So far it’s my favorite LCC in India!
Based on some of the posts on this blog, you might think all we do is fly first and business class on longhaul flights all day, ignoring what goes on behind the curtain and what is obviously the largest air travel market by passenger volume: short haul economy. False! The reality of travel is you can’t get everywhere you want to go in a lie-flat seat, and in fact some of the best destinations are only accessible by narrowbodies and turboprops, and we like those destinations…
In this post...
What, where, and why
Enter a recent trip to the Andaman Islands in India: the easiest (and only) way to get there is via an Indian carrier from a handful of cities. Given my slight fascination with the LCC business model, I made us skip Jet Airways and try out IndiGo and GoAir on our way flights to and from Port Blair (IXZ). We had heard that SpiceJet has pretty bad reliability, so given our tight connections, we decided to skip them. Here’s how the IndiGo flight went:
What’s Awesome:
- The experience was notably superior to GoAir, hands down
- IndiGo Upgrade Service is definitely worth the extra fee (~$30 USD)
- Service was good enough
What’s Not:
- There is very little cushioning on the seats
Overall, IndiGo was a pleasant experience. It sure felt like the only cushioning on the seats is the cloth that covers them, but they’re pretty ergonomic so I wasn’t too uncomfortable on this ~2.5 hour flight. Service was pretty neutral, which I guess technically qualifies as good, and I didn’t try the food but my guess is it will fill you up but won’t win any awards… Seat pitch is a relatively standard 30″ — roomy compared to 29″ on Spirit Airways! — and while seat width is 18″, these are pretty minimal armrests so it felt a bit more like 17″ to me. When all is said and done, though, you’re looking at what I would call a very good LCC product. The cabin configuration is a classic high density, all-economy A320 configuration, with one lav up front and two in the back. Bulkheads are present on both sides of the aircraft, unlike on some other LCCs like Easyjet.
Which seat is best and why
In order of preference: row 13 or row 1 — pick 13 if you’re tall, 1 if you’re not — then row 12. These rows all have extra legroom at well over 30″ of seat pitch, while everything else on the aircraft is at 30″ of pitch. As always, avoid the last two rows due to their proximity to the lav, and I didn’t test it, but it looked like row 30 had limited recline.
- Avoid if possible: rows 11, 29, and 30.
- For window seats choose: 1A, 1F, and if you don’t mind the missing armrest (I like it), then 12A, 12F, 13A, and 13F.
- For aisle seats choose: any of the preferred rows noted above, otherwise they’re all pretty much the same.
Here are my photos from the flight
What’s your take on IndiGo?
Any IndiGo flyers out there? How do you think it compares to the other LCCs in India? Let us know in the comments below!
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