ghillier

I am flying AA292 ORD-DEL, around a 15 hour N/S next week. Has anyone flown this in F ? What was your experience ? How is the food and inflight service ?

EXP4ME

For what it's worth, I flew this in September but in J. A good flight, the food is much better then usual in my opinion. Times are tough though, as you leave at night in US time and land about the same time Delhi time. Still, I was able to sleep on the flight for a long period of time and still sleep a full 8 hours in Delhi once I arrived.

flexibleflyer

It's quite nice! As you will see in many other posts, the service in F is quite similar to J. But it is a pleasure having a flat bed and a huge amount of space for such a long flight. It's been a year since I took this flight and the experience on the ground in DEL is probably different. At that time, the lounge was nothing special (though it beats sitting in the common area by a league) and the boarding process was complicated to say the least.

A couple of things to keep in mind -

- You cannot enter the airport until four hours before your flight. I've come in by car from distant parts on a couple of occasions and ended up lying on my luggage on the sidewalk.

- Keep a printout of your itinerary so that the guards will allow you into the airport buildings.

Enjoy!

chanp

Also, if you will be in the F lounge and want to shower before your flight, know you will have to go down to the AC, as there is NO shower in the F lounge.

JY1024

Meal experiences and sample menus can be found in the consolidated thread here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html

nathockens

Last week the food in J and A were identical, save for different wine, a bread basket and different dessert in front. It's really the bed that makes things worthwhile.

The lounge in Delhi is a joke by the way, don't plan on spending any time there.

troyb

Done this a bunch of times in both J and F. I hate the J seats so burned some SWUs (even though there is a J-UP fare for only a few hundred more).

Food is basically the same. Service was the same. Difference is the seat, which is worth it on that flight. I have since been using BA to India and they are much, much better.

ssing

Just to emphasize what others said here.
- The in-flight service itself is not worth the upgrade from J to F. I got the same (and quite good) food from Vermillion in Chicago. (A great place to eat BTW if you happen to be in Chicago)
- Yes the Flat bed is a big upgrade for some but personally I will not burn a SWU for that.
- Also there is no difference in pre-flight experience if you can get into the F lounge based on your status.
- I have not experienced departures from T3 in Delhi. My experiences at the previous terminals have been a disaster and I doubt that would change much with T3.

ghillier

Thank you for the response. I will post a trip report when I return.

galaticos

I personally believe the SWU is worth it for the flat bed and extra room around in F..also I think the wine selection in F is better...take this about 6-8 times a year RT..always done F...mostly get a good wine on the return from Delhi and just sleep...and ask the crew to wake me up as we do "secure for landing.."..Cabin crew is pretty awesome though - i must say...

HNL

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T3 at DEL is a much better experience than the old T2. Much better.

ESpen36

Not surprising, given that the FAs working the premium cabins on the DEL flights are by far AA's most senior and experienced. The route is AA's most desirable international route in the world for crew bidding because of the many, many flight hours in only two segments, over and back. (Sure beats getting up at 4:30am five days a week to fly puddle jumpers to CLE! Which is how many FAs started their careers...)

Davidjhonda

I did the ORD to DEL in September in first class...returned in early October in Business class.

I definitely prefer First Class. I thought the food was better....seemed like a better selection and not brought out as one tray. Also, I thought the wine selection was better.

And, the additional space for such a long flight was very nice. It definitely took away the claustrophobia that I felt in Business Class on the return.

Personally...I'd take first class if you can upgrade it. Just look back at business class from first class and you'll feel the claustrophobia back there.

All that being said, business class was fine in every respect...just not quite as fine.

Someone already wrote about the time change. The jet lag on that trip is tough. 10-1/2 hours time difference is tough to manage.

ghillier

I leave for my trip to Delhi tomorrow at 6:00am. Since AA discontinued PDX-ORD in 2008, my routing is PDX-DFW-ORD-DEL, all in First. Many thanks for the comments to my inquiry and I will post a trip report when I return.

chanp

Hope you get 2350 over to ORD too, instead of doing F on a MD80.