My college-aged son will be flying to Paris next week via Air India (yes, we%26#39;ve heard it%26#39;s a not a fine carrier but the low fare will make it possible for him to do more once he%26#39;s there). His tickets say seats will be assigned upon check-in at Newark%26#39;s airport.
I%26#39;m hoping some people here can tell us how far in advance of the 9:00 PM scheduled departure time Air India opens check-in. And -- since he%26#39;s not eager to spend hours waiting around the airport after checking in -- what%26#39;s the latest he should be there in order to (hopefully) avoid getting stuck with a middle seat?
If he has any choice, are there any particular rows/seats he should aim for or strive to avoid?
MERCI, THANK YOU!
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Air India isn%26#39;t here but www.seatguru.com should give some idea of seat quality if you know the plane.
Also www.airlinequality.com and www.airlinemeals.net soem what you can expect.
If it is not too late to change Kuwait Air are usually as cheap as Air India and much better service.
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Call Air India and see if they%26#39;ll assign him a seat right away. Most carriers have no problem doing that. If you don%26#39;t get anywhere on the phone, and you live close enough to EWR to make a trip, go to the airport and request a seat in person. Ask for an exit seat row--tons of leg room, but also very desireable, so they fill up fast.
Have never flown Air India, but do they offer online check in, such that he could pick a seat and print his boarding pass 24 or so hours before departure?
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Thanks for the seat map sites! just fyi: Kuwait doesn%26#39;t fly between NYC and Paris.
Tickets were purchased thru Expedia for a price even lower than what Air India was showing on their own web site... and even if the booking had been made through Air India, advance seat assignment may not have been available because, oddly enough, they do that (according to their web page) for only the first 198 seats sold.
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I flew Air India between Paris and Delhi and back and also Indian within India and it was FINE.
Service was as good as any and food was delicious (vegetarian choice). Only difference was that there were more Indians on board.
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Thanks for that reassurance, aphotographerin paris :-)
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We%26#39;ve never flown the Air India route from EWR but a few friends and acquaintances have and found their excperiences to be about %26#39;average%26#39; for Coach flights. Some liked the food...others hated it (but the same can pretty much be said for just about any airline.
In so far as advance seating goes, it only takes a few minutes to telephone the airline directly and ASK a real live person. What%26#39;s the worst that can happen? Someone says %26quot;..Sorry, we can%26#39;t do that..%26quot;. In any case, PRINT OUT the correct aircraft seating diagram for the equipment(747-400 (744)--seating diagram availaable on Air India%26#39;s web site) on your route and have it at-hand, so that you don%26#39;t wind up in a folding jump seat in a lavatory.
If Air India won%26#39;t pre-assign a seat, then your son has a choice--either get to the airport EARLY and be among the first to check-in for the flight and get the best choice of available seat assignments (try for EXIT ROW seating--usually not pre-assigned before the flight opens for check-in...have a PRINT OUT of the seting diagram at-hand for check-in)....OR....he can leave for the airport later and rather than sitting or walking around EWR for an extra hour or so, he can take the chance of spending six(6) hours crammed into the least comfortable seat in Coach. It%26#39;s his backside and his choice to make---and hour watching TV in an airport lounge or six hours strapped into an %26#39;Iron Maiden%26#39; in Coach.
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I see my original query didn%26#39;t make clear that my son had printed the seating diagram from the Air India site -- before giving them a call last week -- but (not surprise) their diagram doesn%26#39;t rank the desirability of seats so Mr. Cellaphane%26#39;s seatguru tip was great. And when my son spoke to the Air India rep, he was told that their policy is *not* to make advance seat assignments if such was not done at the time the ticket was sold. Nor did they advise him as to what time they would start accepting check-in; only, %26quot;we recommend that people arrive 3 hours ahead of allow for plenty of time to clear security and check in.%26quot; So given that, I think he%26#39;s right to assume they%26#39;ll check him in at 6 PM, but whether they%26#39;ll open it earlier is yet unknown (perhaps it varies depending how full the flight will be %26amp; that%26#39;s why the AI rep wasn%26#39;t definitive). I personally don%26#39;t find it odd that he thinks there%26#39;s little point in getting to the airport at, say, 4 PM, if check-in isn%26#39;t then possible %26amp; is looking to make a more informed choice as to when to leave the house.
Thus, the reason for the post soliciting first-hand info from people who have flown Air India out of Newark... maybe a few of those will still pop up here at TA :-)
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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;I see my original query didn%26#39;t make clear that my son had printed the seating diagram from the Air India site -- before giving them a call last week -- but (not surprise) their diagram doesn%26#39;t rank the desirability of seats so Mr. Cellaphane%26#39;s seatguru tip was great%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
Then the %26quot;..informed choice..%26quot;, based on the infoarmation you already had at your disposal, is to arrive at the airport AT LEAST three(3) hours prior to scheduled flight departure time. The same can be said for the best available seats in Coach on 747-400%26#39;s (did you find a seating diagram for Air India aircraft at SeatGuru.com ??) will be EXIT ROW seats (wuth the entire width of the Exit Row for legroom..and sufficient room to stand up, turn around and stretch), AFT of the Emergency Exit Row doors (most seats forward of Emergency Exits often have a restricted reclining feature. Exit Row and Bulkhead Row (no under seat stowage) seating usually isn%26#39;t assigned prior to a flight%26#39;s openning for check-in.
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KDK, your posts here show a fondness for cap for emphasis, so let me put it this way: my son is not an idiot; since speaking to Air India rep, he%26#39;s BEEN EXPECTING to get himself the airport 3 hrs ahead of time -- IS PREPARED TO BE AT NEWARK EVEN EARLIER if there%26#39;s a grounded reason ( i.e., supported by something other than conjecture) to do so.
%26quot;did you find a seating diagram for Air India at SeatGuru.com??%26quot;
I didn%26#39;t look, simply e-mailed SeatGuru%26#39;s name to my son.
Thank you for the tip about generally avoiding plane seats just ahead of the exit rows.
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In my experience they save exit rows for frequent flyers and air marshalls. It is the next best thing to getting an upgrade to business. So I think the chances of exit row seats on an international flight are pretty slim. If he is one of the first people to check in I don%26#39;t see him having a problem. Thank you for the seatguru info, I spend a lot of time looking for flights that have the 2 4 2 configuration so that your chances of being in an exit row are much higher. Usually these were Air Bus, but not anymore. So glad I read this post!
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