Suggestions for DEL-LON in August - Airliners-India

ABN397 · Member

Suggestions for DEL-LON in August

karatecatman · Member

Just a suggestion.

Plz try the Air India 777 flights to London. And if you can afford it, please try J. AI's 777 services are pretty neat.

-- Edited by karatecatman at 17:41, 2006-06-26

-- Edited by karatecatman at 17:42, 2006-06-26

Nimish · Member

ABN397 wrote:

I plan to vacation in the UK in August. Choice of airline will largely depend on the price, but does anyone have any specific recommendations (positive or negative) about airlines on this route?
I think it is clear that Air-India is out based on recent news items. I guess the quality of service will be better on Jet and British. Is it really worth taking the indirect flights like Etihad or Lufthansa?

If it's all about price, then you can forget carriers like LH. The cheapest are likely to be either the Gulf carriers like GF, EY, EK etc, or even TK. However, there are often sales on sectors to London, so you might be lucky to snag a dirt cheap direct flight. If you're going on vacation, AI can be an option (since a delay of a few hours won't typically make such an impact).

the_380 · Member

i wud suggest u bmi or virgin or ba or less budget then emirates

vivekman · Member

Yeah, it may be worthwhile trying Emirates especially if you are getting a stopover at Dubai

-- Edited by vivekman at 01:02, 2006-06-27

VABBy · Member

Etihad is using a crap leased aircraft on its DEL route so unless they replace that its not kool though the 777 which they use on JNB is fantastic. Yeah if you are a price sensitive person Gulf, Kuwait, Qatar all these carrier often give a good bargain. But Qatar even though is a good airline they are renovating their current airport so i guess u dont wanna transit thru another IGI

so slash that option. Kuwait airways i dont knw much but seems to me more dicey. So wat is left is Gulf try it. Try Emirates too maybe u get something good.

The cheapest fare i remember to LHR was offered by Air Sahara S2. So if they start the service which they have been claiming try them and we can have a service rating and stuff from you...

the_380 · Member

S2 wont be that good service..

speaking of etihad which crap a/c r they using in the DEL route???

BTW here is Etihad's first A340-500

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1024458/M/

Also notice that the engine towards the fuselage is more inclined then the other i ve seen this in many 4-engined a/c but dont know why

-- Edited by the_380 at 17:45, 2006-06-27

the_380 · Member

Or better something like SQ or TG if comfortable to u

Nimish · Member

the_380 wrote:

Or better something like SQ or TG if comfortable to u

What??? This does not make any sense - to backtrack 5 hours and then fly over DEL again on the way to London. Besides the flight would be more expensive, and that is not what the OP wants to do.

Nimish · Member

the_380 wrote:

i wud suggest u bmi or virgin or ba or less budget then emirates

Clearly BD is not a good option unless the OP wants to fly to BOM and then change terminals (and that's a terrible idea). BD does offer common rated fares now - so at least the price should be reasonable, but the problem is changing those terminals in BOM.

VABBy · Member

How do u know that S2 service would be crap?? Infact we had a positive review from our fellow member who flew DEL-SIN..

anyways they are using a leased A330 which version i dont knw

ABN397 · Member

Thanks to everyone for their comments. I will let you know how things go.
A few points:
We should not dare to fly by S2 even if it offers a good fare-for who knows whether the airline will be functioning one or two months from now

Indirect flights may not be worthwhile if there is a marginal saving-since one usually has to pay airport taxes for the intermediate halt.

LH is not always costly. Over a decade ago I had to travel from Vancouver to Delhi at short notice. The cheapest fare that the Indian travel agent could find was LH via Frankfurt-particularly odd since one would expect flights from the West Coast to be cheaper via the Pacific. It was a nice flight on a 747 to FRA, less than 2 hours there and another 747 to DEL.

This was less tiring than my earlier trip to SFO; the 4 hour trip by SQ to SIN was fine and we even got free hotel accomodation and taxi to the hotel. The connecting flight to SFO was somewhat more painful with a 4 hour flight to HKG, getting off due to refuelling, and then a continuous 12 hour flight from HKG to SFO

the_380 · Member

Good ur not thinking of S2..u may be in trouble ur right

So ur preferring which?

ABN397 · Member

Seems that one can now get tickets on British Airways on DEL-LON-DEL in mid-August for around 22 K including taxes. Will probably take this.

the_380 · Member

Well a friend of mine flew bmi from BOM to LHR and it cost her 29k so BA is cheaper

-- Edited by the_380 at 22:22, 2006-06-29

malik · Member

I can see 9W, VS and BA all at the same levels for August DEL-LHR, and slightly cheaper for BOM-LHR. I guess it all depends on the schedule you want, and the aircraft. 9W would have the newest and the best IFE, so that's kind of automatic.

vmgopal · Member

Take JET AIRWAYS for sure! unless u get a better fare on VS or BA.

My cousin flew them BLR-BOM-LHR on work and she said it was great.But............

ABN397: I have found a deal for you on travelocity. You may be able to beat it thru BA directly or BA.com or a Travel Agent. USD $555 or Indian Rupees: Rs.24440

Aug 14 BA256 DEL-LHR

Aug 24 BA143 LHR-DEL

Book soon!!! And enjoy ur trip. Love to hear what u decide. And hope for a trip report.

ABN397 · Member

I have booked as follows:

BA 142 from DEL on 16/8 (listed as 777-200/300 in BA website)
BA 257 from LHR on 8/9 (listed as 747)

Price was 25,573. For those who are interested in the fine print, this is:
Air Fare 16500
Taxes 6018 YQ
225 WO
2830 XT
9073

TOTAL 25573

Perhaps the experts would know the meaning of YQ etc.

I now realize that I need not have gone through an agent as the same fare was available on the BA website (as long as your credit card has enough capacity)
Interestingly, on the return trip the tickets for leaving London were costing Rs 3800 more for Sat/Sun rather than weekdays.
More interesting points from BA website: Online checkin is possible from all their airports in India but preprinting of boarding pass is only on flights leaving Bangalore (Then what is the utility of online checkin?)

Gaurav · Recruit

HI everyone on A.net.This is my first ever posting here and I am really happy to join this forum.

Just A bit out of topic I wanted to know that in what configurations does BA operate the DEL flights and also how old or new are the aircrafts.I am going to the UK for studies and will be flying BA 256(747-400).Also I wanted to know how good is the IFE on the aircrafts.

Thanx

Gaurav

ABN397 · Member

Gaurav wrote:

HI everyone on A.net.This is my first ever posting here and I am really happy to join this forum.
Just A bit out of topic I wanted to know that in what configurations does BA operate the DEL flights and also how old or new are the aircrafts

The basic info should be available on www.ba.com