Deccan Airways - Praises and Complaints

BenAjay

Pluses -
* New airplanes
* Polite and helpful staff
* Online booking
* GREAT fares


Minuses -
* NO ASSIGNED SEATING-
- Now in a country where people generally follow queues, introducing unassigned seating is a nightmare. It doesn't take mych more to print seat numbers on the tickets as there is ALREADY A PLACE for that on the ticket. And - surprise - the plane seats are already numbered. so you can only imagine the unruly rush when passengers are taken to the airplane.

* WINTER FOG DELAYS
- WHY THE HELL do ALL AIRLINES need to depend on Delhi fog. The fog is not something NEW. It has been there all along so someone PLEASE tell me why that if there is fog in Delhi the whole country needs to delay their flights. If it's because the planes have to go thru delhi - THEN CHANGE THE FLIGHT PATHS for the fog months. Make sure you have an alternate plan.

* SIMPLIFY
- thats the name of the magazine for Deccan Air. Bluntly putting - a 3rd grader must have edited that magazine. Please hire someone professional. what the hell is that magazine !! YIKES !

markhyd

Great on the way out (Hyd to Goa), nice staff.
unexplained 5.5 hour delay on the way back sort of left a bad taste in my mouth.
all in all value for money though.

nessie

We heard about Air Deccan from an Indian friend before we arrived here. We've done two flights with them so far without any hiccups. They're also far cheaper than Jet and Indian Airlines. We've met some people visiting the north who were kicking themselves when we told them of Deccan. They thought their only option to get down south was a very expensive flight with Indian airlines so didn't bother.

lyndy

I'm feeling a little stressed now after reading posts noting "unexplained delay" and "winter fog delays" by Air Deccan. We have a flight booked from Goa to Mumbai with a connection to Singapore 3.5 hours later. Is this cutting it too fine?

Always has worked with flights on Jetairways in India and internal flights all over the world.

We never allow less than 3 hours connection time, since missing a ferry and watching our aircraft depart without us!

Does the fog problem still occur in March?

Anyone? Thanks!

jennyg

I was just wondering is this a budget airline? we are thinking of flying a few routes to cut back on fly time. Would this be a good option?

Vespar

Are the air fares on Air Deccan web site for Foreigners or is there a different price structure???

jennyg

I just checked out the website. Its almost too good to be true! Delhi to Jaipur for 500 rupees! So can I just book these flights when I get to India from the internet then? Is it easy enough to do that?

artwallah

It IS too good to be true. You'll find the super low fares are not really available, but the other fares, though higher, are quite good. I found when booking a flight Mumbai-Chennai last month that fares rise (or the cheaper seats vanish) the closer you get to the date, so I wouldn't wait if I were you. I also had trouble with my browser and found that I had to use Outlook Express rather than Netscape to do the actual booking. Once that hurdle was behind me, it was easy.

pooch

Same fares.

nomadelmundo

while almost half as cheap as other indian flights, bulk of the passengers in the cabin make you feel it's their first time flying... let me explain... first, we had to squeeze and shove to get through the gate, people cut like their birth right, just like at the train station counters when buying a ticket, you gotta box people out!... we took an 1.5 hr flight from Jodhpur to Mumbai... almost half the people in the plane got up and went to the bathroom, as if they never took a bus in India and had to learn to hold the urine... there was this dude sitting by the window, he got up as the flight attendents were serving drinks to pee... then he wanted to get back in the his window seat when both carts were blocking my exit allowing him in... everyone had to squeeze and shove to allow him his access... speaking of drinks, only chai are free, you can buy everything else, including calvin kline colgne... funny thing is that everyone was buying snacks and drinks in a frenzy, the poor flight attendents had no break... as a consequence they didn't even ask us if we wanted chai, and when we press the "attention" button, it took 10 + tries and finally I had to to shout to one to get her attention, and she said she'll get us some tea... she never did...
overall, cheap flight got to where we needed to go... but felt like stressful doing it...
will

__________________

Visit my forum for backpackers, trekkers & hikers where you can share stories, discuss trails, and upload unlimited amount of travel photos for FREE...
@ PlanetNomads.com

Matty Gee

looks cool.!!!!!

Wish there were more North South flights, like Delhi to Mangalore or Amritsar to Amadhabad, but i suppose that they'll come in time.....

Full power
Puri takat

__________________
Check my gallery out : http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser =3636

lyndy

Thanks 2 cents for the fog answer.

Hey nomadelmundo-we just love a bit of pushing & shoving, so looking forward to the flights! very funny post. thanks for the info and the warning. will take own thermos of chai.

nessie

All the Indian passengers were very polite and relaxed on our two flights, no pushing or jumping queues. The only rude or stressed out people were a western couple, the only other foreign tourists. A couple came on with their baby who'd been having a tantrum on the shuttle bus getting to the plane. He was still screaming when they took their seats in front of the other tourists, at which the girl screamed at the air hostess to tell her to "Make these people move to a different seat or get the baby to shut up"
She was screaming so much the poor kid got even more frightened. The poor air hostess and parents didn't know what to do, and in the end the girl threw her magazine at them and stomped off to the back of the plane.

Krishnika

We took Air Deccan from Goa to Bangalore. The flight was on time, no hassles, it didn't matter that there were no assigned seats. It seemed like a regular flight, but dirt cheap. Would go with them again.

JuliaSF

I flew Deccan from Delhi to Bangalore in October. Overall it was great--so much cheaper for a foreigner than any other airline. The flight was a little late but they called me to let me know. No problems with the unassigned seats.

The only issue I had with them was that I couldn't book the ticket online through their site. It just wouldn't go through. I had to call and buy the ticket over the phone, and I couldn't get the same fare that I saw on the computer. Fortunately, It was still cheap. The key with Deccan is to book as far in advance as possible, but that's not often possible for backpackers who like to decide where we're going a day or two in advance...