India - Temples, Thalis, and Tuk Tuks (Part 1)

TRIP REPORT

Flight Details:



American Airlines Flight 292
Departing: Chicago O'Hare International airport at 7:30 PM
Arriving: Delhi Indira Gandhi International airport at 8:30 PM
Business Class
Seats: 9H & 9J (moved to 9E & 9G prior to take off due to a broken seat)




Background:

India. It's a country that has held my travel fascination since I was a little boy, and despite my enormous desire and curiosity in regards to the world as a whole, it's essentially been my travel "holy grail". I remember telling my Dad once that someday I was going to go to the Taj Mahal. His response? "I dunno, its pretty crazy and dirty over there. You won't like it. Try somewhere else."

Regardless of the lackluster support, India never left my mind. Once my travel odyssey began in 2009, I knew it wouldn't be too long before I was on the subcontinent. Then this spring some motivation and conviction sprang in my head. I knew I just HAD to go to India this year. With a little airfare shopping and some solid persuasion on my part, in no less then 3 weeks I had a travel companion and airline tickets booked. September 3, 2010: my date with destiny.

Check In:

Despite being on the brink of excitement induced madness, I managed to work a full day at home before catching a cab to Chicago's O'Hare International airport. Being late Thursday afternoon, American Airline's Terminal 3 was pretty packed to the brim with business travelers and vacationers alike. While I typically just check in at a kiosk, the chaotic mess unfolding before us convinced me it might be an better idea to head down to the other end of the terminal and use the First Class/Business Class/Executive Platinum desk. Hauling our bags through the heaving sea of people, we arrived at the premium check in counter in about 5 minutes, slightly sweaty but intact.

Check in was neither friendly nor efficient, but the job got done. While walking into the line an American employee darted out of nowhere to immediately ask us if we were flying in a premium cabin with them today. I found this a little odd considering a few others had entered the line with no questioning. I guess two 20-something guys with hiking backpacks looked like they might be lost? The check in agent got us our tickets and handed back our passports in about 10 minutes, and we headed off to the security lines. For some reason the priority pass line was being directed to the new full body scanner. I'm mildly annoyed at this point because this set up seemed highly counter productive. You have a priority access line to facilitate a quick and smooth transition through airport security yet you force those high priority passengers to wait around for the slowest security check currently offered by the TSA? That's cute.

After 15 minutes I got slightly agitated and suggested we sneak over to the nearby metal detector line. We hopped over without incident and were through in 5 minutes. A quick glance up at the departures monitor informed us that we'd be leaving from the very distance L gates in Terminal 3, which was almost as far as one could get from American's Flagship Lounge. Oh well, can't win them all. With the busy Thursday night flights and the inane security circus, we only had an hour to burn at this point. We hauled it toward the lounge.

Lounge:

Despite being an Executive Platinum for almost a year and having a few international flights, this was the first time I was able to access and utilize my home airport's Flagship Lounge. Prior to this flight I'd only been able to used the one in New York's JFK a few times.

First impression? Tiny. Tiny, tiny, tiny as hell. How is this supposed to be a step up from the spacious confines of the Admirals Club? Yikes. First impressions often change though, and that was the case here. Despite being about the size of my apartment's balcony, it did have some nice touches. Unlike the Admirals Club, the food spread was pretty decent. While there wasn't fillets of steak stacked from floor to ceiling, the shrimp cocktail, chicken kebabs, Indian samosas and egg rolls were tasty. The mini bar, stocked with a wide variety of bottled waters, sodas, and beers left my thirst quenched. Sadly I'm a non-drinker, which mean the spread of liquor laid out in one corner did not appeal to me. My traveling companion did enjoy quite a few cranberry vodkas though.

All joking aside, I did enjoy Chicago's Flagship Lounge more then its Admirals Club. The only downside was that I felt very confined and crowded. Hot food and free cold drinks go a long way, but the appeal of these things loses a bit of luster when the Japanese business man sitting in your lap due to limited seating snags a bite of your mini pizza without asking. Maybe that's just me? In the future I'll still be there, angling for a place to sit and playing "Guess My Deodorant" with my other oneworld elites.

Flight:

Soon enough our time in the Flagship Lounge was over and we headed all the way out to American's boondocks. Gate L8, our departure lane for the trip of a lifetime. I was hoping the gate's labeling wasn't an omen regarding the status of our flight, and as it turned out things were looking pretty good. By the time we made it from the lounge to the gate they had already called boarding for first class, business class, and AA/oneworld elites. We hustled up to the gate agent, handed over our tickets, and happily headed down the jet bridge on our way to India.

Business class on American is always an enjoyable experience. I've read and heard a lot of people give some critical opinions on the hard and soft product, but at the end of the day for the average flyer, it ends up being pretty comfortable and nice.

Having never traveled in business class before (similar to my brother and sister in my last post about our trip to Japan in July), my traveling companion immediately set to work testing out his "fancy" digs. For the next few minutes, seat 9H was nothing but a whirl of motions, contracting and extending from an upright airline seat to an almost flat bed and everything in between. I smiled on the inside and enjoyed the pre-departure beverage being served: a choice of sparkling wine, water or orange juice. Again, being a non-drinker, the orange juice went down just fine. I suppose it was a stroke of good fortune when my friend inquired as to whether or not I was going to give my seat a bit of a test ride. More for his amusement then from any need of my own, I poked around with the seat controls.

Sadly, my seat was completely and totally broken. Each time I pressed a button, the seat groaned and moaned as if I were a contestant on the Biggest Loser. You could hear the gears sputtering and attempting to move with absolutely no success. We flagged down the flight attendant working our aisle and she apologized for the issue and called for a mechanic to help out. When he arrived we scooted out of the seats and let him test the controls out. It worked perfectly. How embarrassing. We both knew it hadn't been working just a few moments ago, but right before our eyes the seat was moving with the stealth of a Romanian gymnast. The mechanic grunted a bit and walked off. Taking a seat I tested out my newly working seat only to discover..... the same grunting and groaning.

I quickly put together that the problem seemed to only happen when someone was seated in the chair. The mechanic had tested the seat while standing. Again, we flagged down the flight attendant who called the mechanic back. This time we asked that he sit in the seat while trying to move the chair and this was enough to garner a grunt of disapproval. He tinkered around for a few minutes before throwing his hands in the air and declaring the problem too difficult to fix in the period of time he had. A little creative seat swapping resulted in the two of us moving to the middle section of business class sharing a row of three seats with a rather grumpy Indian business man who appeared rather displeased that the empty seat next to him was now occupied by my 6'2" friend.

Take off was smooth and timely, despite the minor hold up my seat created. Soon enough the flight attendants were heading down the aisle passing out Bose noise-canceling headsets, beverages of our choice, and the signature warmed nuts in little white ramekins. While this all happened, another flight attendant headed down the aisle asking us what we'd like to have for dinner. The menu for the flight was:

Dinner

To Start

Warm Mixed Nuts

Appetizer

Mint chutney shrimp with curried chickpeas and potato salad

Salad

Fresh seasonal greens and an assortment of fresh vegetables offered with classic Caesar dressing or Sapori d"Arte olive oil and vinegar.

Bread Basket

Assorted gourmet breads

Main Course

Mughali Jhinga

Shrimp marinated in a clove almond sauce served with green chutney rice and paneer makhanwala (cubes of Indian cottage cheese immersed in a rich fenugreek tomato sauce)

Paneer Makhanwala

Cubes of Indian cottage cheese immersed in a rich fenugreek tomato sauce paired with lemon rice and channa saag (garbanzo beans in a spinach and cinnamon sauce)

Lamb Medallions with Cardamom Sauce

Lamb medallions enhanced by a cardamom sauce offered with roasted butternut squash, haricots verts and mushroom risotto

Ginger Soy Salmon

Fillet of salmon with a ginger soy glaze offered with haricots verts, carrots and jasmine rice

Dessert

Ice Cream

Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch with cocoa dusted almonds from Ben & Jerry's

Fruit and Cheese

Ancho chile caciotta and Sage Derby cheese accompanied by fresh grapes

Snack Attack

Uno's Pizza

An individual deep-dish spinach and garlic pizza served with a green salad and peppercorn dressing

Chicken Tikka

Chicken tikka served with mango cucumber salad and a lemon relish

Dessert

Citrus carrot cake

Breakfast

To Start

Fresh seasonal fruit

Breads

A selection of breakfast breads

Main Course

Cream Cheese and Chive Omelette

Cream cheese and chive omelette served with blue crab sauce, a potato boat with spinach and tomatoes

Vegetable Cutlet with Paneer Tikka

Seasoned potato patty with vegetables and Indian cheese sauteed with spices

For my dinner I decided to go with the Mughali Jhinga. The flight attendant returned after about 15 minutes to provide me with a tray of starters:

The appetizer was tasty but had a little too much garnish. I'd have preferred more edible vegetables or a few extra shrimp, but beggars can't be choosers. The salad was good, the creamy wasabi dressing has a bit of kick to it, helping to clear out any lingering or developing congestion one might have carried onto the plane. One of the unique things about American's Delhi service is that the choice of bread for dinner included a warmed naan, which I haven't seen on any of my other flights.

Having eaten my way through those three plates, I was presented with my main course:

This was singlehandedly the best airline meal I've had to date. Admittedly, my flying career has been very short, but I can't remember actually savoring a dish while in the air before. The shrimp was full of flavor; not over cooked, and the sauce was metered out in just the right portions. There's nothing I dislike more then seafood that's tough and slathered in sauce to disguise the fact. The rice was also cooked well, without any hard clumps distracting me from my dining experience. The paneer side dish was an excellent addition to the meal, adding a spicy, creamy kick to the meaty bites of shrimp.

For dessert I opted for the ice cream, because honestly, is there any other choice? I asked for a nice cup of coffee to go along with the cold scoop of milky goodness, and I sat there for a few minutes content that all my hunger had been sated. This was the first time I can honestly say that I really enjoyed an airline meal. Good job on this flight American!

While I typically attempt to stay awake for the majority of my flights, after the big meal and the dimmed cabin lights, I found myself drifting off in the middle of an episode of 30 Rock. If I'm sleepy enough that the antics of Liz Lemon can't keep my attention, I know its about time I huddled down and counted some sheep. I switched off the TV show, lowered my seat into the bed setting, and threw on my complimentary eye shade. I was out in about 5 minutes.

Despite being the longest flight in American's schedule, I somehow managed to sleep until I woke up and saw this:

So much for enjoying my lengthy business class experience! I'd slept right through the small meal in the middle of the flight. Breakfast was about to make its way down the aisle so I jostled my traveling partner awake and raised my chair. I quickly glanced at the map on my screen and noted that I was about to have my breakfast while flying over Kabul, Afghanistan. I suppose it's not often in my life I'll get to do that. My breakfast choice was the Indian option. I figured I'd better start my transition to Indian food as soon as I could.

The meal was presented to me quickly and promptly:

What a difference this meal was from the one I had right before falling asleep. The paneer cubes were dry. Not dry in a "this is ethnic food you might not be familiar with, so just go with it..." kinda way. It was the kind of dry that suggested it had been cooked, heated, and baked to the point of loosing any hint of moisture. It literally tasted like cubed cardboard. The first bite immediately was chased by a gulp of water. The second cube the same. The third cube never made it near my mouth. The potato side was good enough to keep my stomach from growling, but even that paled in comparison to the amazing food just a few hours before. Oh well, you can't win them all.

Arrival:

Despite being sent around the airport twice because of air traffic issues in Delhi, we were soon on the ground and making our way through Indira Gandhi International airport's brand new Terminal 3 arrivals section. Newly constructed for the 2010 Commonwealth Games being hosted in Delhi, the new terminal had a few pluses and minuses that you notice right off the bat.

Minus: When we exited the airplane we became trapped for 5 minutes because none of the ground crew at the airport knew how to open the sliding glass door at the end of the jet bridge.

Plus: Bright and seemingly clean walls and carpeting.

Minus: The moving walkways to immigration and the transfers area were not functioning, making the trek from the plane to immigration over the carpet difficult and cumbersome.

Plus: The bathroom we stopped at just before immigration was clean and well stocked with toilet paper.

Minus: The airport employees acted as if they had never seen a tourist and stared quite a bit while one "takes care of nature's call".

Plus: The artwork in the terminal and in the immigration hall was very nice -

Immigration itself was interesting. As soon as we got off the escalator there were two immigration booths reserved for First and Business class passengers. We immediately cued up behind a few other passengers. Time ticked on as we realized perhaps this priority line wasn't exactly moving with the speed one would hope. A tip of the hat to the priority security line in Chicago, perhaps? We looked down the hallway a few feet and noticed there was no wait for the regular immigration queues. Time to hustle over to those lines.

I presented my passport to the immigration official with a friendly "Hello!" No response. He proceeded to open my passport, examine the picture, examine me, examine my picture, examine the visa, examine my picture, examine my visa, examine me, pause for a sip from him bottled water, converse in Hindi with the official in the next booth over for a minute, examine my visa, stamp my passport, hand it back and motion me forward without ONCE speaking a word to me. Talent and commitment, for sure. Refusing to speak to newly arrived visitors to your country is never NOT the best way to greet people.

We then proceeded to exchange our dollars for Indian rupees as the luggage carousel looked rather bleak and lonely without any luggage on it. Crowded with people eager to head out of the airport, getting our money exchanged seemed like a better option then joining the growing number of passengers impatiently stomping their feet waiting for any hint that baggage was on its way. The exchange was painless and efficient. During our trip we noted that we seemed to have gotten a fairly good rate, though it seems we might have gotten 1 extra rupee per dollar had we waited till we got into the city. Rupees in hand, the luggage carousel sprung to life and we soon had our bags. Even if it took 45 minutes for the bags to arrive, at least the priority tags on our luggage ensured they arrived at the very start of the distribution. It's the little things.

Overall:

This was one of my best flights to date with American. Mostly because I slept through the entire trip completely content with my meal. I have such a difficult time sleeping on airlines but for some reason I was quickly lulled to slumber. The seat made sleep at least tolerable, though I'd prefer to be completely horizontal. You're in a flying tube of aluminum though, so almost flat isn't half bad. At the end of this flight, I'm was a happy American Airlines elite and passanger.

As always...

Safe Travels,

Leo

Thx 4 Da Info - Airlines and Social Media

Social networking sites have changed the way that people communicate with one another. When I was younger the best way to update anyone about your life was to give them a phone call. In our gloriously modern times, there are quite a few more options that can end up being much more efficient and quick: Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, email, Foursquare. The list could go on for quite a bit. Where as before I would be required to call up 10 friends to get a message out, now I can just make a quick post on my Facebook or send out a short 30 character tweet and have them all see it almost instantly.

Social networking has also changed the way that airlines communicate with the traveling public. While the traditional tools of outreach such as commercials and magazine ads are still the most prevalent, most airlines have begun to incorporate some elements of social networking into their marketing/outreach efforts. As you can imagine, some airlines have been more successful then others in utilizing these new formats to connect with fliers. Being based in Chicago, it makes sense for me to take some time and look at how United Airlines (UA) and American Airlines (AA) have harnessed the power of Twitter and Facebook to varying degrees of success.

TWITTER

For those of you who haven't quite figured out what Twitter is, here's the cliff notes version: Twitter is an online/mobile service that allows a user to make text-based post of up to 140 characters to a distribution list of subscribers. So UA or AA can publish short messages of up to 140 characters related to any subscriber who indicates they'd like to receive messages from the airlines. While this might not sound all too different then an email, the strength and success of Twitter has lied in its ability to become compatible with other formats. Twitter now allows users to receive specific updates directly on their cell phones, within an application on that cellphone or wireless capable device, or to automatically update the sender's Facebook or blog page. With a single 140 character burst, UA or AA can communicate with the flying public via Twitter, text messaging, email, applications, Facebook, or blogs. Talk about efficiency.

The trick is how do you convince subscribers that they might be interested in receiving "tweets" from your respective airline. After all, the advent of these technologies has brought the level of unwanted spam advertising to stratospheric heights. United's angle on gaining subscribers seems to be the most effective: offer periodic sale pricing on a variety of routes. Labeling this sale a "tware" (a combination of tweet and fare), United will occasionally sent out a tweet notifying its subscribers that for a few hours, they are providing an airfare discount exclusively for Twitter followers. The message usually links to a web page on United's site that includes details on the dates and destinations that are currently on sale, and will provide the user with a limited time use code to take advantage of the sale.

While the discounts can vary (I've personally seen small discounts on flights to Washington DC all the way up 40% off flights to Australia), one important goal is always achieved: UA has provided adequate incentive to its subscribers to receive advertisements and UA information without feeling bombarded by advertising. The subscriber can at least feel like they "get" something out of it, despite the more mundane and banal postings UA might make:

The one aspect of UA's use of Twitter that I feel leaves more to be desired is the level of professionalism that is used when posting. While the use of Twitter in and of itself might be viewed as "hip and youthful", I think UA makes a mistake when it allows the individuals who run the account to make posts that are at times unintelligible due to overuse of internet slang and abbreviations. For example: "RT @elliottyamin Mad important partnership b/w @MalariaNoMore & United 2gether able 2 touch more lives & help eradicate malaria in africa." While the idea is good (UA is replying to a user, former American Idol Elliott Yamin, who mentioned that UA has partnered with a non-profit to fight malaria in Africa, as blogged about in our last installment), I'm a little put off by the fact that United's official response was to call the partnership "mad important". Is this public relations for a major company or the Real World?

On the other hand we have American Airlines, another user of Twitter that might need to spruce up its offering a bit. Where as UA has successfully offered Twares to its users for over a year now, I have yet to see a single offering from AA that provides any incentive to its subscribers. AA's twitter postings are entirely consumed with responding to flyer's complaints and compliments, or announcing various AA news pieces and charitable works.

While good in theory, AA has yet to harness Twitter as effectively as UA for one simple reason: UA gives people a reason to BUY a ticket. AA doesn't. Low airfares provide an incentive to fliers to buy tickets. While AA's PR work addressing customer complaints and charity work is admirable, it doesn't give incentive for anyone to actually buy something. AA's Twitter team definitely aces the professionalism test though. Rarely have I seen the messages utilize slang or excessive abbreviations unless absolutely relevant or appropriate.

While AA might be a slightly larger airlines then UA (for now), the Twitter audience skews in favor of UA: 91,000 vs. 75,000.

FACEBOOK

Another popular method of connecting with flyers through a social network is Facebook. Facebook is a social networking website that allows the user to post a variety of media onto the site which will automatically load on any "friend's" (i.e. subscriber's) news feed. Similiar to Twitter, an airlines can utilize Facebook to upload its latest television ad and instantaneously provide access and advertisement for it with thousands of potential customers. Replace the television ad with a photo, advertisement, sale announcement, press release, or any other outreach tool and you can see how much potential use this might have. Again, both AA and UA utilize this social networking website to varying degrees of success.

UA's Facebook page is essentially a dead zone. While it has 20,000+ fans, the airline has never utilized any of Facebook's features to communicate with its audiences. It essentially serves as a method by which users can advertise their affinity for the airline by "liking" the page. Fans can "tag" UA in posts and pictures of the airline, but with no official presence they are unable to communicate directly with the company. Based on the blank updates page its safe to assume UA seems to have no interest in using the site to relay information or interact with the traveling public:

It seems United is missing an opportunity here. While their Twitter account actively interacts with the public, the Facebook account is a stagnant and almost sad representation of the company.

On the other hand, AA's Facebook page is very active and provides a lot of the same information its Twitter account does. Several time a day a representative from AA will update the page with information on new flights that are being initiated, improvements to the cabin, or potential weather delays fliers might see. It also serves as a method in which to advertise sale fares offered by the airline, though unlike UA's Twares these sales are open to anyone and do not require a code specific to Facebook fans.

The one thing AA seems to fail miserably at on its Facebook account is handling negative feedback. Without fail, any information posted by AA on its page will inevitably be swamped by a litany of complaints from users ranging from an individual's damaged luggage from a flight the night before to requests to lower the airfare on specific routes so the user can visit family. While this is to be expected with any public forum where a company interacts with the public, AA's response seems to be to ignore the users. Though once in awhile the AA account will address specific user's complaints, 95% of the time its posts become a battleground between users tearing down and building up the company.

I'm not an expert in handling public relations, but common sense tells me that ignoring the issue isn't working and probably does more to anger individuals then to calm them. Perhaps AA can reply with requests to contact AA's customer service department directly with complaints through its website or dedicated phone line? Anything would be better then seeing an announcement of a donation made to the Susan G Komen foundation for breast cancer research be bogged down by complaints from users asking for assistance with their canceled flight.

Again, the success of each airline's use of Facebook seems to be in the numbers: UA's low following of 20,000 users is trounced by AA's 80,000 fans.

The modern world is fickle with its attention, and social networking seems to be (for the time being) the wave of the future. An airline's attempt to link into these up and coming trends can really shape how the flying public interacts and chooses to spend money their carriers of choice. Have you had an experience interacting with an airline through Twitter, Facebook, or some other social network?

Safe Travels,

Leo

De-doored during deplaning?

Even though I'm on an airplane more often then your typical individual, it might surprise a lot of people to know that I have a very deeply ingrained fear of heights. Elevators, tall buildings, balconies, you name it - I'm afraid of it, and you can definitely include flying on that list. As time goes by and I take more and more flights, that fear has reduced itself to a very manageable level. I know myself though, and I can guarantee you that from take off to landing on every flight I ever take, a little voice in the back of my head will be having a panic attack for the duration of the ride.

Nevertheless, what if the malfunction you fear is awaiting your plane isn't during the flight at all?

Passengers on American Airlines Flight 962 experienced just that recently when their plane landed safely at Dallas - Fort Worth (DFW) from Sao Paulo, Brazil (GRU). The Boeing 777 pulled up to the jetbridge at Terminal D and its flight attendants opened the door to being to deplane the passengers. What happened next is still under investigation, but it appears one or both of the following things took place:

• The pilot failed to appropriately park the aircraft.
• The ground crew at DFW either inadequately or failed to chock the aircraft.

Regardless, the result was this:

According to the report the plane rolled backwards approximately 200 feet, its door ramming up against the jetbridge and eventually tore free from the aircraft. Luckily there were no reports of injuries among the crew, ground crew, and passengers.

I can only imagine if I was on that flight:

Standing up after almost 1/2 a day on an airplane to stretch my legs, I try to clear the flyer's fog out of my head while navigating the narrow aisle in an attempt to get to my carry on baggage and get off the plane in a reasonable amount of time. I take a moment to thank my lucky stars that I've made it through another flight without an incident.....

Only to suddenly feel the plane amble backwards 200 feet and hear what must have been the shockingly harsh sound of a Boeing 777's door being ripped off its hinges!

AA's spokesperson acknowledged the incident and stated it was still under investigation. My assumption would be that considering American Airlines only flies to a few select destinations with its 777s and that this one will be out of commission for a few days, the plane's crew and ground staff will have a lot of explaining to do.

Safe Travels,

Leo

Sources:

Star Telegram Sky Talk, Star Telegram Sky Talk