India-based Airlines - Flying DEL-BOM and BOM-EWR with a Six Hours Gap

Due to some horrible award ticket redemptions, when we redeemed tickets to go to Delhi, we were forced to return from Mumbai instead of Delhi.

For reference, we are flying from Delhi to Mumbai in Indian Airlines and Bombay to Newark on Continental Airlines (non-stop).

Here is my question: How do I commute from the domestic Mumbai Airport to the international Mumbai Airport? Is the commute hard? Is it feasible in six hours? All that information would be helpful for me.

Also, is there any way to check in my bags all the way to Newark/Atlanta (we are traveling EWR-ATL after the nonstop BOM-EWR flight) despite being different airlines. I ask this because we are having to completely switch airports.

We will be having six full size bags so any help with this would be helpful since if we have to collect the bags, it will be extremely difficult to commute. It can easily fit in a Qualis though.

Also, India is horrible with baggage. Do any of you guys have any experiences to share with Indian Airlines baggage handling? If we lose a bag on DEL-BOM (praying to God that doesnt happen), how screwed are we?

Thanks for all the help.

FlyingFanatic

There is lots of information on the google about BOM.


Here is my question: How do I commute from the domestic Mumbai Airport to the international Mumbai Airport? Is the commute hard? Is it feasible in six hours? All that information would be helpful for me.

You may be able to find the shuttle bus, or you can take a prepaid taxi. The two 'airports' are terminals on different sides of the same airport area. Six hours is generous.

Also, is there any way to check in my bags all the way to Newark/Atlanta (we are traveling EWR-ATL after the nonstop BOM-EWR flight) despite being different airlines. I ask this because we are having to completely switch airports.Since you are flying IC, you will have to carry your bags from the domestic to the international terminal at BOM. I believe that interlining is possible from Jet Airways to some foreign carriers, but I am not sure.

Also, India is horrible with baggage. Do any of you guys have any experiences to share with Indian Airlines baggage handling? Apparently you already know the answer, which is that "India is horrible with baggage". So I don't know what you're asking. In fact IC doesn't often lose baggage, perhaps because transfers from one flight to another are where baggage usually gets misdirected.

But of course, if the bags don't arrive on the same flight, you are screwed.

Indian Airlines interlines just fine with Continental, and with several other carriers. Far more than Jet or Kingfisher ..

http://www.indianairlines.in/scripts/op_interlinepartners.aspx

If you're on the same ticket (IC and CO both, that is) you should be able to interline your bags just fine.

You can basically take the airport transfer coach (its an aircon volvo these days so quite comfortable). And the international terminal isnt too bad these days after being renovated.

Due to some horrible award ticket redemptions, when we redeemed tickets to go to Delhi, we were forced to return from Mumbai instead of Delhi.

For reference, we are flying from Delhi to Mumbai in Indian Airlines and Bombay to Newark on Continental Airlines (non-stop).

Here is my question: How do I commute from the domestic Mumbai Airport to the international Mumbai Airport? Is the commute hard? Is it feasible in six hours? All that information would be helpful for me.

Also, is there any way to check in my bags all the way to Newark/Atlanta (we are traveling EWR-ATL after the nonstop BOM-EWR flight) despite being different airlines. I ask this because we are having to completely switch airports.

We will be having six full size bags so any help with this would be helpful since if we have to collect the bags, it will be extremely difficult to commute. It can easily fit in a Qualis though.

Also, India is horrible with baggage. Do any of you guys have any experiences to share with Indian Airlines baggage handling? If we lose a bag on DEL-BOM (praying to God that doesnt happen), how screwed are we?

Thanks for all the help.

FlyingFanatic

Thanks for the help guys. The IC and CO flight are not on the same ticket as the CO flight is a CO e-ticket and the IC flight was booked in New Delhi once we arrived here. Does that mean that I am not able to interline my baggage and will have to pick up my bags at the baggage claim?

Also, the aircon volvo sounds nice and comfortable. How hard would it be to go on that with 6 full size bags though if we cant get the bags to interline? We would probably have to take a pre-paid taxi, right?

Thanks once again

FlyingFanatic

Well, you can schlep your bags over to the taxi rank and get a taxi. Or you can schlep them onto the bus (where they get loaded into the luggage bin) and then once the bags are taken out at the intl terminal you can get a trolley and wheel them to checkin.

The IC checkin staff should be able to tag your bags through to EWR on CO though you'd probably have to checkin at the international terminal at BOM for your boarding passes to EWR.

Thanks for the help guys. The IC and CO flight are not on the same ticket as the CO flight is a CO e-ticket and the IC flight was booked in New Delhi once we arrived here. Does that mean that I am not able to interline my baggage and will have to pick up my bags at the baggage claim?

Also, the aircon volvo sounds nice and comfortable. How hard would it be to go on that with 6 full size bags though if we cant get the bags to interline? We would probably have to take a pre-paid taxi, right?

Thanks once again

FlyingFanatic

Once you land in BOM go to the inter terminal shuttle counter and pick up your number. Stand in the line with luggage and when your turn comes tip the baggage boy Rs 100. He will keep your bags and unload them. There is oodles of space for luggage. When you get down just outside the International terminal get three trolleys (Trolleys are free) go through X-Rays and check in. If you choose the taxi option,you will need 3 taxis as Indian taxis can handle only two bags and you are certain to be gouged. You have six hours which more than enough to connect by Shuttle. Mao not even attempt to interline it with six bags. See them safe yourself

Thanks for the shuttle counter advice drbala. The only problem I see with seeing it safe myself is the fact that my bags might not make it to BOM on IC. If this happens, then I have no possible way of getting them. Or do I?

That is the only reason why I would like to interline the bags. When I was coming to DEL, I had a 12 hour stopover in EWR due to horrible award ticket redemption availability. However, they held my bags and delivered them perfectly. But I guess that is United States baggage handling versus India's.

FlyingFanatic

But I guess that is United States baggage handling versus India's.

FlyingFanatic

LOL - I have traveled around 50K miles each year for the past 10 yrs in the US (not much by FT standards) and I can tell you that luggage handling is as bad in the US as it is in India. I'm not sure how you came to this conclusion abotu India luggage hadnling being much worse, but I have never lost my bags in India, have had tons of help in carrying bags and loading/unloading them whereas in the US it is never the case. I have lost/delayed bags more than I care to remember within US.

The only area where baggage handling is better in the US is if your bag gets lost.

Considering that I have never lost a bag in India, that is not an issue for me.

Couple of other issues you will need to consider:
1) Excess baggage - if you are non-elite on CO, you'll get 2 bags per passenger at 23 KGs per bag (I think) and 32 kgs per bag (if you are an elite). On IC, you will get ONE bag of either 20 or 25 Kgs - not sure. You WILL be asked to pay excess baggage fee for the second bag, especially if you bought one of those el-cheapo fares in Indian rupees for your DEL-BOM flight. Please be prepared to pay up (creating a scene doesn't help much).

2) While 6 hrs seems generous, what is the on-time arrival rate of this particular flight from DEL-BOM? Delays are extremely common and if your flight gets delayed by 3-4 hrs, what seemed like a generous time between flights will turn into a nightmare, especially since you will be schlepping bags from one terminal to another. I'd take an earlier flight from DEL-BOM just to give myself some extra time padding.... and this may help you if you choose to do interlining, which I wouldn't...

Good luck and hope you have a safe trip!

LOL - I have traveled around 50K miles each year for the past 10 yrs in the US (not much by FT standards) and I can tell you that luggage handling is as bad in the US as it is in India. I'm not sure how you came to this conclusion abotu India luggage hadnling being much worse, but I have never lost my bags in India, have had tons of help in carrying bags and loading/unloading them whereas in the US it is never the case. I have lost/delayed bags more than I care to remember within US.

The only area where baggage handling is better in the US is if your bag gets lost.

Considering that I have never lost a bag in India, that is not an issue for me.

Couple of other issues you will need to consider:
1) Excess baggage - if you are non-elite on CO, you'll get 2 bags per passenger at 23 KGs per bag (I think) and 32 kgs per bag (if you are an elite). On IC, you will get ONE bag of either 20 or 25 Kgs - not sure. You WILL be asked to pay excess baggage fee for the second bag, especially if you bought one of those el-cheapo fares in Indian rupees for your DEL-BOM flight. Please be prepared to pay up (creating a scene doesn't help much).

2) While 6 hrs seems generous, what is the on-time arrival rate of this particular flight from DEL-BOM? Delays are extremely common and if your flight gets delayed by 3-4 hrs, what seemed like a generous time between flights will turn into a nightmare, especially since you will be schlepping bags from one terminal to another. I'd take an earlier flight from DEL-BOM just to give myself some extra time padding.... and this may help you if you choose to do interlining, which I wouldn't...

Good luck and hope you have a safe trip!

Pindi, thanks for your post. With 500,000 miles travelled in the past 10 years, losing 0 bags is impressive in India. Every time I make a trip to India something happens to go wrong with baggage. I dont travel much domestically in the United States so I guess it is not fair for me to compare the two with baggage handling as I havent travelled equally in the two countries.

With your comment for #1, we were very fortunate to have known this in advance. Me and my family carefully planned our belongings on the way to India. We checked in 6 bags and had one handbag + purse. However, three of the bags we checked in are the size of handbags. So we will only be checking in 3 large size bags while carrying all the small bags with us. This is going to be at an extreme inconvenience for the domestic flight, but thankfully, we will just check in those remaining bags when we check in for the Contiental flight. With that said, it should not be that bad excess fee wise, if any at all.

With your comment #2, you have a very wise point. It is monsoon season and just some small showers can screw up everything. Three years ago, I took AC from DEL to Toronto. We boarded the plane and pushed back all to plan. However, as soon as we stopped being pushed back the monsoon showers had conveniently begun. We taxied to the runway but then the captain informed us that he had lost communication with ATC DEL. So he turned off the engines for 1.5 hours and then took off as soon as we could. With monsoons starting just a few days ago (record for the earliest in 108 years) we could very easily be screwed. We are praying that nothing happens as to delays, and if there are delays, that both flights be equally delayed. The flight is already booked, but if on July 9th, we feel that the weather is going to be terrible on July 10th, we will probably seek for assistance then.

Thanks for all your help once again. I hope your flight from EWR-BOM in business is excellent on CO (I saw your other thread). I came economy from EWR-DEL and was surprised at how good the flight really was despite being on a non-AVOD aircraft.

FlyingFanatic

Pindi, thanks for your post. With 500,000 miles travelled in the past 10 years, losing 0 bags is impressive in India. Every time I make a trip to India something happens to go wrong with baggage. I dont travel much domestically in the United States so I guess it is not fair for me to compare the two with baggage handling as I havent travelled equally in the two countries.

With your comment for #1, we were very fortunate to have known this in advance. Me and my family carefully planned our belongings on the way to India. We checked in 6 bags and had one handbag + purse. However, three of the bags we checked in are the size of handbags. So we will only be checking in 3 large size bags while carrying all the small bags with us. This is going to be at an extreme inconvenience for the domestic flight, but thankfully, we will just check in those remaining bags when we check in for the Contiental flight. With that said, it should not be that bad excess fee wise, if any at all.


I haven't flown as nowhere near as much as I have in the US. But I have done my fair share over the past few years and I'll pick air travel in India (for service related stuff) ANY DAY over air travel in the US. It is the delays that are nightmarish in India.

Someone just responded to my post regarding luggage - they said that if the international connection is within 24 hrs, international luggage rules apply. So perhaps you can ask at the IC counter... no harm in doing that!

Safe travels.

I haven't flown as nowhere near as much as I have in the US. But I have done my fair share over the past few years and I'll pick air travel in India (for service related stuff) ANY DAY over air travel in the US. It is the delays that are nightmarish in India.

Someone just responded to my post regarding luggage - they said that if the international connection is within 24 hrs, international luggage rules apply. So perhaps you can ask at the IC counter... no harm in doing that!

Safe travels.

In regard to service, I would definitely choose India. A few years ago we took at least 10 Jet Airways flights when travelling around India. The shortest flight out of those 10 was about a 45 minute flight. Even despite the short flight, as soon as we took off, we were given a hot meal and ate for 20ish minutes. They then took up our trays and we landed.

In regard to the international luggage rules applying, that is very good news indeed. I think we will still go with the plan I said earlier. I rather hold on to as many bags as I can as I know those will get there fine if you know what I mean.

FlyingFanatic

The OP already has good answers. However, let me add:

Six hours is *more* than enough to make the terminal change.

Your bags will arrive on IC just fine. Pick them up, go to the pre-paid taxi counter, mention the number of people and bags, and take a cab to the intl terminal. Porters are easily found. (The shuttle bus will be cheaper but more hassle. Time will not be an issue either way.)

However, you should consider stopping in BOM for 2-3 nights. That will cushion all your anxieties, give you an opportunity to rest, and there's enough to see and do there.

Even if you travel on separate tickets, you should be able to interline your
luggage from IC to CO. Just ask for it when you check in at DEL.

They'll ask to see your itinerary for BOM-EWR flight.

Transferring from Domestic to International in BOM is not bad.
like others have said, just register yourself (take a number) at the
transfer desk (right next to the baggage claim) and wait for
your shuttle.

Depending on time of the day, Taxi might take a long time.

Good luck.

The reason we dont want to stay for a few days over there is that our entire family lives in New Delhi. We dont visit here very often (every few years because of cost, we are non-elites) so we wanted to make the most of our trip with the family.

At the pre-paid taxi stand there are vehicles big enough to take my amount of bags, right? Maybe a Maruti SUV or Toyota Qualis, etc.

And to opx, thanks for this information. I had no idea that you could interline on anything that wasnt booked on the same ticket. Question though. We can take 3 of the 6 bags we originally checked in as handbags because they are small enough. Should we hold on to them and then check them in at EWR to be 100% safe they get there, or is IC/BOM good enough to make sure that all 6 get to EWR/ATL without a problem?

Thanks for answering my relative newbie questions guys.

FlyingFanatic

At the pre-paid taxi stand there are vehicles big enough to take my amount of bags, right? Maybe a Maruti SUV or Toyota Qualis, etc.

Yes you should be able to get a SUV cab at BOM - though most of the cabs are those old Fiat 1110s (aka "premier padmini" in India) .. standard bombay black cabs.

HI-same questin but about Delhi-Due to change of plans, have to fly to Delhi from London, then tranfer to a flight to Mumbia. Three days later, Mumbai back to Delhi, and then Delhi to Hong Kong (same day).

Anyone have an upate on how difficut it is to do domestic/internatinal tranfers in Delhi?

Thanks,

HI-same questin but about Delhi-Due to change of plans, have to fly to Delhi from London, then tranfer to a flight to Mumbia. Three days later, Mumbai back to Delhi, and then Delhi to Hong Kong (same day).

Anyone have an upate on how difficut it is to do domestic/internatinal tranfers in Delhi?

Thanks,

I would say that DEL is not much different than BOM for transfer between Domestic and Intl terminals. They are really different ends of the same airport. There are shuttle busses in DEL too. I just believe that the DEL airport is a bit more disorganized when compared to BOM and last time I was there (Jan 08), they had a lot of construction going on in the terminals as they expanded. If that is still going on I would budget extra time for the transfer.

The only area where baggage handling is better in the US is if your bag gets lost.

Considering that I have never lost a bag in India, that is not an issue for me.

I have lost luggage once in India, a few years ago through AI in BOM, after JFK-LHR-BOM (all on AI). However, I suspect AA was probably also to blame, as my flight into JFK was heavily delayed and I ended up missing the AI flight (AI rebooked me for next day).

Regardless, AI was very good at tracking down the missing bag and I received it (in HYD!) just a few days later, with door to door delivery. Everything was intact inside, too. Very good service from AI; I'm not sure how this would have been handled in the US (delivering to a different city).

And the nice thing is that I didn't have to lug that bag around through customs, or on any shuttles. I should try to lose my bags more often in India :p

I haven't flown as nowhere near as much as I have in the US. But I have done my fair share over the past few years and I'll pick air travel in India (for service related stuff) ANY DAY over air travel in the US. It is the delays that are nightmarish in India.

Someone just responded to my post regarding luggage - they said that if the international connection is within 24 hrs, international luggage rules apply. So perhaps you can ask at the IC counter... no harm in doing that!

Safe travels.

This is very true and it works with all Indian airlines.

I have a 36hr stopover in Chennai for my INTL flight and when I flew PNQ-MAA the day before, I had 2 oversize bags weighing over 40kgs each. Since I was in premiers class on 9W and then F on SQ, they let it slide !!