Air India: Chicago to Goa via Dehli -baggage query
 

Hello All,

I am travelling from Chicago to Goa via Delhi on Air India. Both the international (AI 126) & domestic (AI 867) connecting flights are on the same PNR number (in a single ticket).
I will arrive at Delhi int' airport on a Tuesday 2:30 pm , and the second flight (from Delhi to Goa) is next day (Wednesday) at 5:55 am. So I have a layover of about 15 hours.

My question is - will my baggage be directly transferred to Goa? Or since there is 15 hours layover, would it be wise to claim the baggage and recheck in. What is advisable? convenient?, where should I be doing my immigration?

Please share your experiences. Suggestions welcome!

Thank you,
Sneha311

i believe you will have to go through customs & immigration in delhi & then drop off your bags again for your goa flight....

You will for sure have to collect your baggage in Delhi and clear Immigration and Customs..

Also, bad news, since you have a 15 hour layover, you can't simply recheck in your baggage after immigration and then walk away.. most airlines in India won't open the check in for the next flight till like 3 hours before the flight.. so you would have to take your luggage with you, wherever you go.. Not sure if Delhi airport has a luggage storage facility..

If you ask them nicely, they might put you up at the Centaur hotel :D

Thank you for all the responses!

I am still wondering, even though I would get boarding passes for both flights at Chicago, do I still have to claim baggage at Delhi?

Thank you,
Sneha311

Stop wondering my friend..

You will have to have to claim your baggage.. that's the rule.. the immigration and custom needs to be done at the first port of entry.. even when you fly back, if you land in JFK/EWR first and then have a connecting to ORD, you will have to go through immigration, collect your luggage and clear customs.. that's the rule all over the world, not specific to India..

This doesn't work that way in Delhi for Air India. It depends whether the next flight is an "international" flight or not. In the case of AI, any flight number starting with 0, 1, 2, 3 or 9 (assuming a 3 digit flight number) is treated as an international flight even if the leg is purely domestic. If the connecting flight falls in this category, then immigration & customs is at the final destination. If not, it is on arrival in Delhi. This is explained in every issue of AI's in flight magazine. Here is the link to the March issue.

In the case of the OP, it is a "domestic" flight with a flight number between 400 and 899 (and a 15-hr wait) so they will have to get immigration & customs clearance done in Delhi.

Wow, that's really news to me.. thanks for the info..

Thank you so much for the link! Very informative!
Sneha311

You will have to clear Customs and Passport Control @ DEL not GOI. At DEL, both of your flights operate from the same terminal T3, hence, it's not much of a problem.

However, I doubt you would get the boarding pass for the DEL-GOI flight about 2 days in advance. And hence, I would suggest that you book a stay at one of the airport hotels for a stress free waiting period.