SpiceJet

We booked our tickets on Spicejet with a travel agent in Surat on August 2009 for travel January 2010 for Goa to Mumbai flight in the afternoon so some of us can catch a flight back to US from Mumbai that night. As we were standing in line at Goa airport for more than an hour they took down the Mumbai sign at the check in counter. On inquiry the check in person told us the flight was cancelled and the fare will be refunded to the travel agent- no other assistance or help. We had to scramble to GoAir counter to get to Mumbai before we are no show at the international flight. GoAir charged us INR 45951 for 7 tickets to Mumbai. Spicejet is irresponsible in its policies and attitude. They left 200+ international passengers in limbo at a place without accomodation or any other help. In light of our experience I would advise anyone with any plans for further travel to stay away from booking their tickets on Spicejet unless they want to jeopardize their plans and wallet!

Keenly priced tickets. They take a practical view of baggage allowances which is very helpful. Overhead lockers are somewhat low and can be awkward for odd-shaped carry-on bags. FAs are very courteous. Seat pitch is unsatisfactory but for short flights this may not pose a problem.

CJB - DEL (via HYD). Departure punctual arrival late due to endless approach into Delhi. Whilst you get what you pay for in terms of service on this type of airline I was surprised at the rudeness of the CC. When on the ground in HYD one of them addressed me as if I was an inmate in a prison camp for wishing to use the toilet. However in the air with turbulence warning and seat belt signs on pax were walking up and down to the toilet freely.

Mumbai-Delhi check-in did not take very long. Seats were pre-assigned as the flight was full 20 mins delay departing. B737-800 cabin clean. Seat pitch very tight. Food for purchase was a good selection of snacks and beverage ie. sandwiches cookies muffins tea coffeeetc. Cabin crew disappeared after food sale and only returned to collect the trash. Overall a good experience except for the very tight seat the price was extremely competitive.

BOM-DEL and IXB-KOL. Both flights were heavily delayed. Was the worst Indian airline in terms of punctuality and service. Also they seem to get the furthest possible bays which means taking almost an hour from the plane to the airport after landing. I would not fly with them again.

Delhi to Srinagar via Jammu. The time of my web-booked flight had changed but I had not been notified of this and therefore arrived at the airport far too early. Luckily there was an earlier flight and the person at the ticket counter changed my booking to this flight at no extra cost. Seats were allocated at check in but there was no scramble anyway as there were only 100 passengers. The 737-800 was clean and the crew were quite friendly. Overall a positive experience - but Spicejet have already started cutting routes and frequencies so things are looking tough for the Indian locos.

Pune to Chennai return. Flown for the first time with them and found them okay. Planes were new and clean. Both flights were on time. FAs well groomed and do a good job. Food served was not free and was more of a snack. For the fare they charge you its a very good airline to fly with in India.

DEL-CJB (via HYD). We chose this flight for its convenient timing. SpiceJet's ticket office at Delhi Airport is very hard to find (as an exception to the rule it's located outside the temporary ticketing hall). Check-in friendly and efficient. Boarding via a bus with a ridiculously high step. Flight left on time meaning we actually lifted off the runway at the scheduled time of 1710 (a miracle given today's crowded Indian airports). Onboard catering limited and expensive. On the second leg (HYD-CJB) there were two incidents of altercations between cabin crew and pax mainly over the issue of the complimentary water bottles not being provided (ostensibly because of turbulence preventing service although the seatbelt signs were NOT on) yet the FAs were happy to serve anyone who wanted to purchase any food or beverages. These two unpleasant situations were not handled well by what came across as a particularly arrogant FA. Landed in CJB on time.

PNQ-HYD. I booked with a foreign credit card which caused a bit of a delay at check-in. All boarding at Pune is done via remote stands though it was done quite efficiently and we actually pushed back 5 minutes early. The plane was a B737-800 and it was clean and well-maintained. The FAs were efficient and friendly. There's no IFE at all but since the flight time was only 1 hour it wasn't a big deal. Main complaint was the seat pitch which seemed a bit tight though it was manageable for a 1 hour flight. Being an LCC you had to pay for everything on board except for water but the prices are reasonable - 20 rupees (about 50 cents) for juice and 60 rupees (about $1.50) for a sandwich. You also have to pay to pre-reserve a seat online but again the cost is negligible at 50 rupees (about $1.25). If you are booking online also beware that you will be offered trip insurance after you select your flights and the default is set to yes so pay attention before finalizing your purchase. The flight arrived at HYD about 5 minutes early and although my bag was the last on the carousel it only took about 10 minutes to appear. Overall a good value for the price I paid at about $52 for an advance purchase one-way ticket.

AMD-HYD return quite happy with the product. New B737-800. Were offered soft drinks & peanuts on a 1 hr 15 min. flight. FAs attentive and efficient. On-time performance both ways. Can't really fault the offering. I'd rate it as above average LCC experience.