Delta to Male / Maldives
May 8, 2022, 4:34 pm
#16
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Auckland, NZ/New York, NY/ATL
Programs: DL DM MM, BIS 2.4MM, EK Gold, SQ Gold, Marriott Gold, HH Gold,
Posts: 5,221
FWIW CMB airport is fine if you have 1. VIP arrival/departure service and 2. Are flying EK. The lounge is quite nice. The problem arises with the boarding, where there is NO priority to get into the gate area and the terminal is usually hot and muggy.
May 8, 2022, 4:38 pm
#17
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: New Yawk
Programs: Delta Platinum, Hyatt Globalist, Mosaic 3, ⓥ for the animals
Posts: 477
Sorry, but I really enjoyed Sri Lanka. CMB (both the airport and the city) aren’t great. But there are tons of fantastic places a short drive away (tea plantations, colonial-era heritage hotels, wreck diving). And you pretty much can’t do better for cheap Y and J fares to Malé. Its a great place to dry out (at least once) to or from the Maldives.
May 9, 2022, 8:57 am
#18
Join Date: May 2009
Location: EYW, CAE
Programs: Delta 5.5mm, UA, AA 1.mm, Hilton Diamond Hyatt, Marriott
Posts: 32
We've been through CMB several times heading to dive Maldives and once spent a week in Sri Lanka. Drove down the west coast and took a train to Kandy. Enjoyed it. Airport is not great but lounge is fine and hey, it's an adventure.
May 9, 2022, 12:44 pm
#20
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Auckland, NZ/New York, NY/ATL
Programs: DL DM MM, BIS 2.4MM, EK Gold, SQ Gold, Marriott Gold, HH Gold,
Posts: 5,221
May 9, 2022, 1:05 pm
#21
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: KC MO
Programs: Delta PM MM. Marriott LTP. Hilton Gold
Posts: 67
DL will sell it, however there's 2 issues. 1)AF codeshares on the route, not all days are AF operated. DL won't sell the codeshare IME. 2)MLE/SEZ have a bug in DL system that prevent searching correctly. There will be applicable fares and valid flights, but DL system simply won't return them. It'll require calling in and getting knowledgeable agent (or using ITA MATRIX) to book.