Hi all-
I'm planning a trip to India this winter. Flying economy - looks like the most reasonable choices are:
SFO-DEL on 9W, with a stop in Shanghai and a transfer (2 hr) in Mumbai.
SFO-DEL on CX, with a transfer (2 hr 20 minutes) in Hong Kong.

Price is close (CX is about $50 more) - any recommendations for which would be the better choice? Should I be worried about either of these transfers?

And finally, are there any other routings I should be looking at? (I'd rather not connect through NY or Chicago at this time of year if I can help it, and LH is more expensive.)

Thanks in advance for your help!

What about connecting through LHR on BA or VS? Though, as an East coastman, I'm not sure if that would be longer or shorter for you. With your current choices, in terms of service, both are fantastic. I'd probably go with CX for this route just to avoid having to transfer in Mumbai. Mumbai is not Hong Kong and HKG will be much easier and nicer, especially if you have a wait since there's much more to do as in shop or eat or just sit around.

= I would fly 9W hands-down. Their product is MUCH better than CX and they make it a point to make your connections work well at DEL. Immigration is better in BOM and 9W uses the new terminal for domestic flights in BOM and will transfer you airside from one to the other.

Cheers,
A

I would second the suggestion someone else made to use BA/LH etc .. let's put it this way, you now have two sectors of about equal length - one of them overnight.

So you can sleep on the plane (if at all possible in economy), wake up in the morning and you're in LHR or FRA, get a shower and some breakfast .. its then just about time for you to catch your next flight to DEL.

In fact try SFO-MUC-DEL on Lufthansa if you can, it is a daytime arrival at Delhi which means far less of a crowd at immigration, and you dont check into your hotel sometime like 2 AM in the morning.

Thanks for the suggestions. In fact, both of the flights I mentioned leave in the evening, and arrive in Delhi at reasonable hours, so that's not a concern (Jet arrives in the morning, CX around 1pm.)

The Lufthansa flights were a few hundred $$ more, and the options connecting through LHR offer either a 1-hr layover or 12+.

BOM is much nicer these days. The shopping isnt there yet but I will rate it (especially the new domestic terminal) very high in terms of comfort / ease of use etc.

2:30 is just about enough for a intl - dom transfer at BOM so you'd have to rush a bit. Might take a slightly later flight, there are several a day, and take it easy, freshen up, get some food at BOM

The choice would be simple for me. The int-dom transfer process in BOM and DEL are real pains because of the distance between terminals. There have been reports on FT of 9W being very good with the BOM transfers, and other reports where things have not gone as smoothly. I think the quote "2:30 is just about enough for a intl - dom transfer at BOM so you'd have to rush a bit" is enough of an indication of the ease of transfer. With only one stop, and an easy transfer in HKG, the CX option seems far superior to me. While 9W may have a better Y product and service, CX is generally pretty good and the difference isn't sufficient to make me consider a transfer in BOM.

I have done both a couple of times. I will choose HKG for transit. Occasionally the walk is long and transit crowded. But same terminal. Great CX lounges. 9W poor third

The OP has mentioned that he is flying economy. Therfore, it would be more appropriate and useful if the responses keep that in mind.

So no lounge access unless the OP has oneworld Sapphire/Emerald status for CX or 9W status if flying 9W. That said, I'd still go CX just to avoid a domestic transfer. Though I do agree with a previous poster in that BOM isn't as bad as it used to be, especially if on 9W, whereas DEL is pretty horrendous.

I travel to HKG 4-5 times a year. The airport is beautiful; if the OP has a few hours, there are tons of restaurants to choose from, lots of shops to wander through, sitting areas in the middle of the terminal where you can relax and watch TV, usually CNN. I can't say that for BOM. Ease of transfer is much more efficient in HKG as well. I've made connections in less than an hour.

Edit to add: CX also has Indian meals that can be special ordered on the SFO-HKG leg of the trip: Indian vegetarian or strict (Jain?) Indian veg. if the passenger has restrictions or preferences.

I would take CX. BOM airport is not nice.

Cheers,

How does 9W transfer someone airside when going intl to dom?

fly 9W since they use nice aircraft 777-300ER,standard indian meals,lower price also if you are a Jet Privilege member you may get two flight counts one way (sfo-bom and bom-del) a few thousand air miles also they giving bonus miles on this sector these days since its new.You can redeem these miles on jet or any partner airline.gift domestic air tickets to friends/relatives or use them for yourself with the miles collected on this flight.the new domestic terminal at Bombay,is not bad at all and jet offers you air side transfer.Go ahead with jet.

If you are open to other airlines, AA has an ORD-DEL nonstop, and you might be able to have multiple options sfo-ord.

Definitely avoid the BOM transfer. There are several one-stop options anyway. No reason to do the BOM-DEL leg.
Time-wise I think flying east or west does not make a significant difference. So I would pick the cheapest option among AA (via ORD), LH, CO (via EWR), CX, AF, BA -- if airline alliance is not relevant to you.