The
term 'Vande Bharat' often amused me as my myopic mind gorges with petty
delights that face me each day! On a serious note, I named it 'One Day
Bharat' as I often slip into a reminiscence of my travails getting back
home!
Jokes
apart, it is an eventful 'one day', right from the start. 'One day'
perhaps refers to the day of travel, but trouble starts much earlier
than that, depending on how you made your purchase. Rest of this blog
turns to a serious note in order to provide accurate and succinct advise
to anyone who is looking to travel.
If you do not have time to go through the arduous details, please skip to summary at the end!
Day '-N' (read 'minus N'):
N
is the number of days from the time of ticket purchase to the day of
your travel. I cannot emphasize this enough as this might be the biggest
monetary risk you'll face during the entire travel! Beware of Air India (henceforth AI in this blog for brevity)!
It is perhaps the most sloppiest of the organizations (subject to your
experience!) to work with. 'Day -N' is the day you are purchasing air
travel. Be doubly (triply) sure when you want to travel and from where.
Given that flights do not necessarily originate from your place of stay
in the US, give it some thought. Circumstances of many stranded
individuals sort of made this a mad rush of a booking. It is quite
possible for you to get riled up with the booking experience, and in
your anxiety end up blocking the very first flight wherever it could be.
Don't do that! Not with Air India!. What makes this worse (or
made it worse previously) is the lack of upfront communication from
government as to how long the program would run. It feels as though
they're going to extend it on-demand as opposed to extended dates based
on the requests they got.
Step
back, take a deep breath, and then book from the place that's most
convenient. If you then booked a ticket with AI, try to make it to that
flight (unless you can't). It is a nightmare to cancel that ticket and
book an another one. Unfortunately, I did that. Obviously, you can
purchase a new one without an issue. However, cancelling the original
one (because you do not want others to miss out on a chance to return on
your unclaimed seat) is a pain. I called AI several times accounting to
3-4 hours of cumulative waiting before getting to somebody on the call.
My ticket was cancelled but I was told there would not be any
confirmation email or any communication whatsoever. I didn't believe it
is possible to cancel without a notice of any sort. After 3 months, I
can now believe that it is possible!
Well,
if you did cancel your ticket, expect the unexpected! Your degree of
astonishment depends on the length of stay in the US! You'd be used to
generous treatment from vendors over there. Welcome to the other side of
the world. You'll have hard time getting to AI, spend long waiting
hours on the phone sometimes to be dropped callously. At other times,
the line goes blank; you don't even get that annoying hold tune. You
begin to wonder whether you are really in queue! And dare not email
their customer care. I thought those emails go straight to trash. In my
case, I got a response from AI three months after my initial email (and 6
reminders, after which I gave up) only to ask me to go back to their
Customer care! You'll discover it is an endless circle when customer
care asks you to email them!
Well
the summary is - don't put yourself in a state where you have to cancel
the ticket. It seems as though 'Vande Bharat' flights are going to be
around for a while, so buy your time and plan well. If you happen to
cancel, talk to your credit card company to claim the amount!
Day 0
This
is the day of travel and here I should commend crew for their job. For
their part, the staff was constantly reminding passengers to maintain
distance, and offering the service. You'll need to arrive early at
airport (perhaps 5 hrs earlier), expect long waiting time before you
could stretch your legs. Contrary to many blogs, you do not need to get
any signed documents or Covid tests, etc. All the documents you need are
provided to you. Have a pen handy to fill in documentation. Do not
panic and do not rush. You will be serviced and will not be left behind.
Enter
the airport, and find out the counter to get your temperature read. You
are allowed in the line only with a proof of temperature check -
usually a sticker on your passport. In the line, please be patient, and
be courteous to others. Maintain distance and stop the spread. Your bags
are weighed but not the laptop bag. Yes, you can have a carry-on in
addition to laptop bag, but the former would be weighed.
Security
lines will be shorter than usual. Once on the plane, you'll find a
packet on your seat that contains food for travel along with water, a
face shield, a packet with couple of masks and sanitizers. Though
sufficient for the duration of the flight, it is beneficial to carry
your own masks, gloves and sanitizers for the journey before and after
the flight. Fill up extra water just in case, empty bowels to avoid
in-flight nuisance. Get extra food to satisfy your appetite - preferably
non-perishable, and remember that most of the shops might be closed!
Passengers
in the middle seat are given an overall, not exactly PPE kit, but a
poor man's imitation. It is better to get your own hazmat suit if you
can. Don't be embarrassed to get extra protection. Your safety is more
vital than others' opinions.
Don't
expect others to follow social distancing. I'll avoid going into a rant
about people behavior here. Most of the travelers might be stranded
elderly, and sometimes they do not understand instructions. If your
loved ones are traveling, instruct them at home on the safety measures.
Finally,
your flight will not necessarily be the state of the art plane. In
fact, it could barely be adequate. Get ready to be greeted by squeaking
seats, broken arm rests, and unwieldy back rests. There
is no in-flight entertainment, blankets, beverages or any service for
that matter. You cannot call on the attendants. They might visit a
couple of times during the 24 hour period with water. Prepare to enjoy
your solitude, ponder on your prior life, and mentally brace yourself
for the completely unexpected life ahead!
Ironically, I felt amused at
seeing all these! It felt like a retro theme, although I admit I was tad
worried back of my mind. I did not let my train of thoughts take off,
and constantly tried to stay in the moment. That's the best piece of
advise I can give you! After all, there is very little in our control.
TIG (Trust in God)!
Day 1
After
you land on Indian soil, it depends when you could actually make it to
your home. From what I saw, there is no method to this madness.
Depending on the circumstances on the day you land (again TIG), you
could be sent immediately home or could be quarantined for a week. I
went through one week of solitude!
Passengers
with emergencies or with kids under 10 are allowed to return to their
homes. As to what constitutes an 'emergency' cannot be foretold. There
would be medical professionals trying to fend people who make lame
excuses wanting to go home, me included. You must appreciate their
patience and their sense of humor (and sensibility to avoid showing it)
in listening to fake stories. I do not want to be condescending to the
others, but those doctors are really doing their duty!
Based
on when you land, it might be several hours before you can go through
to the doctors. Relax, have grub, and go back to your thoughts on why
you couldn't have waited to take this flight :)
The Week that wasn't
Quarantine
time was the best of my travel. I anticipated subdued treatment going
by the things. To my amazement, quarantine (at least in Delhi) was
awesome! Being locked up in a room with good hygiene is not an issue for
me. I enjoyed my stay without any disturbance of room service. Room
service would place food, replacement sheets, and others at the door for
you to pick them yourself. The hotel I stayed replenished water and
coffee (powder) with biscuits prior to placing sumptuous breakfast with
fruits and juice! Breakfast was the best meal of the day! Rest of the
meal was okay, though the portion sizes were huge. I often requested
omission of certain foods to avoid wastage.
If
I had to nit-pick, I'd probably say I didn't expect Lifebuoy soap and
Clinic plus shampoo! Since I had my own supply, I chuckled to myself a
little.
In
many ways, this week wasn't entirely useless. I overcame bulk of the
jetlag during that time. Toxins from the flight travel would be subdued
here. Thankfully, there is internet - I do not know how we could
survive without that!
Domestic
flight back home was added an extra hop overnight. By then, I was
accustomed to surprises and was hardly affected with the change. I was
glad I made it home in one piece! Everything else seemed minuscule
before that.
For the hasty, here are some Dos and Don'ts
The Don'ts
1. Don't panic. It's going to be okay.
2. Don't book in a hurry. Cancellation/Refund is a pain you don't want to go through.
3. Don't have preconceived notion on quarantine. Prepared to be surprised.
4. Don't have to get a face shield. You'll be given one in the flight. If you have a better one, get it.
5.
Don't have to fill in docs at home. You can fill in while waiting in
check-in line. I found the format to be slightly different.
The Dos
1. Get extra food (non perishable like energy bars, cookies, Indian snacks)
2. Wear a jacket and get additional throw blanket as Airline does not provide blankets
3. Enough sanitizer but ensure it is travel pack (3 Fl Oz - 100ml)
4. A few pairs of gloves - change as required
5. Face masks (not the ones that hang to your ears), N-95 or KN-95
6. Travel packs of paste, shower gel, etc (if you are picky about the ones they provide in the hotel)
7. Print out of your ticket - might be needed after landing
8. Boarding pass - keep it until you reach home
9. Pen - you'd not want to borrow that
10.
Charge your phone often - but please sanitize the cable/phone once you
unplug it. You can charge phone after immigration checks at the
destination while waiting to be called along with your group.
11. If you are a reader, get a book along. There is no in-flight entertainment.
12. Install Arogya sethu app in your phone. Carry some currency/Cards. On Indian soil you'll find coffee and mobile booths
13.
Get your own headsets/earphones, copy movies in phone/tablet. Most
streaming services should allow you to download some videos.
14.
Ensure you have working phone. If you are quarantined, you will need to
talk to AI to reschedule domestic leg. Getting to them on the phone is
tiresome.
What to expect
1.
Do not expect social distancing from others. Anywhere. Whether in
checkin queue or in the flight. Flight crew tries their best, but people
are people.
2. There is no in-flight service. Crew walk by once or twice during the entire duration with water.
3.
Only travelers with kids under 10 are sent home. Others, unless there
is an emergency, have to be quarantined, including elderly (>60 yrs).
4. Quarantine hotels are good. Those are not government facilities. Service is good.
5. You need to pay quarantine expenses. Make arrangements for that (carry cards)
6.
There is no need to undergo prior Covid tests. They won't do Covid
tests at the airport. You'll be checked only for temperature
7.
You neither will be tested in the hotel. All they do is thermal checks.
Only if you have grave symptoms, additional check is done.
8. Expect to lug your stuff. Once you are out of airport, you will not have carts. Travel light if possible.
9.
Once you land, you will be processed according to the destination
state. If there are directions from local state or there is a
representative, you will be sent with them. Everybody else needs to be
quarantined. Therefore, expect to be quarantined for a week. I do not
think there is 2 week quarantine now.
10.
There is no quarantine or additional checks in your domestic airport.
You will walk as though you are regular domestic passenger. Only thermal
checks are done
11.
Discipline yourself to do home quarantine. There might not be any
checks from government now. It is up to you to keep your family safe.
