Originally Posted by
simonrp84
Hello,
This week I have a connection in Delhi, arriving on BA (in WT+) and departing (intl) on Jet Airways. There connection time is 7 hours and I'm thinking about what to do with all that time.
As a BAEC silver will I have lounge access in Delhi for the wait? If so then which lounge? A search of other threads on here suggests it'll be Plaza premium...but there seem to be about 4 of those.
On top of that, seeing as I have 7 hours is it worth trying to escape the airport and spending an hour or two wondering around the city? My worry there is that I'll waste the majority of the time just standing in border/security queues.
Delhi is an amazing city, and I'd personally spend the night there to see this wonderful city, which has clung on to so much of the Raj, while still being utterly Indian. 7 hours is annoyingly short, in a way. If 10 hours I'd definitely say you should go for it. But you could perhaps do just one or two things in that time (e.g. Humayun's Tomb, Red Fort?).
What you can do, when you get airside, is negotiate with a taxi driver with good English and a car with seat belts, for an hourly rate rather than metered. Alternatively, and you don't need to seek anyone out, you will be approached by multiple taxi drivers offering to take you to one of the hotels by the airport for rest and recuperation. If you do this option, make sure you do your research before going, but some hotels near there do a great lunch and have nice gardens. Incoming passengers can only enter the terminal 3 hours beforehand so these taxi drivers do a roaring trade in temporary holding patterns for Westerners!
I don't think you are going to get lounge access from your Silver status, however multiple lounges accept credit cards, which I would recommend you do whatever happens.
Be aware, India thrives on chaos. I think it helps everyone make sense of this mind blowing country. So go with the flow and hopefully you will be back for more.