Originally Posted by sfo789

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