India - Which airline to fly domestically in these "interesting times"?

We scaled down our itinerary thanks in part to the advice offered in this forum and want to finalize domestic travel arrangements for our January trip.

Our plans had tentatively included two one-way flights DEL-JAI and AGR-DEL, and one return-trip DEL-GOI.

Kingfisher appears to be in the midst of a serious financial crisis (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Kingfisher-Airlines-seeks-govt-help-more-flights-cancelled/articleshow/10691958.cms) and Air India seems to be facing major problems (http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-11-09/news/30377789_1_kingfisher-dgca-flight-caterer) too.

Kingfisher appears to have canceled AGR-DEL. We can't find another carrier for that route so presume we're looking at land transport. :confused:

Any suggestions as to whether we would be "safer" to book flights either with Air India or Jet Airways?

Thanks in advance. ^

book away with jet without any worries....even ai is fine....just avoid kingfisher for now....

from delhi to agra there are many options, either via road or train....

it is a waste of time and money to fly between delhi and agra. take the shatabdi express instead. gets you to your destination in a little over two hours.

book away with jet without any worries....even ai is fine....just avoid kingfisher for now....

from delhi to agra there are many options, either via road or train....

Thanks. ^ We're working on that with the train our preference.

it is a waste of time and money to fly between delhi and agra. take the shatabdi express instead. gets you to your destination in a little over two hours.

Welcome to FT and thanks. ^

We're also trying to book by train from Jaipur to Agra but so far all we can get for our party of five includes one waitlisted. It's also asking for berth preferences for a train leaving at 6:10 a.m. :confused: Are we likely to be all split up or, worse, leave one member of our party behind at the station?

Updated: We've now booked a train from Jaipur to Agra with one person on the waitlist, and booked a train from Agra to Delhi.

Updated: We've now booked a train from Jaipur to Agra with one person on the waitlist, and booked a train from Agra to Delhi.

i would suggest hiring a car & driver for both the agra & jaipur trips....if there are 5 of you then it will roughly come to the same amount you would pay for 5 train tickets....also, if you have a car then you don't have to stick to a schedule & can spend more or less time at any particular location....

i would suggest hiring a car & driver for both the agra & jaipur trips....if there are 5 of you then it will roughly come to the same amount you would pay for 5 train tickets....also, if you have a car then you don't have to stick to a schedule & can spend more or less time at any particular location....

Thanks again. ^ I now have a quote from a well-recommended company for a car and driver Jaipur-Agra. We did secure seats on a train from Agra to Delhi that leaves at a reasonable time so are thinking we might stick with that for the train experience.

How do Jet, Spice, and Indigo compare? Once they publish schedules, are they pretty reliable? If I buy a ticket directly from their website, will my experience be generally like it is with any other airline? (Automatic email/text updates of flight changes, ability to manage seats online, simplicity of just showing up in Delhi with my printout, that kind of thing...)

I'm looking to buy a DEL-KTM-DEL R/T for October. We arrive into DEL at 4:30AM on Royal Jordanian. We'd like to fly directly onward to Nepal for a few days, returning to visit India for a week afterwards.

Jet has a departure that one website claims is a 7:30 flight and another claims is 6:30. (Same flight number, so I'm pretty sure it's one flight!) Although we'll be the first off the RJ flight and perhaps the first with luggage, I'm hesitant to book this not knowing anything about immigration/customs in India, if we'll have to change terminals in Delhi, and not knowing exactly what checking in on Jet without elite status is like.

Spice has a departure at 8:40 which would make for a leisurely transit, time for breakfast, and really no stress about how chaotic checking in on Spice without status is.

Flight prices on all three of these are comparable and reasonable. There are also Air India flights for outrageous prices. But as long as these other airlines operate when they say they do and I'm really a confirmed passenger after I buy a ticket, I don't really care about the details of the inflight service. It can be Ryanair inflight for 90 minutes...no big deal.

I would go with SpiceJet if the time is 8:40. In India, "leisurely" is a good thing when discussing connections. A 6:30 connection from a 4:30 inbound is a guaranteed miss, and even 7:30 could be pushing it. If your second flight were a domestic one I would be more comfortable with 7:30, but considering you are connecting to another international flight, and unfamiliar with the terminals and the process, I'd say more time is better.

DEL has improved dramatically since the revamp of its terminals, but the unreconstructed part--that is, the human/bureaucrat factor--can still trip you up.

I have not flown Indigo, but both Jet and SpiceJet are "normal" as far as the ticket purchase and check-in process is concerned. Both do e-tickets, online purchases, etc. and will not have issues with you just showing up at the counter with your passport and printout.

FWIW as the OP we flew Jet a total of five legs (Delhi to Jaipur and Delhi to Goa via Mumbai) and found it to be perfectly acceptable. In fact, the service, including meals, was of a higher standard than we're used to flying domestically within the U.S. :)

Thanks again to Keyser and others whose advice helped us to organize a practical itinerary for our first trip to India. ^

How do Jet, Spice, and Indigo compare? Once they publish schedules, are they pretty reliable? If I buy a ticket directly from their website, will my experience be generally like it is with any other airline? (Automatic email/text updates of flight changes, ability to manage seats online, simplicity of just showing up in Delhi with my printout, that kind of thing...)

I'm looking to buy a DEL-KTM-DEL R/T for October. We arrive into DEL at 4:30AM on Royal Jordanian. We'd like to fly directly onward to Nepal for a few days, returning to visit India for a week afterwards.

Jet has a departure that one website claims is a 7:30 flight and another claims is 6:30. (Same flight number, so I'm pretty sure it's one flight!) Although we'll be the first off the RJ flight and perhaps the first with luggage, I'm hesitant to book this not knowing anything about immigration/customs in India, if we'll have to change terminals in Delhi, and not knowing exactly what checking in on Jet without elite status is like.

Spice has a departure at 8:40 which would make for a leisurely transit, time for breakfast, and really no stress about how chaotic checking in on Spice without status is.

Flight prices on all three of these are comparable and reasonable. There are also Air India flights for outrageous prices. But as long as these other airlines operate when they say they do and I'm really a confirmed passenger after I buy a ticket, I don't really care about the details of the inflight service. It can be Ryanair inflight for 90 minutes...no big deal.

Yes, all of them are reliable. The DEL airport is pretty good for Intl-Intl connections, as they are all in the same terminal. However, if travelling on a LCC like SG or 6E, you may have to wait a while to find someone who will check you in at the transit desk, as they are not usually staffed by LCC. If you are planning a connection with layover less than 3 hours, I would only choose 9W. Otherwise, they are all pretty comparable.

EDIT: Regarding luggage, RJ should be able to check your luggage through to KTM on 9W. I don't think they would be able to on SG or 6E.

FWIW as the OP we flew Jet a total of five legs (Delhi to Jaipur and Delhi to Goa via Mumbai) and found it to be perfectly acceptable. In fact, the service, including meals, was of a higher standard than we're used to flying domestically within the U.S. :)

Thanks again to Keyser and others whose advice helped us to organize a practical itinerary for our first trip to India. ^

happy to be of help....glad you had a good trip....

Yes, all of them are reliable. The DEL airport is pretty good for Intl-Intl connections, as they are all in the same terminal. However, if travelling on a LCC like SG or 6E, you may have to wait a while to find someone who will check you in at the transit desk, as they are not usually staffed by LCC. If you are planning a connection with layover less than 3 hours, I would only choose 9W. Otherwise, they are all pretty comparable.

EDIT: Regarding luggage, RJ should be able to check your luggage through to KTM on 9W. I don't think they would be able to on SG or 6E.

Thanks...good to know. I hadn't thought of RJ being able to check my baggage through to the 9W flight...just assumed that no matter who I flew on the separate ticket (except maybe Air India) I'd have to carry my luggage through Indian customs and then go find the 2nd airline afterwards.

Would connecting from RJ to 9W, 4:30AM to 6:30AM, be considered normal, a little tight, or insane? :) If it's all in one building I feel a little more confident in booking it.

Thanks...good to know. I hadn't thought of RJ being able to check my baggage through to the 9W flight...just assumed that no matter who I flew on the separate ticket (except maybe Air India) I'd have to carry my luggage through Indian customs and then go find the 2nd airline afterwards.

Would connecting from RJ to 9W, 4:30AM to 6:30AM, be considered normal, a little tight, or insane? :) If it's all in one building I feel a little more confident in booking it.

When on separate tickets, do not make your plans around the baggage being interlined. There is a chance that they will refuse to do it at check-in. Think of it as a bonus, in that you would not have to go pick up and re-check the bags, can instead spend time in the lounge/mall.
In any case, a 2 hour transit is pushing it. But the MCT is 90 minutes, so it's doable. I would choose the 7:30 :p

When on separate tickets, do not make your plans around the baggage being interlined. There is a chance that they will refuse to do it at check-in. Think of it as a bonus, in that you would not have to go pick up and re-check the bags, can instead spend time in the lounge/mall.
In any case, a 2 hour transit is pushing it. But the MCT is 90 minutes, so it's doable. I would choose the 7:30 :p

I would definitely choose the 7:30...it's just that I see two websites showing flight 9W 264, one says it departs at 6:30 and the other says 7:30. So I'm assuming worst case...6:30. I don't believe there are two flights - I think one of the two websites is wrong.

Assuming the two airlines don't interline, does anyone know exactly what the process is at DEL? At a lot of international airports, it honestly wouldn't matter if they interlined: I'd collect my bags, go through immigration and customs, walk out of the customs area, and immediately see recheck desks for all of that airport's primary airlines. If my bag already has a KTM tag on it, I would just drop it onto another belt. If it doesn't, I'd have to talk to someone for 1 minute to get one.

But I've also been in other international airports where there are no desks, no signs, and confusing instructions for people who are connecting onward but don't have automatically interlined bags. At 5AM, is DEL already busy, kind of just waking up, or totally dead...meaning I'd have to go a long way to find the one Jet agent there handling this (potentially) 6:30AM flight?

The backup plan is to fly Spice at 8:40AM. But it'd be nice to make the Jet flight if possible...I've heard of and seen them around before, so I assume they're the bigger airline. They also have more flights later in the day to KTM.

I recommend SG. They are an excellent LCC, and the only airline I fly on apart from Air India... Clean planes, reliable service, cheap fares. What else could you want?

I think there's just one flight. Sometimes, certain Indian websites (like makemytrip.com) mess up timings by an hour due to daylight savings.

Check whether you will have to clear customs in DEL or not. If so, make sure your entire trip is on a single itinerary or you will have to worry about re-entering India (there are quite a few threads on this).

That would make sense: one site was makemytrip.com. Therefore, I assume it is a single 6:30AM flight.

My trip will definitely be on two itineraries. Award flight AMM-DEL, ticketed using BA miles on RJ. Paid flight DEL-KTM on one of Jet or Spice.

Would I need to go through Indian customs on this? (I figure I probably would.) Would that cause problems when I come back into India from Nepal a few days later? (I hadn't considered that this would be an issue.)

Is this such an issue that I'm best off avoiding India as the connecting point altogether? Looking at Orbitz, I see a $621 business class one-way available AMM-BAH-KTM on Gulf Air. That's not terribly out of line with what I'd be paying to go through Delhi, which is 25k BA miles plus the $75-100 it costs to fly Jet or Spice. (I value BA at 2cpm - perhaps even a bit higher in the new Avios scheme.) Gulf Air doesn't look like it has a spectacular business class product on its narrowbodies but....probably good enough. Flight times are a little better and it'd be on a single itin of course. I'd then buy a one-way Jet/Spice/whatever ticket back to DEL from KTM.

Would I need to go through Indian customs on this? (I figure I probably would.) Would that cause problems when I come back into India from Nepal a few days later? (I hadn't considered that this would be an issue.)
1. Yes. You would have to go through immigration, pick up your luggage, pass customs, and then check-in at the departures hall for your onward flight. Then, you would have to pass immigration again, and (for maximum entertainment) multiple security checks.
2. Are you on a Tourist visa? If so, then yes, you will have a problem, as one cannot re-enter India within 60 days of departure from India on a Tourist visa, even if it is valid for multiple entries :rolleyes:. However, there is a work-around: you can apply for a re-entry permit in advance at an Indian Consulate for a modest fee (:rolleyes:)

Is this such an issue that I'm best off avoiding India as the connecting point altogether? Looking at Orbitz, I see a $621 business class one-way available AMM-BAH-KTM on Gulf Air. That's not terribly out of line with what I'd be paying to go through Delhi, which is 25k BA miles plus the $75-100 it costs to fly Jet or Spice. (I value BA at 2cpm - perhaps even a bit higher in the new Avios scheme.) Gulf Air doesn't look like it has a spectacular business class product on its narrowbodies but....probably good enough. Flight times are a little better and it'd be on a single itin of course. I'd then buy a one-way Jet/Spice/whatever ticket back to DEL from KTM.
Yes, if I were in your shoes, I would avoid transiting through India as a foreigner on separate itineraries until the whole process becomes a lot more efficient and streamlined. Right now, there are just too many rules, regulations, and, of c:rolleyes:urse, fees that make it a bad idea to attempt unless you have no other choice.

Yes, I assume I'll be there on a tourist visa. (Trip's in October so I haven't thought about it yet.) I'll read the Indian visa threads to get more informed.