Is there a one-world departure lounge with a shower in BOM? I will be on BA business class and am OW Saphire.

Thanks for your help.

-J S

There is a BA departure lounge small and crowded. It doesnt even have a rest room. No shower. I dont think there is any lounge in Bombay with a shower. Your best bet is an airport hotel if you need a shower

Thank you very much for the prompt answer. I could not believe that no one on the BA board had been to BOM.

How early do you realistically need to check in in BOM? (Would love to take a shower for the sake of the person sitting next to me.)

-JS

I assume you are flying BOM-LHR. When I took this flight on Apr 22, it took me about 2 hours from the time I walked through the front doors to the time I got to the lounge.

It took about 40 minutes to get my checked bags x-ray-ed. Ticketing took little to no time because I was in the Business class line, so it sounds like you're fine there. Then it took another 1 hour+ to get through customs.

Getting out of Bombay (Mumbai) is a very traumatic experience. Once upon a time BA staff escorted you through immigration and customs direct to the departure gate and for some reason that has been discontinued. I flew out of Bombay in First Class in jan 03 and here is the times and experience
1. Arrive at the departure area Very crowded with visitors and you have to either jostle your way to the free trolleys or pay Rs 50 to an unlicensed porter with a free trolley. I recommend it as it makes the following steps easier WATCH YOUR WALLET
2. Fork out your ticket for checking at the gate
3. Enter the gate and put your checked luggage thro XRays and they will be strapped. Porter is very useful here
4. Go to the check in Desk
5. Collect your boarding pass and go to the lounge
6. Leave the lounge and clear immigration. It took us over one hour as the staff were working to rule and we were behind a huge group of workers going to gulf.
7. Clear customs usually very easy
8. Go to Gate or if you are oneworld ruby or emerald you can use Cathay Lounge which we did
Good luck and you need lots of it. They have made it very easy to enter India in Bombay and we were out in 10 minutes and getting out of the country was a very difficult and harrowing experience

[This message has been edited by drbala (edited 05-01-2003).]

Excuse me......... I must have missed the question on BOM as many members of the BA board have been a lot. The airport and lounge suck and I would spend as little time there as I could

The BA departure lounge does have a restroom. Thre are no lounges with showers in Bombay.

Also, if you are flying First or are OW Emarald you will get lounge access after immigration.

I have been to Mumbai airport only once, about a year ago. I did pay the porters, two of them in fact, and told them I was flying business class. They pushed me aside, ignored all the lines, pushed my baggage through an x-ray machine, and had me to the CX check-in desk in about ten minutes. I can't remember if they looked official or not. I do remember that CX used a non-airline lounge that was definitely below standard.

I have also noticed a number of so called VIPs breaking the line to clear immigration when I was standing sweating with the AC not working. How much to "TIP" or where to tip I have no idea.

Actually, I never went even near any line -- the porters intercepted me as I entered the terminal, told me to stand to one side, and motioned me on after they had dealt with the X-ray machine. I kept them in my view, of course, but stayed in the background. At the CX counter, after they turned my baggage over to the agent, I offered them what I considered was a good tip, but they indicated that they wanted more, as often happens in India no matter what you give. Since I was leaving the country, I gave them all of the local currency I had, but it was the equivalent of a few US dollars at most. This was done in the open at the CX counter, in full view of anyone who cared to look. By the way, I had only one mid-sized bag and usually handle it myself. In retrospect I have no idea why the porters picked me out or why I accepted their services.