spaceman3

As I patiently wait to hear if my EWR-DEL flight next week moves from the upgrade list to an actual BF seat, I've been slowly searching for info about the Delhi airport. Seems there is no lounge access affiliated through Continental or Sky Team. The EWR-DEL flight arrives at 930pm and I leave early the following morning to head down to Southern India on Air Sahara (!). To leave the airprt 6 hours and check into a hotel seems crazy, but from what I've heard about the airport, maybe it's not. Anybody have something to share on any of this? Any local airport hotel experiences? thanks.

UpgradeMe

CO ???

I'm sure there is plenty of DEL-specific information in FT Travel.

Xyzzy

This belongs in the India forum. Over it goes...

Xyzzy
CO forum moderator

sepdfw

With immigration, transit to domestic airport etc, are you sure you have 6 hours?

There isn'tmuch at the airport other than people watching I would say.

jtkauai

I haven't been in a few years. But, unless something changed dramatically, I remember it as the worst large city airport I've ever been to. Especially on arrival, in the middle of the night. On departure it would have been equally bad, but seeing my plane there, ready to take me off in F to FRA, removed all of the dinge, and brought tears to my eyes. It's much like India is overall for me, love and hate.

sbm12

The domestic flights are from a different terminal. You'll have to get betweeen the two yourself. There is a free bus that run roughly hourly and takes about 30 minutes to make the ride. I have no idea what its hours of operation are. The alternative is to take a cab and just pay the few dollars it costs to do so. Not a terrible option. It will still take about 30 minutes to make the jump.

Is your flight really at 4 in the morning, or are you just anticipating only 6 hours in the hotel? There are a few hotels within 30 minutes of the airport, but nothing right there that I am aware of. The Hilton nearby is a fantastic property, if you're up for that.

Personally I wouln't sit in that airport for 8-10 hours unless I really, really, really didn't have anything else to do.

Athena53

I was in DEL about 3 years ago and then just last December- international terminals both times. They've definitely gotten better, although I was amused at the banner near Immigration inviting us to send any comments or complaints- to a Hotmail address!

I was able to clear Immigration much faster this time (of course, I was in Business this time- may have helped) and found that the construction going on in 2004 really did improve the appearance of the Arrivals hall. Got through in about 10 minutes. Leaving from DEL was also better- they still have the line outside so they could check your ticket to make sure you had one for that day (e-tickets OK) - otherwise you don't get in. They weren't checking in for my flight (to Zurich) till 2 hours before so getting there early was a waste of time. The gatekeeper at the check-in desk, who was giving everyone the 3rd degree about something, asked what happened to my passport (I had had extra pages added- clearly marked and sealed) and whether I had a visa to enter Switzerland. On an American passport? Not necessary- can't fool me. THEN he "let" me proceed to the check-in desk.

One thing I never saw anywhere before was that you couldn't go through Security till your flight was posted for that purpose (about an hour before boarding). It actually kept the lines manageable. I'd go through Security there rather than Heathrow any day. Nothing to speak of, really, in the way of shopping. Bring reading and whatever you need to keep yourself entertained while waiting.

On balance, my experience with the International terminal arrival and departure this time was not bad. Heck, the only advantage LHR has over DEL is that LHR doesn't have squatty-potties in the loo.

ETA: scheduled to fly MCI-ORD-LHR-BLR-DEL-ORD-MCI (with stops for meetings in London, Bangalore and Delhi) in late May, so I'll get to see the domestic terminal, too. Updates to come!

cj001f

What time is your departure?

Budget 1-2 hrs for customs/immigration/baggage (you are arriving early in the evening rush, it might not be bad, later on in the evening Business or not you'll be stuck in line), 1hrs for transitting between terminals and 1-2 hrs for the domestic terminal,

"better" Delhi is still a sh*thole

spaceman3

my departure is within India the following morning, at 7:30am. Perhaps it does make sense to stay in the airport, that's never very fun. If I arrived the night before at 9:30, and then say I get through customs and everything at 10:30, I would only have until 6am before I had to get back to the airport. It's a cointoss I suppose.

UrbaneGent

I was JUST there and I have never EVER in my entire life been to an airport where everything was just....I can't explain it. Where to even begin? Forget anything you know about civilized anything and that DEL.

I would allow yourself enough time, take a deep breath, and do it. You'll understand though why every luggage is shut with a plastic brace...so that no one sticks their hand in your bag.

Good luck!

UG

SportsTech

Hard to understand why this airport is such a dump. Lots and lots of people with $ to spend go through there - I (and hundreds of others, I'm sure) would cheerfully have paid $100 for a clean, quiet comfortable place to hang out for 4 hours. A good clean lounge, with or without a bar, would be a commercial home run.

During my trip last month I had an F seat DEL-FRA so could use the one tolerable lounge (shared among LH, BA and several other airlines) but the C lounge is a disaster - dirty, smelly, crowded, smoky...and the gate waiting areas are a scene from a Ken Russell book. Good luck - you'll need it.

GUWonder

My suggestion to anyone who can do it, arrange your travels to avoid a late night arrival into DEL. For me, that means BA's secondary flight to DEL from LHR and LH's flight from MUC to DEL. I'd rather lengthen my connectiong time in Europe or overnight in Europe -- it's cheaper (i.e., DEL's good hotels are seriously expensive given the relatively poor value, particularly when dealing with a late night arrival, at this time of the year) and DEL's not madness in the morning.

AF and KL provided me lounge access at DEL as coach-flying Elite+ even as there is no SkyTeam-operated lounge there. Given my experiences with CO and lounge access, I'm not going to assume anything about CO being anywhere near as generous as AF, KL or AZ has been with me. As far as I'm concerned, CO doesn't value coach-flying OAL Elite+ as AF and KL do.

GUWonder

It's not that hard to understand. A legacy of government resources allocated elsewhere, and resources rather limited until a few years ago and general neglect amid typical government "management".

Also, not even two years ago, that crowd which you see there today was not there. The physical plant was worse physically but all that money seen there as of late was not there, not even two years ago. It certainly wasn't even on the radar anywhere near as much three or four years ago.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

Hi everyone!

I have upcoming travel in April which sees me arriving on JetAirways from SIN into DEL at 0220 (Qantas codeshare). I am then connecting with Gulf Air, biz class, which is scheduled to depart at 0710.

I would very much appreciate advice on what are my options? i will have flown into SIN from MEL on the same day, so I'll be pretty tired, but should I just do the 'wait in transit' thing (I guess I was assuming I'd have a nice lounge to wait in!), or should I clear immigration and go to a cheap hotel by the airport for a couple of hours?

Cheers

LME FF

cj001f

You'll be lucky to have more than 2 hrs at your hotel. As said above - DEL hotels are a seriously poor value.

There's a transfer room with cots at the DEL airport that's tailor made for such situations.

For a DEL experience night before last:

In the lineup to clear security I watch the security guard to my left ask the guard in my line if 9W0064 (my flight) had been called. My security guard responds it has. When I reach the front of the line he tells me it hasn't been called and I need to go sit down. I exit the queue. 3 minutes later he leaves the line to come get me, ushering me past everyone else waiting.