My Flight to USA and Two Big Time Problems in the Airport
Flight Experience India to USA – Shared by Subham.
My flight and 1st day.
Well..I boarded Air India Kol-Del-NY flight from Kolkata.
Had two big time problems at the Kolkata Airport.
- One involved technical troubles where they couldn’t generate my boarding pass
- Other one was my fault…I had an overweight of luggage.
Air India Flight Baggage
Air India allows 23X3=69 kgs for F1 student and that involves not a total of 69kgs but EACH SHOULD WEIGH 23KGS.
They initially told me to give 50$ but then it was their merciful nature that I didn’t have to pay. But it took me 1 hour to finally check-in due to luggage fiasco..so BE CAREFUL…(it took me another hour to get the DEL-JFK boarding pass but that was a technical error).
Flight India to USA
The flight was comfortable. Its 1 1/2 days since I reached USA and I haven’t had a jet lag primarily, I guess because I oriented myself in the flight according to the US time.
- Slept according to the US clock
- Drank lots and lots of water
- Walked a few times
How to Avoid Jet Lag while traveling to USA.
Flight was safe. Immigration took a bit of a time due to the long queue…but it was ok and quick.
First Day in USA
Since I already have friends and seniors here, I am not suffering from complete unfamiliar nature but I am having a bit of a problem due to the accent. But the people here are very nice and patient..so that wont bother much…
More updates at a later date… 
Remember about the weight thing.
Thoughts
Your flight experience , why overlooking simple instructions will get you into trouble.
- So,make sure you read and understand baggage requirements for International Flight to USA.
- It used to be 32 Kgs per suitcase, but airlines first reduced to 23 kgs per suitcase and now some airlines charge for baggage too.
- Be careful when you book your flights and confirm about baggage restrictions.
- Good to see you accept the fault with the overweight baggage and didn’t blame Air India 🙂
Looking forward to see more posts from you. You are the first person from fall 2011 batch to share your flight journey.
Hope, more folks will come forward to share their flight trip to USA.
Thanks for this page.
I am a nigeria, in the fourth year of my five year B.agric program and with 3.65 on a 5.0 CGPA pls i want to ask about the cheapest and reputable university in canada or US to do my M.phil or M.sc in agricultural biotech with their requirements. Thank you everybody on Happy schools blog. Expecting your reply.
Oh ……all the best.
First thing u made a wrong decision by flyng via Air india. Emirates is far bettr option wth student concession available in them. But, If you travel via Air india u have a benefit that +/- 2/3 kgs would be fine. Try to have an extra hand bag, As far as Jet lag is concerneed if ur frequent flyer no worries.
er..i dont think u read my experience properly…
air india penalized me for +2 kgs….(and -2 kgs would be fine with ANY airlines)
maybe at times they are lenient but it was wrong on my part to assume that they would oveerlook the +2kgs….I never would blame them…
secondly…I am i guess one of the most infrequent fliers in the world…the last time I flew on a plane was way back in 2000, that too, on a 1 hr 55 min journey from Bagdogra to Kolkata…
i did have an extra bag too..as my cabin luggage…the permissible load is 8kgs, they allowed 9 kgs for me…BUT AGAIN DONT ASSUME THAT THEY WILL BE LENIENT.
I got Air India a lot cheap, + 1 extra baggage for students (MAHARAJA SCHEME)…they allow 3X23 kgs for F1 students instead of 2X23 for normal fliers. Additionally, Emirates I guess has a prolonged Dubai haunt that I werent ready to face in my first flight….There’s always this anxiety to reach as quickly as possible. + I dint find any discomfort travelling by Air India…food was excellent, flight was comfortable…
one thing i don’t get. Even if you where exempted from India for you extra baggage. Didn’t they create problems in U.S. I heard there they are very strict & wont listen to u.
Was NY your last stop.
yes..ny was my last stop
by the way..if they allow excess baggage, they write it on ur ticket…
@HSB…no the baggage was entirely my fault…at home, I weighed it ..it was 22 kgs…and assumed that even if its 2-3 kgs more, they wont cause trouble….but they did..and that was absolutely justified on their part…and as I said…it was really really good on their part that I dint have to pay…The boarding pass fiasco was their technical fault but alls well that ends well i guess…. (when I mentioned that i would be travelling by Air India…a lot of people shrieked..given the current situation of Air India.. but I enjoyed my flight..)
I did forget to mention one thing..apologies on my part…that the fact that Im not suffering from jetlag..nausea etc…all are courtesy HSB and its “avoid jet lag posts”….thanks…they helped big time….thanksss!!! Enjoying here in US, though the rains are a bit dampener!!