thanks for the tips Keyser and PVDtoDEL. I looked up the AI191 BOM-EWR flight reviews - seems to be a lot of delays/cancellations and is not as good as the DEL-JFK flight.

PVDtoDEL - I've heard about the CO seats so I'm not keen on that airline.

AI is definitely cheaper, but for about 4k rupees more there is an Etihad flight. Is the extra 4k worth it, in terms of lower chances of delays, etc? Departure from Bangalore will be between Dec 20th - 23rd.