After Jet Airways folded, it was refreshing to discover Vistara – proclaimed as “India’s Best Airline” which nicely filled the gap for luxury travel on domestic routes in India and several other international routes.
Let me start with the booking process. The website was very slick and easy to navigate. I first signed up for Club Vistara and then proceeded to make my reservation which was very easy to execute and the booking showed up immediately under my account in Club Vistara.
The day prior to the flight, I was able to do an online check-in effortlessly – something that has always been a challenge for me with the national carrier of India.
So I decided to walk around the departures areas and then find a seat near the gate.
The flight was on time and all passengers began lining up. There was priority boarding for premium passengers and we were invited to board first.
The seat was quite spacious and comfortable. We were handed the menu cards once we were seated.
Once boarding was completed, we were offered cold towels, while another FA came around to collect the drink glasses followed by another who cleared away the used cold towels.
The flight emergency instructions were done Hindi first followed by English. At this stage we were already 18minutes behind schedule due to ATC issues so the FAs started taking meal choices and managed to do this for row 1 as we were then cleared for take off.
Once we had completed our ascent, the FAs came around to complete taking meal choices and then quickly came back and laid a table cloth on the tray tables. They were then prompt in getting the meal trays. I opted for the Achari Murg Biryani which was really good. Just a moment later, a bread basket was offered with a variety of breads.
Soon we had already started our descent and I must say I was very pleased with the service of Vistara both on the ground and in the air as my bags with priority tags arrived quickly on the belts in Mumbai.
What I liked was
– Priority handling on the ground
– Attentive and caring cabin crew
– Comfortable seats
– Good quality menus
– Great quality of food with many options
What I didn’t like was
– 2-2 seating so not all seats have aisle access
– Limited quantity of pre-departure drinks
In summary, I really enjoyed the flight with the generous amount of 40kgs of baggage allowance. The service was great and the crew was very attentive and always had a genuine smile.
Disclaimer: This was a cash fare and I did not receive any compensation from Vistara.
Written by Dominic Fernandes aka CanadaPointsGuy