Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Cx/other Airline Lounges In Delhi?

I'm flying on CX753 from HKG - DEL in Oct. The flight arrives at 1:40am and my connecting flight is not until 6:45am. I was wondering what time the CX lounge closes in DEL or if there was any other lounges that I can pay to get in as I have a 5 hr layover in DEL. Are there any hotels located at the airport or closeby? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm going to be connecting on Jet Airways. Is this in the same terminal as CX??

I remember my first trip to India. It was the last time I thought making a connection like this sounded like a good idea. Fortunately, another FT'er talked me out of it. Hopefully it is not too late for you.

The international (CX) and Domestic (Jet Airways) terminals are on different sides of the runway, about 20 minutes apart. You won't have access to the CX/BA lounges in the international terminal as they are for intl departures only. There is a modest Jet Airways lounge in the domestic terminal that you will be able to access prior to departure, if it's open that early. There is an adqeuate Radisson hotel about 10 minutes from the airport. Realize that it will be 3 am by the time you have cleared immigration, claimed your bags, cleared customs, and made it to the hotel...and you will need to depart for your onward flight between 5 am and 5:30 am.

In summary, your layover is too long to spend in the dreary purgatory that is Indira Gandhi Intl Airport, and too short to justify spending $150 or so on a hotel room. Do yourself a favor and take the noon departure out and get a proper night's rest.

I have flown in on this flight a few times over the last year. I have found the immigration Q's to be pretty tolerable.
I DO make a point of using the stairs , gaining a few spots .
I also have status , or travel in Biz so that I am pretty close to the front of the Q.
Bags are generally waiting for you , or arrive very promptly.
Best time has been 15 minutes. worst 35 .

HOWEVER. As mentioned prior, book into a hotel and catch the later flight. India is challenging enuff without trying to get some sleep in a plastic chair for a few hours.

I'm going to be connecting on Jet Airways. Is this in the same terminal as CX??

No, Jet Airways is on the other side of the runway. This means that you have one of two transportation options available:

#1, going outside and hiring a taxi to take you on a several kilometer journey around the perimeter of the airport... high likelihood that they will try to overcharge you.

#2, waiting for a creaky old bus, that runs on a schedule known only to a very few, but typically only a couple of times an hour. Don't be misled by the efficient-sounding description of the bus transfer on the Jet Airways website. The info desk for this service was initially unmanned, and I had to ask several employees before I found anyone who knew anything about it. They all acted as if they had never heard of anyone trying to connect between the domestic and international terminals.

My my my!! So you have decided to travel to India via DEL. May I ask you if you think you are ready for this experience? If you said "yes", let me guarantee you, the correct answer is "NO!!"

DEL is a hell hole. There is no other way to describe it. It is designed solely to be a small local airport for people who live in New Delhi. The fact that well over 90% (according to Indian Express) of its pax do not have DEL as their final destination is immaterial to the wonderful mandarins at AAI (Airport Authority of India).

As I mentioned, DEL is for local people. What this means is that if you have someone coming to pick you up or drop you, you will do fine. If not, then get ready for some of the worst hours of your life.

Let us take example one. You arrive in one of those ungodly timed flights at 1 AM. The first connection that Indian Airlines or Jet or Sahara offers is at 7 AM. Now what are you supposed to do? Now in any other civilized airport there would be an arrival lounge for Premium pax and in many airports there is a paid lounge for non premium pax. In DEL there is no such thing. In fact when you have finally cleared the Immigration, Customs and Bribe departments, you will find that you are thrust into a maelstorm of a gazillion people in what passes for a receiving lounge. Touts upon touts sieze on you and start pulling your shirts and shouting disconnected words like "Taxi, Amritsar, Haryana, Punjab, UP, Chandigarh). Also, lest I forget, they are also grabbing at your baggage and pulling it away from you. Many a confused "foriegn" pax has lost their baggage like that.

Now, allegedly, there is a waiting lounge right across the departure area. Two things: first it is non user friendly and secondly it only has rigid plastic chairs. There is no place to check luggage in. If you fall asleep (which you will since it is 3 AM) your luggage is guaranteed to be stolen. So your only choice is to go the coffee bar and keep drinking coffee to make sure that your luggage does not get stolen. Even then you will see many people "lounging" around you to see when you pass out and they just need a few seconds to steal your stuff. Now you may ask, "Is there not police to stop that". My answer is that the police is the one that shares a "commision" with these guys. There is no control over who enters this waiting lounge. You do not have to show a ticket or anything. Just pay the 10 or 20 rupees (about 50 US cents) and get in. As a result it has become famous with the Delhi mafia as an easy place to go rob people.

The other option you have is to go check into a hotel. There are about three "5-star" hotels in the vicinity with Centaur and Radisson being the closest. Now, in fairness to Radisson, they atleast will work with you. If you have booked a room with them before your arrival and given them your flight details, they will send a uniformed chauffer with a sign that says your name and this chauffer will be standing in that above mentioned "reception" area. Radisson will also send you to the domestic airport in a chauffered car also.

Keep in mind though, that to do this, Radisson charges an arm and a leg (for Indian standards). Their average hotel rates are around $150 a night, although you can get them a little (but not much) cheaper about a month in advance. Also, Radisson is a pretty mediocre hotel. It is comparable to a Holiday Inn in the US. Now on the plus side, they have a nice breakfast buffet, an OK swimming pool, an OK workout area and half their rooms are decent. The other half, which face the national highway (India's much much noisier version of the US Interstate system) are so bad and noisy that even a tranquilizer cannot put you to sleep. They have no idea as to what "sound proofing" means.

The next morning you will be deposited via the chauffered car to the Domestic Terminal. Believe it or not, it is actually more civilized than the "International" terminal. The queues are normally smaller and you can normally get into the departure lounge fairly fast. Please keep in mind two unusual quirks in this airport. One, immediately after checking in and getting into the departure lounge, you must step outside to the Tarmac and identify your checked in luggage. Failure to do so will result in your luggage not being loaded. Secondly, there are no air bridges to the planes. You must take a rickety old bus. So keep your eyes peeled to when they announce your bus.

So, in summary my friend, you have decided to take that Ultimate Survivor Challenge called DEL. May God bless you and have mercy on your soul!

So, in summary my friend, you have decided to take that Ultimate Survivor Challenge called DEL. May God bless you and have mercy on your soul!

I read through your entire post with curiosity. Whilst I've never been to DEL to assess the accuracy of your statements, you've succesfully convinced me not to make a visit in the foreseeable future. :D

My good luck to original poster too. :eek:

I read through your entire post with curiosity. Whilst I've never been to DEL to assess the accuracy of your statements, you've succesfully convinced me not to make a visit in the foreseeable future. :D

My good luck to original poster too. :eek:


Despite there are interesting places to visit in India, It is things like this that puts me off India (also the BO, herds of people everywhere, unsafe at public places)

Some of my collegaues who went there for a holiday told me to Avoid it as the airport experience is TRUAMATIC! and it doesn't suit my taste of holiday travel.

I've actually have the (un)fortunate experience of being stuck in DELHI enroute to London via Air Canada in the late 90's. Whilst the airport is small and hectic, and the lounge shared by all airlines serving DEL, I find that the people are wonderful. Even when the call came that our flight was to be cancelled due to fog and that everyone had to be transferred to hotels to wait till the fog lifts, the Indians did all they could to ensure everyone was safely taken care of. I had a problem.. because I was on transit, I had no visa to enter India. But the ground staff did everything they could and assisted me.

Notwithstanding that each local city has its own colourful history, past and present, I find Delhi to be interesting. Look beyond the facades and you will see the colours of its people.

Quotes from uncolourful people like newcx12345 who says:
Despite there are interesting places to visit in India, It is things like this that puts me off India (also the BO, herds of people everywhere, unsafe at public places)

Some of my collegaues who went there for a holiday told me to Avoid it as the airport experience is TRUAMATIC! and it doesn't suit my taste of holiday travel. ...
makes it very biased. The local poor are going to be more worried about food on the table rather than what to put under their arm! But the hotel staff know better I presume... Of course India has lots of people.. it's no different from CHINA where everyone SPITS everywhere. Does that mean you avoid going to CHINA altogether?

I met a woman and her husband his trip to Sydney recently.. and she was esctatic about going to Delhi and Agra for Christmas. She's caucasian Aussie, and she's going there for the first time with her husband as a belated honeymoon. She told us of all the places she plans to visit, and what type of clothes she would wear to blend in with the local folk... she even some indian cloth from an indian store in Brisbane so that she could 'blend' in with the local folk. I also met a 3 generation family of women, grandmother, mother and 11 year old daughter from Melbourne. They had just returned from a 2 month trip of India.. and they couldn't gush enough over it.

Maybe newcx12345 you SHOULD go to India for once , sit at the Taj Mahal and reflect on your life and give thanks for all you have before you critisize those less fortunate than you.

Quotes from uncolourful people like newcx12345 who says: ...
makes it very biased. The local poor are going to be more worried about food on the table rather than what to put under their arm! But the hotel staff know better I presume... Of course India has lots of people.. it's no different from CHINA where everyone SPITS everywhere. Does that mean you avoid going to CHINA altogether?

.


Yes you are right. I have not being to China before (despite I have a Return Country Pass). I really cannot stand the vast social disparity in these countries. Sorry if I am too short sighted according to your standards and offended anyone else. These are just my personal opinions. I just think that if I have to pay so much to go on a holiday, I should not put up with someone else's misery and misfortune.

To be really honest, I think the CEPA has degraded HKG so much compared to what it used to be. All my collegaues that have visited HKG noticed that.

I think it is correct when there is a saying that once you born a bitc& you die a bitc*. No matter how much money, olypmic games, false pretence you have, you can never change a culture.

Every country has their good and bad. China is a great place to visit, depending on where you go, yes there are poor people, spitting everywhere and so on, but that is what they do, and don't look down on them for it. Take for example, I was taking the KCR from Hong Kong to Guangzhou with my grandfather to visit family, I had the displeasure of seeing someone take a dump on the side of a highway facing the KCR train (eeeeek!!!!!!!!!!), they have some social problems, but this should never stop you from going somewhere. I have been to Mumbai, it is a very nice city, with many very good and historical sites. 4 nights was not enough, despite the rancid conditions in some areas, this didn't deter me from going around.

Every country has their good and bad. China is a great place to visit, depending on where you go, yes there are poor people, spitting everywhere and so on, but that is what they do, and don't look down on them for it. Take for example, I was taking the KCR from Hong Kong to Guangzhou with my grandfather to visit family, I had the displeasure of seeing someone take a dump on the side of a highway facing the KCR train (eeeeek!!!!!!!!!!), they have some social problems, but this should never stop you from going somewhere. I have been to Mumbai, it is a very nice city, with many very good and historical sites. 4 nights was not enough, despite the rancid conditions in some areas, this didn't deter me from going around.


I understand what you are saying.

Maybe I am just not cultured enough the appreciate the countries. But I am really just not interested in going to these places.

For eg.

In China, all these fake and substandard food thay they release to the public and peolple die from it.
The safety of the highways
Scams and tricks in various prov and cities
The communist government regime still exist (no access to cnn.com and other Western News).

All these things is just a major turnoff for a normal tourist.

I understand what you are saying.

Maybe I am just not cultured enough the appreciate the countries. But I am really just not interested in going to these places.

For eg.

In China, all these fake and substandard food thay they release to the public and peolple die from it.
The safety of the highways
Scams and tricks in various prov and cities
The communist government regime still exist (no access to cnn.com and other Western News).

All these things is just a major turnoff for a normal tourist.

(sigh), you're right, I just hear too many stories about this type of counterfeit food here, people putting poison to cut costs and so on.......... The highways are awful, and the crime rate, but if you put it in perspective, China has 1.3 Billion people, and the crime is a very low ratio to the population, lower than most average US cities. It all depends on vigilance. Just take the appropriate precaustions, and you should do fine. But, I guess people do have different viewpoints, its just like saying I would never like to go to Iraq, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Liberia, Libya or Cechnya.

All, please keep in mind that my comments were restricted solely to DEL airport and not New Delhi. The latter is a vast and complex subject with positives and negatives that can take a whole book to discuss.

...So, in summary my friend, you have decided to take that Ultimate Survivor Challenge called DEL. May God bless you and have mercy on your soul!

:D :D :D ROFLMAO :D :D :D panjabi, you have my vote for the best travel writing of the year! ^

My my my!! So you have decided to travel to India via DEL. May I ask you if you think you are ready for this experience? If you said "yes", let me guarantee you, the correct answer is "NO!!"

DEL is a hell hole. There is no other way to describe it. It is designed solely to be a small local airport for people who live in New Delhi. The fact that well over 90% (according to Indian Express) of its pax do not have DEL as their final destination is immaterial to the wonderful mandarins at AAI (Airport Authority of India).

As I mentioned, DEL is for local people. What this means is that if you have someone coming to pick you up or drop you, you will do fine. If not, then get ready for some of the worst hours of your life.

Let us take example one. You arrive in one of those ungodly timed flights at 1 AM. The first connection that Indian Airlines or Jet or Sahara offers is at 7 AM. Now what are you supposed to do? Now in any other civilized airport there would be an arrival lounge for Premium pax and in many airports there is a paid lounge for non premium pax. In DEL there is no such thing. In fact when you have finally cleared the Immigration, Customs and Bribe departments, you will find that you are thrust into a maelstorm of a gazillion people in what passes for a receiving lounge. Touts upon touts sieze on you and start pulling your shirts and shouting disconnected words like "Taxi, Amritsar, Haryana, Punjab, UP, Chandigarh). Also, lest I forget, they are also grabbing at your baggage and pulling it away from you. Many a confused "foriegn" pax has lost their baggage like that.

Now, allegedly, there is a waiting lounge right across the departure area. Two things: first it is non user friendly and secondly it only has rigid plastic chairs. There is no place to check luggage in. If you fall asleep (which you will since it is 3 AM) your luggage is guaranteed to be stolen. So your only choice is to go the coffee bar and keep drinking coffee to make sure that your luggage does not get stolen. Even then you will see many people "lounging" around you to see when you pass out and they just need a few seconds to steal your stuff. Now you may ask, "Is there not police to stop that". My answer is that the police is the one that shares a "commision" with these guys. There is no control over who enters this waiting lounge. You do not have to show a ticket or anything. Just pay the 10 or 20 rupees (about 50 US cents) and get in. As a result it has become famous with the Delhi mafia as an easy place to go rob people.

The other option you have is to go check into a hotel. There are about three "5-star" hotels in the vicinity with Centaur and Radisson being the closest. Now, in fairness to Radisson, they atleast will work with you. If you have booked a room with them before your arrival and given them your flight details, they will send a uniformed chauffer with a sign that says your name and this chauffer will be standing in that above mentioned "reception" area. Radisson will also send you to the domestic airport in a chauffered car also.

Keep in mind though, that to do this, Radisson charges an arm and a leg (for Indian standards). Their average hotel rates are around $150 a night, although you can get them a little (but not much) cheaper about a month in advance. Also, Radisson is a pretty mediocre hotel. It is comparable to a Holiday Inn in the US. Now on the plus side, they have a nice breakfast buffet, an OK swimming pool, an OK workout area and half their rooms are decent. The other half, which face the national highway (India's much much noisier version of the US Interstate system) are so bad and noisy that even a tranquilizer cannot put you to sleep. They have no idea as to what "sound proofing" means.

The next morning you will be deposited via the chauffered car to the Domestic Terminal. Believe it or not, it is actually more civilized than the "International" terminal. The queues are normally smaller and you can normally get into the departure lounge fairly fast. Please keep in mind two unusual quirks in this airport. One, immediately after checking in and getting into the departure lounge, you must step outside to the Tarmac and identify your checked in luggage. Failure to do so will result in your luggage not being loaded. Secondly, there are no air bridges to the planes. You must take a rickety old bus. So keep your eyes peeled to when they announce your bus.

So, in summary my friend, you have decided to take that Ultimate Survivor Challenge called DEL. May God bless you and have mercy on your soul!

This should be a sticky ^ !

I have been travelling regularly to both DEL and BOM over the past few years, and can only confirm that a hotel pick up is the only way to leave either airport. So what if it costs a western price.

India is a marvellous country, but there are times when you have to compromise wanting to save a few $, and the airport is certainly one of them !

... Of course India has lots of people.. it's no different from CHINA where everyone SPITS everywhere. Does that mean you avoid going to CHINA altogether?

Of course India is different than China. INDIA is the country where everyone PEES everywhere. :) I remember seeing my first "Do not urinate on this wall" sign in India and thinking to myself...shouldn't some things go without saying? Apparently not.

Nevertheless, having been to India many times, I agree with the sentiments of most of the posters that visiting India is well worth the problems of transiting its airports. Just don't try to transit from an international flight to a domestic flight on the same day.

Whilst the airport is small and hectic, and the lounge shared by all airlines serving DEL, I find that the people are wonderful.

Thats funny. My thoughts are the exact opposite. Delhi airport would be so much more manageable if everyone from the check-in agents, immigration officers, taxi touts and porters were not trying to either steal your luggage or extort a bribe from you.

The sad part about this is that people in Delhi view such behavior as perfectly normal. Perhaps one day they will wake up and realize that civilization has sped past them and they will be stuck playing catchup.