arriving in Delhi late in the night on LH Business. I am going to have a car meet me at the airport to drive us to Jaipur for some sight seeing. I did not feel it was safe to leave before 4:00 AM.

Can we access the transit lounge in Delhi on our arrival (even if we have to pay for it)?

Welcome to Flyertalk, cover point. I am going to move this thread to the FT India Forum for discussion.
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Your flight arrives at 12:35, right? That only leaves a 3-hour wait, minus immigration/baggage time.

The usual FT recommendation I've read is to wait at the Radisson nearby. I've never been, so I can't comment.

If you're worried about road safety, have you considered a train?

Train #2414 (Jammu-Ajmer Express) is supposed to leave Delhi Cantt station at 4:55 am, arriving Jaipur 9:45 am. (But it may be up to a couple hours late.) And train #2015 (Ajmer Shatabdi) should leave the same station at 6:35, arriving 10:45, except on Wednesday. Delhi Cantt is maybe 8 miles from the international terminal.

Or Jet Airways has a nonstop flight DEL-JAI leaving 5:45 am, arriving 6:30 am. Kayak says $83 for a random date I tried.

Thanks. I looked at trains but there is nothing convenient on the way back (Need to leave for BLR on Sunday afternoon).

I will try the Radisson. Assuming they have a bar open all night?

Is there a decent restaurant or a good waiting area at the airport itself?

On the way back there's nothing that stops you buying a domestic flight. Indian domestic flights and trains cost the same whether booked 2 x one way or 1 x roundtrip.

some of the international lounges are in a screwy place. They are after you go through the initial immigration check and before you go through the security scan.

Those I don't believe you'd have no access to.

I never took a domestic flight but I'd be pretty suspicious that if there are lounges, you'd have access to them at that time in the morning.

Hmm, actually Jet Airways claims their domestic lounge is open 24 hours for premium customers. I'm not sure they'd let you into the airport that far in advance of the morning flight, however. (Unless you print a fake eticket for an earlier flight...)

As for restaurants at the airport, the departure areas of each terminal sell sandwiches and such (e.g. Subway or Nirula's). You'd have to be a departing passenger to access them.

IIRC, yes, the Radisson is supposed to have an all-night restaurant.