Warning: Travelling international by Vande Bharat Mission, be prepared for the struggle! Complete Guide to the Vande Bharat Mission

We travelled to India from USA with the “Vande bharat mission” near the end of June 2020, thanks to Indian government for arranging these flights as in emergency these are very helpful. For those who are unaware, India has made an arrangement with some countries to operate rescue flights during coronavirus pandemic.

Registering and Booking the flights

We got first information from WhatsApp groups that Air India Flights are open. We called Air India and told them about our reason to travel. They asked us to register on the Air India website. Preference in booking is given for those with expired visa, who have been laid off or with any medical crisis. We were travelling due to family medical emergency, so we immediately got our seats booked. 

The tickets were approximately thrice the original price at the time of booking. So, in case it is not an emergency, avoid making a travel. Also, our friends recently booked seats and there was no problem. No proof of documentation for the reason of travelling will be asked during the travel. 

There was one viral image being forwarded of including only one bag with weight 7kgs in the plane except the baggage. It was not expected as women used to carry three bags at least – one carryon, one personal item bag and one laptop bag. It created a lot of trouble in packing as we were shifting from USA to India.

Journey before boarding 

We entered at the airport with masks put on and disposable gloves on our hands. They will make you one form filled before checking in. You can carry a pen to avoid the hustle. At the baggage check-in, the weight of the only carry-on bag allowed was being checked. We were spared due to a new counter setup with the new guy being unaware. We were carrying some kgs extra.

There was very limited operating staff and mics were not functioning, so it was difficult to listen to the announcement. As boarding started, people crowded near the entry gate and it created a huge mess for the operating staff.

Be prepared for the hectic travel with masks and shields put on during the entire journey. For the middle seats, overcoats will also be provided. The headphones were not there for the computer screens at the seats for safety reasons.  So, make sure you carry your own entertainment. 

Food inside the plane

There were limited stores open at the airport with packed food stuff to eat. I did not find any restaurants open. We did breakfast before entering the airport to avoid the risk of corona. At the time of entering the plane, you will find your two-time meals kept on your seats in advance. Only at the time of eating, masks can be opened. We ate with the help of gloves as almost everything was packed, only keeping in contact with the package. But guys it was the real struggle. Disposable gloves proved very useful for us as there was no need to apply sanitizer again and again. You can change them whenever you need.

Journey at the Destination airport

You will be directed to different groups based on your state with one guide who will walk you through the corona scan, immigration counter then to some waiting area till a camp just before the exit. In this camp, they will collect your passports, book you a taxi or give a pass if you have your own arrangement. Also, the quarantine centers list will be provided for each state along with the passport collection centers. 

We wanted to travel to Punjab directly. So, they booked a taxi for us pretty expensive though. He did not give us a registration slip even. It is better if you have someone picking you at the airport. The thing is what can be done keeping in mind the situation of the pandemic. We wanted to reach to our hometown as soon as we could.

For quarantine there is a government quarantine center, or they can arrange a hotel for you. There is an option available for some states to quarantine at home. We booked one hotel near our home from the numbers provided by that camp. That hotel was charging 3000 Rs per day including food. It was costly for staying one week. After we checked the hotel room, we were disappointed and immediately called the numbers we had for booking another one. We stayed one night there only and paid one-night charges. 

We were quarantining so the hotel arranged taxi for shifting to another hotel, on the same road for about 500Rs. Yes, you read it right. After one day, Civil Hospital staff visited us at our hotel and booked our corona test date. We were tested on the fourth day and after spending one week, we got a call from the hotel to receive our test results. These days were difficult to spend, we spent most of the time sleeping. Surrounded by the same walls for almost a week, we were not allowed to roam around in the hotel. 

Food at the hotel was good as we stayed in the same hotel earlier and were aware of the facilities. It was a two-time meal a day. You can ask for the water bottle.

Thank God, we were corona negative. We were discharged the same day. Different states have their own rules of hotel discharge.

Conclusion

Make sure you have enough cash. As you are a NRI that time, it is presumed that you can give any amount of cash being asked. It should clear the doubts of many people the reason behind government arranging for this rescue travel and not arranging any transport for the public. Carry a pen, mask, disposable gloves and other items needed for staying in a hotel for a week. Make sure you have a sufficient size sanitizer for the taxi and hospital visit.