logirl

Hello all,

I'm new here. Found this forum searching for options really. We're travelling to India for the first time. We are flying with Jet airways from London to Mumbai and land there at 12:30 in the night. Our connecting flight is at 6:30am next day. So we have a 6 hr wait at night in Mumbai. There are main queries really
1. Will the airline help us with the transfer and our luggage or do we need to take care of it our self?
2. Another worry we have is how to kill time for say 5 hrs? What facilities will be available at that hour in the international or domestic airport? Are there any bars/shops/restaurant/food joints that will be open in the night inside the airport? Is it advisable to go out into the city or book a nearby hotel?
Having read enough, i don't think any airline allows lounge access to economy passengers , so would appreciate any ideas you can provide.

Thanks!

rsh913

Welcome to FT.
1. Are you connecting with Jet?
2. Upon arrival you will need to a. Do immigration b. collect your bags c. clear customs.
3. After exiting customs you can either a. exit the airport (to your right) or b. go to your connecting flight. (to your left)
4. To go to your connecting flt you need a print out of your confirmed itinerary.
5. Once you go to the line that is for connecting flts you need to get your bags screened and ck in/ get boarding passes for connecting flts.
6. There is a bus that takes you to the domestic terminal.
7. There is a clipper lounge at the domestic terminal. it takes priority pass or you can pay cash about 500 rupees for admission.
8. I suspect you'd be done by 2AM at the intl terminal and reach domestic terminal by around 230am. The shuttle runs 30 mins or so.
9. Spend time in the lounge or outside at a coffee shop. Security for dom flt opens about 2 hrs prior.

logirl

Thanks rsh913! Thats very helpful.
Our domestic flight is with Jet but its booked as a separate ticket as we have a different e-ticket number for it. I presume they won't help us out with transfer then.

We also don't know yet which terminal our flight will be from 1a or 1b at the domestic airport. Will the Clipper Lounge allow Economy passengers? We are flying economy all the way and don't have a priority pass but will be more than happy to pay 500 rupees. Thanks in advance!

aniruddh77

If your domestic segment is booked on Jet, it should be from Terminal 1B domestic, no doubts about that. It doesn't matter that your domestic is booked on a separate ticket. The shuttle bus is an airport-run service, so you could be on ANY airline, it won't matter. The lounge does allow economy pax, as long as you (a) take the priority pass route, (b) pay Rs 500 (approx GBP 7) per person or (c) at the transit desk at the international airport, you try and wrangle lounge passes. Given that your connecting flight is as early as it is, you may just be able to manage (c) as the lounge will be near empty ! Also, if you hold a Platinum credit card (Mastercard) of select issuers, you are allowed access to the Mastercard lounge that's after security. However, this lounge doesn't offer much, and is not particularly comfortable, so you're better off at the Clipper lounge. Also see: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/india...rt-review.html

rsh913

Make sure you have a print out of your jet itinerary or you will not be allowed to do transit to the domestic terminal. In india to *enter* the airport you need a printout of the valid itinerary / bp + id for the day of travel.

Aisle Seat H

Re. the transfers, I would reinterate all of what rsh913 said, as it is spot on.

Especially the last point about printing your itin./travel details and making sure you have them to hand.

As for what to do on the lay-over, I worry that virtually/nothing will be open the time you are there, though I really don't know. Hopefully others can tell you that. (Or see if you can find anything here - http://www.csia.in/facilitiesandservices.asp).

I don't even know if the Clipper Lounge is open, but if it is and you don't mind paying to use it then that 100% is the way to go. (Though would you be able to access it? I am not sure you would be able to reach it without having an ongoing international flight (though hopefully I am wrong). Otherwise your only other option is the rather less good lounge in the domestic terminal (which [if I remember right] is the Mastercard Lounge rsh913 mentioned]).

Because, small though it is, the Clipper Lounge now has (limited/some) very comfy seating recently put into the initial section there (lazyboy like things), free food and drink and newspapers, a TV, power sockets for the laptop etc, wi-fi (you have to pay for), and of course a toilet you would be far happier putting your bottom on than the alternatives !

Either way my advise would be to either download some movies onto a laptop etc, or bring some DVDs that will play on it (and maybe with a spare battery!), and grab some of the more comfy seats (where even you are) and make your own mini cinema/movie theatre. (I did this for 5 hours in the Clipper Lounge last Jan and it went by a lot quicker than I expected as a consequence !).

And if you do find out that not much is open make sure you have some water etc with you (either from the flight, or bought airside at LHR).,

logirl

Hi All,

Thankyou so much for the advice. Have made a note of everything. Just hoping that the 4-5 hrs go by quickly

Thanks!

aniruddh77

If you want, try and hook up with some BOM-based FTers, and see if you can meet them !

henkybaby

Hiking the thread...

I arrive on CX J at 03:55 AM and leave at 12:50 on IT (Kingfisher) to GOI.

Fingers crossed that the domestic lounge will be open. However, I am both OW and *A highest tier (emerald and gold) so I was wondering if it is possible to stay airside upon arrival and use one of the lounges there?

aniruddh77

Don't think there are any arrival lounges in BOM. I know 9W allows for transit Biz and F pax, but only on 9W flights (and that too, am not sure where - prob domestic).

Maxwell Smart

In case you haven't left on your trip yet---

Here is our experience from mid-December. It's certainly not a direct airside-airside transfer, but not a totally external one either, since you never leave airport property and don't enter the domestic terminal through a 'public' entrance.

We arrived into BOM on Lufthansa at approx 2:00am, with a totally separate ticket on Jet for BOM-HYD departing at 6:30am. After clearing immigration/customs, we turned left and went to the Jet Airways transfer desk, checked in our bags and received our boarding passes for BOM-HYD. Just past the transfer desk was the seating area for the transfer bus to the domestic terminal. A bus just departed as we got there, so waited for the next one, about 15-20 min I think. Our boarding passes were checked before we were allowed on the bus. (one funny thing- some airport workers were also riding the bus, and they were subject to a hand-wanding metal detector and/or patdown prior to boarding, but not the passengers!)

Upon arrival at the domestic terminal, I believe they make 2 stops, first at 1B then 1A. Since we were going on Jet (thus out of 1B) we got off at the first stop (I assume they then continue to 1A). To be safe, I suggest you confirm as you are getting off the bus that it is the correct stop for Jet Airways flights.

I think we basically entered the terminal into the arrivals area, same place as domestic arriving pax would enter, walked by the luggage carousels, and then just followed the signs towards departures. So you won't be entering the terminal through the "main entrance", but through the arrivals area, thus there is no guard checking documents to enter the building.

The whole checkin area was open, but fairly empty (4:00am). A couple of small vendors were open on the main floor, as was the coffee shop (Barista, I think) on the 2nd floor at the far end of the terminal. We hung out in the coffee shop for a while, then went through security, and awaited our next flight. Overall, a very smooth transfer.

pittampalli

My flight from New York area is arriving to Mumbai around 9 PM and my connecting KingFisher airlines flight to Bangalore is at 6:30 AM next day. I am wondering if I can check-in my baggage this early for 6:30 AM flight and some how spend the rest of the night in one of the lounges. Please advise.Thanks.

Keyser

welcome to ft pittampalli....

unfortunately you won't be able to check in your luggage that early....the check-in counters will only open around 4:30am....the same goes for the lounge....they will all open a couple of hours before the first flight....

there are a number of nice & inexpensive hotels near the domestic & international terminals in mumbai....it might be a good idea to get some rest there....

abhilife2001

IIRC the clipper lounge in the domestic terminal was open throughout the nite , atleast till last year.. I have spent 3-4 hrs there once and it was from late night till early morning..

Keyser

i'm not aware of that....then again, its been a while since i was at the mumbai domestic airport in the middle of the night....