My wife has flown by herself with both Jet Airways and Air India with no problems at all.

For her first flight, I emailed her a copy of what Jet said they wanted (both sides of my card, the flight legs the ticket was for, and my signature confirming that I bought the ticket for her) I blanked out enough details so that no-one could use the card.

No-one asked for it.

She asked me how she would change planes, as she had never had to do that before. I told her to get off the first plane and get on the next one (the boarding card has the gate number on it).

She got off the first plane and got on the next one. As far as I can tell, she didn't need anyone to hold her hand, and the cottonwool onesie was surplus to requirements.

I read a lot of reviews for the various airlines and most of the comments were about food and service (good and bad). None of those applied to my wife. She wouldn't eat it anyway (it's not Thai food) and the service doesn't really matter if you're not eating the food, all they do is bring you food!

I paid around £530 for her first flight in 2011, about £650 in 2012 and £621 for this year's flight.

Skyscanner.net

I think anyone who has ever routed via Mumbai or Delhi will agree the hassle there is just not worth it. Immigration/security is a nightmare

and in the case of Jet Airways you get what you pay for. The saving of £100/£150 is not worth it compared to a direct flight.

The BA offer at £685 for a direct flight is good value compared to Jet.

Edited November 14, 201312 yr by Jay Sata

i have also just been informed i can pay British Airways by PayPal so she doesn't need a copy of my credit card

She asked me how she would change planes, as she had never had to do that before. I told her to get off the first plane and get on the next one (the boarding card has the gate number on it).

Tell me about it. Trying to explain to my wife how to negotiate London on the underground, its not as if Bangkok doesn't have any sort of Metro system.

She wanted to meet her friend at Westfield shopping centre in Stratford. Apart from it being bonkers to call a shopping centre in the east end "Westfield" doesn't help. She had been to the Sheperds Bush one with me so I had to explain that Stratford is somewhere entirely different. She made it to Euston then caught a taxi!!!!. It cost £60 but fortunately her friend, whose husband is loaded, paid it.

How can a taxi cost £60 from Euston to Stratford? Was the driver a Thai?

Or maybe just a London cabbie who'd been ripped of in Phuket by the tuk tuk drivers and saw a means of returning the favour?

Edited November 14, 201312 yr by Jay Sata

Book a return flight with the return that can be altered, bit more expensive but insurance.

My wife has flown by herself with both Jet Airways and Air India with no problems at all.

For her first flight, I emailed her a copy of what Jet said they wanted (both sides of my card, the flight legs the ticket was for, and my signature confirming that I bought the ticket for her) I blanked out enough details so that no-one could use the card.

No-one asked for it.

She asked me how she would change planes, as she had never had to do that before. I told her to get off the first plane and get on the next one (the boarding card has the gate number on it).

She got off the first plane and got on the next one. As far as I can tell, she didn't need anyone to hold her hand, and the cottonwool onesie was surplus to requirements.

I read a lot of reviews for the various airlines and most of the comments were about food and service (good and bad). None of those applied to my wife. She wouldn't eat it anyway (it's not Thai food) and the service doesn't really matter if you're not eating the food, all they do is bring you food!

I paid around £530 for her first flight in 2011, about £650 in 2012 and £621 for this year's flight.

Skyscanner.net

I think anyone who has ever routed via Mumbai or Delhi will agree the hassle there is just not worth it. Immigration/security is a nightmare

and in the case of Jet Airways you get what you pay for. The saving of £100/£150 is not worth it compared to a direct flight.

The BA offer at £685 for a direct flight is good value compared to Jet.

I've done both myself, many times. Mumbai is a hassle, Dehli is fine. Both are good options if the direct price is more that the £1,000 that we were quoted for the dates we wanted. £685 is a good price though.

How can a taxi cost £60 from Euston to Stratford? Was the driver a Thai?

Or maybe just a London cabbie who'd been ripped of in Phuket by the tuk tuk drivers and saw a means of returning the favour?

Easy, you get in the cab, the meter goes on, by the time you've got to Stratford, it's £60. Black cabs are ok for little jaunts in and around the west end, but once you sit in them for more than a few miles/minutes they're really expensive.

How can a taxi cost £60 from Euston to Stratford? Was the driver a Thai?

Or maybe just a London cabbie who'd been ripped of in Phuket by the tuk tuk drivers and saw a means of returning the favour?

Stratford London, or Stratford Upon Avon?

She asked me how she would change planes, as she had never had to do that before. I told her to get off the first plane and get on the next one (the boarding card has the gate number on it).

Tell me about it. Trying to explain to my wife how to negotiate London on the underground, its not as if Bangkok doesn't have any sort of Metro system.

She wanted to meet her friend at Westfield shopping centre in Stratford. Apart from it being bonkers to call a shopping centre in the east end "Westfield" doesn't help. She had been to the Sheperds Bush one with me so I had to explain that Stratford is somewhere entirely different. She made it to Euston then caught a taxi!!!!. It cost £60 but fortunately her friend, whose husband is loaded, paid it.

I understand what you're saying, but my post was meant to describe how, even though she thought it would be difficult changing planes, in actual fact, it wasn't.

Sometimes people think these things will be too difficult for our partners to handle and get the kid gloves out. I don't think it's always so.

The London Underground is a different matter altogether. I spend a lot of my working day advising people from London how to use it. If they need help, it's only fair to assume that someone from another country may well get confused, or lost trying to use it.

She wanted to meet her friend at Westfield shopping centre in Stratford. Apart from it being bonkers to call a shopping centre in the east end "Westfield" doesn't help.

Westfield is the name of the company which owns and runs the centre. They have at least four in the UK: Shepherd's Bush and Stratford in London, Derby and Merry Hill near Birmingham.

They also have sites in Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

When my sister in law visited us in the UK because she speaks very little English and reads none she was worried about getting lost. We explained this to the airline, EVA, who arranged for her to be met off the plane at LHR and escorted through immigration and customs and into the outside world where she met us.

They didn't charge for this.

She wanted to meet her friend at Westfield shopping centre in Stratford. Apart from it being bonkers to call a shopping centre in the east end "Westfield" doesn't help.

Westfield is the name of the company which owns and runs the centre. They have at least four in the UK: Shepherd's Bush and Stratford in London, Derby and Merry Hill near Birmingham.

They also have sites in Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

Yes I know it is but just seems perverse that the the first on in Shepherds Bush was Westfield then the next one in Stratford in the east end carried the same name.

Wasn't the company that built Westfield, the Shepherds Bush one I mean the same company that built Wembley Stadium and screwed it up. But that is off topic.

How can a taxi cost £60 from Euston to Stratford? Was the driver a Thai?

Or maybe just a London cabbie who'd been ripped of in Phuket by the tuk tuk drivers and saw a means of returning the favour?

Stratford London, or Stratford Upon Avon?

London.

If you were going the Stratford Upon Avon, this calculator http://www.worldtaximeter.com/london shows the fare at around the £320 mark, but if it got stuck in traffic before it got out of the city, i would expect that to be much higher

just bought her ticket online via paypal

34000baht british airways

just bought her ticket online via paypal

34000baht british airways

That is a very good deal.

I have not seen BA flights at that level before. Good news about Paypal.

How can a taxi cost £60 from Euston to Stratford? Was the driver a Thai?

Or maybe just a London cabbie who'd been ripped of in Phuket by the tuk tuk drivers and saw a means of returning the favour?

Stratford London, or Stratford Upon Avon?

London.

If you were going the Stratford Upon Avon, this calculator http://www.worldtaximeter.com/london shows the fare at around the £320 mark, but if it got stuck in traffic before it got out of the city, i would expect that to be much higher

She should have saved the fare and taken a brisk walk to Oxford St then she'd be £60 up for shopping.

Good news on the BA airfare.

just bought her ticket online via paypal

34000baht british airways

Have you got any links?

Or is this fare from the BA website?

EDIT - Just checked for a date in March. 35k. Very good deal. Last time the sister-in-law came over it was £1k plus on Thai.

RAZZ

Edited November 14, 201312 yr by RAZZELL

BA website in uk