Originally Posted by sinoflyer (Post 18858946)

Your ordeal sounds just as painful and ridiculous as my ordeal in obtaining an Indian visa in the first place. :)

Originally Posted by worldtravel (Post 18862384)

Last year I flew ORD-PVG on UA with a connection to SIN on SQ. My flight to PVG was delayed by 2 hours. I only had 50 minutes to make the connection. At the immigration counter they said, I would not make the connection because it is too far away and asked me to wait by the immigration. OP is right. There is nothing there but a few chairs. All the passengers going through immigration looks at you like you were trying to sneak in to the country illegally and got caught.

Originally Posted by brp1264 (Post 18858817)

I had a similar transit experience in Mumbai Airport this year. Let me go ahead and hijack this thread with a story and lesson for all.

I was flying in on 9W541 from DXB to BOM to connect to a separate itinerary for flight UA49 BOM to EWR. Had spent some time in India and then had some things to sort out in Dubai for a few weeks, so I just matched the tickets up. Figure I'd give myself some time to transit in Mumbai, so getting in at 4:35pm and departing at 11:10pm shouldn't be an issue, should it? At most major international airports, you would simply get your bags checked through on the first flight, go through the transit area, and then sit in the lounge and enjoy a drink or two while you waited for your flight. I had frequented the LH lounge in BOM many times, and saw the transfer desk when entering, so I didn't expect an issue at all. I should have known better...

Check-in at DXB was painless and I was able to get JET to interline my bag over to UA (still CO at the time). Flight was uneventful, as I learned my lesson to not sit by the bathroom on a DXB-BOM flight last year. Arrive at BOM on time and walk quickly up towards the transit area on my way to the lounge – nothing could get in my way.

I proudly present the transfer desk my printed out UA boarding pass and passport, expecting to just head through security... WRONG. A male and a woman were working the transit area, and said they needed to get me a transfer pass and to transit - they would do this, but they need to first get a few flights arriving shortly through with tight connections and pointed me to some chairs in a makeshift waiting area. No problem, I understand, will wait a bit and then go through.

After 30 minutes, the agent comes over to me asking me for my paperwork and passport. 20 minutes come by and they come back with my papers saying they're not going to get me a transfer pass, but will get me a new boarding pass from United so I can transit. Apparently, the printed out boarding pass for the flight from United's website, showing I am checked in and with a seat and scanable bar code, is not sufficient for the security in the airport - I needed a standard paper boarding pass issued in an airport.

Agent comes back after another flight or two goes through, and takes my paperwork. They come back after another 20 minutes, and inform me that the UA desk is not open yet and won't be until 8pm or so, so they cannot get me a boarding pass yet. I ask if I should just clear immigration and customs and go wait somewhere that I can get water (that’s not from a dodgy water fountain) and maybe some food. They reply back with the fact that I don't have an Indian Visa, so I open my passport to my Indian Employment Visa and show them my residency permit (I must be the only US citizen working in Telecom with an Indian Employment Visa). Now that I think back on it, that would have been a bad idea as well, as the security doesn’t usually let you into the airport departures until 3 hours before your flight, and I would have to queue in the often long immigration and security lines.

Anyway, the agent said no, they will work something out and I should just wait a bit longer. Back to the chairs I go, and another 30 minutes guy by. By now it nearly 7pm, and I’m getting pretty ansty. I am not making a scene, but the agents can see I just want to get through and out of the “sterile” (quotes used as this was BOM) area. Finally the one agent gives me a transfer pass, and lets me know she will get my BP from a UA agent when their check-in opens, and then deliver it to me in the lounge. Awesome, I get the transfer pass, go through security, where I have to empty the entire contents of my bag (no trivial task) and then off to the lounge. I was shocked when the LH agent let me in with a transfer ticket, printed out boarding pass, and CO card with a sticker on it. Maybe she had seen this debacle before? I immediately go for the rum and coke – Kingfischer won’t quell my nerves at this point.

So, after 30 minutes or so, the transfer agent comes to the lounge and tells me that the UA agent has to ask me some questions, and I have to come BACK through security through the transit area. NOOOO!! I just escaped!!! I didn’t seem to have a choice, as she didn’t even have my BP with her. She instructed me to leave my stuff in the lounge – I was reluctant, because, well, this is India… I did as she instructed though, as I was wearier of security grabbing something than the LH lounge patrons.

Back on the dark side, the UA rep is stood there with my BP right on the other side of security. He asks me the typical questions (did you pack your own bag, etc.. etc..) . Then when I think he is going to hand over the BP to me, he says “I need you to go identify the bag for me”. I start describing it to him, but no, not sufficient – he has other plans. We go through a back door, into a service elevator crammed with airport employees, and then down to another security check. Where are we going you ask? Well, we go through security, sign a log book, and then off into the baggage handling area. Dodging moving luggage carts, I make it to the CO baggage conveyer belt where they have my bag stood waiting. I bob my head back and forth indicating that is my bag, and off we go again. Through the security check back into the airport employee elevator, then back through security again.

I make it back through the transfer security again, and to the lounge. More Rum and Cokes for me, as I am not nearly done just yet with BOM. Flight is called for boarding, and we head over to the gate – which gate is that? Well of course it’s the one with the security check going down towards the jetway. One more check and then into a crowded waiting area before boarding my 15+ hour flight. I suppose that this craziness is due in large part to the US Government and TSA pressure on the Indian government, but I mean, come on!


Tldr; NEVER book a long connection in BOM if you can avoid it.

Originally Posted by brp1264 (Post 18862133)

What kind of visa were you getting?

Originally Posted by ggolamco (Post 18859974)

I had my printed itinerary, as well as a printed boarding pass from United Airlines. I also had my baggage ticket showing it was checked in all the way to Bali. None of it seemed to make a difference.