oliver2002

Nothing for arrivals. You'll have to stroll out of the T2 and go to the Hilton or ITC hotel across the street to unwind. And then come back to catch the interminal coach to T1 for your 9W domestic segment.

nikolastojsin

(My apologies to moderators if this was already asked and answered elsewhere - I could not find it.)

My wife and I will be flying EWR-BOM on UA, then considering transferring in BOM to a direct AI flight to VTZ. While flying in India a lot, we have zero experience flying on AI, though - we normally stop in BOM or DEL for a day or two and then fly 9W intra-India. Now that AI is in *A, flying AI seems to make more sense; also, this time around we would like to get to VTZ as quickly as possible (short trip).

If anyone has any input/suggestions/experiences, especially BOM transit to AI and UA-AI baggage interlining, it would be greatly, greatly appreciated.

sbm12

As BOM-VTZ is a domestic flight you'll have to clear immigration & customs at BOM, collect your bags and then make your way to the domestic terminal for the BOM-VTZ flight. Infrequent and unreliable bus service makes that quite an adventure.

trajan81

To make a connection from an International to Domestic flight in BOM. Usually the UA flights land around 21:00-22:00 so the first issue is finding an appropriate AI flight that you can make after going through immigration, customs and doing the drive from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2. Typically the best (only) option is spending the night near the airport then flying for your destination the next morning.

nikolastojsin

Thank you sbm12 and trajan81 - greatly appreciated!
So, basically, the same protocol coming in as always still applies (UA flight arrives after most of the BOM domestic waves have departed , so spending the night in BOM is/was a given anyway). However, I was thinking mostly in terms of return, i.e. if someone has any experience checking in the luggage from the first AI leg all the way through to USA (in my case, AI VTZ-BOM, then UA BOM-EWR)...

Also, I am hoping for someone to say that AI is these days world's greatest hidden gem of an airline...

trajan81

If your ticket is on the same itinerary, you shouldn't have an issue with your baggage being checked through if you give enough time. My rule of thumb transiting BOM international/domestic is to give at least 3 hrs leeway. Just recently flew GOI-BOM-EWR with the initial leg on AI and my baggage arrived no problem, but as always YMMV.

I'd also suggest http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/india...tional-vv.html as it may help you as well. As for AI being a hidden gem of an airline...I'll just say if you think UA operational delays are bad they pale in comparison to AI, but AI gets you to where you are going.

PushingTin

Funny, I would have sworn that I sat next to the OP last week on a FRA-DEN LH flight. Guy had the same kind of trip planned- short meeting and return. He moved from 9C to 10E to get away from being jostled.

I think it gets screwed up going to DEL/BOM by ging west due to flight arrivals and depts, but coming back on an ANA DEL-NRT and then the NRT-DEN flight is almost as fast as the DEL-EWR-DEN return.

You know you're in for it when UA.bomb gives you options going both 'ways'. There even was an option of going thru Ethiopa...

DXB is nice, but that is a tough GPU to pull isn't it?

My GPU for the EWR-DEL cleared last night for a trip in April. Sweet Hallelujah.

astroflyer

Just one thing to note...a lot of AI flights actually leave from the international terminals of Indian airports. I was just surprised by this in Trivandrum yesterday. Rather a pain in the butt to switch terminals at most Indian airports, so worth checking.

That being said, the new Mumbai airport was nice, and immigration was totally painless after the EWR-BOM flight, even with the new visa on arrival service.

Oh, and IME, 9W has been a lot nicer than AI. I just flew them for the first time since they joined *A. I was offered lounge access, but it was a rather sad lounge.

JDT1955

And may I just put in a positive word for the domestic-international transfer via the bus inside security. I had heard horror stories and maybe I just lucked out, but I walked right onto it and was in the international terminal within 5 minutes. The only problem was that I had allowed so much time for anticipated disasters that I was there an hour before UA opened their check-in! Didn't try the international to domestic xfer as I overnighted at the Hyatt across the street from the airport, which was nice as well.

astroflyer

I'm curious about which portion of the new T2 lounge to expect access to. Everything I've read divides into 3 sections: "First", "Premium", and "Business". I'm sort of baffled as to what qualifies as "Premium". As a *G flying in C, I'm unsure which of the last two I'll get to access. It's fairly new, so not a lot of google help. Any experiences?

harryhood

Does TRV have a separate terminal for international flights?

PVDtoDEL

It's actually really convenient a lot of the time - if, for example, you fly HYD-AI-BOM-UA-EWR on the international HYD-BOM flight, you can clear immigration/customs in HYD instead of BOM.

astroflyer

Yes it does. About 10 minutes or so by auto rickshaw between the two.

Just wanted to update the connection thread with some data points. I recently flew Bangalore -> BOM -> EWR.

Domestic to International Transfer

• Baggage: Upon arriving in BOM, 9W will actually interline your baggage, so contrary to some previous reports, I did not need to pick up my baggage.
• Shuttle Bus: In the arrivals hall, you join a large queue waiting for the shuttle bus. There's no need to obtain a "coupon" or whatever was mentioned in some posts. There's a ridiculous security screening before getting on the bus. It drives partway airside, before completely leaving the airport and dropping you off landslide.
• Entry to the airport: To get into any Indian airport you need to show a paper or electronic itinerary or paper boarding pass. Indian airports are not doing electronic boarding passes yet.
• UA counters: They opened about 3 1/2 hours prior to the flight. They do doc check, account for interlined baggage, and provide lounge invites. 9W had given me all my boarding passes, but I had to stop at the UA counter to get the lounge invites.

BOM T2 Lounge
There are 3 sections in this lounge: First, Premium, and Business. It turns our Premium is used for some airlines to reward their frequent business class flyers. UA sends everyone to the normal Business section, including the GS flyers I spoke with.

The lounge is really quite nice, very nice decor, comfy seats with individual power outlets. There's a big buffet with hot and cold food and Indian, Asian, and Western selections. You get free Wi-Fi. A free 15-minute massage treatment. There are showers, but I had to get someone to escort me to the Premium section for a hot shower…apparently business only has cold showers. The bar is fairly good with sparkling wine, still wines, beers on tap, and blended whiskeys. The bar in the Premium section has single malts. The massage people tried to upsell me to a longer massage…I'm glad I declined as it the massage was good for free, but not something I'd want to pay for more of.

Boarding Gate
There is a slightly bizarro secondary check before entering the gate. They check for the US liquid rule compliance. Make you take off shoes and send them through the scanner, and you get a physical pat-down.

The actual boarding gate area is unpleasantly tiny. Do not get here too early, as it's not nice and very crowded. Of course, prior to boarding, the Indian version of security theatre checks the stamps on your baggage tag. Do double check that you have the stamped tags attached, otherwise they might send you back to security. It seemed like quite a big deal when the guy a few in front of me did not have it.

ekchidiya

There is no 'might' here, they WILL send you right back to security. The stamp is placed on bag tags on all cabin baggage by the CISF personnel manning the X-Ray scanners. It is verified by another CISF chap at the aircraft gate and its absence requires you to go back to security, get it scanned and stamped. Some people lose the tag if it drops off and have to trudge back to get it done all over again.

P.S. CISF - Central Industrial Security Force. Its a paramilitary force tasked with security at all Indian airports and other major industrial establishments.

astroflyer

Actually, there was a policy change within the last year or so. They are now permitted to search the bags at the gate.
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2...security-tags/
I actually saw it happen. Of course, I'm sure it all depends on who the guy checking tags at the gate is.