly out to Chennai and then connect to rest of the world will be good option than going to BIAL by road.

Places of interest in Mysuru includes Mysuru palace, Chamundi hills, Mysuru Zoo, KRS, St Philomina church, KaranjiLake, Kukkarehalli Lake, Shuka Vana, Rangana Thittu, GRS Fantasy Park, Srirangapattana and so on.

Mysuru will also serve as a gateway to those heading to Wayanad in Kerala, Kabini, Coorg and other nearby places in Karnataka. All the best to Tru Jet for this new affordable flight. Besides tourists, employees of Infosys, guests of Evolve Back and other luxury resorts in the region can give good business to Trujet, to keep the service profitable round the year. All the best to them.

Check https://www.trujet.com/ for details n booking.

Similar: Trin Trin cycle rental in Mysuru * Mysuru Dasara kite flying competition 2014 * Mysuru Palace illuminated *

AirAsia Big Sale is ON- 10 things you should know

AirAsia Big sale is currently going on. This post gives you all the key information you should know to make the most of this sale. 

Sale Period: 11 to 17 September 2018

Travel Period: 01 March 2018 to 21 March 2018

Tips:

Step 1: Shortlist 5-6 destination you are keen to visit. 

From the airasia network, from your city, check where all they fly and identify 5-6 destinations you are keen to visit. Stay focused around these for this sale. (else you won’t be able to research well). 

For each destination you’ve shortlisted, research below things

1. Minimum duration needed to explore (no point going all the way to Australia or Japan for 2-3 days. You need a week/10 days minimum. 
2. Check how expensive the destination is and ensure you’re comfortable with that. 
3. Check if flight timing is convenient (too much transit time could be waste of time)
4. How far is the airport, are there public transportation etc. Sometimes you will lose time in transit, or end up spending huge sum for taxi as airport is far from city and bus/trains are not available late night/early morning when you land.
5. Visa requirements and cost for the destination country.

If some destinations are not suitable due to connection time/overall trip cost etc drop it, select some other place.

Step 2: Know the benchmark Prices. 

For the destination you’ve in mind, know what is the normal fare, what are the previously seen cheapest fares during earlier sales, so that you can know how cheap is the sale fare. If sale fare is 50-60% cheaper then it is great deal. No point booking if the savings is hardly 20-30%, as you’re booking years in advance with no refund option. Without proper reference you won’t know if you’re getting great deal or not. You can check this post for my listing of benchmark prices.

Step 3: Prepare your big account- add passenger details, passport details etc. Saves time during booking

Step 4: Play around till you land lowest fare. Try in incognito/private browsing mode. Check different date combinations, see which is cheapest. Usually Wednesday/Tuesday is cheapest day of the week. Try for only 1 passenger (if you search with 2 or more next price slab may kick in). Try from nearby cities (Chennai n Kochi are cheaper than BLR). If you don't get a deal cheap enough, try next destination. You can always retry in next sale.

Step 5: Don’t book add on services like bag, meals, insurance, car etc upfront. 

Uncheck if these are auto selected. These add -on services can be bought closer to travel date if really needed. These are non refundable so you won’t get anything back if you can’t travel or ticket had to be cancelled

Step 6: Assess the risk of not being able to travel. 

If you can't travel as per plan, are you willing to lose all the money? You may not get leave or visa or some emergencies may prop up. May be weather or some other circumstance may prevent you from traveling, as you've booked years in advance and there're so many things that can go wrong from now n travel date. You should be emotionally ready to lose all the money if you can't travel (you will only get tax component back- like around 10% only). May be you may have to travel alone if friends/family can't join. If you can't take this risk, you may regret booking in a sale later.

Step 7: Don’t book for your friends-

Let them book themselves. Else they won’t be committed to the plan. Tickets once booked can’t be cancelled or rescheduled (without losing money). So it is better if each person book their own ticket. Saves lots of trouble later.

Step 8: Pay via net banking. 

Net banking is cheaper than credit card payment. Keep enough cash in bank account.

Step 9: Do not rush to book hotels, site seeing etc

These things can be planned closer to travel date. You won't save much by booking hotel n siteseeing years in advance. Closer to travel date rooms may be cheaper if hotels realize lots of rooms are being unsold.

Step 10: Happy Journey!

Now that you've bagged a cheap ticket, feel free to share this post, tell your friends and start planning your dream trip. Happy journey.