From: zzkaru@athena.mit.edu (Zoher Z Karu)
Newsgroups: rec.travel.air
Subject: Gulf Air Adventures
Keywords: gulf,india
Date: 17 Apr 92 19:18:51 GMT
Article-I.D.: athena.1992Apr17.191851.20081
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

>> Hi folks,
>>
>>	I plan to travel to Bombay this june on Gulf Air. How is the service on
>>this airlines? The reason I ask is that I have heard conflicting reports - from
>>horror stories of lost baggage and interminable unscheduled stops to praise 
>>about their inflight service and efficiency!!
>>
>>	Would anyone like to add to this info?
>>	thanx.
>>
>>	-Ashutosh


I have had a bit of experience (mostly bad) with Gulf Air when I flew
round trip to Bombay from Boston last December.  I'll present the
facts, and you can make your own judgement, although I am likely to be
biased...

My itenary (just going there):
Boston -> Washington D.C.  (United Airlines)
(2 hour wait)
Washington -> London  (United Airlines)
(6 hour wait)
London -> Doha  (Gulf Air)
(1 hour wait)
Doha -> Muscat  (Gulf Air)
(8 hour wait!!! I know every square inch of the Muscat airport now!)
Muscat -> Bombay (Gulf Air)

About 40 hours total.  What a hellish trip.  Gulf Air uses United
Airlines as its carrier between the U.S. and Europe.  Gulf likes to
make multiple stops in the Middle East (mostly unknown to you until
your plane starts to go down - a little scary knowing that you are
over the middle east and seem to be landing for no apparent reason).
Kind of irritating doing the roller coaster ride after you've already
been travelling for 15 hours.  As for the 8 hour stop, totally
ridiculous.  One Gulf plane left for Bombay from Muscat about 5
minutes before we arrived (we came in 15 min late).  A few people on
my plane actually were supposed to make that connection.  Why didn't
they wait?  Who the hell is running the scheduling there anyhow?  And
planning in 8 hour halts is just plain stupid.

The customer service just plain sucks.  Gulf has an 800 number, but
getting through is like winning the lottery.  They probably only have
1 line.  The travel agent first issued me a ticket with a 20 minute
layover in Muscat.  Are they crazy?  I didn't want to be stuck in the
Middle East (and even if I make it, will my luggage?), and the next
best thing they had from Muscat to Bombay was 8 hours later.  Geez.
It took about 15 phone calls before I finally got a new ticket issued.

The guy next to me on the plane was actually supposed to take the
early Muscat flight; we were arriving a few mintues late, but he thought
he would still make it; I calmly informed him that his travel agent
forgot to account for the time change.

The person in front of me in the check-in line in London was told that
his flight no longer exists and all other flights are full.

I am very paranoid when it comes to my luggage.  Then, on the plane,
several people were very casually saying things like, "yeah, last time
I flew Gulf, they lost my bags" or "they lost all the luggage for a
whole tour group - still haven't found any of it three weeks later".
Crap.  I was getting rather worried.  The thought of spending a few
weeks in India with no underwear was not very appealing.  Then, sure
enough.  After my 8 hour delay in Muscat (during which the airline
refused to take us to a hotel or even pay for any of the meals in the
airport), we finally begin to board.  Before getting on the plane, we
were supposed to identify our bags.  Me:  "uhhhh, here's one.
and...and...and.. #@%! where is the blue one???"  The "official" there
nonchalantly says "file a complaint in Bombay".  Arrrrrggghh.  After a
lot of frustration and praying, my bag mysteriously appeared from the
baggage claim thingee in Bombay.  Maybe they didn't find anything
interesting in it (ok, ok, maybe that's a little too harsh).

Once actually on the plane, things were fine.  It was a spankin' new
767 with onboard GPS (I presume) flight monitors showing your
airplane's position, distance to destination, etc, on a world map.
There were no terrorist problems, and the on-time record is very good.
The best I have seen, but then again I've mostly been flying Air India
before (that airline is an embarassment to India).

Maybe one should expect these sorts of things when flying
international, and even more so when choosing Gulf.  Ever wonder WHY
it is about $400 cheaper than Lufthansa?  My recommedation: spend the
extra money and get some peace of mind.


		- Zoher Karu
	          zzkaru@athena.mit.edu
Newsgroups: rec.travel.air