Normally a person travelling to USA from Lucknow has to first travel to N Delhi and then board an international flight from there. This adds to the arduousness of the long journey. Though Lucknow has an international terminal and there are flights for destinations in the Middle East and Singapore, getting a direct ticket from LKO to an USA destination is a problem. The same applies to the return travel.
This time my son could arrange a direct ticket (single PNR) from LKO to SFO (via DEL) on Air India. On the outward journey the luggage was checked through to SFO and I merely had to clear the immigration at DEL without having to bother about the checked-in bags.
On the way back, when I checked in at SFO, I was given a through luggage ticket to LKO. I was expecting the luggage tickets to be only up to DEL as customs had to be cleared there before boarding the connecting domestic flight. When I enquired with the lady at the counter, she told me that though the luggage has been booked through to LKO, my bags will be put on the carousel at DEL and I will have to collect them, clear the customs and then hand them over again to Air India at a separate desk.
I made an enquiry with a cabin crew too in the flight to DEL. She admitted ignorance in the matter but said that the ground staff will be able to help me.
As we approached DEL, we were told that our registered bags will be available on belt number 2. We cleared immigration and then when we reached belt number 2, we were informed that it is on belt number 10. We reached belt number 10 and were looking for our bags when the crew from our flight happened to pass by. I hailed the lady with whom I had a conversation in the flight and enquired about the ground staff that she had mentioned. She told me to look for people in red T-shirt with shiny jackets. I found a few staff members that answered the description and were idly standing in a corner of the carousel. I approached one and told him about my two flights and asked whether my bags will be placed on the belt for retrieval and custom clearance. He replied that yes, I had to clear the customs and then hand the bags back to AI. When asked if he could help, he nodded and came with me to the belt. His jacket bore legends saying "Air India," and "No Tips Please." Yet I checked with him whether the service was free or a paid one. He said, "Oh, you can pay whatever you wish. I wouldn't insist on something like Rs. 500!"
Finally the bags arrived and we walked through the Green Channel. No one bothered us and we exited and then entered from a separate gate marked Domestic Departures. The bags were handed to the person at the counter who again enquired if there were any prohibited items in our bags and finally accepted them. The person who helped us with the luggage told us sotto voce not to pay him there. Then he took us to a lift which was to take us to the domestic departures area and managed to wrangle Rs. 200/= from us as the prohibited fruit.
This reminds me of an earlier travel to USA where USA immigration and custom had to be cleared at Abu Dhabi. You can read the details here. Here we were not required to retrieve our bags and then hand them back to the airlines. Instead they scanned the bags on their own and at the immigration counter we were shown pictures of bags checked in by us and asked to confirm that these were our bags. I wonder why can the same not be done at New Delhi. Passengers can be asked if they have any items on which duty is payable at the time of check-in at the starting point and accordingly be formed into two queues corresponding to Green and Red channels at the immigration point. This would avoid the hassle of retrieving the luggage, putting them through the scanner if so required and then handing them back to airlines staff.
In case this can not be done, a suggestion for Air India is that their ground staff be provided a list of transit passengers who would need their help and each one assigned to one or more passengers proactively. Also the passengers should be given in advance the name of the ground staff to whom they have been assigned. This will greatly facilitate the passengers.
This time my son could arrange a direct ticket (single PNR) from LKO to SFO (via DEL) on Air India. On the outward journey the luggage was checked through to SFO and I merely had to clear the immigration at DEL without having to bother about the checked-in bags.
On the way back, when I checked in at SFO, I was given a through luggage ticket to LKO. I was expecting the luggage tickets to be only up to DEL as customs had to be cleared there before boarding the connecting domestic flight. When I enquired with the lady at the counter, she told me that though the luggage has been booked through to LKO, my bags will be put on the carousel at DEL and I will have to collect them, clear the customs and then hand them over again to Air India at a separate desk.
I made an enquiry with a cabin crew too in the flight to DEL. She admitted ignorance in the matter but said that the ground staff will be able to help me.
As we approached DEL, we were told that our registered bags will be available on belt number 2. We cleared immigration and then when we reached belt number 2, we were informed that it is on belt number 10. We reached belt number 10 and were looking for our bags when the crew from our flight happened to pass by. I hailed the lady with whom I had a conversation in the flight and enquired about the ground staff that she had mentioned. She told me to look for people in red T-shirt with shiny jackets. I found a few staff members that answered the description and were idly standing in a corner of the carousel. I approached one and told him about my two flights and asked whether my bags will be placed on the belt for retrieval and custom clearance. He replied that yes, I had to clear the customs and then hand the bags back to AI. When asked if he could help, he nodded and came with me to the belt. His jacket bore legends saying "Air India," and "No Tips Please." Yet I checked with him whether the service was free or a paid one. He said, "Oh, you can pay whatever you wish. I wouldn't insist on something like Rs. 500!"
Finally the bags arrived and we walked through the Green Channel. No one bothered us and we exited and then entered from a separate gate marked Domestic Departures. The bags were handed to the person at the counter who again enquired if there were any prohibited items in our bags and finally accepted them. The person who helped us with the luggage told us sotto voce not to pay him there. Then he took us to a lift which was to take us to the domestic departures area and managed to wrangle Rs. 200/= from us as the prohibited fruit.
This reminds me of an earlier travel to USA where USA immigration and custom had to be cleared at Abu Dhabi. You can read the details here. Here we were not required to retrieve our bags and then hand them back to the airlines. Instead they scanned the bags on their own and at the immigration counter we were shown pictures of bags checked in by us and asked to confirm that these were our bags. I wonder why can the same not be done at New Delhi. Passengers can be asked if they have any items on which duty is payable at the time of check-in at the starting point and accordingly be formed into two queues corresponding to Green and Red channels at the immigration point. This would avoid the hassle of retrieving the luggage, putting them through the scanner if so required and then handing them back to airlines staff.
In case this can not be done, a suggestion for Air India is that their ground staff be provided a list of transit passengers who would need their help and each one assigned to one or more passengers proactively. Also the passengers should be given in advance the name of the ground staff to whom they have been assigned. This will greatly facilitate the passengers.
