US to BLR on Skyteam?
 

Hi Folks,

I have done SFO-->JFK-->BOM-->BLR several times and will be doing it some more this year. I always buy coach tix and usually get an M fare to get BE upgrades from JFK --> BOM. I typically spend the night in BOM and fly on to BLR the next day (DL16 gets in too late to BOM to connect).

BOM airport is a f'ing disaster.

I am thinking about switching to AF as they go SFO-->CDG (B744) and CDG-->BLR (A340). Has anyone done this routing?

Are there other routings that I am not aware of that can keep me on skyteam?

TFD

Pretty sure BLR is only served by AF, though perhaps KL might also be serving Bangaluru now. I think that's about it. I flew CDG-BOM last year on AF, and almost returned BLR-CDG but didn't in the end. CDG-BLR is probably a pleasant day flight with perhaps reasonable morning connections from the US.

Best place to check routings is www.SkyTeam.com, that'll give you an idea of possible routings to BLR on ST.

A quick check of the SkyTeam timetable on my Palm shows the only current SkyTeam flights to/from BLR as the single AF CDG round trip AF192/AF191 - the flights also show up as a Delta Codeshare (DL8461/DL8471).

only skyteam flights to BLR from USA is via CDG, so however you want to get to CDG (JFK,BOS ETC), you can get once daily flights from CDG to BLR on AF! they usually arrive around 11pm ish...

flights out are at like 120am back to CDG

BLR airport is garbage!!! new one is supposed to be commissioned at the end of this month but its realllllllllllllllllly far from where the current airport is

they are on a320 or a340 aircraft...

Your only downside is going to be inability to upgrade on an M type of a fare. On DL metal atleast you can snare an upgrade on the JFK-BOM leg.

If you're willing to break with skyteam for part of the trip, you could also consider ATL-DXB on DL and DXB-BLR on Emirates or Air India. At least with this routing you get an upgrade-eligible DL flight for the bulk of the trip.

As I'm currently debating between this routing and a ATL-CDG-BLR routing for a trip this summer, I'd be interested to hear if there downsides to this sort of non-skyteam connection (besides missing out of a few MQMs)