wannabe

Anyone have any suggestions on how to get to Chennai from Chicago, with as much of it as possible on AA or code-share? As far as I can tell, the only oneworld option involves a non-code-share BA flight from LHR to Chennai. There are direct AA flights to Delhi, but then AA.com doesn't seem to have suggestions on how to get from Delhi to Chennai (I don't care if this leg is on AA or someone else as long as they will interline my luggage).

Any suggestions?

Edited to add: BTW, I need to be in Chennai on June 14th, and I plan on flying in discount economy, hopefully on a flight with C available for upgrade over the water.

andrzej

not asking for too much, are you?

JDiver

ORD-DEL gets you most of the way there, nonstop with EQM / EQP. S2 (Air Sahara) gets you to MAA in 2:40 more as an AA partner (though the partnership may be shaky in the long term, since S2 was purchased by 9W - Jet Airways.) DEL transfers between International and Domestic are a PITA, but so is LHR.

The rest (C availability) is up to the forces of good and evil, and of course, your karma.

Swanhunter

Possibly a little harsh! While LHR is no picnic, Indira Gandhi has to be a division less pleasant.

The BA option via LHR breaks the journey up making it a little less stressful, however if you are looking to upgrade you would be far better served taking AA to DEL and the domestic connection. However you will need to overnight in DEl as the last DEL-MAA flight leaves at 7pm. There is an S2 flight at 7:35 am or 9W at 06:45 the following morning.

JDiver

Possibly I was a bit harsh. No Toad Hall bowels-of-the-airport rides in DEL, but there is definitely a ride involved. I'd use AA to DEL and RON at the Radisson (whoops, called it a Hyatt! ), have them shuttle me in and out.

AvalancheZ71

Why was Madras changed to Chennai?

Pushpak

The 1996 change was driven by regionalistic/nationalistic (take your pick) sentiment. "Madras" was felt to be a British invention, whereas "Chennai" is apparently more indigenous.

The transformation of "Bombay" into "Mumbai" was similarly politically motivated, except for the inconvenient fact that the British practically invented Bombay.

Calcutta -> Kolkota? Same thing.

Thankfully Delhiites seem comfortable with the anglicization of their city, despite the unbiquitous vernacular usage - "Dilli".

Pushpak

vasantn

The name "Bombay" was not of British origin anyway. It was a corruption of "Bom Bahia," the original name given by the Portuguese, meaning "good bay."

dannyr

Very simple.

BA 5108 ORD-MAN
BA 1387 MAN-LHR
BA 35 LHR-MAA

vasantn

I think the OP's point was that there is no AA/BA codeshare on the LHR-MAA segment.

JDiver

THOSE are AA codeshares? I'm sure that's all wool and a yard wide.

dannyr

My apologies. While they're not Codeshare, you can still earn miles on them as they're BA flights.

JDiver

No worries - I misread sometimes too. The OP just has to be careful which fare class he buys on BA so he doesn't get partial miles.

BA fare classes K, L, M, N, O, R and G, Q, S, V all earn 25% of actual miles flown for AA flyers; only H, B and Y get 100% of miles (T and W even earn a 10% bonus miles - and I'll let the business and first fares go without saying.)

ROW2Aisle

I took the ORD-DEL AA flight two days ago (May 4th) and C availability was wide open per ExpertFlyer even the day before the flight. There were several empty seats in business class with very few passengers in FC (2-3?). The AA292 Flight arrived in DEL at 7:55 PM (105+ degrees F temperature at 7:55 PM) and I was in the Radisson taking a shower 25 minutes later. I was one of the first out of the plane and through immigration and customs as I had no checked baggage. The Radisson rep was waiting for me with the car. This 25 minutes may be a record for Delhi for flight touch down to hotel shower.

The S2 flight per the earlier poster in this thread is a convenient connection to MAA in the morning. With this routing (AA/S2) you'll arrive in Chennai with a good night's rest if overnighting in DEL at a hotel near the airport. If transiting DEL then I recommend the Radisson as they provide free airport pickup and drop off. If you take the morning S2 to MAA then you'll miss the Radisson buffett breakfast at they open only at 7:00 AM for breafast but then you'll get served a meal on the S2 flight. The DEL domestic terminal departure area for the S2/9W/.. flights get quite crowded for the monring departures.

The Radisson WiFi price is Rs 309 for the first hour and about Rs.450+ for two hours. I was able to get a good WiFi signal even in the far corner of the wing where I had an upgraded room on the Club floor.

I've also done the LAX-ORD-MAA (AA/BA) several times but arrival into MAA is in the dead of night. I'm usually in the Trident Hilton in about 30 minutes after flight touch down. The only hassle with the ORD-LHR-MAA (AA/BA) routing is the dreaded LHR terminal change. If you plan on a work day immediately after arrival then you may not get enough rest with this option.

SeeBuyFly

They will NOT interline your luggage. You will have to get it through Customs and then take it with you to a hotel. Even if an overnight stay were not involved, you would have to schlep it yourself by taxi from international to domestic.