Air Travel in India

As part of the Hyderabad->Jaipur transfer, I had my first experience with Indian domestic air travel in over 4 years. Here, the class distinction really shows itself. Once you get through the airport doors, the ubiquitous dust is gone. All the signs are in English, most of the business is conducted in English, and personal technology is everywhere. There's a McDonalds, a Subway, and more coffee shops than you could shake a stick at. There's even a wi-fi network (free for 45 minutes if you have a mobile phone to which they can send an SMS). It feels pretty obvious that you've left the street behind and entered a separate world.

The flight itself is pretty much identical to US domestic air travel, right down to the "Oh, you have more baggage than we expected, pay us Rs 1400." (That's about $30 for those playing the home game, actually slightly *more* than the US rate.) They've even replaced the previous years' complimentary food/beverage with pay-as-you-go. The announcements are in English (and the local language), and all the in-flight rules are identical.

Only big difference is in the boarding process. Jetways seem to be reserved for long-haul or international flights. For anything of only a few hours, you get on a bus, the bus drives you to the plane, and you walk up the stairs. (The space for carry-on baggage is much smaller.) Getting on and off said bus displays the traditional approach to queueing, namely, throw some elbows and get your butt in gear. Oddly, there's still a courtesy norm of giving up seats for women.

It was, overall, a perfectly reasonable experience. It also costs exactly the same as in the US -- my ticket (which I thankfully did not pay for) was Rs 8400, which works out to about $175. (Actual ticket price, Rs 2000; the rest is taxes and fees. I hope that little innovation does NOT make its way west.) Two weeks from now, I've got to get back down to Mumbai to rendezvous with Jennifer and my father. There's plenty of flight room available (thankfully, 21-day advance booking has also not caught on yet), but at comparable prices. The train, if I go absolute highest-class, would be Rs 4000 round trip, about half the price. Assuming I can get a ticket off the tourist quota, here's hoping the next traveling entry is telling you about the joys of Indian train travel.