Long layover in Mumbai - what to do?
 

I have a long (~7-8hrs) layover in BOM Mumbai en route to BLR Bangalore :td:. I looked it up on wikipedia and I'm not so happy to see it a list of most delayed arrivals and also on a list of the worst airports to sleep in.

I see on the nwa.com website that there is a lounge in Bombay "Transit area, close to gates 3 and 4". Does anyone know any details of it-- is it in the domestic or international terminal and is it worth my time?

What is the best place to spend 7-8 hours in the Mumbai airport?

I presume you have one of those midnight arrival, 8am departure layovers? Or is it during the day?

Yes, 11:30pm arrival, 6:50am flight out to Bangalore :(

You will come to the international arrival area at Mumbai. Unfortunately, the lounges are available only in the international departure area, and there is no way you'll be able to get past security to go to those lounges even with a lounge membership (i.e. priority pass). Security is very tight in Mumbai.

The best you can do is go straight to the domestic terminal. It is like most airports, and you can usually find a couple seats together (without armrests inbetween) where you can lie down and sleep.

For your domestic flight, security will open about 3 hours before, so when they do, go through security to the gate. this gives you 4-5 hours at Mumbai before having to go through security. With the bus to transfer to the domestic terminal (which takes about 30 minutes), and the recheck in process, you're looking at much less time. It will go by pretty quickly.


There are a good number of food shops as well. Eat !! Dont eat "chutneys" or things that are not cooked however, because as a foreigner, you might get sick (water is different in india than in the US. The same thing actually works the other way too -- indians coming to the US generally cant have US tap water without getting sick).

You need to drive out from the international terminal to the domestic terminal (10 to 15 minute drive by taxi or hop on the free shuttle bus.) On the way is the Sheraton hotel, famous for its fantastic restaurants and good Indian food. Great place to spend a few hours - check in advance to make sure they will be open to serve a meal at that time of the night...)

Just for future reference in case anyone has the same question in the future, there are two lounges in Mumbai domestic terminal 1A: Air India and Kingfisher. I'm writing this from the Kingfisher lounge now. It's unremarkable and small, but they have some decent chairs, a bit of food and free wireless.

how long for the xfer from intl to domestic?

How much was the entry fee?

Moving to the India forum for housekeeping purposes.

Thanks,

slippahs
nwa forum co-moderator

Check this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/india...s-layover.html