Intra-India (UDR-DEL), advice needed
 

Hello everybody,

I have never flown on domestic flights in India and therefore would really appreciate some advice from the experts in this forum.

This is my situation: I need to be in Udaipur until the 2nd of January (lunchtime) and have a flight from Delhi back to Europe leaving at 2:00am on the 3rd of Jan. Therefore, I must find a way to get from Udaipur to Delhi on the 2nd, leaving in early afternoon or later.

It looks like I have a few options:

a. Direct flight from UDR to DEL. Unfortunately there are only two options (9W708 or IT4306) and they are both full. I could try to get on a waitlist... Do waitlists usually clear? Is it better to go through a travel agent or directly with the airline? Since price is not an issue, I suppose I should try to get waitlisted in the highest fare, right?

b. Flight from UDR to DEL with 1 connection. There are a couple of options, through BOM or JAI. I don't particularly like this option, as the chances of delays or issues with baggage would obviously be doubled. Am I just being paranoid?

c. Being taken by car to AMD and then get flight 9W7112 or SG218 AMD-DEL, landing at 10pm or 9pm respectively. How safe are these flights? Are 3 hours enough for my connection in DEL? Google maps shows that driving from Udaipur to AMD should take approximately 4 hours, is this true?

d. Being taken by car all the way from Udaipur to Delhi. It seems this would take approximately 12 hours, so it's not really an option.


Due to work commitments I can NOT afford to miss my DEL-ZRH flight on the 3rd, so my key objective is to minimise the chance of missing that flight. The key point is about the reliability of domestic flights; I have no idea how these things usually work-out in India...

Which option would you go for?

Thanks in advance for any advice!!

Have you considered IC-472 at 12:55pm from UDR. It's a one-stop (via JOD) same aircraft service to DEL (scheduled arrival time is 3:25pm) ? There are a few Business Class seats available for approx. INR 12.500 all inclusive.

Try a travel agent--a few years ago I was waitlisted for UDR-BOM and my U.S.-based travel agent was the only one who could get me off the waitlist somehow. Do be prepared to pay a pretty penny--we had full Y seats at around 200 USD for a short hop

Otherwise, your best option is probably IT via BOM. Depart UDR 2:30 PM, and even if you miss the first BOM-DEL flight, there is a later one that still gets you to DEL in plenty of time for your ZRH flight.

If that IC doesnt work there's another 1 stop IC

INDIAN AIRLINES
IC7810
Departs: Sat 02 Jan 10 19:50
Arrives: Sat 02 Jan 10 22:05
Economy - 1 stop - Total travel time: 02 hrs 15 mins

or a very early morning 9W2013 (which also includes a stop) at 7.40 AM

Indian domestic flights to DEL are NOT reliable at that time of year, because of the possibility of severe fog.

Unfortunately, if you have to be there until lunchtime on Jan 2 and then catch a flight out of Delhi in the wee hours of Jan. 3, you do not have many options. How did you set yourself up for this? With a little more time, you could have taken the train.

Do not go for connections if it can be avoided. That steeply increases that chances of disruptions. Allow 6 hours to change planes in Delhi if possible...not really needed but if there is fog you may need even more time. If price is really not an issue, try to change your international flight to go via BOM---there is never fog in BOM.

Another poster has pointed out the IC flight at 1p: a bit early if you need to stay for lunch, but otherwise a good choice Not all airlines appear on all reservations systems, for example Orbitz doesn't list IC flights. There could be other LCC flights, I'm not sure.

I don't know the driving time to Ahmedabad, but I would not trust Google maps for this. Indian driving takes much longer than one might think, because there are few free-flowing roads. The distance is 250 km; allow 6 hours (again, may not be needed but who knows).

I like Kalia's idea.
Especially to change your DEL flight and fly out of BOM. Much better at that time of the year..with the fog over DEL being a big issue.

I started a thread here about fog in DEL a few days ago. One poster responded that IC planes had CAT III instrument landing systems. Not all other airlines do.

IF this is true, that makes IC a better choice, even if you have to take the 8pm departure. (On the other hand, I don't know where that flight makes an intermediate stop; that airport may not have CAT III.)

Here is a link copied from another post in that thread: http://www.rediff.com/news/2009/jan/...s-in-delhi.htm. Notice the date.

kalia960 makes a great point. just call LX and change your DEL-ZRH to BOM-ZRH. Problem solved! :D

This is one of the safest and best choice. There is no change of plane and flight is during day time, so minimum chances of fog disruptions. There are no seats available in coach, so you have to hurry and book that one.

In principle agree with the advice to try BOM. LX 155 BOM-ZRH's availability on Sun Jan 3:

F1 A0 C5 D0 Z0 J0 R0 Y4 B3 M0 H0 U0 G0 Q0 KC VC LC WC TC PC EC.

If money is not an issue, this is what I would do. At least it can't hurt to call LX.
UDR-BOM: There is a Jet Connect nonstop at 7:25PM, arriving 9:20PM.

Options for DEL you already know. For availability, maybe worth calling a major Indian TA like MakeMyTrip instead of just trying yourself online. Reliability can be a big gamble. Fog in DEL is like snow in some US cities: it can paralyze air traffic massively, you know it will happen on several days but there's no way to be more precise so far in advance. From BOM, fog would not be an issue.

If you decide to stay with DEL, can your lunch be early enough to make the 2:30PM flight?

Only 1/2 in jest, can't you skip the lunch? Attend the ZRH meeting by video-conference? :)

Dear AMR747, berkeleybum, Mr. Bean, hserus, kalia960, snod08, Evita_FT, aktchi, a big THANK YOU for the great analysis and for the advice.

To summarize, the situation is quite a nightmare. Unfortunately BOM is a no-go; I have to leave from DEL (I am meeting with other people there and I am not in a position to ask them to re-route to BOM).

Although a bit complicated, what I could do is convert the lunch in Udaipur into a long breakfast. At this point, it seems that driving to AMD is not worth the hassle (and could take ages).

Apparently the best options are:

- Waitlist on the non-stop 9W708 UDR-DEL 3:30pm-4:40pm (I understand that fog is usually worse in the evening or early morning, therefore IT4306 seems to be risky with a scheduled arrival at 7:25pm)

- IC472 via Jodhpur (UDR-JDH-DEL), leaving UDR at 12:55pm and arriving in DEL at 3:15pm. It seems quite safe; what I do NOT like, is that there are no later flights JDH-DEL (but this shouldn't be an issue, given it's operated with the same aircraft as the UDR-JDH leg?).

- IT3158 UDR-BOM 2:30pm-3:55pm + IT333 BOM-DEL 5:30pm-7:45pm. What I like about this is that there are two later IT flights BOM-DEL as a backup.


Assuming the waitlist doesn't clear, would you go for IC472 or IT3158? I am thinking of buying a full-fare refundable ticket (if it exists) for one of those two options as a backup.

Once again, thanks for your great help!

Take IC by all means. Much larger fleet and CAT-III certified pilots. IC, Spicejet and Indigo (two LCCs) are the airlines that have the most CAT-III pilots around

Absolutely. You seem to understand the flight options quite well, so the following is in the spirit of reminders -

1. Are you actually holding a "meeting" with those people in DEL? If you are just meeting to travel to ZRH, you could always meet up in ZRH (the flights from DEL and BOM should arrive around the same time).

If you still wish to fly from DEL -

2. Agreed that driving anywhere is not worth the trouble.

3. After breakfast/brunch you should get out of UDR and to DEL asap. It is better to reach DEL and kill time there than to hand around in UDR. In case of fog, domestic flights are much more likely to be canceled or severely delayed than your international one. (Once you have settled your flights, this forum also has great info on where to best kill time in DEL. :))

4. Other things being equal, non-stops are best, then a 0-connection 1-stop flight (ie same aircraft), next 1-connection within the same carrier, and finally inter-carrier connection. If connecting, a major airport like BOM would be best.

However, you do have to weigh other factors. For example if I could take a 1-stop 0-connection flight at 1PM, I would choose that over a non-stop at 7PM!

I think this is your best option. Refundable Business seats available for Rupees 13K. You should definitely try to make this flight. AI would also fare better than others in case of fog. Frankly, I would pick this over the 9W even if the latter were available.

Finish your breakfast by 11AM, jump into the car/cab and you should make it. At least, buy the ticket while you look for other options.

Only if you can't make the above AI flight. This one is Rupees 18K in economy and 1-connection which adds time plus uncertainty of luggage transfer.

Good to know. Thanks!