Originally Posted by
VWang1111
Was looking at ways to get to India for the last week of March using some globals and wanted to consult the experts here for which flight offers the best chance of an upgrade. I'm willing to fly in to and out of either city specifically want to leave on either 3/23, 3/24, 3/25 and arriving back on either the 3/30, 3/31 or 4/1.
I've heard Mumbai is a more touristy destination and Delhi has more official government and business so it might be a harder upgrade?
Since this flight is so far away, there's no practical way of predicting loads and looking at expert mode, most of these flights (EWR-BOM and EWR-DEL) are at best ZN9 but some are even less than that but I assume only because there's no need to load discount business so far out. But would Friday, Saturday, or Sunday fare better for departures in either direction? Any holidays that might be affecting load levels that I don't know about?
Thanks for any advice!
Honestly, if you want a comfortable ride, I would consider abandoning EWR-BOM/DEL. Others will be able to provide more specific advice, but I looked at EWR-BOM/DEL for ages and saw basically no evidence of R opening / more than a couple UG clearing. If you're willing to take that risk, go for it. Otherwise I'd suggest (west coast)-NRT or (east coast)-FRA, on which UG is comparatively pretty easy, and LH/NH onwards in Y (or J, if you buy up to the relevant fare class and have a second GPU to spare). Obviously NH/LH Y sucks, but at least you get J for half the route rather than a 95% probability of Y the whole way.
That said, YMMV, and others may have more insightful / less pessimistic thoughts
