After having flown with Air France on my last leg from Bengaluru to Berlin with Air France, I was left somewhat unsatisfied. Hence, I decided that I would try Indian carrier this time.
I had to fly to Bengaluru and Vistara was offering a better price compared to other airlines. However, Vistara only flies from Frankfurt, so I decided to catch a train from Berlin and fly with them.
So here is my trip report of flying with Vistara on their International service
Vistara: Frankfurt to Bengaluru via Delhi
Flight Details
- Flight Number – UK 26 (FRA-DEL), UK 819 (DEL-BLR)
- Departure Airport – Frankfurt International Airport (Frankfurt)
- Arrival Airport –Kempegowda International Airport (Bengaluru) via Indira Gandhi International Airport (New Delhi).
- Registration – VT-TSH , 3.5 Years old and VT-TNI, 6.2 years old during the time of flight.
- Aircraft Type –Boeing 787-900 & Airbus A320neo.
Pre-Check-in Experience
I was able to pre-select my seats without paying anything extra – the Boeing 787-9 comes in 3- 3 -3 configuration whereas the A320neo comes in 3-3 configuration.
The application was very user friendly and easy to navigate. I was now all set to start new journey!
Arrival at Frankfurt Airport
I reside in Berlin, which is almost 4:45 hours away from Frankfurt International Airport. So, the simplest way for me was booking a train which runs between Berlin Central station and Frankfurt airport.
Once I arrived at the airport railway station, I had a long and very uncomfortable walk to the International Terminal.
The thing that I hated the most was that I had to go to different levels at the airportIt was a mix of escalators and lift, and I was carrying two suitcases with me. This made the entire 20 minute walk a big task.
Check-in at Frankfurt Airport
I headed towards my check-in, where I found out that there were two Vistara flights departing at almost the same time.
However, the number of counters for check-in was surpisingly less, which made the wait time for check-in longer.
Security Check at Frankfurt Airport
Immigration in most of the airports in Europe has always been a bad experience. Typically, there is a huge crowd of people waiting to clear immigration and only 1-2 counters open at any given point of time.
It took me nearly 40 minutes to clear immigration. The security check at Frankfurt airport was not as bad as immigration and the officers were very friendly.
Lounge at Frankfurt International Airport
I had pre-purchased lounge servcie from Vistara while I was making reservations for my flgiht and paid around Rs. 2,750.
I was not expecting much, but nonetheless, the lounge was a rather disappointing experience.
In my honest opinion it would best for the pasesngers to buy something from the outlets present at the airport than to spend money to access the lounge!
The only bright side of buying a lounge was I got a comfortable seat to rest before my flgiht. The food choices was very limited, in fact there was only rice and gravy for main course and 1 vegetarian starers and one non-vegetarian starter.
Boarding Experience
I thought that now that I have cleared most of the hurdles from here on it would be a comfortable expereince, but oh boy was I wrong!
Vistara has two of its flight to India boarding at the same time – flights to Mumbai and Delhi. All the passengers waiting to board these flights were asked to line up.
After checking documents passngers were made to sit in a rather small and congested area to wait for their flight to start boarding.
It was definitely a weird experience for me, and when more passengers arrived into the area, there were hardly any seats left for them to sit!
Though the temperature outside was very cold, I still felt like I was sweating because of the small space and too many people around.
This has to be by far the worst boarding experience to date. After an hour or so, the boarding actaully began and I just wanted to get to my seat.
The Seat
Vistara’s Boeing 787 comes in three class configuration which consist of Business class, Premium Economy, and Economy.
The economy class comes in 3-3-3 configuration, the seat looked fresh and there was a pillow and bedsheet waiting, alongside a not so good quality earphone!
The leg room was quite good for a 9-hour flight – my height is 5’11” and I did not face any discomfort during the duration of the flight.
The adjustable headrest was working fine, and the entertainment system had a good response with no lag!
The IFE of Vistara had a good selection of Hollywood and Bollywood movies along with some famous series.
Vistara is the first Indian airline which has in flgiht Wi-Fi and it worked perfectly fine. Wi-Fi was complimentary for Club Vistara members (only to send messages)
In-flight Service
Soon after take-off crew started snacks and drinks service; they had good and vast choices of alcholic beverages.
Soon after the beverage service they started with the dinner service, which was surprising considering the food trauma I experienced on my Air France flight. The food was so delicious and filling.
After this service, the lights were turned down for the passengers to settle in and sleep. The earphones were of poor quality, andeven on the highest volume one could still not get the audio output properly.
There was a snack service kept at the galley for passengers who wanted to grab a quick bite, and they had some veg and non-veg sandwich options along with some chocolates and choices of beverages.
The next breakfast service was again filled with great and tasty food! Overall in terms of service in-flight Vistara was outstanding.
Arrival in Delhi
We arrived in Delhi on time and the immigration was a breeze as we had so many counters open which helped passngers clear within minutes.
The real hassle was again at the check-in counter for my next flight to Bengaluru from Delhi.
In India any passenger arriving from Indian destination has to collect their checked-in baggage and clear the immigration after which they have to check-in again. There was only one counter open and more than 100-150 passengers.
Conclusion
Following my flight to Bengaluru, my honest opinion, as I have always said in my any reviews of Vistara: “They have a great hard product! Their in-flight service is best, and their food is amazing!”
The only thing they have to fix is their ground experience which has never been great for me especially in Delhi airport.
I have always found it to be mismanaged and rather chaotic experience. I would prefer Vistara over Air France any day for my travel abroad!
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