- Jet Airways to Dubai: Introduction
- Allways VIP Meet & Assist, Delhi Airport Terminal 3
- Plaza Premium Lounge Delhi Airport, Terminal 3 International
- Jet Airways 9W546, Economy Class, Delhi to Dubai
- Dubai Visa on Arrival for Indians
- Ahlan Business Class Lounge, Dubai Airport Terminal 1
- Jet Airways 9W545, Economy Class, Dubai to Delhi
We got reasonable last-minute fares on Jet Airways. It made sense to fly 9W as both of us are JetPrivilege Platinum members, and this would help us retain our tiers to a small extent. Additionally, we could try and use our Platinum upgrade vouchers and travel comfortably in Premiere.
Mid-mornings turned out a good time to be at the airport. Jet Airways’ premium check-in counters were empty after the morning rush, and we had our boarding passes in our hand within 5 minutes. However, the upgrade vouchers proved to be of no use. The check-in agent told us that it was a busy flight with the entire plane full, although she did assure that she will waitlist us just in case there were any no-shows towards the end.
After finishing check-in, clearing immigration and security, we headed to the Plaza Premium Lounge.
We left the lounge at 10:30 for an 11:15 flight, but boarding was still not announced at about 10:40 am. Gate no. 9 was quite a walk from the concourse area. However, by the time we arrived at the gate, boarding had already begun.
Boarding the flight from gate no. 9
Jet Airways 9W 546
Delhi (DEL) – Dubai (DXB)
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Departure: 11:22AM
Arrival: 2:40PM
Aircraft Type: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 24F (Economy/Emergency Exit)
Meal Service: Lunch
As JetPrivilege Platinum members, we had access to the Emergency Exit seats without a fee. Once I walked to my seat, I quite didn’t miss being upfront in the old recliner Premiere seat was fitted on this plane. The cabin itself was clean and fresh, and since we were among the first ones to board, there was enough space to pack my handbags in the overhead bin.
Economy cabin interiors
Cabin interiors
I have experienced many times crew run out of blankets on full flights like this one, so I requested the cabin crew for a blanket right away. After getting seated in my window seat somewhere while boarding was still on, I dozed off. When I woke up, it was 11:15 am, almost 15 minutes past departure time and while the doors were closed it seemed like our flight was still awaiting pushback clearance. The aircraft finally pushed back a few minutes later at 11:22 am.
View from the wing
Approximately 30 minutes after takeoff, the cabin crew rolled out the meal cart. I am not a fan of the food Jet Airways serve in economy class, so to be on the safer side this time I pre-booked a special meal. I was served my meal first even before the crew rolled out the drinks cart. My lunch meal had some dal, brown rice, chapati, salad and sweet. Apart from the dessert which tasted horrible the rest of the meal was quite good. The dessert looked like a mousse however it felt like kheer (rice pudding) and cream were blended and left to set in a bowl. (Con)fusion much!
My pre-ordered lunch meal
By the time the crew rolled out the drinks cart, I was already done with my meal. The drinks options included Dewars White Label whiskey, Smirnoff Vodka, Tiger beer and Red and White wine. I requested for some sparkling water with lime. There wasn’t any sparkling water, so the crew improvised and replaced the sparkling water with soda.
After drinks, there was lunch service for the rest of the cabin. Ajay asked to have the Chicken Chettinad from options among Chicken Chettinad, Chicken Biryani, and Paneer. His meal tray had the same salad and dal as mine, just that the rice was white and his naan was raw to the extent that it was inedible. My low-fat meal was far better than his chicken meal. The regular meal trays had the same inedible dessert. Moreover, the meal looked tragic.
Indian non-vegetarian meal
After serving lunch, the crew disappeared in the galley and turned up for meal clearance after 2 hours. They did not even answer the attendant call button. That just meant the trays were occupied for the full two hours and no work could be done.
The result was that immediately after tray removal there was a long queue outside the washrooms and on a 4-hour long flight we could not recline our seats for more than half the flight duration.
Meal trays
It was one disappointing flight when it came to service standards. Even the captain never came to the PA throughout the flight. When at 02:20 pm the seat belt signs came on again we just assumed that it was probably time to land and buckled up our seatbelts. The crew did not bother to make any pre-landing announcement.
Views of Dubai into landing
We landed in Dubai late afternoon around 02:45 pm local time. It was a long taxi to our gate. After deplaning, we took the train to Terminal 1 and headed towards the Marhaba visa on arrival assistance counter.
Dubai Visa on arrival assistance
Bottomline:
It was one forgettable flight. I know that Jet Airways usually don’t put their best product on the India-Dubai route as compared to the competition, but this time we ran into a not-so-great crew and couldn’t bother less about anything.
Have you flown Jet Airways on the India – Dubai route? What has been your in-flight experience?
Hii
Are there screens available on flights so that we can watch some movies etc on each seat
I thought flights between India and Dubai don’t earn JPMiles?
@Jim Daniels why would you think like that?
Ah, my mistake. JPMiles can’t be earned on Emirates flights between India and Dubai. Although now it seems JPMiles can’t be earned on any Emirates flights w.e.f. 1-Apr-18.
Jet uses their oldest 737’s on their India routes and loses out a lot of premium traffic as a result. I had booked a multiflyer ticket with them when they introduced the 777 between BOM-DXB but unfortunately, the service was short-lived. They have decent timing slots in DXB but poorly maintained aircraft. A lot of the EK passengers would gladly shift to 9W if they re-introduced the 777 or the 330 on the evening sectors. I am personally hoping Vistara steps into this sector with an evening flight. Fingers crossed.
This is quite typical of any Delhi – Middle East flight , on any airline. Unfortunately , the cabin crew considers it to be “below their dignity” to “serve” the passengers , majority of whom are labour force trying to make a decent living for their families back home in India. This might sound harsh , but this is the gospel truth , and my heart breaks seeing the misbehaviour each and every time. I wonder what doctors like myself would do to the society , if we had a similar snooty mentality.
I flew on Kuwait Airways in Business Class hardly a month back. On the return flight , the crew
1.”tossed” hot/cold towels at us
2 welcome drinks were passed down the aisle without even bothering to ‘offer’ them to the window seat passengers ( i.e. you stretch out your hands and grab it if possible )
3.”refused” to provide the ‘special meals’ , citing that ‘there was no such requests’ , until we insisted that wasn’t possible at all
4.woke up sleeping passengers to even hand over their UNUSED headsets , even when they are KEPT IN THE STOWAGE. ( How dare you sleep , and the crew member ‘picks up’ your stuff ?? Not at all )
If this ordeal isn’t enough , please note that passengers from Delhi have an EXTRA hurdle to cross i.e. get an OK TO BOARD for most places in the Middle East , which does not apply for Mumbai passengers.
Gosh, that’s a harrowing experience. I didn’t know such kind of bias existed in the aviation industry. I will be traveling to Dubai later this year, which airline do you suggest?
I would always suggest anyone to take a flight which suits them , be it the price of the ticket , timing of the flight , or even the one where you’ll get more baggage allowance. While I might have faced this situation on multiple flights from India to the middle east , it’s NOT the norm , and definitely not on one specific airline. And the best part is that a flight from here to there is 3.5 hours max , which isn’t too traumatic.
@delhi_traveller
Completely agree. Someone said it out loud finally. I flew DXB to BOM last in May 2018 economy and the very same experience.
Only a month later, I flew BOM to HYD, and found the service to be 10 folds different for this sector.