Air India unveils its new livery

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• captaindave says:

  12 Aug12 August 12:06

  another ” no win” here

• Henry Young says:

  12 Aug12 August 12:49

  I flew Air India economy (LHR-DEL) recently. Reviews had dialed my expectations way down. I wasn’t even expecting a working screen and Air India met my expectation there. However as a vegetarian with a passion for Indian food, I can confidently state that this was the best economy catering I have ever experienced in the air. Having a vegetarian option available by default with a majority of passengers so opting was a revelation when you consider the veiled discrimination that non eaters of fellow sentient mammals often endure. Another current plus is that much of their legacy fleet is so old that you get a couple of extra inches of legroom over other mainstream airlines. As a side note you can do the same route on Virgin for 20,000 points redemption. That would have been my first choice but would have required a visa which takes 4 days to process. No matter – AI flights are exceptionally well priced 🙂

  • Harry T says:

    12 Aug12 August 13:14

    There’s vegetarian and vegan food everywhere these days, I’m not quite sure why you are projecting a persecuted vibe!

    • Dubious says:

      12 Aug12 August 13:33

      Not sure I agree when considering the destinations Air India operate to, outside of India.

      Plus quite a few places now replace vegetarian options with vegan only…

    • Henry Young says:

      12 Aug12 August 16:11

      How many tomato pasta dishes do I have to endure ? The point is vegetarian food still far from a 50-50 norm everywhere except Air India (and northern India generally) 🙂

      • Harry T says:

        12 Aug12 August 16:35

        I think decent carriers will cater appropriately for vegetarian and vegan passengers. It’s kind of how qatar has a nice selection of soft drinks for people who don’t want to drink alcohol, and BA has a terrible and limited array of options. Not sure catering needs to be 50/50 though – I don’t think vegetarians and vegans are that common?

  • Dubious says:

    12 Aug12 August 14:17

    I flew Air India sometime before COVID-19.
    I recall the IFE touchscreen screen didn’t work at first. I wiped it with a wet wipe – it still didn’t work. I got out some hand gel, spurted some into the wet wipe and gave the screen a good hard scrub.
    It started working again! And the wet wipe was absolute filthy by the end!

  • Peter K says:

    12 Aug12 August 14:53

    So if you like “Indian food” there is a decent vegi option? Is that bias against those who don’t have such a palate?

    Surely it’s just they put the most effort into catering to their main target audience like everywhere else does?

    • Harry T says:

      12 Aug12 August 16:09

      Spot on, Peter!

    • Jay says:

      13 Aug13 August 12:22

      You’re probably not a veggie or vegan but looking from his perspective, Indian vegetarian food is far superior to anything in the west, so while you make a good point it still doesn’t weaken his argument.

• Doommonger says:

  12 Aug12 August 13:07

  Air India is cheap because its crap. For a fair and accurate view of Air India take a look at Noel Philips you tube channel and his trip from Delhi to LHR. It will take more than a new Plane and livery to get me to fly on these jokers.

  • Dubious says:

    12 Aug12 August 14:18

    I flew Air India sometime before COVID-19.
    I recall the IFE touchscreen screen didn’t work at first. I wiped it with a wet wipe – it still didn’t work. I got out some hand gel, spurted some into the wet wipe and gave the screen a good hard scrub.
    It started working again! And the wet wipe was absolute filthy by the end!

  • Rhys says:

    12 Aug12 August 15:12

    Well luckily for you they’re getting more than a new plane, they’ve also got new management 😉

  • Henry Young says:

    12 Aug12 August 16:13

    Maybe I’m weird, but I enjoy searching out the least practical/comfortable/convenient (aka cheapest) routings 😉

  • anuj says:

    12 Aug12 August 21:17

    Except Air India isn’t cheap, especially from Birmingham it can be over £1.4k for direct return flights because no one else does direct flights except from Heathrow and although Heathrow is cheaper, Air India often charges more than BA and Virgin there too.

  • Jay says:

    13 Aug13 August 12:24

    Air india is rarely cheap or was rarely cheap. I’ve started to see them match virgin/BA recently but so far all the times I had to travel to India it’s been with euro or ME carriers as it comes out a few hundred quid cheaper although you’re not flying direct.

• Alan says:

  12 Aug12 August 13:16

  No win plus had to login twice and get texted a code twice 🙄

  • AJA says:

    12 Aug12 August 13:46

    I had to log in a second time as the app diverted me to the Nectar mobile website but it then told me my password was incorrect and forced me to create a new one with a combination of letters numbers capitals and special characters. I did all that and then after spinning was told I didn’t win. I suppose forcing me to change my password is useful. The app still appears to work.

• Dubious says:

  12 Aug12 August 13:35

  The Air India livery has a hint of Iberia about with, with a touch of Aegean.

  (Granted thete isn’t a great deal to play with).

• Save East Coast Rewards says:

  12 Aug12 August 17:55

  300 for me

• Cinimo says:

  12 Aug12 August 19:37

  Had to click on the link in the app, log in, be directed back to the nectar homepage. Go to the nectar website in a different tab in chrome, log in again (I’ve used this trick before). Then go back to the nectar app and click the link again and it works! Won 5000 points so all worth it, thanks for pointing out out Rob.

• Sundar says:

  12 Aug12 August 21:29

  Travelled LHR-DEL now in Virgin economy. Plane, Food options were quite good for a vegetarian.
  Flight also priced cheaper on cash than Air India/Vistara or BA.
  Maybe next time I will try upgrading using points to see the Premium Economy/Upper experience.
  Although the connecting experience isn’t that great – Connecting to Indigo later on but in a different terminal and have to collect luggage and drop in again !
  That would have been much better and efficient in Air India for a connecting flight.

  • Jay says:

    13 Aug13 August 12:25

    I would personally recommend booking a points redemption directly as its cheap enough. Cash plus upgrade with virgin is about the same points as an award booking

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