India X5
 

I'm going to be making 5 SAN-DEL trips in the next four months, My client will pay for biz class and I'm EXP sitting on a few VIPs. It seems that using the VIPS won't be too easy.
Should I go biz class on AA or Cathay or BA -
Please advise.

If you going to be doing 5 RT's, that gives you 10 chances to use those VIP's. What is the problem exactly? YOu can always try to upgrade with miles, correct? Just watch the inventories lilke a hawk. Or have EF do it for you. It would help if your dates were a little flexible.

I guess you will make EXP next year too. I hope you fly somewhere, where the free domestic upgrades are usefull....

BA has flat beds and going east is easier on the body for jet lag, for most people. SAN-ORD-DEL on AA is 9207 miles; SAN-HKG-DEL on CX is 9700 miles; SAN-LHR-DEL on BA is 9675 miles. Surprisingly little difference, giving you lots of choices. Using evips on ORD-DEL is reputed to be the hardest flight in the AA system, fwiw.

BA J is the only one which has flat beds, which has a big advantage in this case (but you cannot earn AAdvantage miles for BA transpacific; I solve this problem by crediting BA flights to QFF). I would probably go for a OWE (Round The World) ticket, and fly BA SAN-LHR-DEL (though I guess you have to go via LAX now, I think BA dropped their SAN flight) and then CX DEL-HKG-LAX. The OWE gives you up to 20 segments, allowing you to take side trips in Europe/Asia/US for the same price (things like a sidetrip to Aruba or Costa Rica). If that isn't an option, BA J really does work well on this routing and seems to be the best choice, despite the havoc that is LHR at the moment.

If you are going to DEL from SAN then take the AA flights. I've flown to India using all three of the methods you suggest plus a lot more and the AA flight is the easiest.

You don't want to fly through LHR to anywhere due to the carry on restrictions plus you would have to connect twice in both directions. Do you want to get into DEL at 1:25AM? Do you want to depart DEL at 3:25 AM? The CX connections are not great either. The CX flight lands at 2:15 AM with 2 connections and a rather long layover in HKG. It departs DEL at 7:40 AM which may seem reasonable, but you often need to be at the DEL airport 3 or 4 hours before the flight which means you are going to need to leave your hotel at 3 or 4 in the morning.

Using the VIPs on that flight is not hard. My success has been 100%. Get on the waitlist.

BA have an evening departure from LHR, which while you would have a long layover there would help the jetlag management. Sleep for a few hours from LAX, a short day in London and then a long nights sleep on the way to DEL. Coming back you are stuck with the 3:25am departure. While it is pretty grotty in the airport at that time, once onboard you can sleep easy for 8 hours.

I can see the AA flight as more convenient (though ORD can be as big a pain to connect through) but I wouldn't fancy 15 hours in AA's J seat. You might however, as BA's (only 6ft long) gets mixed reviews from 6ft6 tall people. If you sleep with your legs curled up, no problem. If you sleep on your back, not so good.

AA's J class seat is so much better that sitting around the airport in London jet lagged waiting for another long flight. Sleeping in a comfortable bed at the Radisson in Delhi or sitting in a chair at the BA lounge - let me think which one sounds better.

ORD is not a big pain to connect through. To compare it with LHR verges on insanity. In fact, it is easy to connect through on the outbound. The change of terminals on the return takes a bit more time but generally is quick and easy, and compared to LHR it is wonderful. I've gone from walking out the door of the aircraft to sitting at the lounge in the other terminal in under 20 minutes numerous times. Can't do that in LHR these days.

The problem is that you'll be staggering off the AA plane with back ache. ;) And still feeling very jet lagged as SAN-ORD is another 3-4 hours and I find it really tough to sleep in the AA seat.

The AA terminal at ORD isn't bad at all, but the airport operations itself can be painful from my experience especially in winter. Snow, flow control etc etc. That said, a T1 to T4 transfer at LHR is horrid.

From SAN, the quickest route and the only OW option with a single stop is on AA via ORD. Normally, on an international route I would try hard to use CX, or BA if giving up the AA miles is worth it, but in this case it seems that this would cost at least 5 hours and another stop to use a carrier other than AA. At 6' 6", neither the AA, BA, or CX J seats are going to be that great for you. The BA seat is nice and flat, but too short for your height, the CX seat is good for sitting but you slide downwards when sleeping, and AA's seat is old and not very comfortable. F is far better. If you get on the waitlist early and can use your VIP upgrade, the AA option via ORD would seem to be the clear choice for comfort, time, and ease of travel for this particular case.

If the VIP upgrade is not an option, and you will be flying J for sure, then I would recommend using CX. It's a longer trip than with AA, but much more pleasant. The LHR transfer experience should be avoided if at all possible, it's deplorable and no way to spend the middle of a 24 hr trip, even if BA does have the best J seats and you can use your VIP upgrade on AA to LHR. The CX seats are not flat but much more comfortable than AA, there's good IFE, HKG has great CX lounges and is easy to transit, and they have great service.

The RTW option is a very good suggestion and worth considering if you want to make any other stops in Asia, Europe, or even NA.

-from an old Aztec to the OldAztec-

And since we're talking flights over the course of a year, the new CX J seats ought to be available - flat, 6'6", 23" wide - for at least part of the year.

Agree, except ORD-DEL is classified as transatlantic by the OW boffins, so you can't include Europe in the RTW even though you're paying for it (apparently triggered by "overflying" Europe/Area II - meaning Russia - during the course of flying from Area I to Area III.) This is one of OW's more amazing feats of geographic interpretation.

Thanks Folks-
Me thinks I'll stick with AA. The chance to upgrade to F via VIP or Miles seems the best option. As it seems the the J seats are about the same.

You don't need to focus on sleep on the ORD-DEL segment as you walk off the plane at a comfortable time in the evening which allows a quick drink at the bar of the hotel and then off to bed for a good night's sleep. That's so much harder when you don't get to the hotel until 3AM.

On the way home you do need to get some sleep on the flight as it lands early in ORD. The airport is empty that time of day though and getting through customs and over to the other terminal is a breeze.

I'd take the AA option despite my lack of love for AA's biz seat.