Many of the ever burgeoning middle-class segment qualify to be frequent flyers these days as most times I’ve flown, the flights seem to be full, barring a few middle seats that aren’t as fetching as the ‘window’ or ‘aisle’ ones. Never mind that apart from the stiff air-fares, one must pay an extra (ranging from 150 t0 350 or so) for any seat. Most airlines democratically declare a few seats free, maybe to keep the total back-benchers pacified !
Not being self-indulgent or prone to frequently wandering away to faraway locations for business meetings or on exotic holiday destinations, somehow in the last few months we’ve done a fair bit of domestic air travel and generally preferred ‘Indigo’ because of its reliability and rightly ‘landing on the pitch’, if one were to borrow some cricket jargon. That said, the adhering to time lines don’t always extend to off loading of the luggage and final arrival of the bags. At times, one spends more time at this than the flight itself !
Airlines invariably thank the passengers for flying with them and seek their feedback on the flight towards the end or by sending an SMS later. So this time, let me give one soon. On my last flight a few days back, I experienced something new in the itinerary of Cabin Crew which was a tad unfair and hard on us, on a longish early morning flight ! In their own edgy way the Airlines was promoting ‘carry your own tea and tiffin if you like’ !
It all began with my asking for ‘Tea’ – the smiling hostess shocked me by informing that it would cost Rs.200 but encouraged saying ‘complimentary’ nuts and cookies came with it. I was suitably impressed with this generosity and agreed to have some 5-star type morning ‘Chai’, which I was yearning for. As the hostess didn’t return, I repeated my request but was told that since the ‘Seat Belt’ sign was on, it would have to wait.
So I waited till two hostesses returned pushing their trolley-full of costly goodies. Apparently the rookie air-hostess had old data with her . ‘Sir’ the senior hostess informed ‘You can get beverages only if you order some food item with it’ & new rules had been recently imposed. Stumped by another sudden change in policy ! We’ve always felt that at least the humble ‘chai’ was within reach !
Note that when booking your tickets, there are items known as ‘Add-Ons’ like ordering your meal beforehand & other services such as taxi etc. This will only ‘Add-On’ to your total fare along with taxes and the other service charges that the service providers will levy before you can blink on the key. But airborne, don’t worry about sundry expenses. Just ‘Sit back, Relax & Enjoy the flight’ !
All reactions:
6Neelabh Sarkar, Subramani Natraj and 4 others
Working on Living 