Meet and Greet Review on Delhi International

[sagar0sammy]

A availed the meet and greet service through the use of Axis's Magnus credit card, below is the timeline and my experience
Travel Date: Sat, 01 Jul 2023
Travel Time: 01:05 AM

Timeline:
Jun 18: Booked service through Axis Bank Extraordinary Weekends
Jun 27: Forwarded details to Encalm via email, asking them to confirm the same [guest.services@encalm.com]
Jun 28: Called Encalm concierge and they did not have any details
Jun 28: Sent email to the Axis concierge [Axisbankconcierge@aspirelifestyles.com]
Jun 29: Axis team responded with finer details and service time etc
Jun 29: Called Encalm team and asked them I will reach at 9pm instead of the 10pm service time [1 hour early]
They said it is fine, and greeter details will be shared with you 03 hours prior to the mentioned time of service.

30th June:
07:00pm: Encalm was supposed to share details of the contact person on the ground team
08:00pm: Called Encalm concierge and they shared contact of the ground team
08:10pm: Ground team did not pick up so I sent a WhatsApp message and they responded with the POC phone number
08:12pm: Called the POC and he did not have a clue and routed me to a 3rd team called Reservations Desk
08:18pm: Called Reservations Desk and was informed that there is a shift change and he will look into it
08:30pm: Given up hope after so many calls and messages
08:53pm: Get a callback from the same POC that he will in fact been assigned the service
09:00pm: Reached Airport and waited for 5-6 mins
09:06pm: Saw the POC coming with a porter


At the airport:

1) There was no priority access at the check-in counter, I double-checked with the guy that I have seen people showing otherwise.
2) There was no priority access at the immigration counter, I also asked again.
3) I was taken through the business class priority at the security checkpoint.
4) I was also given priority entry at the Encalm lounge and he followed me inside to get me seated [I swiped the Priority Pass].
5) Offered me to also help from Louge to the gate, but that is unnecessary from my POV.

I was expecting I will save time/energy at all 4 points, but it is mostly reserved at the last spots.
So lower your expectations and you should be fine.

Conclusion:
There is a big gap in how this is communicated from Axis to Encalm.
There is a huge gap in how this is internally communicated between the Encalm teams.

I don't recommend getting this if you are solo or don't have enough luggage.
You can check in faster yourself.

If you have a lot of bags or with a family then it may help.

Overall Rating:
3 out of 5

 

[nigameash]

The problem with M&G is that Encalm is inconsistent.

The overall experience is determined by the POC assigned to you and their resourcefulness.

I've used M&G 3x now and the Encalm rep managed to get us priority access to the airport (crew gate), priority checkin along with business priority for security in all instances.

Similar experience as yours after security - they accompany to lounge and will stay around to escort you to the gate

Major benefit of keeping them around is their ability to coordinate with the gate and only escort you once boarding has started and to arrange for a buggy assuming the gate isn't one of the first few.

I once had a rep print out copies of our boarding passes also so we didn't need to pull out our phone while entering the airport but this part is totally on how efficient the rep is. I was expecting this to be the norm but 2x of the times, the rep did not care enough to have this done.

PS: All these 3 experiences are for Delhi T3 departures

 

[G M]

I had a very good experience in Delhi Domestic T3.

 

[PiperatGatesofDawn]

A availed the meet and greet service through the use of Axis's Magnus credit card, below is the timeline and my experience
Travel Date: Sat, 01 Jul 2023
Travel Time: 01:05 AM

Timeline:
Jun 18: Booked service through Axis Bank Extraordinary Weekends
Jun 27: Forwarded details to Encalm via email, asking them to confirm the same [guest.services@encalm.com]
Jun 28: Called Encalm concierge and they did not have any details
Jun 28: Sent email to the Axis concierge [Axisbankconcierge@aspirelifestyles.com]
Jun 29: Axis team responded with finer details and service time etc
Jun 29: Called Encalm team and asked them I will reach at 9pm instead of the 10pm service time [1 hour early]
They said it is fine, and greeter details will be shared with you 03 hours prior to the mentioned time of service.

30th June:
07:00pm: Encalm was supposed to share details of the contact person on the ground team
08:00pm: Called Encalm concierge and they shared contact of the ground team
08:10pm: Ground team did not pick up so I sent a WhatsApp message and they responded with the POC phone number
08:12pm: Called the POC and he did not have a clue and routed me to a 3rd team called Reservations Desk
08:18pm: Called Reservations Desk and was informed that there is a shift change and he will look into it
08:30pm: Given up hope after so many calls and messages
08:53pm: Get a callback from the same POC that he will in fact been assigned the service
09:00pm: Reached Airport and waited for 5-6 mins
09:06pm: Saw the POC coming with a porter


At the airport:

1) There was no priority access at the check-in counter, I double-checked with the guy that I have seen people showing otherwise.
2) There was no priority access at the immigration counter, I also asked again.
3) I was taken through the business class priority at the security checkpoint.
4) I was also given priority entry at the Encalm lounge and he followed me inside to get me seated [I swiped the Priority Pass].
5) Offered me to also help from Louge to the gate, but that is unnecessary from my POV.

I was expecting I will save time/energy at all 4 points, but it is mostly reserved at the last spots.
So lower your expectations and you should be fine.

Conclusion:
There is a big gap in how this is communicated from Axis to Encalm.
There is a huge gap in how this is internally communicated between the Encalm teams.

I don't recommend getting this if you are solo or don't have enough luggage.
You can check in faster yourself.

If you have a lot of bags or with a family then it may help.

Overall Rating:
3 out of 5

Dude you've taken this very very very seriously! 🙂

 

[sagar0sammy]

The problem with M&G is that Encalm is inconsistent.

The overall experience is determined by the POC assigned to you and their resourcefulness.

I've used M&G 3x now and the Encalm rep managed to get us priority access to the airport (crew gate), priority checkin along with business priority for security in all instances.

Similar experience as yours after security - they accompany to lounge and will stay around to escort you to the gate

Major benefit of keeping them around is their ability to coordinate with the gate and only escort you once boarding has started and to arrange for a buggy assuming the gate isn't one of the first few.

I once had a rep print out copies of our boarding passes also so we didn't need to pull out our phone while entering the airport but this part is totally on how efficient the rep is. I was expecting this to be the norm but 2x of the times, the rep did not care enough to have this done.

PS: All these 3 experiences are for Delhi T3 departures

Thanks!
That is what I was thinking, it depends on their experience level and relationship with people at the counters.
I asked how long was my POC working at the airport and he said 6 months, which should be good enough.

 

[cch]

I’ve used M&G 4x till date. Experience has always been seamless for me. Reached airport 1 hour before departure. Was escorted to the lounge within 10 mins including luggage drop and security. They called me when boarding had started, arranged the buggy, got me boarded on priority.

This happened at both Blr(no buggy here) and IGI T3.

 

[rj_arora]

I’ve used M&G 4x till date. Experience has always been seamless for me. Reached airport 1 hour before departure. Was escorted to the lounge within 10 mins including luggage drop and security. They called me when boarding had started, arranged the buggy, got me boarded on priority.

This happened at both Blr(no buggy here) and IGI T3.

What time to fill in the extraordinary website form? I filled the flight departure time. Is it correct? And anything else also required to be done, other than filling form and paying rs 1 on the website?

 

[sagar0sammy]

What time to fill in the extraordinary website form? I filled the flight departure time. Is it correct? And anything else also required to be done, other than filling form and paying rs 1 on the website?

Yes enter the departure time and authenticate!

 

[rj_arora]

Yes enter the departure time and authenticate!

I did this yesterday. Flight is on sunday. When will I get confirmation from them?

 

[aashish2137]

I used this last week and had a very similar experience. The coordination is pathetic but somehow the rep reaches at the last moment. Same was the case with me. At airport entry, He took us from the crew gate which saved 15ish mins but then every other point of processing was the one that's available to everyone else. There was absolutely no benefit of M&G after airport entry. I think the only potential use is if you're traveling with a lot of luggage the porter could help carry it inside but that's it. For domestic travels, if the airport has digiyatra, it's much better to go with that instead of M&G

 

[ismail]

i feel the pain when i have to first register, then email, then email, then remind, then coordinate etc..

 

[aashish2137]

i feel the pain when i have to first register, then email, then email, then remind, then coordinate etc..

Technically the service is supposed to start 3 hours prior departure time so the rep will call you at the last moment if you register about 7 days prior to departure. You don't need to email/call/confirm.