transitting in India
 

Hello everyone, I am a new member and have been lurking for some time. It seems that award seats are difficult to get and options often involve flying through cities in India such as BOM, DEL.

Is transitting in India much like transitting in European cities? Or are there special matters one needs to be aware of ?

Thanks.

MsLucy, welcome to Flyertalk.
One thing to be aware of when transiting somewhere is contingency planning e.g. if the inbound flight is delayed and one has to wait another day for a plane, what happens? That is one reason I don't fly with Saudia: I don't want to be stuck visaless in a Saudi airport for hours on end if there is a problem en route. India can be smoother. but it's something to bear in mind.

There are no 'tricks' as such about transiting in India however nothing prepares you for the intensity of the first time experience. The noise ,the colours the smells (good and bad) and the huge numbers of people on the move. Toilets are not always clean and often smelly with paper often scarce and be careful of drinking unbottled water and don't be caught out by contaminated ice.
The airports that you mention are are efficient and well used to large numbers and many foreigners. Many people speak English and most are very helpful.....you should have no real problems.
However smaller airports are very often a totally different story and good contingency planning is essential.

Mumbai's airport is quite new and nice but I recall people needing a transit visa to get through.

Welcome to FT!

The last time we got stuck in transit a long time ago, we were stuck in a waiting area for hours on hard chairs with no lounges or clean restrooms
Both BOM and DEL airports have been upgraded a lot since then.
I do not know if now the transit passengers are allowed to stay in the regular departures area with lounges

I vaguely thought we had to clear immigration but that is likely faulty memory

Thank you.

Being stuck visaless in unfamiliar places is best avoided.