- I've only been in India an hour already,
and it's chaos already.
Nevermind, we're off on the first flight,
the first domestic flight of our Indian adventure today.
So let's go and see if we can check in and drop our bag.
- Hello.
- [Noel] Thank you. - Have a good one, sir.
- [Noel] Good morning, how are you?
- [Employee] I'm fine.
- From A767, for boarding time is 11:30.
- Perfect, thank you very much.
Right, checked in for Kolkata.
We're taking a flight across India today with Air India.
This is gonna be fun, isn't it?
I can already tell.
Let's go on and head through security here at Delhi.
Right through security, without a hitch,
actually, which is quite nice.
So I'm gonna try to find the Air India lounge
here now at Delhi, wherever that...
Maybe, let's go and find it.
I have to say as airports go, Delhi's actually
quite a nice airport here.
I have been through this terminal before
when I came through last time.
It's very nice, very modern and clean
and nice and cool as well, with the AC going here inside.
So yeah, it's quite a nice little terminal building.
Big terminal building, I should say.
KFC's coming to Delhi, yay!
Thank you.
- Thank you, please be seated, sir.
- Thank you.
Got myself a nice can of Mirinda,
remember this stuff from before, it was lovely.
It's quite a nice little lounge here,
not massive but it's quite nice, nonetheless.
So I'm gonna sit here and have a bit of a cold drink
of something before I fly over to Kolkata.
So yeah, we flying with Air India today
on their domestic flight over to Kolkata in business class
which is gonna be quite interesting to see what they're like
on their sort of domestic flights here in India.
I'm sure it's gonna be an adventure as always
but it's gonna be fun.
So yeah, just chilling in the lounge a bit now.
How long we got?
Let's have a look... about two hours
until the fly leaves and there goes my bag on the floor.
All right then, time to head to the gate.
Wanna try and get on board the Air India plane
over to Kolkata.
Right, we're having fun and games already.
Just got to the gate and they told me
I need to go back to the lounge
'cause apparently there's a problem with my check-in bag,
It's got stuck at security or something.
I'm like, okay.
Interesting, so now I've gotta go all the way back
to the lounge and they are leaving in like half an hour.
So hopefully enough time to
try and figure out what's going on.
Hi, they just sent me back here.
They said that there was a problem with my bag
so they sent me back to the lounge.
- Is there some issue?
- Yes, yes, I got to the gate and they sent me back here.
- [Desk Employee] Yes, yes sir.
I'll assist you.
- [Noel] Okay, thank you.
- He will assist you.
- [Noel] Okay, thank you.
I can keep it, right?
Thank you.
I didn't realize it was that, I'm sorry.
- Please come.
- [Noel] Yes.
So in India, no electronics in hold baggage?
- No, not allowed.
- [Noel] Not allowed, right, okay.
- You will wait here.
- [Noel] I wait here?
- Yeah, I am coming.
- You'll come back, okay, thank you.
All right, seems there's an issue 'cause I had
inadvertently packed a spare power bank
in my suitcase back in the UK,
which apparently isn't allowed in your suitcase in India.
So no electronics allowed
in your suitcase when you check it in.
So that's why they've had to pull me back
but my flight now leaves in... 15 minutes.
So I think they've gone to,
he said that they normally throw it away
but because I dunno for some reason,
he's letting me keep it but he's gotta go and scan it.
So fingers crossed we make this flight.
Is this allowed sir, or...
Is this allowed, yes?
- Yeah, yeah, allowed.
- [Noel] Yes, yes.
- Thank you.
- [Noel] You're welcome, thank you.
- On the right side.
Thank you, have a nice day, sir.
- All right, thank you very much.
You have a good day, sir.
Thank you.
All right, that's why he was so helpful
but anyway, never mind.
Little bit of Sterling always sweetens people, I think
but nevermind, yes, okay.
Final call now for the plane
so let's see if we can get on it.
My flight leaves, I gotta check in now.
- What happened to the wheelchair?
- Nice, thank you, thank you.
Right, made it back to the gate.
Last one on, I think.
Let's do this.
Hello.
Thank you.
Feel like I'm in Home Alone.
Right, we're here.
Hopefully not to New York.
Hello, good morning, sir.
- [Flight Staff] Hello, how are you, sir?
- [Noel] I'm good, thank you
and how are you? - [Flight Staff] Seat 3A, sir.
- [Noel] 3A. - [Flight Staff] Right side,
window seat, sir. - [Noel] Thank you.
- [Flight Staff] You're welcome, sir.
- Right, made it.
Phew, sight of relief.
Air India in 20, near actually.
Over to Kolkata.
Whew, that was a bit of a run, wasn't it?
Nevermind, this is quite nice.
Decent amount of leg room there.
Stretch out, a bit of old fashioned style seat covers
but it's okay for a NEO.
Quite big for a NEO, to be fair, but hey.
I'm just glad to be on board right now, to be honest.
Our route today then takes us south east
from Delhi to Kolkata.
Flight time today was one hour and 59 minutes,
cruising at 37,000 feet.
One thing I couldn't help but notice on this flight
was just how dated the cabin looked.
This is a nearly brand new Airbus A320 NEO
and Air India have only had it for a couple of years,
yet on board, the decor reminded me of the 40 year old
Biman DC-10 I flew on a few years ago.
The meal service today consisted of a choice
of veg or non-veg curry.
It was pretty tasty and not too spicy for my Western tastes.
Air India have some pretty cool branded cutlery too.
After the main meal service, there was an additional
round of service with this small container of chili
which was pretty decent, as well as some roti.
Chili con-carne?
There wasn't much in the way of in-flight entertainment
on this brand new A320 NEO.
So I had a read through the local newspaper
where the classified ads seemed
a little bit different to those back at home.
Still, this guy seems to be quite a big deal
in the marble business.
Do you fancy getting your hands on my socks?
New ones, that is.
You can buy those and much more exclusive Noel merch
all over on my merch store at noelphilips.com
The link's on the screen now.
My flight today then cost me 275 pounds,
or around about 35 pence per mile.
Overall, for a two hour flight
in a comfortable business class with nice food to boot,
I thought this represented fairly decent value for money.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, bye bye.
Welcome to Kolkata, in West Bengal
on the far, kind of eastern side of India.
Let's go and see if I can get to my hotel.
Right, somewhat surprising after the events over in Delhi,
my bag's actually made it onto the flight, I've got it here.
I very nearly didn't make it, let alone my bag.
I'm surprised that made it.
Right, I need to find the exit then, exit.
Once I said goodbye to the airport,
it was time to brave the Kolkata traffic
for my ride into town to my hotel.
Thank you very much, thank you.
Hello.
- Namaste.
- [Noel] Namaste.
- How may I assist you?
- [Noel] Checking in, please.
Thank you.
Oh, thank you very much, thank you.
- You're welcome, sir.
- [Noel] Yes, hello.
- Sir, this is to wish for your health,
wealth and prosperity.
Welcome to JW Marriott.
- [Noel] Thank you very much,
thank you. - [Woman] Welcome, sir.
- [Noel] Checking in please.
- Checking in, sir? - [Noel] Yes.
- May I please have your last name?
So is this the first time in Kolkata, sir?
- [Noel] Yes, first time in India, so yeah.
- This would be a lucky draw for you.
So for one of our loyalty members, this is that.
So beer, like a beer bucket.
Would you like one beer bucket send to you?
- Yeah, okay, yeah, fair enough, yeah.
- Sounds good, sir.
- [Noel] I never say no to beer, so.
As always, a massive thank you to my patrons
for helping to make these videos possible.
You can join them at the link on the screen now
for access to my WhatsApp group, live zoom calls with me
and much, much more.
Hey, well here we are, then.
Kolkata in India and wow, what a view!
Crikey.
There's my view, that's over the city of Kolkata
and the fields down there below as well.
Crazy, that is unbelievable, look at that view.
Fantastic, so yeah, here we go.
Kolkata.
I eventually made my flight.
Lesson learned, if ever you're flying in India,
do not check anything electrical into your suitcase
'cause they just don't like it
and it will get you in a heap of trouble
like you almost did for me.
But thankfully, with a bit of running,
I managed to my flight and everything
so it wasn't too bad in the end
and I managed to get on my ride over with Air India
who weren't too bad, all in all.
Let me know what you thought of Air India,
down in the comments below,
in their business class of course on their A320 NEO,
and what do you think of that cabin with the old style,
the old fashioned style cabin on the brand new plane?
It's pretty crazy contrast, isn't it?
But let me know what you thought
of that down in the comments.
I've got a couple of days here now in Kolkata
and then we move on to the next adventure here in India.
So do hit that subscribe button so you don't miss it
and I can't wait to see you all on the next one
but in the meantime, thank you so much for watching.
Take care and I'll see you on the next one.
Bye for now.