ermen

This is most helpful.

I think I am biting the bullet and shooting for BA GGL this year. Hopefully going forward, renewing will be much easier. If I can, i won't do the multiple domestic runs anymore (you get less points and you need to chase up BA for the points if you fly the same routings twice each day)

TheSYDTraveller

Noticed that someone mentioned LGK turnaround was possible. I haven't been to LGK but how would it work? Disembark - airside - landside - security - board? Would KUL issue your LGK-KUL boarding passes? 30 mins seems awfully tight.

Does anyone have any experiences for DPS as well?

minz56

I just did a same day turnaround in TPE: Air Asia to MH. Theoretically I had 3 hours but the Air Asia flight was 45 minutes late, so that reduced the time.

I asked at an information desk what gate number the MH flight departed from - I had an OLCI printed boarding pass so planned to just go to the gate. The girl at the desk said that because I had arrived on a LCC I would have to go through immigration and customs, but I don't think she fully understood I had no luggage and already had a boarding pass. So I ignored her and headed over to Pier B where the MH flight was departing from. I had a pleasant 90 minutes in the CX lounge before heading to the gate. The only thing that happened was that at the gate MH reissued my boarding pass for a "proper" one.

So, all in all I had no problem. However, had they forced me through immigration I would have struggled time wise as the queue was LONG!

GGLwannabe

I hadn't spotted this thread and created a new thread on this subject a few weeks ago, but conversation died after a couple of replies, and didn't really get me anywhere. Now that this thread has been re-awakened, I'm hoping somebody will surface who's tried what I would like to do.

I am arriving in DEL at the beginning of March on MH172 at 12:10 at the end of a nested tier point run to SYD and PER. I then wish to return to KUL and onwards to BKK on the return half of another ticket, on the same aircraft, i.e. MH173, departing just one hour after arrival. I am OW emerald, will be in Business Class inbound and outbound, and will be travelling HBO. I do have an Indian multiple entry visa, although, as I will be staying airside, this shouldn't be relevant (I don't believe that going landside is an option as the check-in desks would almost certainly be closed by the time I got to them)

I have been through Delhi transit before at Terminal 3, although not for a few years, so I know where to go and (more or less) what to do; however the transit procedure at Delhi is somewhat idiosyncratic. There are just a few transit desks, all grouped together to one side of, and just before, the escalators that take you down to immigration. As far as I remember only Air India (and possibly Jet Airways) have permanently manned desks in the transit area. My memory is that the airline I am arriving on must 'hand me over' to the airline I am departing on. However, as I recollect, this can be a 2 stage process. The incoming airline can hand me over at any manned transit desk, even if staff from the onward airline are not present. Whoever is at that desk, will then call the onward airline to send check-in staff to the transit area to check me in and issue my onward boarding pass. However I believe that the transit check-in staff would normally come from that airline's check in desks in the departures hall, and in the past it has taken up to 20 minutes for them to arrive in the transit area after being called.

What I am hoping to find out is:
1) Has anyone tried this before, and if so was it successful?
2) Can I get Malaysian Airlines to link my two bookings, and insert a note on the PNR of both tickets to the effect that I will be turning around at Delhi?
3) As I see it the success or failure of this will hinge on how quickly MH check-in staff can get to the transit area to check me in for the turnaround flight. Is my best strategy to talk to whoever is in charge of MH staff at the arrival gate, and ask for their assistance, or just run for the transit area and hope that MH check-in staff can get there quickly enough once summoned?
4) If MH know I'm returning on the same plane, can I assume that staff will talk to each other, so, for example, the gate will know I've passed through the transit area etc?

I'm prepared to give this a go if there appears to be a reasonable chance of success, and will report back fully if I do, but I don't want to risk a heart attack either, so all advice will be gratefully received

ashkale

Jz did a morning-evening turn at Delhi. There is no way you can do a turn on the same aircraft, in the afternoon there were no less than 100customers waiting to transit and the security gate was overwhelmed, The line was static for the 10 minutes I absorbed the scene and scoped for an airside turnaround possiblity. This is definitely not happening in India. Your best chance is to quickly clear the immigration and customs exit the building, don't go from within the building, back into the airport and through customs and immigration via online checkin. The passport control for business class is generally manageable, still the whole process should take you 45 minutes.

GGLwannabe

Hmmm. It doesn't work going landside. The MH check-in desks close 30-40 minutes before the departure time; and it's too much of a risk hoping that the inbound Business Class immigration queues will be manageable. On occasion I've had to wait 20-30 minutes to get my passport stamped.

I'm less worried about the queue for security at the transit area. If a flight is leaving imminently it's standard practice for airline staff to escort you to the front of the queue; so if it looks like there's a long queue, I'll seek further assistance from the MH staffer who issues my boarding pass.

It's probably no more than a 10 minute fast walk from even the furthest arrival gate to the transit area, so provided I can have my new boarding pass issued with no more than a 10 minute delay I should be fine. The issue is getting MH staff in place at the transit desks to issue my onward boarding pass without delay.

ashkale

Try calling MH Delhi airport and see if they can meet you at the gates. +911149638827,49638829. The legality of your "transit" might also be questioned by the security staff.

ashkale

It is not about you having no luggage or having a printed BP, LCCs dont pay for transit facilities for in or outbound pax at most airports.

minz56

Despite my bravado, I had a feeling this was the case. I guess the Transfer Counter might not have issued my MH boarding pass had I needed to go there.

I was just reading that Air Asia are not allowing airside transfers in SIN between other terminals and the new T4, making passengers go through immigration and customs and then take the bus to T4.

The moral of the story is to ensure you have enough time if you are doing a same day transfer from a LCC to another airline or vice versa.

ermen

Qn answered above sorry

ermen

Have you all successfully done a MH DEL turnaround?

I did a MH -> CX transit easily and the procedure took me 30mins (at the counter).
As someone mentioned, indeed the incoming airline needs to "hand you off" to the outgoing airline.
There was ZERO people queuing at transit security when I deplaned, but the security guy did not accept a paper OLCI BP which meant I needed to deal with the transit counter.
By the time transit counter was done there was a long queue forming with AI transit passengers which took ~15-20mins to process.
It would have been helpful if MH could issue a return BP at KUL but for some reason they can't.

GGLwannabe

I chickened out and booked a direct flight from Delhi back to BKK (my ultimate destination) with Jet. I still had to transit at Delhi, and it was quite fast, but I wasn't willing to take the risk of trying a back-to-back, landing on a far gate, running around the airport for 30 minutes or more and then arriving back at the boarding gate to find it gate closed.

What I discovered is, that providing you make it to the transit area within about 30-40 minutes of landing, there will be someone at the transit desk from your inbound airline, and it is their responsibility to then get someone from your onward airline up to the transit area, to hand you on to. However for most airlines you can't be handed over until check-in has opened up, so long transits can mean sitting on the hard plastic chairs for longer than is comfortable.

Why Delhi can't adopt a more passenger-friendly transit system is anyone's guess.