Traveling has become very common in the present scenario. The world has become so small that we can reach from one end to another in the matter of few hours. The international travel have become so common that you will find airports as crowded as railway stations of India. We had an opportunity to travel by British air ways from India to here in the USA. I traveled with my wife on immigration visa. I am going to present a brief review of British air ways, the air lines we flew from India.
British air ways is a very well-known name among all airlines. This airline is operating since last so many years but we have not heard of any major mishap happening to any of its aircrafts. The timing of departure from India and arrival at BWI airport were also convenient to us. This was one of the main reasons of selecting this airline. The one way ticket from Vadodara to Baltimore was also found reasonable at Rs. 31000 per ticket including all taxes for the economy class. We were allowed to carry two unaccompanied baggage, each weighing maximum70 LBS each. This allowance was higher compared to 50 LBS allowed by other airlines.
We had to initially catch Indian air lines flight from Vadodara in Gujarat to reach Mumbai from where we were to board the international flight. We boarded at about 8pm from Vadodara and reached Mumbai at about 10pm. Our onward international flight was at 1am in the morning on next day. We had to take our luggage at Mumbai domestic terminal and had to take a shuttle service to reach to our terminal at the international airport. This was all done nicely and the airport staff helped loading our luggage in the shuttle bus. No charge was levied from us for this travel by shuttle bus.
We reached our international terminal and reported at the counter of British air ways. As my wife was a wheel chair passenger, she was immediately transferred to a wheel chair driven by the attendant. The check in procedure went on smoothly and the staff was courteous all through. We passed through the security check that was really very tiring. Our hand bags were checked thoroughly by opening it. Our flight was on time and we boarded the aircraft exactly 45 minutes prior to actual departure time.
The seats allotted to us were in the front as requested and were quite comfortable. Each seat was having an independent TV with all the controls and the ear phones supplied free of charges. The safety booklet and the British air ways journals were kept in each seat. The fruit juice was served just prior to flight departure. The safety demonstrations etc. were also good and not too much lengthy.
The crews on the air craft was also dressed nicely and were extremely attentive. Requirements of each passenger were attended politely. We took off on time from Mumbai. The dinner was served as soon as we were airborne. We had booked Asian vegetarian meals and were quite happy with the food varieties served. The food tasted also great and was served steaming hot. The alcoholic drinks were served to all passengers on chargeable basis. In-flight entertainment was also good with total 12 video channels operating. Two channels were showing Indian programs that we liked a lot. The breakfast was served at around 7 am and we got ready for our flight change over at London. We had around two hours for this flight change and had to go to the other terminal.
This was really a long walk and it was really better that I had booked a wheel chair for my wife as she would not have been able to walk this long distance at Heathrow airport. We were already issued with our boarding passes for our onwards journey to the USA, at Mumbai only. However, security ritual was again to be faced. We boarded the flight and took off for Baltimore on time. The Asian vegetarian meals were again served as per our need and they were very good. In-flight entertainment was again good but the Indian programs were now shown on only one channel. This was okay as that channel was playing a very popular Hindi movie.
All necessary forms were supplied to all the passengers for the immigration and the customs check at the USA. The crew was giving good guidance to those passengers who were not able to fill in the said forms. The time finally came and we landed at Baltimore exactly on time at 3-30 pm. The landing was very smooth and without any jerk. We deplaned at Baltimore and completed all immigration and customs formalities. By the time we completed it, our luggage was also waiting in safe and sound condition.
Our flight has come to an end and with that our pleasant and memorable experience also ended. We had enjoyed the flight of British air ways tremendously and have no hesitation in recommending it to all our friends and relatives.
