A vacation in Bali had been on the cards for far too long. The repeated media reports last year talked about flights to Bali starting mid of 2023. We had three fully refundable hotel bookings for last Diwali, hoping the flights would start in Diwali and we would snag inaugural deals, but they didn’t. In the end, when they did it was the non-holiday period and we had to replan our holiday. Is May good or is May too hot? The answer was that it was better than where we live and the booking was done!

Booking

The International bookings are always done from a friendly travel agent and this time was no exception. Special offers were available, the rates were affordable in Premium Economy and four flights from Pune to Denpasar and back via Delhi were booked. This was to be the longest flight on the A321, with the A321LR doing the honor on this route. It was a two and half hour outbound connection and nearly five hours inbound. 

In the last week of March, the airline upgraded the route to the Dreamliner with a change in timing. This change meant that the connection became a long 14+ hours and we opted for a flight a day before to stay in Delhi and then fly to Denpasar. The changes were done free of cost since the change was from the airline side and the new ticket reflected all of those. 

The positive part of the change was the brilliant upgrade in equipment since the Premium Economy section on the Dreamliner is superior to that on the A321LR. The negative part was that it wasn’t a 3×3 seating any more but 2x3x2 and TD (The Daughter) wanted the window, so we had to block 2×1 seats. 

From Pune to Delhi

The Pune to Delhi flight was an A321neo and it was raining heavily as we boarded, leading to delays with five aircraft awaiting landing in the stormy weather. The sole aircraft to fly out in this storm was an IndiGo A320neo to Delhi. We followed with a delay and landed about 15 mins past our scheduled arrival time but an hour before Delhi was hit with a dust storm leading to diversions. The flight to Denpasar was on the next day.

Airport Experience

We reached Delhi airport’s Terminal 3 at 1935 hours for a 2240 departure. The international Premium Economy line was accepting passengers for flights to Bali, Hong Kong and was a little too early for Singapore. It took 40 minutes to get to the counter and another fifteen to go away from it without bags and with a boarding pass. Clearly it was the slowest moving counter and the advantage of Premium Economy seemed negated at this point of time. The next stop was immigration where a special counter for “Children less than 5 years” came in handy, but that line directed us to the security for wheelchair passengers and the line again was a nightmare. Finally, at 2115 we were on the other side and decided to grab a quick bite at the food court before heading to the boarding gate, which was the last but one. 

Boarding

Boarding had commenced by the time we made it to the boarding gate. However, the gate agents called us to the other counter and let us in. The cabin was clean, crew welcoming and seats inviting with blanket, pillow and earphones on the seat. This was quickly followed by a round of juice being offered, even as boarding continued. Premium Economy was full and so was Business Class. Boarding was complete at 2227, for a 2240 departure.

The premium economy seats are comfortable with ample support to the legs, a footrest, large screen, good recline and stowage space. 

Service – Drinks – Meal

We pushed back about five mins ahead of time and the cold towel service started. A powerful takeoff of the Dreamliner got us on our flight path, with the pilot announcing the estimated time to destination being seven hours. 

The drinks and meal cart rolled in with a very efficient crew handling the Premium Economy section. The pre-booked child meal came first and it consisted of very tasty and flavorful Pasta, carrots and asparagus and potato patty, pastry, tomato and paneer pesto salad and bread along with the juice service. TD (The Daughter) opted for Apple Juice, while TW (The Wife) and I opted for Orange Juice. 

The drink options were a mix of wine, Spirits, Cocktails, fruit juices and cold drinks. The meal options were one Chicken and two veg options. I opted for the Roasted Squash and Chickpea Steak, while TW opted for Dum ka Paneer. It was around 2320 when the meals were placed on our tray. It was clearly the best airline meal we have had for as long as we remember. It was so delicious that we forgot to click the pictures and hogged on to it, to literally not leave a trace of food on the tray.

The crew returned for another round of drinks, juice or soft drinks and collected the trays. It was time to recline the seat, dim the lights and sleep. The last row of Premium Economy got a lot of brightness on us from the Economy section – where service continued for long, even as lights were dimmed in Premium Economy. 

The route took us over Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bay of Bengal, parts of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and we were over Java sea when it was time for sunrise along with the meal service comprising fruits, yoghourt and Paneer Croissant – which was tasty but not the best meal for that time of the day along with Teas and Coffee. 

Wi-Fi, IFE and the product 

The wifi which is free for all frequent fliers for messaging did not sign in after take-off. We did not try it until we woke up and it was working well. The IFE is a 13” screen, the seat has 38” pitch with headrest, calf and footrest, and power outlet. The seat reclines at 7 degrees and with the calf and footrest extended, it becomes a comfortable ride. An amenity kit was handed out which was a pouch comprising a pair of socks, lip balm and hand cream from Ras Luxury Products.

Arrival Experience

We reached ahead of schedule and a short walk and seamless visa on arrival and immigration process later were in the baggage belt area. The crew had announced belt number 4 where most of the passengers were, but the luggage came on belt number 2. 

Summary

Vistara’s 787-9 configured with 30 Business, 21 Premium Economy and 248 economy class seats is a wonderful product. The Premium Economy was worth the cost, in both comfort and experience. 

However, the aircraft does not have a tail or nose camera. 

• Check-In Experience: Not Pleasant
• Immigration and Security: Slow
• Meals: Fantastic!
• Service: Fantastic!
• Product: Fantastic!

Pet peeves

The IT infrastructure at Vistara remains a challenge. A couple of emails which had this, an app which is very slow on both mobile internet and wifi and lastly emails prompting for upgrade but being told not eligible for it! 

Watch this space for the return journey