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Need routes recommendation for travel to India

Need routes recommendation for travel to India

Old Mar 15, 2017, 7:46 pm
  #16  
 
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I agree EK A380 > QR > EY.

I have enjoyed the QR experience as a OWE (operational upgrades). EY's pricing as AA codeshares has been favorable in my opinion.

Remember AA and EY are closer friends than AA and QR. Not sure why.

Maybe 10 years ago going to ISC made sense via Europe. Today, such a waste of time.

Rasheed
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Old Mar 15, 2017, 10:27 pm
  #17  
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Originally Posted by cheltzel
I was taking in OW elite qualification in as a factor as the OP seemed to value the alliance.
OP mentioned short duration, airline, aircraft, and price as factors.

As I noted, when it comes to flights this long, comfort trumps an loyalty programs for me.
Originally Posted by sorka
I wish i could have tried the A380 but does not seem there are any good flights for that.
What's wrong with Emirates 380 through JFK? Near lowest price, near the shortest time, etc.
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Old Mar 17, 2017, 5:23 pm
  #18  
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Alright, i finally got approval for purchasing my flights.... and i want a OneWorld ticket (as I wont fly much this year but will later this year / next year so I want to keep my status).

I was looking at ATL-LHR-DEL for 3/31. It looks like AA availability is 0 for Business while BA still has a lot of availability. Based on your experience, will BA usually open up more availability in business to AA or that never happens? If i purchase a Y fare with AA, will that guarantee me an upgrade to business when/if BA opens up more business class seats to AA?

Thanks!

FYI - I am trying to do (XXX)-DEL then BLR-CDG (likely via LHR) on 4/14 and then CDG-CLT on 4/16.
I checked XXX as ATL, PHL, MIA, DFW and they usually all route me thru LHR (and LHR-DEL is the one where i can only book coach)
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Old Mar 17, 2017, 5:40 pm
  #19  
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Originally Posted by sorka
Alright, i finally got approval for purchasing my flights.... and i want a OneWorld ticket (as I wont fly much this year but will later this year / next year so I want to keep my status).

I was looking at ATL-LHR-DEL for 3/31. It looks like AA availability is 0 for Business while BA still has a lot of availability. Based on your experience, will BA usually open up more availability in business to AA or that never happens? If i purchase a Y fare with AA, will that guarantee me an upgrade to business when/if BA opens up more business class seats to AA?

Thanks!

FYI - I am trying to do (XXX)-DEL then BLR-CDG (likely via LHR) on 4/14 and then CDG-CLT on 4/16.
I checked XXX as ATL, PHL, MIA, DFW and they usually all route me thru LHR (and LHR-DEL is the one where i can only book coach)
It's not clear what you're trying to do. Book economy, and use SWU's to upgrade as many flights as you can? Or paid business class? Or something else?

BA operates ATL-LHR-DEL. Again it's not clear what you mean by "AA availability is 0 for business" and so on. If you purchase a Y fare on AA then you can expect to fly in coach.
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Old Mar 17, 2017, 5:44 pm
  #20  
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Originally Posted by JJeffrey
It's not clear what you're trying to do. Book economy, and use SWU's to upgrade as many flights as you can? Or paid business class
I am trying to purchase a business class ticket. If trying to buy on AA, it says business class is sold out. I'but looking at BA there is availability in business class
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Old Mar 17, 2017, 7:02 pm
  #21  
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Originally Posted by sorka
I am trying to purchase a business class ticket. If trying to buy on AA, it says business class is sold out. I'but looking at BA there is availability in business class
Looking at ExpertFlyer, right now business class is sold out on both BA LHR-DEL flights on 4/1. If you buy it through BA, they are probably willing to overbook it at full J fares, where as if you buy it through AA there's no such option. I would call AA first to see if an AAgent can book it.

For example, aa.com prices your flights at $6,242 with everything in business except the LHR-DEL segment. If you try to buy the same flights at ba.com, that jumps to $9,472, with LHR-DEL in business though (it prices ATL-LHR-DEL in full J).

Do you have to stop in Paris on the way back? As mentioned upthread, you can buy QR ATL-DOH-DEL then BLR-DOH-DFW-CLT for around $6,400 all in business. QR will be a much better business class experience than BA.
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Old Mar 17, 2017, 8:05 pm
  #22  
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Originally Posted by JJeffrey
Looking at ExpertFlyer, right now business class is sold out on both BA LHR-DEL flights on 4/1. If you buy it through BA, they are probably willing to overbook it at full J fares, where as if you buy it through AA there's no such option. I would call AA first to see if an AAgent can book it.

For example, aa.com prices your flights at $6,242 with everything in business except the LHR-DEL segment. If you try to buy the same flights at ba.com, that jumps to $9,472, with LHR-DEL in business though (it prices ATL-LHR-DEL in full J).

Do you have to stop in Paris on the way back? As mentioned upthread, you can buy QR ATL-DOH-DEL then BLR-DOH-DFW-CLT for around $6,400 all in business. QR will be a much better business class experience than BA.
Thank you for the detailed response. That would explain why the fare in BA is so high when trying to book business. I wanted to stop by Paris to say hi to my parents, but I guess i'll go another time. Thank you for the QR routing.
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Old Mar 17, 2017, 10:33 pm
  #23  
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Originally Posted by sorka
Thank you for the detailed response. That would explain why the fare in BA is so high when trying to book business. I wanted to stop by Paris to say hi to my parents, but I guess i'll go another time. Thank you for the QR routing.
IME Qatar Airways (in the BE Super Diamond Parallel 777 seats, a seat in the center row is best - in the Super Diamond Solo, its all aisle access) is a much more comfortable option with far better service than AA - BA or all BA.
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Old Mar 17, 2017, 10:51 pm
  #24  
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I have flown to India and stopped in Singapore for a day or two to recover.

I don't like arriving in India at 2 am. I see there's a Cathay Pacific Hong Kong to Dehli flight that arrives at about 8 pm, which is nice. CLT to HKG isn't easy to do in one stop, though. Cathay Pacific doesn't fly from BLR but you can always fly another carrier back. You might even look at round the world fares if you come back via Europe.
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Old Mar 18, 2017, 4:09 pm
  #25  
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Atlanta-Delhi, return BLR-Atlanta on Qatar is approx. $4500 roundtrip with ~3 hour stops in both directions in Doha. Add on a CLT-ATL-CLT ticket and that'd be my choice. You could also route through Miami on Qatar.

I know many here love the EK A380, but for my money I'd take QR - I find it more spacious and comfortable, and the food is more reliable. Service can be hit or miss on EK and QR both so that's sort of a wash for me. I've had great crews on EK and I've also had completely mediocre crews on EK.

QR will give you a comfortable ride roundtrip, wonderful lounge in Doha. I'd actually encourage you to avoid LHR and BA/AA, as that second flight (LHR-DEL, then LHR-ATL or elsewhere) will feel BRUTAL. That's always been my experience.

Take the longest possible nonstop flight you can.

From CLT your best QR gateways are probably ATL and MIA, then IAD and NYC.
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Old Mar 20, 2017, 5:16 am
  #26  
 
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I have already made 2 trips to India this year (BOM) both on Qatar business,
I like the idea of getting a lot of sleep on the ATL-Doh leg, lounge is wonderful at DOH, nice showers etc, and then the remaing journey to BOM seems quite short.
The only draws backs are arriving at 2am to BOM and leaving at 4am back to DOH
but overall I like it better than the BA connection out of LHR
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Old Mar 20, 2017, 7:35 am
  #27  
 
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If you are purchasing business why don't you just purchase what you want on a OW carrier? You don't need someone on an anonymous internet forum to tell you what Google flights can do in a fraction of the time.
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Old Mar 20, 2017, 1:22 pm
  #28  
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Eh, Google Flights is great, but it's not perfect.
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Old Mar 20, 2017, 3:53 pm
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by Toshbaf
Cathay Pacific doesn't fly from BLR
One a day Dragon Air, leaves somewhere around 1AM arrives HKG in the AM, easy albeit a bit long connection to some of the US bound flights.
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