ajacpril

Flew this route 3x last year. Go with the flow is the operative statement as things seem to change somewhat every time.

I usually have bags checked through from BOM or PNQ to ORD and follow the MO below. Land in DEL around 7p and head out to do stuff (food, friends, etc.) and get back to the airport at about 11p, which leaves just enough time to check-in, clear immigration, stop at the lounge for a minute, clear security and get to the gate as the last of the pax are getting on. IME, the T7s have enough J bin space to accommodate all bags even on full flights.

In my experience, if you get to the airport late enough, the 'flow' takes you to the flight just fine.

vasantn

Are you doing a turnaround?

I'm going next week, but for 5 days. I go about 2x/year.

chanp

Yes just got back. What do you want to know?

malcolmkettering

Any info on the new terminal opening? Was supposed to be this coming March I believe? Sounds like it will be an amazing building, hope it is ready for my first trip to India in October.

skye1

So glad to have read these threads.
If you can't afford the Radisson, and haven't much choice but to shlep your layover in the domestic terminal overnight, they DO have free wi-fi. BUT, you have to have an Indian phone number in order to access it, as the service will text you a logon/password for it, but only to an Indian phone number.
The Jet Airways lounge in the DEL domestic terminal doesn't open 'til 4:30, is only available to people traveling in business class on Jet, OR, for a day use fee (900 INR, iirc). I wouldn't pay it. It's basically a balcony overlooking the domestic departures area, so it's not very quiet. No showers. Decent food buffet.
For a lot less rupees, you can enjoy a spa treatment next door to work on your jet lag.

Departing:
If you arrive into DEL via a domestic flight and need to transfer to the international terminal, yep, you MUST have a printout of your onward international itinerary to use the free transfer bus. I was not able to print mine beforehand--hotel's printer wasn't working, long queues at nearby internet cafe's, etc.). So,if that's the case, then you need to pay for a taxi. Best to use the non-descript pre-paid taxi booth, as this was the cheapest. These accept only cash (not easy when the ATM's outside the domestic terminal are both out of service), and takes about an hour.

Passport Control:
They have "elite" lanes for passport control, for First Class, Business Class, Diplomats/officials. BUT, the signs for these are perpendicular to the queues for them, no one really catches this whilst in queue. I went straight to the Diplomats one, (figuring, why not? the worst they'll do is point me to another queue) The guy didn't care that I wasn't a diplomat, stamped my doc's, and I was thru it in seconds.

Lounge:
Yep, go thru passport control, then BEFORE security, take the stairs to your right. VERY, VERY crowded. Average/so-so snacks, free drinks.

Boarding:
I waited until they were almost done, and that seemed to work. Was thru the on-the-jetbridge security screenings in just minutes. The entire gate- and shops- areas are just not that big at all, and you can easily wander the shops and hear the boarding announcements. Was able to use the time picking up some gifts for staff at the office, rather than waiting & waiting in what I could see was a long line at the gate.

ssing

I though I should share my Delhi departure experience for flight AA293. Please note that this related to on-ground experience only.

- First of all, I was dissappointed that AA does not provide any curbside assitance with baggage etc. (skycap equivalent) We were travelling with 2 young kids and could have definitely used some help. When departing Chicago, we recieved wonderful skycap service near the first class check-in. I have personally experienced excellent skycap service for premium passengers from BA at DEL and absolutely wonderful curbside-to-depature gate service from Kingfisher. In fact Kingfisher provided us with this service even though we were flying economy.

- Lounge access: Worst experience ever!! We were given passes to the Green Lounge (3rd partty lounge shared with many airlines including Singapore, Malaysian etc.) The lounge is cramped and was full to capacity, we could not find a place to sit for half an hour. To make things worse, the lounge is before the security checkpoint.

- Boarding Process: First time ever I saw that group 1, 2 & 3 were called for boarding before busines/first. When I enquired, I was told that the premium passengers could not be boarded as the crew had not boarded the plane yet!!!!!! Of course there was a 2nd security check on the ramp to the plane and as can be expected it was an absolute mess. After clearing this on-ramp security check, passengers were made to wait another 15-20 minutes before finally being allowed to board.

As you can imagine after 2 hours of this ordeal with 2 young kids and an ungodly hour of 1:00AM, we were exhausted!!!

Overall, AA gets 4/10 for this DEL-ORD departure experience.

DataPlumber

Yep that sounds like DEL all right!

chanp

Just did this a few weeks ago. Your report is pretty accurate. We should add it to this thread below.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html

troyb

I am no fan of AA's DEL flights. That said, you can't blame them too much for most of it. The physical airport is just not a good place to fly out of. Poor lounge choices, cramped facilities, etc. I have not experienced much better treatment with other airlines out of there (CO, Emirates, Kingfisher, Jet).

I recommend calling/writing about the boarding process. I encountered the same thing and it is extremely frustrating. It also just makes no sense.

cparekh

This is the most frustrating part of it all, given the intense competition for overhead bin space. The way they THINK it is working is that they take the other groups to the secondary lounge first, while you get to remain in the more "comfortable" first lounge. Then, when they call boarding for the actual aircraft, you may get on first, while not having to have waited in the cramped secondary lounge.

In reality, by the time you reach the secondary lounge, there is already a loooooooong line, and you end up boarding last. Stupid, stupid, stupid. There is, in fact, and separate elite boarding line after the gate security check around the right side. You won't see it until you actually get to the front of the line, so it's useless. Also, by the time you pass through the gate security check (since you were in the back of the line), half the aircraft is already boarded.

Please write AA about this, as it must be changed.

ssing

I agree about the airport. Remember this is the "improved" version of DEL airport :-)

I do think AA can make some improvements one its own. I have written about my experience alongwith some suggestions to AA customer service.

ssing

You are correct. Just for clarification sake. "First lounge" as referred by you is the gate area with seats and "secondary lounge" is the holding area on the ramp.

And I forgot to mention that the "gate agent counter" is on the ramp so there is no way for passengers to ask any questions or seek seat changes etc.

JDiver

Interesting report, but - as you can see from the previous posts in this consolidated thread, we have read about all this previously, as others have posted their experiences. Having done so, most are able to better prepare themselves for the chaos that is Delhi - Indira Gandhi International Airport. (Most of us avoid hassles associated with using the pit of a lounge, for instance, and the boarding process is described in detail by several members - no surprises here.)

Sorry your had such a chaotic experience; thanks for sharing.

aktchi

Previous few posts make an interesting read. Clearly, some problems are intrinsic to DEL itself and and not AA. However, AA could have dealt with them to improve the passenger experience. For example, some airlines provide help with luggage, which AA have chosen not to do.

They have plenty of people around the check-in counters, but everything else seems to fall through the cracks. If you call AA's Delhi or India phone number the evening of your 1AM flight, nobody answers after 6PM. There is no presence at/near the terminal entrance. There is no gate-desk really, if you had a question/request. For some reason, the staff are roaming around with walkie-talkies.

The boarding process is entirely the innovation of AA's DEL staff. Good intentions but poor execution. They don't keep the priority and non-priority pax sufficiently separated during the secondary screening (not sure if it would be possible on that narrow jet-bridge), so most priority pax end up boarding behind others.

I don't fault AA for the lounge situation (shared by many airlines, usually no place to sit, just one computer terminal, etc), because I am not sure if the infrastructure at DEL would permit anything much better. Curious to check if it has improved since my last visit, I do go in, but leave in about 5-10 minutes. My max utilization is usually one drink, while standing.

One interesting thing about the flight itself. I had assumed that for such a long flight, they must have two sets of cabin crew, but I have seen the same FA's working the entire 15 hour shift. For all the criticism they can get, they are understaffed and overworked, and I neither expect nor ask for much service in Y.

Just to round off the whole experience, my flights have tended to reach ORD before immigration/customs shift starts, so usually we had to sit in the plane for 15-25 minute.

I offer these as observations. I am really not bothered by all this and, with some preparation, tend to go with the flow and enjoy the experience - find nice people to talk to in the terminal, and sleep through the flight.

SeeBuyFly

They don't have two sets in the sense that you see one set of faces for the first half and then a fresh crew for the second half. They have sleeping facilities downstairs, and most of the FAs vanish after the meal service and don't reappear until a couple of hours before landing. One or two people remain to keep watch; this responsibility rotates, so if an FA has stayed up for one flight, he or she gets to sleep on other flights.