Tuesday, March 12, 2013

India Trip 2013 - Part 3

.....Continuing from my earlier post India Trip 2013 - Part2

FlyDubai Airline Experience:
While we were waiting at the gate at terminal 2, FlyDubai began the boarding process.  While getting on the shuttle to get to the plane, FlyDubai staff said that the plane is full and we'll have to check-in all of our carry-on bags.  After much debate, they agreed to let us keep 2 of our carry-on bags and check-in the other 2 bags which we were going to get at the final destination along with our check-in bags.  We get boarded on the bus and obviously, the bus doesn't move for another 15-20 minutes until it's full or everyone is aboard....ughhh!!!  After long journey, and sitting and waiting, we were all really tired and I wouldn't have minded the wait on the bus either, but there were no seats on the bus and we all had to stand, that's what made me more mad.  It was extremely tiring, but I had no choice!!  Finally we board the plane and find out that it's half empty...x-(.....What????  Why did they take our carry-on bags if it was half empty and told us it was full???

Just a side note, our flight left at 9:45 pm at night from Dubai and once we were in the air, it was a sight to see!! Dubai looked so beautiful at night with the city completely lit up!! Just gorgeous!!  Now, about the flight experience.....the flight left on time and seats were comfortable too.  But, this is where the niceness of the airline ends.  With that said, EVERYTHING on this airline comes with a price, even water!!!  Can you believe this?? They don't even give you water for free!!!  We paid $2 to get a water bottle.  After all that you have spent for the ticket, the airline doesn't even have courtesy to give you water, but oh well!!! Big minus for this airline...

Ahmedabad Airport:
We reach Ahmedabad International Airport on time as well.  Luckily, there were no other flights at the airport when we landed, which meant no crowd at the airport :).  We got transported from plane to the terminal via shuttle and got in line for the immigration.  We got the immigration forms while in plane by FlyDubai staff, so we filled out the forms in the plane.  This made it quick for us to get in the immigration line.  The line moved quickly and we were done with immigration in 5 minutes.  After that, it took maybe another 10 minutes for our bags to come and we were the 1st people in line for the customs which was surprisingly fast too....another 5 minutes maybe.  This is the quickest we have been out of the airport that I can remember.

Anyways, what follows is much more fun to read than these immigration and customs timings.  When we were collecting our bags, I thought I saw my uncle and aunt outside of the airport, so we got out of the airport all excited to see them.  As it turns out, there was no one from our family....haha!!  Big Blooper!!  It must have been someone else's family that I was waving at when I was inside, because surely there was no one from our family at the airport.  From a near-by shop I call my uncle and they got so surprised to hear our voice and even find out that we were already outside the airport.  He said he was on his way and soon after talking to him, they all came to receive us at the airport.  I think this is partially our fault too because before our journey, we kept telling them that it will take us at least 1 and half hours to get out after we land since that has been the case in the past.  But, today was a complete surprise to even us when we got done with all the formalities so quickly and got out within 20 minutes.

When the family arrived, they were so upset that we had to wait outside but were also happy to see us.  We put all our bags in the car and drove away to my aunt's place.  It was a long journey, but finally at home now :)

With this last post, I conclude my India journey and hope my details give you the answers you are looking for regarding an airline or an airport experience.  I hope to actually share with you the 3 weeks of non-stop fun in another post, but that will take little while, so until then, have a great week ahead!!

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