Vistara is a major airline within the Indian market, so what is it like to fly onboard with them as a passenger?
AviationSource writer Gaurav Gowda documented his travels on a flight between Frankfurt and Bengaluru via Delhi.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Vistara: Frankfurt to Bengaluru via Delhi…
After a really unpleasant experience on my last flight with Air France to Berlin, I opted to fly home on an Indian airline instead.
While I was browsing through airfares I found Vistara was offering a great deal on round trip (approximately €510) and added benefit of flying Vistara was they allowed 46 kg of luggage!
The only inconvenience was Vistara operates flights only from Frankfurt in Germany, which meant I had to take a train from Berlin to Frankfurt.
The question now is “Was choosing Vistara worth the hassle?”
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 , 3.4 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
As I reside in Berlin, which almost 4:45 hrs away from Frankfurt International Airport, 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 I had to go to different levels at the airport and while doing so it was always a mix of escalators and lift, I was carrying two suitcases with me which made this entire 20 minutes 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 all most same time (Vistara operates flight from Delhi & Mumbai to Frankfurt) but the number of check-in desks was surprisingly less, which resulted increased the wait time for check-in.
Security Check at Frankfurt Airport
Immigration in most of the airports in Europe has always been a bad experience with 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. Security check at Frankfurt airport was not as bad as immigration and the officers were very friendly.
The Lounge at Frankfurt International Airport
I had pre-purchased lounge service from Vistara while I was making reservations for my flight and paid around Rs. 2,750. I was not expecting much but lounge was a rather disappointing experience.
In my honest opinion it would best for the passengers 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 flight.
The food choices was very limited infect there was only rice and gravy for main course and 1 vegetarian starter and one non vegetarian starter.
Boarding Experience
I thought, now that I have cleared most of the hurdles and from here on it would be a comfortable experience, 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 either of this flight were asked to line up I thought the flights were boarding at same time but it wasn’t the case.
After checking documents passengers were made to sit in a rather small and congested area to wait for their flight to start boarding, it was undoubtedly a very weird experience for me, as and when more passengers arrived into the area, there were hardly any seats left for them to sit!
This was by far the worst boarding experience till date. After an hour or so the boarding actually began and I was relieved to leave that room.
The Seat
Vistara’s Boeing 787 offers three class configuration which is Business class, Premium Economy, and Economy.
The economy class has 3-3-3 seat 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”.
I did not face any discomfort during the duration of the flight.
The adjustable headrest was working fine, and the infotainment system had a good response with no lag!
The IFE of Vistara had good selection of Hollywood and Bollywood movies along with some famous series. Vistara is the first Indian airline which has in flight 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 alcoholic beverages.
Soon after the beverage service they started with the dinner service, the food was delicious and filling.
After this service, the lights were turned down for the passengers to settle in and sleep. The earphones were of average quality and got the work done.
There was a snack service kept at the galley for passengers who wanted to grab a quick bite.
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 in-flight service, Vistara was outstanding.
Arrival in Delhi
We arrived in Delhi on time.
Immigration was a breeze as we had so many counters open which helped passengers 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 International 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
In my honest opinion I have always said in my reviews of Vistara ”They have a great hard product!”
Their in-flight service is best, 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 any day prefer Vistara over Air France for my travel!
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