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US,Aug'14-1: As far as She-Ca(n)-Go: Chicago!

 
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sumantra
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Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 5:19 pm    Post subject: US,Aug'14-1: As far as She-Ca(n)-Go: Chicago! Reply with quote

US,Aug'14-1: As far as She-Ca(n)-Go: Chicago!


http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic14853.html

The weird title is a poor attempt at a phonetic play on the alphabets in
the name of the city, and the fact that circa August 2014 (when
the trip took place), Air India's longest flight was the Chicago one.
Currently, Air India holds the record for the longest flight of all, the
round-the-world San Francisco one. Yes, all counted from the
airline's prime hub, Delhi.

98.0 Two Forum Grouses now Become History

Two of the biggest grouses people (on airliners-india.net) have
had about me, are now gone. The year is 2014, and the month is August.
1. I became am the proud owner of a Sony HX300 camera. My 2013
San Diego trip was the first TR which had pictures taken with it.
2. I am a not-so-proud owner of The Wife's old Sony Experia Tipo smartphone.
She is disgusted with my antics with the phone, and has said that
only smart people should use smart phones, and insists that I
should revert back to my old Nokia 2700 Classic. I cannot manage
to pick up a call quickly, and am barely able to type on the
smart-screen, with my grubby fingers, or a stylus, for that matter.

This trip would mark my debut with both the camera, as well as the
smart phone being with me. For a reader who may have missed out
on my 5-part report on my 2013 San Diego trip via Chicago, here are the links:
73. US,Nov'13-1: Tailwinds to the Windy City!
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic14179.html
74. US,Nov'13-2: Winds/Sands of Time..Windy City-Sandy Ego!
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic14198.html
75. US,Nov'13-3: Midway, from Midway, to USS Midway
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic14215.html
76. US,Nov'13-4: San Diego-Midway, Chicago
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic14233.html
77. US,Nov'13-5: Haring back, Return from O'Hare
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic14255.html

98.1 Introduction

Planning for an official conference trip to Chicago was a
no-brainer, as far as the carrier went.
It would be Air India by default, and I would be on Air India's
longest flight out of Delhi, the direct Delhi-Chicago flight.
I was looking forward to it.
I was short on funds however, and when the trip was decided, I
was worried whether I would be able to manage a reasonably-priced ticket.
There was another problem.
The Air India AI 127/126 DEL-ORD/ORD-DEL combination was a cash
cow for the airline, one flight which has minted money for the
airline (in addition to the AI 191/144 BOM-EWR/EWR-BOM pair).
The flight often goes full in both directions, and on top of it,
it fills up quite quickly.

I was short on funds, and I had applied for funding from
four...yes, four sources within my organisation.
I had hoped for at least one of them to come in, a kitty which
would at least enable me to cover the costs of the air fare.
I applied quickly.
Government organisations are notorious for their delays.
And semi-Government organisations? The less said, the better.
As I waited for at least this part of the permission to come in,
I observed the price go up from Rs.95k for a return trip, to
Rs.99k, to Rs.105k, and finally, to Rs.111k.
I was aghast.
I had sounded out one of our official travel agents about it.
I got my permission: at least, for the air ticket.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw a Rs.105k fare one day.

When I went to the official travel agent, he made some quick calculations,
and told me that the Economy booking class Q-U
combination for my set of dates would cost me Rs.114k.
I was aghast.
This was clearly well over my budget, and I told him that if he
could not give me a ticket at the price on the Internet, I would
buy it myself on my credit card.
I was being a bit pompous, since my lowly job status ensured that
my credit rating would never be that high, and that there was no
way I could buy the ticket on my card, since I would not be able
to pay my dues in time, to have my credit rating enough to buy the ticket.
Some one had cancelled a few tickets, hence the price
had taken a brief dip. I was resigned to booking it from my bank account.
I had never done the same before, and was a bit
apprehensive about this, as well. As I walked towards my office,
a brainwave struck me. I had never tried the other official
travel agent before, either. Why not give this a try today?
Ah, but the person's office was usually locked.
I was in luck that day.
He did not have even an Internet connection, but he would get it
booked from his main office. I kept my fingers crossed.
By the afternoon however, I had the required ticket in my mailbox.
This official travel agent gave me the same ticket in
the same booking classes, for the same price.
Well, almost.
It would cost me some Rs.700 extra, which I did not mind.

And what about the rest?
Soon, I got permission for my conference registration fee
reimbursement as well, from another kitty.
Accommodation would be an issue with me.
The conference was being held in one of America's costliest cities,
and for something that would go out of my own pocket, I
did not fancy staying at a hotel. The cheapest hotels were well
above what I could afford, and they were located at far-flung
suburbs of the Windy City, and reaching which without a private
vehicle, that too, well in time, was not feasible at all.
A hostel was the only option.
Or a bed-and-breakfast one, but I wanted to stay somewhere around downtown,
since that was where the conference was to be held.
Hostelling International.
I had stayed here before, in 2005!
I had liked the place. It was close to everywhere I wanted to visit.
It was easily approachable using mass public transport, and that
included from the O'Hare Airport, as well.

I did not have much time on my hands.
I managed to do some quick searches on Google Maps, to find
places of interest, and how to reach them.
Either by mass public transportation, or by foot.

98.2 D-Day

I was setting out on a Sunday.
That would have meant a relaxed departure for an ordinary person.
It was not so, for me.
It was a really busy day for me, and I collapsed into a heap in
the late afternoon. The Wife bundled me to bed, and I had a
somewhat troubled sleep, as I still had work to do.
As is my wont, my TODO list keeps shrinking with me ticking off
tasks which were not absolutely essential, and which could be
completed after I came back.

The friendly cab operator was outside our house at 10pm, and I
was at the International Departures part of IGIA T-3 quickly.
All Air India counters in the International section were checking
in passengers to any international destination. The lull in the
number of passengers at that time in the check-in area, was not
indicative of the shape of things to come.

A BMW X1 sDrive20d: `This car could be yours'. Really?


IGIA T3 is always impressive for its functional design, and greenery inside.


At gate no. 1, VT-ALR `Meghalaya' was getting readied for her
trip to New York (JFK). Beside her was a British Airways B77E, at
the next gate, being prepared for a flight to London Heathrow.
Our flight would board from gate 24.
It was VT-ALU `Odisha' that day.
I immediately texted my friends to appraise them of this situation.
My friend from Bhopal Mr. J. R. R. Talking immediately
texted back, exclaiming that they had swapped planes!
This seems to be quite common when I travel: the B77W that comes
in from Hyderabad goes to JFK, and the B77W that comes in from
Mumbai, goes onward to ORD.
It would be my first trip on `Odisha'.

Now, did I hear this correctly?
I overheard the load being 03-35-303.
What! There was only one seat empty, that too, in the First class?
A few Star Gold members were a bit disappointed when they went up
to the boarding gate, and asked the gate agents if there could be
gate upgrades. Yes, it would be a full flight.
We boarded a bit late, and pushed back a bit late.
The reason for the latter was announced to be an ATC delay on
account of traffic congestion.
The push-back started at 02:15 am. While the basic announcements
were made at the start of the journey, at 03:10 am, First Officer
Vikrant Ghate came on the air, and made a flawless bi-lingual
announcement. Captain Sanjeev Sabharwal was
in command, with Captain Jagjit Singh being the other captain on board.
He and First Officer Ajay Bhatnagar would assist the captains.
Mr. Dinshaw Daruwala and Ms. Sunita Dadra were
in charge of the cabin.

We would cover the 12,615km distance in about 14 and a half hours.
In a pleasant surprise, we took off from the main runway 28:
a first for me in a long time. Behind us was the British
Airways B77E. Refreshments, Breakfast and Dinner would be served on the flight.
While the sequence of the meals was a bit strange,
I do not mind copious amounts of food in any form, especially
when it has originated according to an Air India recipe.
First Officer Ghate had announced that we were flying at 28,000 feet,
and would be able to get to Chicago at around 06:40 am Central Time.
We were cruising at 880 kmph.

VT-ALU `Odisha' showed her age a bit. Some plastic surfaces had some cracks,
though the plastic surfaces were extremely clean.
The fabric looked a bit tired and worn out. However, the IFE
units were in perfect working order: both the PTVs, and the headphones.
The power-port was also in perfect condition, and
supported my laptop throughout the long flight. All buttons on
the IFE cord-based remote were in place, and the unit was in working order.
I guess the faulty ones have been replaced.
The choice of programmes was also large, without being
overwhelmingly huge, as people often expect it to be. I tuned
into my favourite programmes, most of them based on old Hindi
film songs, and I patronised both the video and audio channels.
I also watched an episode of the Big Bang Theory, and had the
moving map on the screen for a large part of the flight, when I
was not sleeping.

A word about the cabin crew: they were pleasant,
without being unobtrusively friendly, or over-eager to help.
They were efficient in their tasks as well.
Something that I missed however, was the Star Alliance announcements,
which are now the norm in the Air India narrow-body flights.
There was the usual Star Alliance
announcement at the time of boarding, though. This was a
standardised announcement, read out by a senior staffer at the gate.

98.3 The Refreshment

At 03:15am Indian Standard time, pleasant smells and trolley
sounds woke me up from my sleep. The refreshment was welcome in
terms of the moderate quantity, and the time at which it had been served,
given that I had not starved myself for an Air India
gastronomic experience, as has often been my wont. I had had a
full dinner at home, before coming in to the airport.


The refreshment had a fruit bowl with two slices of a very tasty
papaya of the `Disco' variety, and two slices of a musk
mellon/honey dew mellon of the sArDA variety, with a mint leaf
added on top for colour contrast, and some great taste.
It was then that I noticed the caterer's card, which said `Sky Gourmet'.
The fruits were extremely fresh.
It as a great way to start the day.
The main plate had a nice and fresh cheese-and-cabbage croissant,
which I had with the sachet of tomato sauce/ketchup.
I guess I was a bit too sleepy, as I chose the tea over my usual
choice of the preferred beverage, coffee. To my pleasant
surprise, it was a nice brand of tea, which had been lightly brewed.
The trays were cleared relatively fast.

I drifted into sleep once more, after a member of the cabin crew
asked all of us to turn down the blinds, as we could go into a
sunlit region, soon. When I woke up, my body clock was adjusted
to Indian Standard Time. It was 06:30 am by my watch.
I was hungry as well.
I decided to do a galley check.
Air India came up trumps.
There were some small bites there: sandwiches, croissants, and of course,
the Indian hot favourite: tea bags, sweeteners, powdered
milk sachets, and the works. The tea bags were Tetley, a Tata product.
I made myself a cup of hot tea, and had it with two brown bread
sandwiches, which thoughtfully had cucumber and tomato slices
inside, and nothing else. The white bread sandwiches had black
lettuce and cheese inside and were quite enticing, as were the
cheese croissants, but I decided to resist temptation, for once.
I took a picture of part of the galley with my smart-phone, which
I had kept in flight mode.

98.4 The Breakfast



It started with the same type of fruit bowl as had been served in
the refreshment. The elderly lady was apologetic about the
non-vegetarian option not being available, but soon, a colleague
brought her a box from the back. It was marked `CHML', or `child
meal', I thought. Anyway, it was nice and filling. It had a
potato patty, a large and fluffy omelette, and a chicken sausage
that had been grilled just right. The cabin crew had followed the
warming instructions to the hilt, as the resultant preparation
was extremely tasty, and went well with the sachet of tomato
sauce/ketchup. The other items on the tray included a nice and soft croissant,
which I had with a rock-hard butter chiplet,
and a little box of a mixed fruit preserve. As the regular reader
would have envisaged, I had more than a glance at the vegetarian tray as well.
It had an extra item: a kulchA, a leavened
North Indian bread. It went with a chick-pea/Bengal gram-based spicy curry,
`chhole-kulche' is what the preparation is
called in North India. On the two sides of the spicy curry, were
a vegetable cutlet, and some beaten wheat-based preparation,
pohA, which forms the standard breakfast in most of the
states of Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra, as with many other Indian states.
My breakfast was a fulfilling experience as well.

This time, I opted for the coffee. I had had a round of the
galley area on my previous visit there. The tray had been
well-stocked with the favourite Indian beverage, with two small
bottles of the common multinational coffee brand (read, bland).
At least the coffee was hot and strong.

Post-breakfast, I went around the cabin to have a look.
A member of the cabin crew was taking requests for tid-bits:
prominent among the requests included the two Indian obsessions,
tea and water. I noticed that the beverage bottles had been
re-stocked. In the midst of a slightly disturbed sleep, I woke up
to a hissing sound: it was my neighbour opening a can of
Kingfisher lager, and having it with a packet of salted
groundnuts/peanuts.

A picture of the wing: always a soothing sight.


And some snow flakes on the window:


98.5 The Dinner


The dinner started with the drinks service, with White label whisky,
a red and a white wine bottle stood out from among the perennial favourites,
Orange juice, Pepsi and water. Some opted for Kingfisher lager,
such as my neighbour. I tend to avoid alcohol on long flights,
as the system is strained, I often have a headache,
and alcohol only serves to worsen it further.
Salted groundnuts/peanuts were served with the drinks.
I went in for the orange juice, as usual.

The paneer (cottage cheese) or the chicken?
I chose the non-vegetarian option, as usual.
On an extremely full flight on this route, it is often natural to
have a certain bias towards a particular set of dietary preferences.
I knew the Air India solution: those option for the
non-veg option and seated towards the end of a particular section,
would get a vegetarian box plus a small chicken curry box.
As the regular reader knows, I do not mind this extra treat in any way.

There was an Indian `green' salad. It had slices of tomatoes,
orange carrots, and a very crunchy and fresh cucumber with the skins on,
served with a flavourful slice of lime.
As is my wont, I sprinkled the lime on top of the salad, with my
nose in close proximity, for my hunger to heighten.
It did.
The long bread served with the meal was quite nice, in spite of
the long time spent in the cold, on the plane.
The butter chiplet was ice-cold, just the way I prefer it to be.
The main box had some medium-sized aromatic bAsmatI rice,
served with half a cashew kernel, and three long and thin
raisins, which had been gently tossed about in a bit of oil.
The dry curry to the right, had carrots and peas, tossed around
in a bit of oil, with cumin, and some shredded onions.
This was a bit un-imaginative on the part of Sky Gourmet,
since they had carrots in the salad as well. The preparation was
very tasty, however. To the left was the paneer malAI curry,
with the soft cottage cheese cubes cooked lovingly in a
sinful cream-based gravy, which had thickened during the time of cooking.
This was superb! I kept a bit of rice apart, for the chicken curry.
The latter was a bit oily, and a bit disappointing,
though the chicken pieces were soft, and the gravy was light,
with a hint of cream in it.
The dessert was a signature Air India dessert, a fusion piece.
It had a lovely gulAb jAmun, a sweet ball of milk and dough,
whose outer covering had been fried to get it dark brown.
This had been set in a bed of some marginally sweet custard,
which had been embellished with chopped dry fruits: almonds, to be precise.
It was heavenly!
I was feeling quite full and satisfied, as the hot and strong coffee came in.
Yes, it was the expected brand, but it was
palatable for its temperature, and the strength.

The trays were cleared away quickly, and customs declaration
cards were soon handed out. It was 04:30 pm IST, and 06:00 am
Central Time, by now. There were about 40 minutes to go, as we
approached Grand Rapids, en route to Chicago. The very senior Mr.
Dinshaw Daruwala was seen wiping the carpet with a napkin as we
approached Chicago: he was just overseeing the state of the cabin.
At 4:50 pm IST, there was another flawless bi-lingual announcement
from the flight deck.

The colours in the dark sky were a delight to see.


We were getting closer to our destination.


And closer, still.


ORD, here we are!


The Captain landed us like a feather on Chicago's runway 28C-10C
(do I remember this correctly?), coming in over the huge Lake Michigan.


There were some interesting sights on the tarmac, in the early morning light.


A United Express E-145:


For a change, the Immigration did not take much time.
The baggage took some time to come out, on belts 8 and 9.
The customs check did not take much time, either.
Soon, I was out of the air-side area.
I called up home, giving them news about my safe arrival.
I used the inter-terminal transfer train, and got to Terminal 1.
From Terminal 1, I followed the signs to the CTA Blue line station,
which conveniently links the O'Hare airport to the rest of the city.
What as not convenient was the $5 ticket,
on automatic machines which did not give change.
There are some things which money cannot buy.
For everything else, there is...a credit card.
Well, Visa for me.
My first Visa card did not work.
I tried another card.
After some ado, this worked, and I was on a Blue line train to the city.
I got down at La Salle, and walked up to Hostelling International,
24 Congress Parkway, Chicago.
Much to my delight, the lady at the check-in desk honoured my
Youth hostel of India membership, and said that I could check in
at any time after 3pm, but she would put forth a request for a
lower-level bunk bed. I could keep my luggage in a locker in the
baggage room, as well. That was a delight.
What would I do now?
Please hold on for the report on Part 2 of this trip,
99. US,Aug'14-2: Winds of Change in the Windy City?
---
Links to my 98 trip reports:
https://sites.google.com/site/sumantratrip/
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jbalonso777
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Joined: 05 Jul 2012
Posts: 1501
Location: Never, never land

PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 8:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A lovely trip report from you as always, Sumantra sir!

I write to you about 24 hours after I landed in the same airport, and the same terminal (EY151 AUH-ORD). It was quite an interesting flight!

Always wondered - are USA bound flights always from Gate 1? If so, then why did your flight depart from the other gate, since I guess there was no extra security.

A pretty decent soft product from Air India - food looks lovely. Well played with the non veg dinner - I'm sure you enjoyed the extra bit of food Very Happy

I do get swamped by the large variety of IFE on the airlines I have been on, eventually leading me to not use the IFE much at all, and just stick to the moving maps.

Was mood lighting on throughout the flight?

The interesting sights for you - are some of the most boring and trigger worthy sight for me. The combination of an American Eagle livery on the ERJ-145 is the thing of nightmares for me Razz

Sir - I do believe the nearest and easiest way to get to the CTA is actually from Terminal 2, not Terminal 1 as you mentioned. Its a much shorter walk Smile

I look forward to the remaining parts!

Regards
Jishnu
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sumantra
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Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 10:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you for the kind words, Sir! It is always a pleasure when you post on this forum, be it your own TRs, a link to your TRs, or comments on an in-depth read to someone's posts.
jbalonso777 wrote:

I write to you about 24 hours after I landed in the same airport, and the same terminal (EY151 AUH-ORD). It was quite an interesting flight!
I wasn't quite able to catch the FB live feed, but yes, I look forward to you writing about this trip, and many others as well!
jbalonso777 wrote:
Always wondered - are USA bound flights always from Gate 1? If so, then why did your flight depart from the other gate, since I guess there was no extra security.
AI's US-bound flights are almost always from the gates at the end of the finger. Now with the third one (SFO), I think they do it from Gate 1 (I will ask TW's brother, who again took AI to India from SFO, and liked it). ORD and JFK get either end of the terminal finger: these are cordoned off with glass panels, much like Gate 1, and there is the mandatory secondary screening.
jbalonso777 wrote:
A pretty decent soft product from Air India - food looks lovely. Well played with the non veg dinner - I'm sure you enjoyed the extra bit of food Very Happy
Very Happy
jbalonso777 wrote:
Was mood lighting on throughout the flight?
I think they had it at the appropriate moments (except for the period they wanted passengers to sleep). AI does this well ever since they had planes with mood lighting.
jbalonso777 wrote:
The interesting sights for you - are some of the most boring and trigger worthy sight for me. The combination of an American Eagle livery on the ERJ-145 is the thing of nightmares for me Razz
Ha ha, I have also done the AA ERJ-145 on a ORD-MSN and back, trip in 2005. Interesting because of the ERJ-170 and 175: planes which haven't done that well, and are not usual sights in India.
jbalonso777 wrote:
Sir - I do believe the nearest and easiest way to get to the CTA is actually from Terminal 2, not Terminal 1 as you mentioned. Its a much shorter walk Smile
Trust me, I am a complete novice, and just followed the signs, possibly took a wrong turn, and then another set of signs.
jbalonso777 wrote:
I look forward to the remaining parts!
Thank you, Sir: I guess your regularity in putting up your lovely TRs has also motivated me to try and follow your footsteps!
Thank you, once again.
Cheers, Sumantra.
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The_Goat
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 10, 2017 2:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you for the TR, Sumantraji.

So how was the general condition of this aircraft on your trip? And how were the toilets?
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sumantra
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Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Tue Jan 10, 2017 9:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sir, thank you for the regular reads, and the kind words! It is heartening to know that you read TRs as well.
The_Goat wrote:
So how was the general condition of this aircraft on your trip? And how were the toilets?
You may have missed this part, Sir: the toilets were clean and well-maintained even till the end of the journey: I have noticed this change of late. As I mentioned, the senior Mr. Dinshaw took personal initiative to wipe the floor on a spill, on this trip. I have now done the Air India North American legs numerous times, more so in the recent past, to be able to say that this is more the norm than the exception. I guess we Indians are also changing our perception of travelling, and that too, on Air India. All of this is nice!
Here is the relevant quote about the state of the aircraft:
sumantra wrote:
VT-ALU `Odisha' showed her age a bit. Some plastic surfaces had some cracks,
though the plastic surfaces were extremely clean.
The fabric looked a bit tired and worn out. However, the IFE
units were in perfect working order: both the PTVs, and the headphones.
The power-port was also in perfect condition, and
supported my laptop throughout the long flight. All buttons on
the IFE cord-based remote were in place, and the unit was in working order.
I guess the faulty ones have been replaced.
The choice of programmes was also large, without being
overwhelmingly huge, as people often expect it to be. I tuned
into my favourite programmes, most of them based on old Hindi
film songs, and I patronised both the video and audio channels.
I also watched an episode of the Big Bang Theory, and had the
moving map on the screen for a large part of the flight, when I
was not sleeping.

Thanks once again, Sir!
Cheers, Sumantra.
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avbuff
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Posts: 5031

PostPosted: Tue Jan 10, 2017 10:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lovely TR sumantraji and heartening to know the flight was full.

As always love your intimate description of the catering Smile

I do not think ORD immigration would be such a problem at 0700 in the morning, but then I could be wrong.

Thanks for sharing
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sumantra
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Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Tue Jan 10, 2017 10:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

avbuff wrote:
...and heartening to know the flight was full.
Thank you for the appreciation, Sir! You know the overall loads better, but based on some purely circumstantial evidence (I have done the route quite a few times, of late), I have seen planes going quite full: both pax, as well as cargo. The *A connections also help: TK books out half of J, or at least used to do so, on the HYD-DEL part. Many Caucasians are often seen patronising AI.
avbuff wrote:
I do not think ORD immigration would be such a problem at 0700 in the morning, but then I could be wrong.
Under-staffed counters are more the norm than the exception. AI 127 is usually one of the first to arrive with a huge load, followed by an ANA flight: this is what I have usually seen at the Immigration, along with a few US ones. I haven't bothered to check the schedules and timings, overall.
Thank you once again!
Cheers, Sumantra.
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ameya
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 6:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My post was not posted Sad

So I am going to re write it but in short

1. The Pictures are very nice
2. The breakfast pictures are exceptional
3. To remember names of crew / additional crew / cabin crew is a great feat

4. Did the captain entertain you over the PA ? (Capt. Jagjit Singh?)
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 6:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ameya wrote:
My post was not posted Sad
Oops, Sir Sad
Anyway, thank you for the kind words!
ameya wrote:
4. Did the captain entertain you over the PA ? (Capt. Jagjit Singh?)
Very Happy He was on a song, I guess, and we did not face the music Razz Thank you for the read, Sir!
Cheers, Sumantra.
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sabya99
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Location: New Jersey/CCU

PostPosted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 12:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sumantra, I did not know that you spend your childhood in that windy city “She-ca-go”. The TR is good with nice pictures, but no winter pictures! That’s when the city becomes dreadful!
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 8:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

sabya99 wrote:
Sumantra, I did not know that you spend your childhood in that windy city “She-ca-go”.
No Sir, I did not...I was lucky to have been able to visit many places as a young kid, and Chicago was one of them.
sabya99 wrote:
but no winter pictures! That’s when the city becomes dreadful!
Indeed Sir, I can only shudder (literally as well) to think of Chicago in the winters. However, I have spent a year in the midwest...in Ames, Iowa in the late 1970s, and have memories of the sordid cold, with snow all around, watery breath, the smell through the muffler, and when the snow hardened into ice, slipping on the roads. At the end of it, I guess I am happy in Delhi, with a temperature range of around 45 degrees Celcius.
Thank you for the read and the kind words, Sir!
Cheers, Sumantra.
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shivendrashukla
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 1:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice TR there sir. enjoyed reading it.

Cheers
Shivendra
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 7:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you, Shukla-ji: it is nice to see you frequenting this part of the forum again!
Cheers, Sumantra.
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stealthpilot
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 10:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So I had to read your TR last ... (no disrespect meant to the other wonderful TRs on this site) but yours requires an hour dedicated to enjoy the details.
- a phone with a stylus ewwww Wink
- Yikes I can feel the pain of watching the ticket price tick higher and higher as you wait helplessly for approval.
- Welcome PA after getting to cruise, is that normal?
- Dinner looks yum as usual and great to hear about the extra effort to keep the aircraft clean, no easy feat on a long flight.

I will read the others soon. I know I read them late but please please keep them coming
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 6:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

stealthpilot wrote:
So I had to read your TR last ... (no disrespect meant to the other wonderful TRs on this site) but yours requires an hour dedicated to enjoy the details.
Thank you stealthpilot: I have been too tied up of late to complete that long backlog. I will try to get more up.
stealthpilot wrote:
- a phone with a stylus ewwww Wink
I'm improving, though gradually Smile
stealthpilot wrote:
- Yikes I can feel the pain of watching the ticket price tick higher and higher as you wait helplessly for approval.
Really painful!
stealthpilot wrote:
- Welcome PA after getting to cruise, is that normal?
Not so, but then...
stealthpilot wrote:
I will read the others soon. I know I read them late but please please keep them coming
Thank you, I hope your kind words will drag me on to write more. I am nearing a century, and have slowed down Sad
Cheers, Sumantra.
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