Welcome to a quick flight report of a domestic segment on Vistara. The flight was from BOM to IXC.
Chandigarh was my starting point for a 8 day long road trip in the Himalayas(Spiti & Manali-Leh + Kashmir). To save some time on the road, I opted to start my journey from IXC which was closest major airport to Shimla(where we spent our first night after climbing up the mountains)
There was a fairly long line for check-in. Since I had hand luggage only, I was able to use the kiosk and head down to domestic security.
BOM is now one of my favorite airports. Past security, I had a look at the shops and headed to the Amex Lounge.
With a US issued platinum card, I was able to use the section on the right which had a la carte service. I ordered a fresh lime soda, a kabab sampler and a tandoori chicken burger. Food was quite good.
After my meal, I took a quick look at the Loyalty Lounge which accepts an array of cards for entry and it was packed. I was out in 2 minutes.
Boarding was very calm and organized. I saw 2 Jet Airways aircraft sitting at BOM. Not sure if these are for 9W 2.0 or have been languishing since 9W went under.
The seating was standard A320, in 3-3 format. I was in the middle of the plane. I had the middle seat empty. Once airborne we were served a snack - veg(alu tikki with chickpeas) or a chicken wrap, followed by a tea/coffee run.
Once the trays were cleared, the crew handed us a sampler of body mist.
We landed on time, My friends who had started the road trip from Delhi were going to pick me from Chandiagrh airport. They were running an hour late. It was 42 degree Celsius in Chandigarh, so I opted to stay put in the arrival hall. IXC is a Defense airport and one side of airfield is full of Indian Air Force planes. I was able to spot some of their cargo carriers. Photography is not permitted at all defense airports in India
Nice to see a review on Vistara as there aren't many out there. Looks like an overall good experience. I'm curious about your IFE rating of 0...was the wireless streaming entertainment not working on this flight? It should be available on all A320s as far as I understand, but maybe it was inoperable?
The food looks really good. It's always funny how that's considered a snack in India/Asia, whereas here in the US or Europe we get a biscuit or crackers for a snack. Hot or even any fresh food for free on a 2h flight in Economy is very rare.
PS I added IXC to the database for you
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, maybe I should change the rating for IFE as I didn't use the wireless streaming option. There were no seatback TV's and the flight was short enough that I didn't need entertainment
Yes, it's a bit rough to see 0 for a carrier that has IFE available, even if you didn't use that amenity. A 0 would be only appropriate if there's no IFE at all, not even an in flight magazine. I would rate at least a 5...probably higher since it's free and has good content from what I've seen.
Thanks for the report. Overall, a great product. Domestic BOM looks very nice.
Regards