This Will Come To India Too.

This is to share my recent experience of domestic air travel in USA.  These airlines have wonderful ways of enhancing their revenue even as they offer cheap tickets to gullible customers.  Had Vijay Mallya known of these, he wouldn't have failed so miserably or fled with so little (:)).  But then first class passengers or charter holders have no reason or occasion for getting exposed to these tricks.

The first flight was a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Oakland in California to Kona on the Big Island in Hawaii.  The female staff were all wearing a flower in their hair as is customary in Hawaii and male crew were dressed in shirts with floral prints.  This made the crew look like the tourists rather than the passengers.  During initial welcome and informative announcements it was conveyed that complimentary meal was to be served during the course of the flight.  The flight duration was a little over 5 hours.

Shortly after the take off an announcement was made that snacks will be available for purchase.  My two grandsons proclaimed that they were very hungry and that we must buy them some snacks.  So we bought them some snacks and drinks at a rather stiff price.  Then even before they could finish their snacks another announcement was made that complimentary snacks and drinks will be served and were promptly served indeed!

By the time we finished the snacks and the drink, the cabin had become very cold.  Several passengers were seen retrieving their jackets and putting them on.  We had brought none as the weather in Hawaii was foretold to be rather warm.  After a few minutes the kids started complaining that it was too cold.  I approached the hostess, informed her that the temperature was too low for comfort and inquired if she could give us some blankets.  She promptly replied that blankets were available for purchase at $10 each.  Even though we were loathe to add to our baggage, we bought two.  The kids wrapped themselves and felt cozy and nice.  Less than an hour thereafter the cabin temperature returned to a comfortable level.  My elder grandson removed the blanket and remarked, "Oh, they can make a lot of money by just turning up the cooling for an hour!"

Each seat had a monitor and a menu of programs to watch.  However there were no earphones / headphones provided in the seat pockets.  Even before we could inquire about the missing earphones, a hostess came down the aisle announcing that earphones were for sale and passengers could take the purchased item with them as a souvenir!  Most passengers seemed to be experienced ones and were carrying their own earphones.  I decided against buying one and spent time playing Sudoku instead of watching a movie.  Even Sudoku was part of the premium section.  But, thankfully, no payment was demanded for the game.

I may add that most passengers had only a handbag and another small bag or laptop bag only.  Each checked-in baggage had to be paid for at $25 a piece and conform to size and weight specifications.

We flew Air Delta on our return.  We tried a web check-in to save time at the airport.  The check-in went through and generated six random seat numbers for our group of six (with a single PNR) with no two seats next to each other!  The option for choosing a different seat said that it could be done at a cost of $20 per person.  We decided to wait and pay only at the counter if required.  When we reached the airport, the self check-in kiosk showed that the seats had been reallocated and we were seated in two groups of three each, one behind the other and we got the new boarding passes.  Those with small kids who might have panicked at the prospect of a child sitting away from them may have ended paying up in multiples of $20.

Our own airlines in India must find these practices inspirational and be getting ready to adapt them.  They already have dynamic pricing for fare.  So, beware!

For NRIs and their Indian Attorneys

My son gave me a General Power of Attorney (GPOA) before he left for a job in USA.  That was a little over a decade ago.  Later on my daughter-in-law too gave me a GPOA.  I could register a property in my son's name in Pune on the basis of GPOA without any hassles.  However I had yet to have an encounter with the redoubtable LDA (Lucknow Development Authority.)

My son and daughter-in-law booked a flat with LDA in 2010, the year of my retirement.  The idea was that it may be a better option for my wife and me to live in a flat rather than an independent house.  We waited four long years and paid for serious cost escalations before the letter of allotment finally came through.

Undeterred by the scary stories I had heard, I marched into LDA's office armed with the letter of allotment and the two GPOAs .  I approached the concerned clerk and asked for the formats of the affidavit and declaration etc. that were to be furnished by the allottee.  I was told that these can be had from the notary who sits outside the building.  I got the affidavit etcetera made and appeared before the clerk.  He expressed doubts about how could the registration be done on the basis of GPOAs.  Several observation were made about the age of the documents, the two GPOAs being registered at different places, lack of the phrase "registration of property" in the the documents and so on.

I called on the concerned officer who sought the opinion of a retired supervisor on whom he relies.  This person came through as a very practical man and opined straight away that it would be perfectly in order for me to sign the deed conveying the property to my son and daughter-in-law.

I made inquiries with the clerk a week later.  I was told that notwithstanding the retired person's advice, the matter had been referred to CLA (Chief Legal Adviser) who in his wisdom had opined that the GPOAs were too old and hence it may not be proper to register the property on the basis of these!  A remarkable observation indeed considering the fact that GPOAs never get time barred.  As regards any revocation, the POA holder has to sign an affidavit affirming that the POA is still valid and I had done that.

I called upon the CLA who showed me an order by the Supreme Court questioning sale of a property through a POA.  When it was pointed out that this was a case of purchase through POA, he retorted, "Oh, so you would like to have an argument!"  He suggested that I call the applicants to Lucknow for executing the documents!  He also wondered if delays might affect the validity of the stamps that had already been purchased.  When told that the parties could not appear in person and that was the reason for giving GPOAs, with much reluctance he suggested that I get a special power of attorney from them and added that getting it from overseas may be a rather difficult task and he could not assure me beforehand that it would serve the purpose.

You must have noted that while he quoted a certain SC order orally, he did not quote it in his written remarks.  In the remarks he merely mentioned that the instruments were old.

I wondered if I should fight back on the ground that a POA doesn't get time barred.  But later thought that probably it would be faster and less expensive to get a special POA from my son and daughter-in-law.

What happened afterwards will appear in a subsequent post.