hello robbie

I am now home after 3 fantastic weeks, flew with Kingfisher both international and domestic - via Bangalore on way out and via Mumbai on return.
Have to say that I will never fly charters ever again to Goa - Kingfisher has spoilt me now. They certainly deserve the 5 star rating that they were awarded, and hubby and me are going in December for xmas and new year and definitely flying with Kingfisher again. I will put a post in the flights forum on the Kingfisher thread for you tomorrow regarding seating, quality, food, etc.

regards
Silver Angel

thanks Silver Angel
thats great to hear .im glad you had a good time...looking forward to it even more now...i have not done a package deal in my last 4 visits,,,,better fot me to go seperate...
thanks once again
robbie

I am now home after 3 fantastic weeks, flew with Kingfisher both international and domestic - via Bangalore on way out and via Mumbai on return.
Have to say that I will never fly charters ever again to Goa - Kingfisher has spoilt me now. They certainly deserve the 5 star rating that they were awarded, and hubby and me are going in December for xmas and new year and definitely flying with Kingfisher again. I will put a post in the flights forum on the Kingfisher thread for you tomorrow regarding seating, quality, food, etc.

regards
Silver Angel

Have to agree with all the above Robbie, Beats BA easily. Flew in to Mumbai, picked up my bag and went through to terminal coach. My bag was taken from me by kingfisher staff and transferred straight to the domestic flight. On the way back your bag is checked all the way through so you don't see it again until Heathrow. And all the stewardesses are drop dead georgous Would definately reccomend to others
Alan

well gooner fan
definatly looking forward to the flight now

stewardesses are drop dead georgous

just what my son said Alan
chilly

I don't understand why you can't check your luggage direct LHR to Goa with Kingfisher and you can with Jet,

Anyone shed any light on this?

Must admit I thought that was strange that you could do that on the return journey but not the outbound one

Might have to clear customs at first point of entry (similar to USA) whereas the other way it's just going out, nothing to check as it was done on check in at your departure point.

think Grimreaper might have a point there, we didn't ask the reason why but will do in December as we are doing the same route. At Bangalore you collect luggage from carousel then have to go through Customs with the red and green channels, the Kingfisher bellboy pushing our trolley took us through the red one as two of our cases were marked with a white cross (don't know what this means either) and the Army/Customs asked what was in them. When we said ''tins of baked beans and packs of biscuits as we are self-catering'' he let us go!!

I don't understand why you can't check your luggage direct LHR to Goa with Kingfisher and you can with Jet,

You can check your bags through both ways with Jet Airways, but on the outward from the UK you must retrieve your baggage at the first airport of entry to clear customs, then hand it straight back to Jet Airways.
When you get to Dabolim, you arrive as a domestic flight and so no customs.

Does anyone know,now that Mumbai Airport has been upgraded whether there are any lounges available that you can pay into.If not are there any hotels in close proximaty to the airport that charge a daily rate.We have a 6 hour wait for our connecting flight,so any extra comfort would be a bonus.

Thanks

John

We had a seven hour wait in January, didnt get into a premium lounge but at the very end of the terminal there is a quiet lounge with very comfortable bed/chairs, there are also several bar/food areas and the coffee bean/tea leaf has comfy arm chairs the time we were there went quickly, also as we smoke as we went airside down the stairs someone came and asked if we wanted a ciggie, he took us to a grotty bar/cafe around gates 2 or 3 just tipped him a few rupees and then went back every couple of hours for a nicotine top up. Airside much improved from the year before when there was nothing

There is a new system for transferring from the domestic to international airport now.
You show your International flight details at a desk in the baggage collection hall and get a ticket.
They then tell you to wait until your number is displayed before going to get the bus.
We waited about 20 minutes and noticed no numbers were called so just went to the area to get the bus, handed our ticket in and off we went.

I've done that International to Domestic bus at Mumbai about 4 or 5 times since the ticketing system was introduced. I think the number calling system is only used when there are large numbers of people waiting - I've never seen it in use. On each time I've been there the person at the desk has given me a ticket, invited me to take a nearby seat and then called to those waiting when the bus arrives.

Rebuilding work continues at the International Terminal. The road layout outside has changed and the central ramp up to departures has gone and now a multi-storey car park has been built there.

For International Arrivals, the exit to the street/taxis etc now involves taking a right hand exit from the Customs Hall, for Domestic Transfers there is now a separate exit from the Customs Hall to the left (near where the old combined exit was). There is now only one Currency Change place accessable to Domestic Transfer passengers (but there are now at least two ATMs in Domestic Departures).

For International Departures, all the check-in desks are now in one big long hall, but they still direct you to separate entrances for each group of desks. The area where the desks for BA used to be is now boarded off for rebuilding and the desks used by BA have been moved along. At one end of the Check-in area there is now a waiting area for those arriving before their check-in to open. There is now one common Immigration and Security Check for all gates which give access to one long common Departure area for all gates. As mentioned above, the Departure area now has a lot more catering and shops than there used to be.

Every time I go something changes.

Another problem we encountered a couple of days ago.

You are not allowed into the International terminal until 3 hours before your flight.Which was a nightmare for us ,as we got an afternoon flight from Goa and our flight to Bangkok was not until 2 am.There is a new waiting area outside which was ok.

P.s. it's raining here in Phuket.

John

John

Has this just started, we have never had a problem as long as we already had our departure cards which we already had filled in,in Goa, just a bit worried as we have already booked for this year and have another long wait

Thanks

I did see some evidence of not letting people into International Departures at Mumbai until a certain time before the flight. When I got off the transfer bus outside the front of the terminal we were decended upon by a number of people attempting to help with trolleys etc. Several of them asked persistantly which flight I was going for. To get rid of them I said I was going BA and have a long wait so I'm staying outside for a while and going nowhere. They replied that I wouldn't be let in, but one or two of them offered to "help get me inside" (or the usual "come and rest at my hotel"). I managed to get rid of them by escaping to outside the arrivals area for a while.

I lingered outside for an hour or two watching life go by. I had already killed an hour or two by sitting for a while on the seats in Domestic Arrivals Baggage Hall and letting two or three buses go before going for the bus.

I knew that BA check-in opens at 22:40 for the 02:40 flight, so soon after 22:40 I went to the entrance and was let in straight away - that's 4 hours before departure. So if there is a rule it may be the time the check-in opens or just a myth put about by the people outside to get more tips/commission etc..

There still is a waiting area at the far right end of the check-in area, I guess (but only guess) that the entrance on the far right end of the terminal might let you in there if you arrive before your check-in opens.

We went up from Goa last week at tea time to catch an early morning flight and did not have a problem getting into International Airport. Got off the Jet flight at domestic, onto the bus which then stopped outside door A and walked straight through it after showing our ticket.
Went to the left hand side and sat there until the desk opened 4 hours later.

We are flying Jet Airways into Mumbai and again with Jet down to Goa. They have only given us 1.5 hrs in between, is this enough time to transfer??