It’s interesting. Noel claimed that his flight from Paris to Delhi on Vistara had cost him slightly under 193,500 Serbian dinars (starting 18:25 into the video). I’m not sure how he came up with that number other than perhaps he had used a VPN based in that part of the former SR Serbia based outside what in 2008 had become Kosovo.
I flew with Vistara from Delhi to Kathmandoo last year. They offered a proper meal even it was a short flight and I was in economy class. Also the staff was very friendly 😊
I flew with Vistara, from Kochi to Delhi recently and was very happy with the product. India is simply a magic country. In 36 years of almost non stop travel, India ranks in my personal top 3 of places I love coming back to.
Per Business Today - "As part of consolidating its airline business, Tata Group is also merging Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India). The group took over the reins of Air India in January 2022 and in November it announced the consolidation of its airline business in the form of a full-service carrier and a low cost airline by way of merging Vistara with Air India and AIX Connect with Air India Express." Tata Group bought Air India in 2022 Vistara was a joint venture between Tata and Singapore which is now being merged. In the end Tata owns them both by the looks of it.
@@johnfbm Thing is that Vistara is the airline with a good reputation for being ran competently, but they're consolidating and keeping the Air India name. Does that mean that Air India will also force into consolidating their bad practices? As OP said, basically the Boeing / MP situation.
@@Fay7666 I completely agree with your comment but I was only pointing out that neither party was right about who bought who, The surviving entity hopefully will have the management team from Vistara running the company but my guess is probably not but as they say only time will tell.
I flew the Mumbai to Frankfurt flight last week, it was amazing. The food, the service and the overall experience were excellent. The seats in Business were comfortable and the crew was welcoming. The long flight didn't take a toll on my body as it was cozy and smooth, despite some turbulence. I've flown in all their available seat options and the experience has been amazing throughout all 3 options.
Thank god there was a sausage in this video, I have to admit, the sausage content lately had been lacking since that sausage was flown but not eaten a few videos ago. Crack on Noel!
A lady trying to make her neck crack was brilliant! Have you heard anything about Jet Airways? I think I read they had been given Indian approval to fly again, but nothing for months. Another great video.
they know nothing of delay pain. 20 years ago our A340 flight home from Barbados broke - well, the undercarriage did. Fuel dumped over the beautiful Carribbean sea then landed in Trinidad. Each day in the awful hotel we were put on standby. After 3 days we thought stuff it, went to the airport and managed to get a flight home, well, the right country but not the right airport. BWIA went bust not long after.
The guy sleeping at 19:33 was possibly the same guy that decided to have cup of tea whilst I was departing Delhi end of May. Was in queue in a 3 desk 'pod' that initially had 2 officers then one left and the remaining officer then decided to have a tea break. Possibly 10 minutes but felt like more!! This was in full view of waiting passengers...... Other 'pods' were rather full so moving was not really an option. Then came the security check.....prefer to forget that experience. Been traveling to India on business for 25 years. Never fails to disappoint.
I'm European living in India for the last 6 years and been coming for business before that often. I'm traveling internationally A LOT, so I have a lot of experience. Immigration has really improved across India (I've used these airports in the last year for immigration in declining order: Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai). It used to be endless waits and unfriendly officers, but lately I was out of the airport in under half an hour. Can't say that about any European airports I have used (endless wait for luggage). So honestly, I think India airports work really great nowadays!
Is there a reason Noel has started recently posting his videos out of order I enjoyed watching them in order with the full continuous story from video to video
As someone who flies Alaska Airlines mostly, I was really pleasantly surprised by Vistara as well when I traveled domestically inside India. They even had Starbucks coffee.
Vistara is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and the Tata group, which is the largest Indian conglomerate... The Tata group also holds the Starbucks franchise in India so its just a bit of cross company play here
Noel, it was a lil hard to hear you when you were boarding the flight 4:44-4:57. Great video as always ❤❤❤. Sucks for all those people waiting over 15 hrs....😮😮😮.
Oh I kinda hoped Noel drove the Porsche from Portugal to Paris! That might be a fun trip but I looked it up and wow it's like a thousand miles, so maybe not!
I actually had an experience like that on a Korean Air flight KE625 from Seoul-Incheon to Manila on July 9, 2024, where we were delayed by 1:31 (one hour & thirty-one minutes) due to ATC congestion at the airport. Similarly, we boarded at the regular time (19:50 - 7:50pm) for our supposedly 20:15 (8:15pm) departure, but ended up pushing back from Incheon Airport at 21:27 (9:27pm). I was seated in Economy Class, and unlike flights on LCC's, ULCC's, or US airlines, not a single passenger complained about having to sit on the aircraft throughout the delay and we were given Snack Mix and a Welcome Drink, a first for me, as I never had a Welcome Drink across all my flights over the years. It was actually my 20th flight and my best flight yet.
I wouldn't mind a 40 min delay in business class, last time we had a hour delay in flight Emirates business class, enjoyed the snacks and drinks in the flight
4:51 I would love if Noel would add the occasional subtitle. This is a prime example of when there's so much ambient noise it's really hard to pick up what he is saying. Most of the time I don't feel like I understand the conversations he has with other people. I understand he can't mic them up but it would be great to pop in the occasional text on the screen to clarify what is being said.
gotta be the best reviewed India airline i've seen. Hopefully no detours into Russia again anytime soon. Side note, if you ever find yourself in North Carolina, there is good curry in the Raleigh-Durham area not far from RDU. All the tech companies bring in people to work from all over, who then bring their families, who open restaurants, it's wonderful.
18:46 Definitely the former. Vistara was established jointly by Tata and Singapore Airlines (the latter later sold it's stake to Tata), and Tata bought Air India, which was previously owned by the government (that explains Air India's past troubles, doesn't it). Air India and Vistara are already owned by the same guys, and they're doing a great job overhauling AI. Have you seen the new A350s?
The music during the entire flight brought back memories of "Coastin' The Desert" from the RUclips Channel Coaster Studios. I know many RUclipsrs use the same free music, but sometimes you just associate it strongly with one or another. Felt so strange. It did not distract me too much from another great Noel Philips video.
Well look at that, I took that exact flight three and a half weeks ago! Obviously not on the same day as you though, as I was also in seat 6A, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't sitting on your lap 😁. I'm not sure I was quite as impressed as you though, although the FA looking after me was superb. She also made a mean Piña Colada! You're right about the attentiveness, though. At one point, I got up to use the loo and must have hit the call button as I did so. Before I could even straighten my knees, an FA was at my side asking if there was anything I needed. There was, but nothing she could help me with! But I thought the Paris Lounge was dire, with just one hot dish (some kind of tomato pasta), a few dry sandwiches, and some slices of ham and cheese. The cakes were nice though. Thank God for the Chicken Tikka Masala on the plane! I continued my journey with Vistara to Kathmandu, but in economy. It was nice to get a full hot meal on the 75 minute flight, but the legroom on the A320 was non-existent. I'm 6'1", and my knees were pressed against the seat in front the whole time. I had to ask the young lad in front not to recline his seat for fear of crushing my kneecaps! Also, don't get me started on the international transfer process in Delhi. As Josh would say, "What a sh*tshow"! If I ever go to Nepal again, I'll use Turkish Airlines via Istanbul!
Welcome back to India, Noel. Yes, Vistara are a joy to fly with. The last time I flew with them right after a leg on Qatar Airways, and I think Vistara matches them on most parameters, even excelling on a few. I really hope Air India becomes like Vistara, and not the other way around. While the Tatas have brought in a breath of fresh air on Air India, some of the governmental inefficiency and sloppiness does remain in places and can hit you on the face when you least expect it to. Enjoy your stay in India, mate. Looking forward to more of your videos. P.S: a cheap, thirty hour train ride can be a nightmare in most countries, and India is no exception. Even in India, people make such journeys only when they absolutely have to. I would avoid doing that :).
Had my hopes up there I was about to start looking at Vistara flights for my next adventure in India and then you said Air India will be taking over them, damn
Thanks for another great video Noel. I can’t imagine sometimes how hard it can be traveling to different countries around the world on different airlines. Be safe brother in your travels and God bless you and your family!
Flew Vistara from ATQ - DEL few years ago , and got free upgrade 😅 . So I won’t knock them. They better than Air India at the moment, not sure what happening with their merger with Air India . BTW - if you miss good Indian food like you did in UK , I would make friends with local Indians (from India) in your local area . You get some good homemade food 😅
I haven't flown on them; I've only flown BA to return home to India from London. Especially because I work for them. So standby travel in business does help ;) Flew Vistara from Delhi to Chennai and it was great. Vistara are on our staff travel agreement list so if BA doesnt work out, more than willing to standby on them to get home.
air india didnt buy vistara. vistara was a joint venture by TATA and Singapore Airlines. TATA recently re-bought air india from the government, and tata owns it once again after 70 years. they decided to ease things for them, they would merge vistara and air india. this means vistara's entire fleet will be repained and transformed into air indias fleet. edit: turns out, because of the huge fleet, air india will be sporting the vistara livery even after the merger, with some minor changes. however, it will be treated as air india.
Might I just say that I enjoyed seeing the Luke Combs hat, and the Brad Paisley shirt during the sponsor portion of the video? I enjoy seeing others that appreciate country music as much as I do.
Fantastic video, Noel - top quality airline by the look of it: Let's hope the service doesn't get 'cost-engineered' by its new owners. India always looks fascinating: went there once - for 50 minutes. Singapore flight dropped into Mumbai on the way back to the UK to take on food! asked the crew if I could step out onto the airbridge so I could say I'd 'been' to India. My only observation was - it was very warm 🤣 Loving your work as always - look forward to the next instalments. Safe travels.
16:00 by the way, that's not how an airline toilet sounds at all! 😁 You should probably change that to a jet suction sound, one that makes you feel you're going to get sucked out with it.
Wow, I love how you show an airline that I personally would never have known existed (and now I guess it doesn't anymore?) I wonder if your experience would've been as nice if you had flown regular economy though? Still, as always, very informative. And an interesting layover hotel, what a tiny room! One quick note, at around the four and a half minute mark, the background sound you have narrated over is almost too loud for me to hear your narration (I tried on more than one device listening to it but no difference) so would it be possible to be sure when you narrate over background sound it's reduced just a bit more to allow us to understand what you're saying in that great accent? Thank you again for these fun videos and all the work you do (and time away from your family) to entertain us!
I can help with Vistara's long haul economy experience as I flew with them from Delhi to London two weeks ago. They were fine. Not exceptional, not terrible, just...fine. The FAs weren't a patch on those in business class though. They seemed disinterested and miserable, with the inability to even crack a smile. Food was pretty good though, although the choices were the standard "veg or non-veg". On my trip with them to Nepal, I flew with them once in business, three times in economy. The non-veg option seems to be the same on every flight; butter chicken, rice and dhal. Tasty though.
I'm surprised that airports don't have more connected airports or at least sleeping pods where people can go and rest if they have a long layover. This is one reason I fly direct flights many times particularly if the layover is going to be more than 3-4 hours. I'm sure some company could make a good amount of money doing something like sleeping pods or rooms say selling time on 2-hour blocks for travelers who are passing through and want to rest and/or kill some time (not having to stay in the louge or public areas). I mean if this room was say $50 USD then even for 6 hours that's not bad, just to rest.
The name’s Phillips, Noel Phillips. Very James Bond this week Noel.. an opening sequence in a Porsche 911 and then Paris to India. Great video as per and glad you didn’t get robbed, or a virus this time! Safe travelling mate
Welcome to Vistara, a world united in peace and prosperity. Not quite yet, but it's so modern and so nice. That doesn't need to be going away for it's a really nice airline. I'm sure economy class would have been fine for me though being up front is super nice. Some airlines outside the US and EU are really nice. I was surprised some years ago to be served cognac and nice meals with silverware in economy class on Thai Airways. The first meal with the rice and chicken looked wonderful. Nice you can get a room in the airport. I liked going to Seoul Incheon where you could rent a small sleeping room and enjoy a nice hot bath in a pool with a stone lion face water spout. And as soon as you stepped out, Starbucks and breakfast was ready. It was $10 for the night which I did half dozen times where I'd go to the airport the night before early morning flights. You'll never get good service like that in the Western countries. Your video is stunning. It looked like we were there with you over the Himalayas.
Watching this video, after just finishing the TAAG one you uploaded a day ago from when I'm writing this comment...I got unexpected continuity! I clicked on it because it was one I'd somehow not seen. At first it was like "oi, Noel must really like Playa del Rey" and then saw the 911....
@idkellandshaw huh? Sorry but can't generalize a country that big based on rural towns. When I live in States in the SF Bay Area and South Bay PLENTY of good curry spots. Some better than others.
Really enjoyed this video. Learn soooo much about Earth by watching your journeys. Would GREATLY like to see tremendous amounts of footage from the window. Please!!!! Those snowcapped mountains were spectacular. Thanks bunches.
Best way to describe virtually all western tourists coming to India. They all seem to have a certain pull, towards the worst parts, whether within the city or the state. I think it is quite obvious, that if you go to terrible places, you will get terrible experiences. This clearly doesn’t seem to be case in most Asian developing countries. Just a general theme I have seen.
i think you are correct about Vistara. It's nice to see an airline that represents India so well. As for your Porsche 9-11 what else can i say beside us Portuguese are generous :)
Mate, I live in the US and there are brilliant Indian food here. If you live in Texas it might be a different story but here in California they are very good!
It definitely doesn’t compare to Indian food in the UK. UK Indian food is the closest thing you will find to back home if not better because of the African influence also.
I loved flying with Vistara. In the first process of registering at their website and booking seats for minors it did not go so smoothly but the customer support was extremely helpful. They answered each and every single mail that i sent within 24 hours (and i sent them around 5 emails). Only the website is not programmed well (will write new comment about that). Air india was always a mess. let's hope that air india becomes more like vistara and not vice versa.
HiNoel. My favourite airport window view is going over Pakistan into Delhi, flying parallel to the Himalay. Beautiful. Ive only flown Vistara from Delhi th Kathmandu but it was enough to convince me they are the best short haul company. Delhi transit is abysmal. Twice Ive had long layoevers and been forced to stay in the crap transit twice for 6 and 8 hours even though I had a through ticket and a hotel room booked. I managed a 2 hour nap in the end. There was no hotel near the transit only of the departue lounge but they still wouldn't let me through. I fear for Vistara that AI will bring it down to their level. Great video, thanks for bringing it to us 🙃🙂✈
That was probably really Tajikistan when you woke up. It has the impressive Pamir mountains, almost as tall as the Himalayas, and it's just over an hour's flight to Delhi - roughly the same distance from Delhi as Mumbai or Kolkata, actually, but a shorter flight time because you were already in cruise when overflying it.
I flew Vistara BOM to LHR, and was impressed. Only drawback was the late departure. Until someone told me that the acronym for Indian STD time IST was not what it meant… it is Indian Stretchable Time
We are all hoping that the new Air India will imbibe everything that is good about Vistara once the merger is concluded. It will be quite a pity if that doesn’t happen!
Always love seeing a Noel Phillips video come into my feed. Your "cup is half full'" energy always brightens my day!!🌞🌞🌞 Noel, seeing you eat that sausage made me think about how different the US breakfast sausage is compared to the UK bangers. Have you gotten used to our sausage??
That is literally the Turkish Airlines 787-9 class and the ex- A350 business class. The A350 is getting the same business class as the brand new 777 business class
Have you tried Aga’s now that you live in Houston. Friends there brought me and it has some of the best Indian and curry in the state! Also, love your videos!
Noel, it is a bit of a drive from up in Montgomery County, but head down just southwest of the Galleria to the Ghandi district in Houston. You can find amazing curries in Houston around that area.
I love Noel's videos, but I agree. He needs to work a bit on the audio mixing and leveling. His voice is good volume but when it goes pure music, it's too loud in comparison.😅
Thanks Noel, awesome airline. Just a quick request, when you are flying business class, don't just comment on the single seats at the windows, give us a quick review of the middle seats suitability for a couple traveling together. I like to be close to my wife when flying and I see some of the layouts have us sitting a mile apart...
Just took Vistara A321 from Delhi to HK 4 days ago, and it was a wonderful flight overall with a very attentive crew and solid hard product. Probably as good as it gets for a narrow body experience. I hope Vistara will help bring AI to a higher standard and not the other way around.
@@goytabr Well AI is still below par and worst than Scoot. Economy class food is only good for Indians not for others. Whereas, all other top notch airlines adapt to local catering depending on sectors.
@@knightofceylon-ms1us, OK, but what does Air India's onboard service have to do with Singapore Airlines? They are or were co-investors in Vistara, but SIA doesn't have any stake in Air India itself, as far as I know. My point was that if Vistara is good, that probably has nothing to do with SIA, because Scoot is fully owned by SIA but has pretty bad service. And remember that I was talking about *service,* not catering (food). Service *includes* catering and many other things.
@@knightofceylon-ms1us, you didn't get it. OF COURSE they DO have a connection, and I never said otherwise! But I DID say that I doubt that Vistara's GOOD SERVICE has anything to do with SIA's partial ownership of it, for the reason I explained above. THAT has no connection, but that's what you claimed.
I'm glad you enjoyed the Vistara experience. I also hope Air India keeps the Vistara product (at least the soft product) as it is one of the best in the world.
I'm sure you know by now that foreign airlines are almost always delayed... I've seen Emirates delayed at LAX up to 6-7 hours... one thing you gotta work on is patience especially abroad
Air india didnt buy vistara, vistara’s owners that is TATA group bought air india. Right now, both companies are operating separately
You are right, however Vistara brand will be gone by end of this year sadly 😢
Not now. After 12 Nov they will be one entity
@@tanujadas9651 yes correct, I read the news right after my comment. Very sad
Not anymore
They will merge in november
As a North American I find it much easier to do all my currency conversions first into Serbian dinars so you saved me a step
It’s interesting. Noel claimed that his flight from Paris to Delhi on Vistara had cost him slightly under 193,500 Serbian dinars (starting 18:25 into the video). I’m not sure how he came up with that number other than perhaps he had used a VPN based in that part of the former SR Serbia based outside what in 2008 had become Kosovo.
@wainber1 he just googles the conversion to a random currency
Oh, me, I'd prefer Zambian kwachas or Bhutanese ngultrums... 😂
@@wainber1 googled the conversion probably? Not that hard to convert usd to serbian dinar
@@fidelcastro4783 I'm not sure why they assumed it was such a complicated process...
I flew with Vistara from Delhi to Kathmandoo last year. They offered a proper meal even it was a short flight and I was in economy class. Also the staff was very friendly 😊
Kathmandu 🇳🇵
that's quite common in india actually.
@@ShubhoBose nice😊 I'm actually going to visit India in October
The ‘lady trying to make her neck crack’ had me howling with laughter! 😂
Where does that happen? Timestamp please
@@vinodhk7705 7:32
Nice to see you in my country, Portugal!! Hope you enjoyed it :)
In another recent video, he said that Lisbon was far and away his favourite city in Europe, so probably safe to say he enjoyed it. :)
I flew with Vistara, from Kochi to Delhi recently and was very happy with the product. India is simply a magic country. In 36 years of almost non stop travel, India ranks in my personal top 3 of places I love coming back to.
"They've just been bought by Air India" - it's the other way around actually.
Boeing and McDonalds situation heh?
Per Business Today - "As part of consolidating its airline business, Tata Group is also merging Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India). The group took over the reins of Air India in January 2022 and in November it announced the consolidation of its airline business in the form of a full-service carrier and a low cost airline by way of merging Vistara with Air India and AIX Connect with Air India Express."
Tata Group bought Air India in 2022 Vistara was a joint venture between Tata and Singapore which is now being merged. In the end Tata owns them both by the looks of it.
Bro tata has started vistara 😂😂😂
@@johnfbm Thing is that Vistara is the airline with a good reputation for being ran competently, but they're consolidating and keeping the Air India name. Does that mean that Air India will also force into consolidating their bad practices? As OP said, basically the Boeing / MP situation.
@@Fay7666 I completely agree with your comment but I was only pointing out that neither party was right about who bought who, The surviving entity hopefully will have the management team from Vistara running the company but my guess is probably not but as they say only time will tell.
@10:40 in my experience, and especially in Business, you can always ask if there are any meals left in the galley if you are not full!
as a serbian the conversion to serbian dinars was kind of unexpected but a welcome one tbh
I flew the Mumbai to Frankfurt flight last week, it was amazing. The food, the service and the overall experience were excellent. The seats in Business were comfortable and the crew was welcoming. The long flight didn't take a toll on my body as it was cozy and smooth, despite some turbulence.
I've flown in all their available seat options and the experience has been amazing throughout all 3 options.
Thank god there was a sausage in this video, I have to admit, the sausage content lately had been lacking since that sausage was flown but not eaten a few videos ago.
Crack on Noel!
Yep
Noels sausage and a Porsche rental
Living the DREAM,mate
A lady trying to make her neck crack was brilliant! Have you heard anything about Jet Airways? I think I read they had been given Indian approval to fly again, but nothing for months. Another great video.
4:57 I thought you said hello there sexy to the flight attendant at first. Then I realised you were saying your seat number 6A 😅
😂
Lol I heard the same 😂
they know nothing of delay pain. 20 years ago our A340 flight home from Barbados broke - well, the undercarriage did. Fuel dumped over the beautiful Carribbean sea then landed in Trinidad. Each day in the awful hotel we were put on standby. After 3 days we thought stuff it, went to the airport and managed to get a flight home, well, the right country but not the right airport. BWIA went bust not long after.
@@fleabiter Ah, good old Beewee. In constant rivalry with Air Jamaica to make the other look good... Think they both ended up in Caribbean Airlines.
The guy sleeping at 19:33 was possibly the same guy that decided to have cup of tea whilst I was departing Delhi end of May. Was in queue in a 3 desk 'pod' that initially had 2 officers then one left and the remaining officer then decided to have a tea break. Possibly 10 minutes but felt like more!! This was in full view of waiting passengers...... Other 'pods' were rather full so moving was not really an option. Then came the security check.....prefer to forget that experience. Been traveling to India on business for 25 years. Never fails to disappoint.
I'm European living in India for the last 6 years and been coming for business before that often. I'm traveling internationally A LOT, so I have a lot of experience. Immigration has really improved across India (I've used these airports in the last year for immigration in declining order: Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai). It used to be endless waits and unfriendly officers, but lately I was out of the airport in under half an hour. Can't say that about any European airports I have used (endless wait for luggage). So honestly, I think India airports work really great nowadays!
Look at Noel starting the video in a fancy way driving a Porche 911... Incredible! Nice review as well. 😍
Is there a reason Noel has started recently posting his videos out of order
I enjoyed watching them in order with the full continuous story from video to video
🎯🎯
There, not their.
@@DrummerGrrrl fixed
As someone who flies Alaska Airlines mostly, I was really pleasantly surprised by Vistara as well when I traveled domestically inside India. They even had Starbucks coffee.
Vistara is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and the Tata group, which is the largest Indian conglomerate... The Tata group also holds the Starbucks franchise in India so its just a bit of cross company play here
Bro in india tata have joint ownership of Starbucks
How is that a plus?
Why not ask for extra curry ?
I have no shame back in cattle class , if Hungary , ask for more :-)
He didn't want to Be Da Pest
He couldn't risk penalty Or Ban.
India, not Hungary 😉
Maybe goulash would have been a better ask then?
Sorry, only works in Hungary.
Thank you Noel. Great video. I absolutely love India. Everything about it. Such energy. I need to go back. Have not been since before Covid.
Noel, it was a lil hard to hear you when you were boarding the flight 4:44-4:57. Great video as always ❤❤❤. Sucks for all those people waiting over 15 hrs....😮😮😮.
The lights in the Jet Bridge at 4:49 remind me of the transporter room in Star Trek Voyager!
Oh I kinda hoped Noel drove the Porsche from Portugal to Paris! That might be a fun trip but I looked it up and wow it's like a thousand miles, so maybe not!
I wondered the same. Why isn't there a Portugal to Paris video?
@@UmmEss i can only assume it's kind of a banal flight
19:50, you could show your previous flight ticket and get inside early. I have done it before.
Anyone else see the immigration officer asleep at his desk in Delhi?!!! lol
Was he ok? 😆
19:30 he was slumped 😂
Possibly had Delhi belly symptoms
Dude was *OUT* lmao
Must be on his break
15:00 It never fails, Noel always makes me hungry🤣. You’re the only person that can make me hungry by talking about airplane food.
Noel, what else came with the Chicken Tikka Masala dinner? Twigged on to the rice but what else was on offer / on your plate?
in dallas an huston search, for japanese supermarkeds like daiso, you can get curry there
I actually had an experience like that on a Korean Air flight KE625 from Seoul-Incheon to Manila on July 9, 2024, where we were delayed by 1:31 (one hour & thirty-one minutes) due to ATC congestion at the airport. Similarly, we boarded at the regular time (19:50 - 7:50pm) for our supposedly 20:15 (8:15pm) departure, but ended up pushing back from Incheon Airport at 21:27 (9:27pm). I was seated in Economy Class, and unlike flights on LCC's, ULCC's, or US airlines, not a single passenger complained about having to sit on the aircraft throughout the delay and we were given Snack Mix and a Welcome Drink, a first for me, as I never had a Welcome Drink across all my flights over the years. It was actually my 20th flight and my best flight yet.
I wouldn't mind a 40 min delay in business class, last time we had a hour delay in flight Emirates business class, enjoyed the snacks and drinks in the flight
4:51 I would love if Noel would add the occasional subtitle. This is a prime example of when there's so much ambient noise it's really hard to pick up what he is saying. Most of the time I don't feel like I understand the conversations he has with other people. I understand he can't mic them up but it would be great to pop in the occasional text on the screen to clarify what is being said.
Subtitles are there on additional settings.
gotta be the best reviewed India airline i've seen. Hopefully no detours into Russia again anytime soon. Side note, if you ever find yourself in North Carolina, there is good curry in the Raleigh-Durham area not far from RDU. All the tech companies bring in people to work from all over, who then bring their families, who open restaurants, it's wonderful.
You gotta check out the new Air India A350. It's hands down one of the best if the best out there.
18:46 Definitely the former. Vistara was established jointly by Tata and Singapore Airlines (the latter later sold it's stake to Tata), and Tata bought Air India, which was previously owned by the government (that explains Air India's past troubles, doesn't it). Air India and Vistara are already owned by the same guys, and they're doing a great job overhauling AI. Have you seen the new A350s?
Backpacked through Pakistan in the early 2000's, it was wonderful, very beautiful in the north & lovely, kind people.
The music during the entire flight brought back memories of "Coastin' The Desert" from the RUclips Channel Coaster Studios. I know many RUclipsrs use the same free music, but sometimes you just associate it strongly with one or another. Felt so strange. It did not distract me too much from another great Noel Philips video.
Isn’t it the best because vistara is being run by Singapore airlines?
Its a jv between tata and singapore
Well look at that, I took that exact flight three and a half weeks ago! Obviously not on the same day as you though, as I was also in seat 6A, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't sitting on your lap 😁. I'm not sure I was quite as impressed as you though, although the FA looking after me was superb. She also made a mean Piña Colada! You're right about the attentiveness, though. At one point, I got up to use the loo and must have hit the call button as I did so. Before I could even straighten my knees, an FA was at my side asking if there was anything I needed. There was, but nothing she could help me with!
But I thought the Paris Lounge was dire, with just one hot dish (some kind of tomato pasta), a few dry sandwiches, and some slices of ham and cheese. The cakes were nice though. Thank God for the Chicken Tikka Masala on the plane!
I continued my journey with Vistara to Kathmandu, but in economy. It was nice to get a full hot meal on the 75 minute flight, but the legroom on the A320 was non-existent. I'm 6'1", and my knees were pressed against the seat in front the whole time. I had to ask the young lad in front not to recline his seat for fear of crushing my kneecaps! Also, don't get me started on the international transfer process in Delhi. As Josh would say, "What a sh*tshow"! If I ever go to Nepal again, I'll use Turkish Airlines via Istanbul!
Welcome back to India, Noel. Yes, Vistara are a joy to fly with. The last time I flew with them right after a leg on Qatar Airways, and I think Vistara matches them on most parameters, even excelling on a few. I really hope Air India becomes like Vistara, and not the other way around. While the Tatas have brought in a breath of fresh air on Air India, some of the governmental inefficiency and sloppiness does remain in places and can hit you on the face when you least expect it to. Enjoy your stay in India, mate. Looking forward to more of your videos.
P.S: a cheap, thirty hour train ride can be a nightmare in most countries, and India is no exception. Even in India, people make such journeys only when they absolutely have to. I would avoid doing that :).
Had my hopes up there I was about to start looking at Vistara flights for my next adventure in India and then you said Air India will be taking over them, damn
5:11, 2-1-2 configuration…now that would be unique.
Oh good, I'm not the only one that caught that.
Some older 767's have that layout in business, watch his Air Niugini video.
Thanks for another great video Noel. I can’t imagine sometimes how hard it can be traveling to different countries around the world on different airlines. Be safe brother in your travels and God bless you and your family!
Flew Vistara from ATQ - DEL few years ago , and got free upgrade 😅 . So I won’t knock them. They better than Air India at the moment, not sure what happening with their merger with Air India .
BTW - if you miss good Indian food like you did in UK , I would make friends with local Indians (from India) in your local area . You get some good homemade food 😅
love the views of the mountains
I haven't flown on them; I've only flown BA to return home to India from London. Especially because I work for them. So standby travel in business does help ;)
Flew Vistara from Delhi to Chennai and it was great. Vistara are on our staff travel agreement list so if BA doesnt work out, more than willing to standby on them to get home.
air india didnt buy vistara. vistara was a joint venture by TATA and Singapore Airlines. TATA recently re-bought air india from the government, and tata owns it once again after 70 years. they decided to ease things for them, they would merge vistara and air india. this means vistara's entire fleet will be repained and transformed into air indias fleet.
edit: turns out, because of the huge fleet, air india will be sporting the vistara livery even after the merger, with some minor changes. however, it will be treated as air india.
Might I just say that I enjoyed seeing the Luke Combs hat, and the Brad Paisley shirt during the sponsor portion of the video? I enjoy seeing others that appreciate country music as much as I do.
Fantastic video, Noel - top quality airline by the look of it: Let's hope the service doesn't get 'cost-engineered' by its new owners. India always looks fascinating: went there once - for 50 minutes. Singapore flight dropped into Mumbai on the way back to the UK to take on food! asked the crew if I could step out onto the airbridge so I could say I'd 'been' to India. My only observation was - it was very warm 🤣
Loving your work as always - look forward to the next instalments. Safe travels.
16:00 by the way, that's not how an airline toilet sounds at all! 😁 You should probably change that to a jet suction sound, one that makes you feel you're going to get sucked out with it.
Cant describe how much I love this channel and content. Noel seems so wholesome and kind. He brings joy to so many!
Thank you for your kind words.
Wow, I love how you show an airline that I personally would never have known existed (and now I guess it doesn't anymore?) I wonder if your experience would've been as nice if you had flown regular economy though? Still, as always, very informative. And an interesting layover hotel, what a tiny room! One quick note, at around the four and a half minute mark, the background sound you have narrated over is almost too loud for me to hear your narration (I tried on more than one device listening to it but no difference) so would it be possible to be sure when you narrate over background sound it's reduced just a bit more to allow us to understand what you're saying in that great accent? Thank you again for these fun videos and all the work you do (and time away from your family) to entertain us!
I can help with Vistara's long haul economy experience as I flew with them from Delhi to London two weeks ago. They were fine. Not exceptional, not terrible, just...fine. The FAs weren't a patch on those in business class though. They seemed disinterested and miserable, with the inability to even crack a smile. Food was pretty good though, although the choices were the standard "veg or non-veg". On my trip with them to Nepal, I flew with them once in business, three times in economy. The non-veg option seems to be the same on every flight; butter chicken, rice and dhal. Tasty though.
19:33 mate is taking a nap on the job lol
I'm surprised that airports don't have more connected airports or at least sleeping pods where people can go and rest if they have a long layover. This is one reason I fly direct flights many times particularly if the layover is going to be more than 3-4 hours. I'm sure some company could make a good amount of money doing something like sleeping pods or rooms say selling time on 2-hour blocks for travelers who are passing through and want to rest and/or kill some time (not having to stay in the louge or public areas). I mean if this room was say $50 USD then even for 6 hours that's not bad, just to rest.
Loved seeing the tall mountains in Pakistan...✈️✈️✈️
Seeing Pakistan's mountains makes me fall in love with Pakistan all over again.
The name’s Phillips, Noel Phillips. Very James Bond this week Noel.. an opening sequence in a Porsche 911 and then Paris to India. Great video as per and glad you didn’t get robbed, or a virus this time! Safe travelling mate
The sausage doing a cameo makes me hopeful for the future. The N.P. sausage test must become an industry benchmark 😂
😂
Great video Noel!
Cannot wait to see Vistara and Air India merge into the all new Air India 🇮🇳 should be great!
Cheers mate 🥂
Welcome to Vistara, a world united in peace and prosperity. Not quite yet, but it's so modern and so nice. That doesn't need to be going away for it's a really nice airline. I'm sure economy class would have been fine for me though being up front is super nice. Some airlines outside the US and EU are really nice. I was surprised some years ago to be served cognac and nice meals with silverware in economy class on Thai Airways. The first meal with the rice and chicken looked wonderful. Nice you can get a room in the airport. I liked going to Seoul Incheon where you could rent a small sleeping room and enjoy a nice hot bath in a pool with a stone lion face water spout. And as soon as you stepped out, Starbucks and breakfast was ready. It was $10 for the night which I did half dozen times where I'd go to the airport the night before early morning flights. You'll never get good service like that in the Western countries. Your video is stunning. It looked like we were there with you over the Himalayas.
Not sure about you and josh :-)
if I do not take off on time , as part of the contract , I want to know why : -)
Watching this video, after just finishing the TAAG one you uploaded a day ago from when I'm writing this comment...I got unexpected continuity! I clicked on it because it was one I'd somehow not seen. At first it was like "oi, Noel must really like Playa del Rey" and then saw the 911....
Great video Noel 😊
Glad you enjoyed it
Agreed that you cannot get a decent curry here in the US. 13 years after moving from Taunton, Somerset to NE Georgia I miss curries so much!
Try finding a area with Indian/Pakistani for best Curry's ask homemade style
I have family in GA. We are looking to move from the uk to TN :)
There’s a few roadkill places up in Blairsville and surrounding towns 😜
Johns Creek/ South Forsyth has some great Indian and Pakistani options. Not sure how North in GA y’all are.
@idkellandshaw huh? Sorry but can't generalize a country that big based on rural towns. When I live in States in the SF Bay Area and South Bay PLENTY of good curry spots. Some better than others.
A very good Monday afternoon to you all from Wellington Somerset in the UK
Really enjoyed this video. Learn soooo much about Earth by watching your journeys. Would GREATLY like to see tremendous amounts of footage from the window. Please!!!! Those snowcapped mountains were spectacular. Thanks bunches.
Noel must be a masochist to be able to go back to india after his abbhorant experience prior 😂
Like most western visitors to India, they all come back :)
@@gani999 The announcement on the flights, "To all those who swore they'd never return, welcome back."
Learn to spell properly before you make a cheap crack against a country you know nothing about.
@@gani999doubt that very much.
Best way to describe virtually all western tourists coming to India.
They all seem to have a certain pull, towards the worst parts, whether within the city or the state.
I think it is quite obvious, that if you go to terrible places, you will get terrible experiences.
This clearly doesn’t seem to be case in most Asian developing countries.
Just a general theme I have seen.
you should visit bangalore's terminal 2, you'll truly enjoy it!
I love the 2-1-2 business class on the vistara 787-9 Dreamliner
There are lots of restaurants in the twin cities in MN that make really good curries. Good review as always
When are you gonna upload the 16 hour air India flight from Bengaluru to San Francisco. Fantastic video btw.
Did I miss a video? How did you get to Portugal? Last I saw, you were arriving back in Houston!
Noel, if you’re looking for a good curry in Houston, check out India’s Restaurant on Richmond just west of the Galleria.
I do like flying over mountain ranges. Only done it a couple of times but it it's a lot more interesting than boring fields.
Changing at CGD...... Brave.
In CDG's defence, my problems were mostly caused by BMI Baby staff, back in the day.
19:35 why is the guy asleep on the desk hahshshs
That view - ! Lucky you. BA256 LHR - DEL arrives well after nightfall 😪 and you don't get to see anything 😪😪
i think you are correct about Vistara. It's nice to see an airline that represents India so well. As for your Porsche 9-11 what else can i say beside us Portuguese are generous :)
Mate, I live in the US and there are brilliant Indian food here. If you live in Texas it might be a different story but here in California they are very good!
It definitely doesn’t compare to Indian food in the UK. UK Indian food is the closest thing you will find to back home if not better because of the African influence also.
Excellent video Noel. Let's hope that Vistara influences Air India and not vice versa. All the best to Rach and kids take care.
I loved flying with Vistara. In the first process of registering at their website and booking seats for minors it did not go so smoothly but the customer support was extremely helpful. They answered each and every single mail that i sent within 24 hours (and i sent them around 5 emails). Only the website is not programmed well (will write new comment about that).
Air india was always a mess. let's hope that air india becomes more like vistara and not vice versa.
HiNoel. My favourite airport window view is going over Pakistan into Delhi, flying parallel to the Himalay. Beautiful. Ive only flown Vistara from Delhi th Kathmandu but it was enough to convince me they are the best short haul company. Delhi transit is abysmal. Twice Ive had long layoevers and been forced to stay in the crap transit twice for 6 and 8 hours even though I had a through ticket and a hotel room booked. I managed a 2 hour nap in the end. There was no hotel near the transit only of the departue lounge but they still wouldn't let me through. I fear for Vistara that AI will bring it down to their level. Great video, thanks for bringing it to us 🙃🙂✈
That was probably really Tajikistan when you woke up. It has the impressive Pamir mountains, almost as tall as the Himalayas, and it's just over an hour's flight to Delhi - roughly the same distance from Delhi as Mumbai or Kolkata, actually, but a shorter flight time because you were already in cruise when overflying it.
I flew Vistara BOM to LHR, and was impressed. Only drawback was the late departure. Until someone told me that the acronym for Indian STD time IST was not what it meant… it is Indian Stretchable Time
We are all hoping that the new Air India will imbibe everything that is good about Vistara once the merger is concluded. It will be quite a pity if that doesn’t happen!
SG lounge in Singapore do Garlic Nans not Naans. But not clearly a UK thing
Always love seeing a Noel Phillips video come into my feed. Your "cup is half full'" energy always brightens my day!!🌞🌞🌞
Noel, seeing you eat that sausage made me think about how different the US breakfast sausage is compared to the UK bangers. Have you gotten used to our sausage??
That is literally the Turkish Airlines 787-9 class and the ex- A350 business class. The A350 is getting the same business class as the brand new 777 business class
Fabulous ❤, I agree the flight, the service and the seat were great. It was worth all the delays ❤❤❤
Have you tried Aga’s now that you live in Houston. Friends there brought me and it has some of the best Indian and curry in the state! Also, love your videos!
and the best part is, Aga's is Pakistani, not Indian :)))
I did not know that. Very good food!
Noel, it is a bit of a drive from up in Montgomery County, but head down just southwest of the Galleria to the Ghandi district in Houston. You can find amazing curries in Houston around that area.
The background music is always over done. It's super distracting, for me at least.
I love Noel's videos, but I agree. He needs to work a bit on the audio mixing and leveling. His voice is good volume but when it goes pure music, it's too loud in comparison.😅
However, his music choice is on spot every single time!
@@JoePCool14yeah 4:47 for example
I really didn’t think it was bad this video
Its like having cowboy music for ammericann episode and mariachi band for Mexico.
That’s pretty nice! Hopefully I can review them someday too!!
Thanks for another wonderful video. Always look forward to watching your airline reviews.😊
Glad you like them!
Excellent trip Noel! That flight looked extremely enjoyable!
flew vistara many times and absolutely loved it. sad to see it go, but it's been a good run!
Thanks Noel, awesome airline. Just a quick request, when you are flying business class, don't just comment on the single seats at the windows, give us a quick review of the middle seats suitability for a couple traveling together. I like to be close to my wife when flying and I see some of the layouts have us sitting a mile apart...
Just took Vistara A321 from Delhi to HK 4 days ago, and it was a wonderful flight overall with a very attentive crew and solid hard product. Probably as good as it gets for a narrow body experience. I hope Vistara will help bring AI to a higher standard and not the other way around.
SIA has a stake in Vistara as it was a joint venture.That's probably why this airline is pretty cool.
In that case, Scoot should be wonderful, because it's a wholly owned SIA subsidiary, but it's a catastrophe even by low-cost standards.
@@goytabr Well AI is still below par and worst than Scoot. Economy class food is only good for Indians not for others. Whereas, all other top notch airlines adapt to local catering depending on sectors.
@@knightofceylon-ms1us, OK, but what does Air India's onboard service have to do with Singapore Airlines? They are or were co-investors in Vistara, but SIA doesn't have any stake in Air India itself, as far as I know. My point was that if Vistara is good, that probably has nothing to do with SIA, because Scoot is fully owned by SIA but has pretty bad service. And remember that I was talking about *service,* not catering (food). Service *includes* catering and many other things.
@@goytabr SIA has a stake in Vistara as far as records show.
AI, Vistara owned by TATA so it does have a connection.
@@knightofceylon-ms1us, you didn't get it. OF COURSE they DO have a connection, and I never said otherwise! But I DID say that I doubt that Vistara's GOOD SERVICE has anything to do with SIA's partial ownership of it, for the reason I explained above. THAT has no connection, but that's what you claimed.
The guy sleeping at 19:33. Very professional.
Have you ever flown to Kalamata Airport in Greece? I flew there recently and the views of the mountains were incredible
I'm glad you enjoyed the Vistara experience. I also hope Air India keeps the Vistara product (at least the soft product) as it is one of the best in the world.
I'm sure you know by now that foreign airlines are almost always delayed... I've seen Emirates delayed at LAX up to 6-7 hours... one thing you gotta work on is patience especially abroad