Air India

Travelled from Paris to Delhi on 3rd June 2022. Our flight got cancelled after waiting at runway for 5 hours and they left us in airport for 24 hours without food, water and accommodation. No boarding pass, further communication and follow up with us…we some how managed to reach the gate on next day and reached Delhi. Our bags yet to come…it is been more than a month. I tried to reach their customer support by phone and email and they never respond. Some times they pick up phone (very rarely) and then say will get back to you…that’s it.

When I entered the Air India plane, there was a slight sensation of stale air. Apparently they had not used a air freshener before boarding the passengers.. During the 15-hour flight from Vancouver to New Delhi, none of the tv screens in the plane was working. An apology for this failure was announced over the speakers. All the passengers had to endure the sheer boredom throughout the 15 hours. AC too may not have been working because the air was humid and stuffy. None of the cabin crew came around offering water or other services at any time. So mothers with infants had to go to the galley and fetch the water themselves. Throughout the flight people were walking up and down the aisle to fetch water to drink. For lunch they also put the snack meant for tea, so crew can be spared the effort of serving again. It was so deplorable I cancelled my return trip by Air India and booked on Lufthansa instead, even though I lost a substantial amount of money by doing so. Never again Air India in my life and anyone else I can persuade not to travel on this pathetic airline.

All travellers be warned. Air India is a beggar airline. They will take your money and you will never see it again, even if you do your due diligence and cancel within 24 hours, even if you call them every other day for 2 month, wait on hold for hours, write 20 emails and create 5 escalated cases with their sub standard, rude and good for nothing customer support agents.

All of the above happened to me. I booked a business class ticket and tried to cancel online but the system was down so I called to cancel within 24 hours. But the customer support agent casually said, and I quote “please call back later. The system is undergoing maintenance and I cannot cancel at this time”.

I called, emailed, left feedback on resolver.com and airindia.com and google and everywhereveral times after that and I got the same response: I’d have to pay the $200 cancellation charge because the 24 hours has passed. I did end up cancelling and paying the fee. They promised to refund the fee but never did.

Not only they don’t refund you but they LIE to your face. They also don’t even read or reply to your email.

Even before the covid situation, they are cheap and you know why. Dirty and old planes and if you get a flight on time, well, that would be a first!

Oh, I almost forgot: Don’t expect social distancing to be a thing on board.

Enjoy.

Great flights. Good seat comfort and great service on board