Flying with children for the first time

Guest post by Patricia Hogenes

It’s time for a vacation, so the family is heading out to visit relatives. It won’t be a long plane flight, but for the kids – it will be their first time. So how can a parent prepare the children for the whole flying experience?

Make it sound fun. Above all, the experience should be described as a fun adventure. There will be a lot of new things to see, the kids will get a chance to fly – depending on how old they are, remind them of fun flying experiences like Peter Pan – make it a positive association.

Explain the airport. With the metal detectors and serious people watching the screening process, that could be a really frightening experience for children. Sit them down before the trip and let them know this is going to be something they will encounter, but emphasize the safety – this is what happens to make sure everyone will be safe on the flight. Tell them the metal detector is very safe – it will just be a minute to walk through it, and they’ll be done. Mom or Dad will go first, to show them that it is really easy.

Talk about safety. Let the kids know that when the family gets to the airport, they are not to wander off, or try to run around and see everything. The kids need to hold hands with the their parents if there is a crowd.

There will just be a lot of noise, with people moving in different directions, announcements coming over the loud speaker, and little carts zooming by. The family will have to spend some time in lines – waiting to check in luggage, going through security, so just let them know to be patient – fun is just around the corner, when they get to go on the plane!

Above all, teach your children to keep their seatbelts fastened at all times when they are seated, and remember to practice yourself what you preach to others.

On board the plane. Remind the kids that they need to be polite – they can’t just talk loud and do whatever they want – they must be well behaved. There will be smiling ladies who will bring them a soda pop – those ladies are called flight attendants, and they want to help, and the children must say "thank you".

Carry games, colouring books, tablets, video players, and other small items that will keep the kids entertained through the flight. After the family settles in, the kids will be able to use their tablets to quietly watch a video, and Finding Nemo is already loaded.

Carry a spare set of clothes and wet-wipes in your carry-on baggage. You never know when your child decides the orange juice looks better on his or her t-shirt than in the glass.

Meals. Many airlines offer special children's meals. Research with your airline and pre-order your meals at least 48 hours before your flight. If your airline does not offer a kid's meal, pack some of your children's favourite foods to keep them happy through the flight, but remember no liquids or gels will get through security.

Seating. If you are travelling with an infant below two years of age, you can request for a bassinet and seating in the very first row behind the bulkhead. Similarly, when travelling with children, many airlines will accept a special request in advance to seat all of you together. Check with your airline at the time of making your reservation.

What to expect on take-off. Don’t let the take-off be a surprise. Just explain to the kids that the airplane will roll around for a while, and then the smiling ladies will tell everyone to sit back. The plane noise will get louder, and then the kids will feel pushed back in their seats – like at the state fair on the roller coaster. After that, there will be a weightless feeling, and guess what kids, you’re flying! When a plane goes through some wind, it might feel bumpy once in a while. It is nothing to be alarmed about. Just sit back and relax, and the bumps will soon go away.

When it’s time to land. Point out to the kids that there will be a time when they can feel the plane going down – that is normal, and everything is fine. When the plane touches the ground, there will be a little squeak. Then after it rolls for a while, there will be some engine noise – that is the pilot using the engines to slow the plane – it is completely normal. When the plane slows down, it will roll for a while more, then slow down and pull up to a stop. That means the trip is over, and it’s time to go see the family.

When travelling with infants and younger children, it is important to remember that they do not know how to relieve the increasing air pressure that presses on the eardrums as the plane descends. Their natural reaction to the pain is to cry. The Eustachian Tube which connects the inner ear to the back of the throat, is the body's natural pressure regulating mechanism. It works best with a chewing action, and so carry some small pieces of a hard candy, or a device, anything the baby can chew on and relieve the pressure. In India, "Mishri" can also be used.

With a little explanation of the process, so the kids know what to expect during plane travel before it happens, their experience of flying for the first time can be positive, exciting and rewarding. When the little one says “Mommy, can we go again?” – that signals a successful flight!

While Patricia Hogenes works as a paralegal for a law office, her real loves are her three kids, and her latest travel adventure. She has been writing freelance articles 10 years, on topics as varied as law and legal matters, adolescent drug treatment, and health topics such as diabetes. She currently writes for SlackDavis.com.

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New rules to make flying easier for passengers with disabilities

By BA Staff

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), to ensure equal access to air transportation for all travellers, is requiring airline websites and automated airport kiosks to be accessible to passengers with disabilities.

In addition, DOT will allow airlines to choose between stowing wheelchairs in a cabin compartment on new aircraft or strapping them to a row of seats, an option that will ensure that two manual, folding wheelchairs can be transported at a time.

The new rules are part of DOT’s continuing implementation of the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said

“All air travelers should be treated fairly when they fly, regardless of any disabilities they may have. These new rules build on our past work in ensuring that our air transportation system is accessible for everyone, while balancing both airlines’ and passengers’ need for flexibility.”   

Under the new websites-and-kiosks rule, covered airlines will be given up to two years to make pages of their websites that contain core travel information and services accessible to persons with disabilities, and to make all of their web pages accessible within three years.

Websites are required to meet the standards for accessibility contained in the widely accepted Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The requirement applies to both U.S. and foreign airlines, with websites marketing air transportation to U.S. consumers for travel within, to, or from, the United States. 

The rule also requires ticket agents to disclose and offer web-based discount fares to customers unable to use their sites due to a disability starting within 180 days after the rule’s effective date.   Airlines are already required to provide equivalent service for consumers who are unable to use inaccessible websites. Under the new rule, airlines must also offer equivalent service to passengers with disabilities who are unable to use their websites even if the websites meet the WCAG accessibility standards.

In addition, any automated kiosks installed at U.S. airports for services -- such as printing boarding passes and baggage tags --must be accessible to passengers with disabilities until at least 25 percent of all kiosks at each airport location are accessible. Even if no new kiosks are installed, 25 percent of kiosks at each airport location must be accessible within 10 years. The standards for accessible kiosks are based on those set by the U.S. Department of Justice for ATM and fare machines in its 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act rule as well as the Section 508 standards for self-contained closed products, such as copiers.

DOT’s wheelchair rule provides airlines with more flexibility because it permits airlines to transport passenger wheelchairs by strapping them across a row of seats using a strap kit that complies with applicable safety standards, in addition to stowing them in a closet or similar compartment. In 2008, DOT issued a rule prohibiting airlines from using the seat-strapping method on new aircraft as an alternative to stowing the manual wheelchair in a closet or similar compartment. In that same rule, DOT allowed the use of a seat-strapping method on existing aircraft. Based on a fuller evaluation of the costs and benefits, DOT has now revised its position to also allow the use of seat-strapping on new aircraft subject to certain conditions.   For example, if an airline chooses to use the seat-strapping method to stow a wheelchair, it must transport two wheelchairs in the cabin if requested unless stowing the second wheelchair would displace other passengers.

If an airline chooses to use a closet to stow a wheelchair, then it will still be required to stow only one wheelchair in the cabin. However, in this case it must install a sign or placard prominently on the closet indicating that a wheelchair and other assistance devices are to be stowed in this area with priority over other items brought onto the aircraft by other passengers or crew, including crew luggage.

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dnata selects Amadeus' flight management solution

By BA Staff

Amadeus, announced that dnata, part of the Emirates group of Dubai and one of the world’s largest combined air services providers, will implement Amadeus' Altéa Departure Control’s Flight Management solution in their centralised load control offices (CLC) in Dubai.

The airport ground handler, is now present in 75 airports in 38 countries. The deal spans all Emirates and flydubai domestic and international flights and over 100 other dnata customer airlines using the system.

Under the agreement, Amadeus will provide dnata, which offers ground handling, cargo, travel and flight catering services, with a fully automated solution for managing the weight and balance of all flights it handles from its CLC in Dubai.

This solution is a new generation load control platform designed to enable ground handlers to ensure efficient flight departures and optimise the weight and balance process of all handled flights. It improves the productivity of load controllers, and enables greater precision in the forecast and analysis of passenger and cargo load. The system automatically defines optimal load distribution, thereby optimising fuel requirements for airlines and increasing uplift capacity of aircraft.

Jon Conway, Divisional Senior Vice President, Airport Operations, dnata, said:

“Amadeus’ in-depth experience, vast reach and high level of development will help us gain greater efficiencies through the full automation of our weight and balance system. Furthermore, Altéa Departure Control’s Flight Management enables us to provide our airline customers with significant fuel savings. The system’s community and SaaS elements also allow for greater collaboration with our customers. Altea DCS FM is already showing high performance in a centralised load control (CLC) environment, increasing productivity.”

John Jarrell, Head of Airport IT, Amadeus, commented:

“We are extremely pleased to continue our airport journey having signed the world’s fourth largest ground handler. Amadeus is proud to be part of dnata’s successful growth strategy today and into the future. We are certain this will only be the beginning of a fruitful relationship as we work closer together with this important customer to offer further enhancements in ground handling. This agreement enables us to strengthen our foothold globally, alongside our 50 ground handlers currently using our solutions today.” 

Francois Weissert, SVP & Chief Technology Advisor Middle East and Asia, Amadeus, stated:

“We are very happy to add an important ground handler like dnata to our growing list of customers in the Middle-East region, where we already have agreements in Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. Amadeus believes in the potential of this region, which has established itself as a global air travel hub over the last few years. Since the creation of our regional head office in Dubai, we continue to invest in this strategic area, growing hand in hand with our customers and the regional travel industry.”

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Study identifies Korea as a game-changing market for Asia Pacific travel

By BA Staff

Courtesy of Caan.asia

Amadeus, a leading technology partner for the global travel industry, has released research into the big four travel effects that will shape the future of travel in Korea. The research shows that growth potential in Korea may be stronger than any other market in Asia Pacific.

The study was unveiled at the conference titled, “Shaping the Future of Travel in Korea: the big FOUR travel effects” and conducted in partnership with Frost & Sullivan, the report highlights the enormous growth of Korea’s travel industry in the last 30 years, mirroring the country’s emergence on the global economic stage. International departures have grown by more than 12% annually since 1980, with annual departures equivalent to 25% of the population – one of the largest travelling populations in Asia Pacific.

Inbound travel is also growing; the government met its target of 10 million visitors in 2012 and continues to reach record numbers for arrivals in 2013. Much of this growth is coming from China, India and Indonesia, as Korea continues to develop its reputation as a ‘cool’ destination thanks to the popularity of Korean culture including food, fashion and music.

However, Korea’s highly tech-savvy population and a strong social media culture means that travel companies will need to communicate with their customers using increasingly sophisticated technology. And the travel industry as a whole will need to continue investing in infrastructure in order to handle the growing number of travellers both inbound and outbound.

Commenting on the research findings, Angel Gallego, President, Amadeus Asia Pacific said:

“Korea is one of the most exciting travel markets in Asia Pacific and one of the most rapidly evolving travel markets in the world. With Korea’s increasing popularity as a destination for younger travellers, and startling numbers of Koreans venturing abroad for business and leisure, both inbound and outbound travel are seeing enormous growth. However, upgrades to existing infrastructure will be needed to manage these higher volumes of travellers and their changing expectations and demands.”

The research identified four dominant themes, or effects, that will fundamentally shape the future of travel in Korea to 2030. They are:

1. The Me Effect: The increasing individualism of the Korean traveller

Korea is now the third largest business travel market in Asia, with business travel expenses growing on average by 6% every year over the past decade, primarily as a result of spending by large multinationals. However, the government is actively encouraging growth in the SME sector, which accounts for 85% of total employment in Korea, and this is likely to stimulate an increase in SME business travel. The SME traveller is likely to be more focused on budget travel and doing business in neighbouring markets such as Japan and China.

Korean culture is moving away from its traditional family and group-orientated leisure travel and moving towards more individualism, driving an increase in the numbers of Free Independent Travellers (“FITs”). Seventy percent of Koreans now travel independently, and almost 40% of leisure travel bookings are researched online. Almost half of Korean travellers have close family members living overseas, with 90% keen to visit them.

2. The Red Tape Effect: The breaking down of barriers to travel

The number of inbound business travellers has changed little over the past decade as Korea has generally not been a target market for most overseas companies. Only 215,000 business travellers visited Korea in 2012, mainly from China, Japan and India. But the size of the Korean economy and improved access to its market, with the signing of 13 Free Trade Agreements since 2003, is likely to increase interest from overseas companies, driving more inbound business travel.

Inbound leisure travel numbers are also growing rapidly, almost doubling in number over the past decade. Much of this increase is being driven by its Asian neighbours, China, Indonesia and Thailand. Korea is also increasingly being seen as a “cool” destination by young Asians. This research showed that Korea is among the top three preferred destinations for 18-30 year old travellers from all countries except India.

3. The Leapfrog Effect: Technology and infrastructure in the Asia Pacific

Koreans are tech savvy travellers, with 66% of Korean leisure travellers generally booking trips online. Korea also has the highest smartphone penetration in the world, estimated at 73% in 2013. Travel providers will therefore need to use the internet and mobile technologies to reach Korean travellers, who are increasingly confident in managing their own travel arrangements online.

Korea has a highly developed social media culture; two-thirds of the population is active, including virtually everyone aged in their 20’s.  It is therefore not surprising to find that 80% of Korean leisure travellers use social media during their travel, one of the highest rates of usage in the region and double the numbers from Japan.

4. The Barbell Effect: Growth at the upper and lower ends of the market

Whilst the numbers of travellers to Asia Pacific destinations will more than double over the period to 2030, traveller requirements will become more extreme at the upper and lower ends of the economic spectrum. Although there will be many more travellers from emerging countries, they will generally be travelling on a budget – and this will stimulate rapid growth at the budget end of the travel scale, whether on budget airlines or in economy hotels. In order to capture the growing traveller numbers from emerging economies, Korea will need to increasingly cater for the budget traveller with facilities such as budget airlines and hotels. 

Amadeus developed this study to gain insights into the future of Korean travel, in line with their partnership plans with TOPAS to introduce the most advanced travel technology platform in Korea this month – TOPAS SellConnect.

Based on Amadeus’ technology and TOPAS’ local market knowledge, TOPAS SellConnect will offer travel agencies more opportunities to sell more effectively, and will offer travellers a better experience from booking to boarding. TOPAS SellConnect will begin piloting with travel agencies next month with all TOPAS-subscribing travel agencies completing the migration in the first half of 2014.

This study also comes as Amadeus works with Korea’s top national carriers, Korean Air and Asiana, to complete their migration to a new Passenger Service System, Altéa, which will further help Korea to advance its travel processes.

Mark Dougan, Managing Director of Research, Frost & Sullivan added:
llaborate 2013 conference in Seoul, hosted by Amadeus and TOPAS, attended by more than 250 travel industry professionals.

“We wanted to understand where the industry is headed and which travel effects will have the most impact. It’s clear from the findings that it will take a collaborative effort across the industry, with a strong underpinning of technology, in order to really take advantage of the growth opportunities in Korea. With some of that change already underway, Korea has the potential to be a real game-changer in Asia Pacific travel and indeed, globally.”

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Ten things you should not do at airports

by Devesh Agarwal

Some helpful advice from a frequent traveller, which should, hopefully, make your air travel journey more pleasant for the staff, you, and your fellow travellers.

Mumbai CSI airport. Domestic departure terminal 1B. Photo copyright Devesh Agarwal. Used with permission.

1. Be over smart

In the post 9/11, 26/11, 7/7 world, airports and the people working there are paranoid about security. Keep your jokes and smart comments bottled up. When the counter agent asks about your baggage being packed by someone else, just say yes; unless you like having your bag, and you, strip-searched.

2. Try and push your way through

We all like our personal space, and we hate fellow passengers who crowd us or try to jump to the head of the queue. Keep cool, and keep the respect of your fellow travellers. My personal pet peeve are the fellow passengers who keep hitting me with their baggage trolley in their eagerness to move ahead. Keep your patience. You are not going to get to your destination any sooner by shoving around.If anything, you might end up with a tongue lashing.

3. Get drunk

There is a reason why many languages use a synonym of "oil" for alcohol. It greases your tongue and your intelligence. An unclear head and a loose tongue get you blabbing things you shouldn't. You don't want to run afoul of the cabin crew who can de-board you, or worse get you arrested. Also, the air in the aircraft cabin is very dry and only intensifies your dehydration during the flight, and the hang-over once you land.

4. Lose your temper

Air travel today is a frustrating experience, which gives you many opportunities to lose your cool. Whatever the provocation, keep your cool. Giving the check-in agent a hard time because your flight is delayed is definitely not going to help you, but just might land-up hurting you. You want all the allies you can get.

5. Flirt with the counter-staff or cabin crew

Being polite is one thing, being lecherous quite another. Just because the counter-staff or the air-hostesses (as most Indians call them) smile at you, does not give you a green light to drool all over her. Its her duty to smile and be polite, and she wants to get through her shift. Its almost certain she has a family, and if not a husband, a boyfriend.

6. Crowd the boarding gate

"XYZ airline announces the departure of its flight abc to D......" and there is a line a mile long crowding the boarding gate. Forget the fact that the airline would like to board its premium passengers first, or would like for a more orderly boarding, by rows. I just have to be the first on-board and hog that precious overhead bin.

7. Play music or video games loudly on your mobile device

Remember the rule about keep your cool. Don't add to your fellow travellers mental misery by blasting your phone or tablet or your voice. Use headphones while playing music or video games, and for heavens sake, use your indoor voice when talking on your phone.

8. Sleep

This may not apply much at Indian airports, but I have seen enough situations where a passenger thinks, just a quick 40 winks nap, only to wake up and find out they have missed their flight due to over-sleeping.

9. Under-prepare for your flight with your infant

The number one gripe most passengers have are wailing infants and unruly children. Remember to carry enough games, toys, books, puzzles, etc., to keep your children entertained and in control. Carry a change of clothes. Infants do not know how to deal with the changes in air-pressure as the aircraft ascends and descends. They cry when their ears get blocked during the descent of the aircraft. The chewing motion relieves the air pressure, so carry a small piece of candy or "mishri" or a pacifier that will ease the situation for your toddler, your fellow passengers and you.

Image by Siddarth Bhandary. Used with permission.

10. Crowd the baggage claim with your trolley

Leave the trolley behind if possible. With increasing airplane sizes and more passengers on each flight, there is less space for you and your trolley along the baggage belt. Stop jamming your baggage trolley in between everyone waiting for their bags. You end up hurting people and getting dirty looks. One of the nicest things I remember from Terminal 1 at Singapore Changi airport was a yellow line marking a three feet trolley exclusion zone, all around the baggage claim belt. Try to follow this rule and make life comfortable for everyone.

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British Airways India -- A Ticket to Visit Mum

by Vinay Bhaskara 

British Airways recently launched an powerful advertising campaign entitled "Visit your Mum." The following video shows British Airways flying Ratnesh home from New York City to surprise his mother and visit his family for the first time in more than 15 years since leaving home at the age of 17. His unwitting mother is cooking his favorite dish - Bhindi (Okra) - and is told that British Airways will just be flying the dish over to NYC and sending a representative over to pick up the tiffin box. That representative is Ratnesh. The video is extremely moving and powerful. Kudos to British Airways for a job well done, and more importantly for bringing those two together again.

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Video: The Science of Jet Lag - TED Luncheon Talk

by Devesh Agarwal

Jet lag is the curse of the international traveller. Much of human physiology and body patterns are adapted to an internal 24 hour clock called the Circadian Clock or Circadian Rhythm. Virtually all aspects of our life, especially sleep, alertness, cognition, body temperature, behaviour, digestion, strength, even our thinking and memory is tied in to this clock.

Courtesy Delta Airlines, a video on the "Science of jet lag" by Professor Russell Foster, Chair of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Oxford University, at a TED luncheon. In my humble opinion the video is very revealing on why we suffer jet lag and more importantly how to make our bodies adapt better and faster to changes in time zones.

The professor advises us travellers the following simple rules. If you travel west, seek out morning light to delay your body clock. If you travel east, it is far more difficult, but AVOID morning light and seek out light in the afternoon and in the evening (by artificial means if needed) to advance your body clock.

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Guest Post: What is a Travel Concierge?

When I tell people about my company, Cranky Concierge, I always explain that we specialize in air travel assistance. Want to guess what the usual reaction to that is?

“What do I need that for?”

Building a business that’s not something people even realize they might need can be a challenge, so I’m grateful to Vinay and Devesh for letting me guest post about what we do.

The short answer is that you need us if something goes wrong with your flights, but you might want us around just in case.

Part of what we do is similar to what a travel agent does. In fact, we are agents so we can not only book your flights but also hotels, car rentals, vacation packages, etc. We’re affiliated with a larger network, so we can get access to great rates from time to time. If you’re traveling internationally in a premium cabin, then the chances of finding better rates goes up.

But it’s what we do after everything is booked that really helps us to stand out. In fact, many if not most of our clients come to us after their flights have been booked. When a client signs up, we ask for all the flight details for the upcoming trip. We put that into our system and we monitor the flights for any problems. A couple weeks before departure, a concierge is assigned to each client. That concierge follows the entire trip him/herself so there is no call center. You never have to explain the history of your trip or what your preferences are. Your concierge will already know.

Before departure, you’ll get an update from your concierge via email, text message, tweet, or really any method you prefer. Your concierge will give you gate information, let you know where your airplane is coming from, and monitor the weather. If everything goes as planned, then think of our service as more of an insurance-style policy. You’re paying for a guardian to keep an eye on your flights and help if something goes wrong.

And when it does go wrong, we spring into action. We’ve had client miss flights and we’ve had to help them find alternates. We’ve had weather cancellations, volcanic eruptions, mechanical problems, you name it. Our concierges are all self-proclaimed “airline dorks,” so they’re very good at navigating through problematic situations.

For example, we recently had a client flying from London to Honolulu via San Francisco. His first flight had a mechanical and he was going to miss his connection. We worked with United to get him booked on a connection the next day. We contacted his hotel at his destination and spoke with others who need to be know that he would be delayed. Though this client is well-traveled and knows his way around the airlines, he was very grateful to have had us there to help get everything fixed so he didn’t have to worry.

Sometimes, it’s the concierge’s creativity that really helps us stand out. One client absolutely had to be in Nice, France when the Icelandic volcano shut down most of Northern Europe. Their flights were canceled and they were afraid that they wouldn’t be able to get there . . . until we stepped in. We had to route them from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv, then connect back to Madrid. From there, they took an overnight train to Barcelona and then drove the 600km to Nice. It wasn’t an ideal way to get there, but if people need to be somewhere, we can almost always find a way.

Our service is global. We can help you wherever you are, including India, of course. In fact, as I write this we have someone heading for Mumbai this very evening.

This might seem like an expensive service, but it’s really not. If you sign up in advance, short haul flights start at only $15 each way with longer haul trips at $30. For last minute assistance, if you get stuck, it’s only $150. You can find out more by visiting our website at crankyconcierge.com, emailing us as info@crankyconcierge.com, or calling us at +1 707 797 7474.

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Brett Snyder is the author of the award-winning Cranky Flier blog. He is also the President and Chief Airline Dork of Cranky Concierge air travel assistance.

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Air India is offering great rates for upgrades to premium classes

For all of the ribbing targeted towards national carrier Air India, the carrier appears to have finally provided some good value, with some very good deals on offer for travel within its entire network. Of course, in typical Air India fashion, they've made it very hard for passengers to find out about these upgrades; I've seen mazes that are easier to navigate than Air India's website. So we've decided to summarize the offerings in the table below.

Segment	Price to Upgrade to Business/Executive Class	Price to Upgrade to First Class	Remarks
Domestic	INR 4000 for flts up to 750km INR 6000 for all flights beyond this distance		Only applicable when flight is boarded at the following airports: Amritsar, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jammu, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Portblair, Thiruvananthapuram, Varanasi
India-London	US $300	US $450 (From Business Class)	Valid for passengers originating at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata
Chennai/Delhi-Paris	US $300	US $450 (From Business Class)	Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Delhi-Frankfurt	US $300	US $450 (From Business Class)	Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Amritsar/Delhi-Toronto	US $300	US $450 (From Business Class)	Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Chennai-Singapore	US $75		Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Mumbai/Delhi-Singapore	US $150		Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Mumbai/Delhi-Bangkok	US $75		Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Mumbai/Delhi-Shanghai	US $175		Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Mumbai/Delhi- Hong Kong	US $175		Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Mumbai/Delhi-Seoul	US $190		Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Mumbai/Delhi-Tokyo/Osaka	US $350		Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Kolkata-Yangon	US $75		Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
India-Saudi Arabia	US $90		Only applicable on non-stop or direct flights
India-UAE	US $85		Only applicable on non-stop or direct flights
India-Oman	US $85		Only applicable on non-stop or direct flights
India-Kuwait	US $85		Only applicable on non-stop or direct flights
Chennai-Colombo	US $75		Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Colombo-Chennai	US $75		Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Bengaluru/Trivandrum-Male	US $75		Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Male-Bengaluru/Trivandrum	US $75		Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Delhi-Kabul	US $75		Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Kabul-Delhi	US $75		Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Delhi/Kolkata-Kathmandu	US $75		Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Kathmandu-Delhi/Kolkata	US $75		Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
London-India	GBP 200	GBP 500 (with business class ticket)	Only Applicable when destination Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Amritsar, Kolkata
Mumbai/Delhi-New York	US $700	US $1200 (from business class)	Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Mumbai/Ahmedabad-Newark	US $700	US $1200 (from business class)	Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Hyderabad/Delhi-Chicago	US $700	US $1200 (from business class)	Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Hong Kong-India	US $193	US $257 (from business class)	Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Osaka-Delhi/Mumbai	US $768	US $1536 (from business class)	Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Seoul-India	US $200	US $310 (from business class)	Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Singapore-Chennai	US $80	US $103 (from business class)	Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Singapore-Mumbai/Delhi	US $180	US $230 (from business class)	Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Shanghai-Mumbai/Delhi	US $158/ US $237	US $315 (from business class)	Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Tokyo-Delhi	US $384/US $640	US $768/US $1280 (from business class)	Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Seoul-Hong Kong	US $142	US $190 (from business class	Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Osaka-Hong Kong	US $384	US $768 (from business class	Only applicable when originate at points listed in Segment category
Saudi Arabia-India	SAR 400		Only applicable on non-stop or direct flights
UAE-India	AED 400		Only applicable on non-stop or direct flights
Oman-India	OMR 40		Only applicable on non-stop or direct flights
Kuwait-India	KWD 30		Only applicable on non-stop or direct flights

The following rules apply to this offering:

This Upgrade on Seat Available basis will be valid for travel with immediate effect till 15 th December 2011 .

No two schemes can be combined. e.g.Passengers availing of Companion Free Scheme will not be entitled to avail of this Airport Upgrade scheme.

No two schemes can be combined. e.g.Passengers availing of Companion Free Scheme will not be entitled to avail of this Airport Upgrade scheme.

Baggage Allowance will be as per the original booking of the passenger. (No enhanced baggage allowance of the higher class of travel)

Frequent Flyer Miles will be as per original class of travel. - e.g. Passengers holding Economy Class ticket, availing of Airport Upgrade will get FFP accrual of miles of Economy Class

When Passengers are through checked in with Immigration / Customs cleared at Board Point - but the flight number changes -

i)The MCO can be redeemed against the Airport Upgrade if seats available on the Gateway point to Destination. and Upgrade will be granted from Gateway point to Destination. (eg. AI 614 / AI 957 Ahmedabad – Mumbai – Dubai). If Passenger is through checked from Ahmedabad to Dubai, Airport Upgrade Scheme will be available only for the Mumbai to Dubai leg.

However, if passengers are travelling on AI 985 Ex Ahmedabad, e.g. Ahmedabad – Mumbai – Muscat, can avail of the Airport Upgrade Scheme for the entire journey from Ahmedabad as it is the same flight number.

The above upgrade offer is not valid on AD / ID tickets

This is a very solid offering from Air India; even with spotty product quality, it's always a treat to fly business/first classes on most carriers. One interesting thing to note is that upgrades to Tokyo and Osaka are priced very high, which lends credence to the rumor that these are Air India's most profitable routes.

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