Jet Airways and Thailand

Anyone who regularly travels to Thailand from the UK will no doubt have come across Jet Airways at some point. Whenever I am checking flight prices, my first port of call is Lastminute.com, I find they often list the cheapest available. Finally on the return leg of my last trip I got the chance to book with Jet (under a 1000 pounds for the three of us).

So......... what are they like?

Gotta say, I thought they were pretty darn good. The misses packed two cases full, everything from tea sets to frying pans, one of them was well over 30 kilos, plus, we had extra baggage in the form of some taped up boxes - I told her I thought there was no chance, but I was wrong, the lady at the terminal zipped them straight through without so much as a raised eye brow.

Our flight from Heathrow terminal 4 to Mumbai was probably the best leg I've ever flown... First of all, the seats on their larger planes are really good, very comfy, well designed, extra legroom. I slept when I wasn't tired (a first)...

Then onto the meal. When flying with an Indian airline, you surely have to choose the curry everytime.... Mop the plate? I was queueing for seconds, it actually tasted fresh, dare I say it.

Another great thing were the stewardesses..... very nice, plus, similar to the Thai girls, the Indian girls fall head over heels in love with non-crying babies at 12 paces.. Aiden was snatched and gone for nearly an hour, amusing, and also giving us a little time to kick back ... we were of course glad when he did finally show up again though, me especially, as I was half way through the pile of crap that is the new Clash of the Titans .....

But as with most (all?) long haul flights, it wasn't all fine and dandy... At Mumbai things went downhill a bit. At the more tiresome end of the journey, we had a two hour wait at Mumbai, which actually went pretty fast as we boarded early... The main fecker was that we switched from the nice big 747 onto a little 'mini-me' jet that must be around 15-20 years older.... the plane was full, and after an hour in the old seats it felt alike to being put through SAS stress positions ... dealing with this comedown is hard when you're 10 hours in, and knackered, and this meant the final hours were pretty painful for all (but this is always the case on two leg journeys I suppose, except for that geezer, who sleeps non-stop through both legs - how the hell does he do that?)

All in all, very good first impression, and up there with the other decent carriers like Etihad... I will be flying with Jet Airways again...... Good price, great curry.

Comments

[Jon]

Interesting Ben, been looking for inspiration for flights. Will consider Jet for next year.

Flying with my fella is a nightmare, tends to sleep for half of flight but other half is v difficult! Our next flight will be with two though, a whole new experience no doubt!

[Ben Shingleton]

Jon, two will be a whole different ballgame... One is hard enough! I've seen some Thai / Indian women do three little'uns on their own before, so it can be done!

Probably easier if you fly direct, but even then, I can't imagine that will be 'a walk in the park'...

Don't envy you... Although I'm sure it will probably be me as well one day ;) Will have to tap you up for tips....

[Boonie]

Thanks for this interesting critique.

All the best, Boonie

[Ben Shingleton]

Thanks for a nice comment Boonie :)

[Mike]

Ben, when I first visited India I used Jet for internal flights(didn't do International in those days).

They were quality, if a little eccentric, I still remember with a smile speeding down the runway on take off at Goa with the trolley dolly serving free beer.

Mind you in those days before 9/11 things were a bit different.

I have heard good things about the UK leg and bad things about the Mumbai BKK leg, which you confirm.

I have also heard security at Mumbai is hell, how was it for you?

[Ben Shingleton]

Hi Mike - the beer trolley during take-off - that illustrates what I really like about Jet - they are a little less 'rule intensive' than the Arabic airlines (Emirates / Etihad etc) who at times can be accused of being very strict with all the rules.... An example? The baby bassinet (set up where parents sit for small babies to lie down) in my experience if a mouse farts on the plane most Arabic carriers will insist this is turbulance and make you wake the baby and seatbelt them in your lap... Which can be frustrating, to put it mildly, especially when it has taken Valhalla to get them to sleep - Jet are a little different as you say. They are more laid back, which is very much appreciated, at times (but I do appreciate, rules is rules is rules etc).

Mumbai security! HA! Absolute chaos! It took everyone an age to get through, even though they didn't appear to be very thorough... Also, it took three separate people to read our boarding passes, one after the other, all basically standing next to each other.....

Pure quality...!

[Paul Garrigan]

Hi Ben, that sounds really interesting. We've been using Ethiad the last few years but I wouldn't mind a change. It would probably mean three planes; becuase they don't seem to fly to Ireland. I wil look into it.

[Ben Shingleton]

Yeah I'd recommend them Paul, like I say at the mo they are one of the cheapest flights and they're OK.

3 Planes? Jeez, you guys are made of tough stuff, 2 legs is bad enough LOL ;)

[Ben Shingleton]

Just in case you're looking for a good deal whilst reading this post, I just checked lastminute.com (parents are flying out end of september) and there are currently loads of Etihad flights going for 390 quid return....

Etihad must have read the blog post eh

(or it could be cos its the end of kids holidays.. ;)

[Camille]

Hi Ben,

Thanks for the head up and review, always good to read about first hand experience.

[Ben Shingleton]

No problem Camille, thanks for the nice comment!

[Lloyd]

I fly Jet between LHR and Delhi and Delhi and Bangoko regularly due to work commitment. I would not wish the airline on anyone, the food can be disgusting and barely edible, their service in Mumbai and Delhi borders on incompitent and their ability to loose and damage baggage is legendary at LHR.

If your looking budget Etihad, EVA Air, Emerates and often Malaysia Airlines offer great service and reasonable prices.

[Captain P]

How does everybody but me find cheap flights on EVA ??? People always tell me they're cheap but whenever I look at the website they're 2 or 300 quid more than the competition. Any tips ? Do you have to sign up with them, sell them your firstborn or summat? I normally fly Etihad but sometimes their flights jump right up in price.

[Ben Shingleton]

Sorry to hear that Lloyd, not so in my experience, although I have only flown one leg with them... The food was a bit better than any of the other airlines I have tried, perhaps they were having a good day....

[Ben Shingleton]

Captain P - I think, EVA are more expensive cos they only fly direct = more expensive, in fact, if you wanted to fly to BKK direct, I'm pretty sure they are the cheapest in the niche... But this is not cheaper than flying x2 legs.

[Simon]

Ben, Thailand is the same as ruddy Ukraine, just that Thai is better in may ways....
Haven't had the chance to read your blog's until now but great reading mate, you need to put them into a book... Shame I'm to lazy to write one, I have some very funny tales to tell, or so mum say's anyway....