My Journey by Vande Bharat flight from Chicago to Mumbai

 

I traveled to Chicago on the 13^th March from Mumbai to be with my daughter. I was supposed to return on the 27^th April but couldn’t as all the international flights to India were canceled.

After waiting for 3 months and with no immediate possibility of normal flights resuming, I finally decided to return to Mumbai on August 23^rd.

Booking tickets wasn’t straightforward and there were other minutiae that we had to pay attention to. As this is a rapidly evolving situation, I couldn’t find adequate resources online. But here is my experience:

Process

1. Registered myself with the closest Indian Consulate. I was in Illinois, and hence I registered with the Indian Consulate in Chicago.
2. On successful registration, I received an email with a link for online booking of an Air India ticket on a Vande Bharat flight. Before online booking, I finalized my itinerary. I identified the Vande Bharat destination International Airport Mumbai that was closest to my final destination Pune and in the same state of Maharashtra. This is important because each state has a different Quarantine policy. Had I opted to take a domestic flight from Delhi to Pune, I would have had to quarantine in Delhi before proceeding to Pune. I went ahead and made my booking right after that.
3. After a little bit of research, I found out that there are two forms to fill prior to arriving at the airport for departure:
1. Mandatory -Air Suvidha Self Reporting Form by all International Arriving Passengers to India. https://www.newdelhiairport.in/airsuvidha/apho-registration 
2. Optional (but needed if you want to avoid the institutional quarantine) – this form should be filled in after you take the Covid 19 test (more below) https://www.newdelhiairport.in/airsuvidha/covid-19-exemption-international-passenger. 
4. To be exempted from institutional quarantine, I used a negative COVID-19 test as the exemption category. For this you have to get a RT-PCR COVID-19 test done not more than 96 hours before date and time of travel. Normally the test results are given within 24 to 48 hours. I took this test and once I got my results, filled in the form in 3b above. I received a confirmation of receipt of form via email immediately and within 24 hours I received another email confirming the exemption.
5. Before travel, I printed the following documents to take in my carry-on baggage.
1. Document that was sent along with the Self Reporting form submission confirmation email.
2. Document confirming the exemption acceptance based on negative COVID-19 results.
3. RT-PCR Test Report
6. Before travel I also downloaded the Aarogya Setu app on my phone.
7. At the airport before check-in, Air India checked if I had filled the Self Reporting Form.
8. Air India gave me a packet that contained a face shield, a surgical mask and several small sachets of Sanitizer. However, I recommend that you take your own mask, sanitizer bottle and tissues. Keep some disposable gloves with you for use in the toilet. They also had sanitizer in the galley and in the toilets.
9. Food packets were kept on my seat for the whole journey. Water was also provided. Additional bottles of water were available in the galley. I brought my own snacks, so didn’t really have any food provided by Air India.
10. I transited through Delhi in India, but my baggage was booked through to Mumbai, my final destination and that is where I cleared customs and immigration. But, keep in mind that my entire trip was booked on the same ticket, and that I did international transfer at Delhi Airport to the flight taking me to Mumbai.
1. For example, I flew from Chicago to Mumbai via Delhi. I had a layover of 3 hours in Delhi. The layover is in international transit area and one can go straight to the departure gates area where seating is available.
11. At my final destination airport Mumbai on deplaning I had kept all my printed documents readily available along with my boarding pass. They checked my self-reporting form and based on that they stamped my Boarding Pass and then there is a health check counter and seeing that I was well, they let me pass through to immigration. At immigration they also asked me to show them the Aarogya Setu App on my phone.
12. After I picked up my baggage and cleared customs, I was directed to a counter for my flight for the Quarantine related processing. Since, I had an exemption, they just noted down my details and let me go.

1.      I had a good flight and since I was prepared my journey was smooth. It is very important to keep one’s mask on throughout the journey and use sanitizer whenever one touched other surfaces.

A word of boredom caution: The entertainment system is not functional during these flights so please take care of your own entertainment needs.