I go to Pune once a year and have historically flown DL BOS-AMS-BOM. My Pune hotel would then send a car to fetch me from my BOM hotel. That changed after DL pulled out of the AMS-BOM route.

That left me with the following options if I wanted to keep my business on DL:

• BOM via CDG on AF
• DEL via CDG on AF
• DEL via AMS on KL
• DEL via LHR on VS

My company will only pay for premium economy, and if I want to fly J, I have to pay the fare difference out of pocket. The last two years, that was money well spent. This time around, I booked BOS-AMS-DEL during the fare sale. It turns out that my J ticket was cheaper than the lowest PE tickets at the time, so I got a pretty good deal.

Getting from DEL to PNQ is booked on 6E. There is nothing glamorous about 6E, but they're efficient, the planes are new and well maintained, and the crews are friendly.

One word of caution: You'll know you've landed in a developing country when you get to PNQ. That airport terminal is a dump.