Aug 02, 2007 10:50 PM
4274 Views
I had booked my round trip ticket from Newark, NJ, to Bombay & back, four months in advance (for Summer 2006) through an agent in Jersey City, NJ, USA.
The trouble was during the return journey. **I had confirmed and reconfirmed twice telephonically for my return journey from Surat, and from Bombay & everything was okeyed by Air india (AI). **On the day of the journey, when I reached the Sahar airport of Bombay, there was chaos at the
*AI** line. **There was overcrowding due to the overbooking that the travel agents had done.*
*Many (at least half of those standing in the line) were refused seats and were asked to "come back" after 1 or 2 days, for the seat in the next available flights.** I was amongst those hundreds of sad passengers who had to go back from the airport, stay with the relative overnight, and commute back for the allotted next day flight.
After a long arguing, filling out forms, and moving from place to place with AI's officials for their signatures on the forms, I was offered a compensation payment to cover for my commute and inconvenience. It was not enough for the 2-way taxi fare to my relative's residence place. And above all, I had to call to USA a couple of times to pick me up from the Newark airport in view of the rescheduled flight.
In case I had a job commitment the next day, I could have lost the job.
*Now I have decided never to travel or recommend AI, where such irresponsible overbooking from agents in USA can take place, and an equally irresponsible refusal for flight seats to confirmed tickets, can take place at Bombay airport.*
