Roccco

I have only been to Asia once, visiting China in 2001. I flew on Korean Airlines and liked it more than most others that I have flown.

I am now preparing for a visit to India and have the choice of flying on Asiana Air, Singapore Air, Korean Air, Lufthansa and Air France. More than likely I will be flying economy class, unless I can find the dates that I want using my AMEX membership rewards points with the trip less than six months away. I prefer to hold onto my points since I will not have any flights within India (all by private car with driver/guide).

Asiana Airlines seems to be the cheapest, by far ($300+ per person), but their dates are somewhat limited. Lufthansa and Air France offer the shortest flights and R/T fares from LAX-Delhi for about $1,500 USD per person. Singapore Air is about the same price but mostly have two stopovers, creating 30+ hour flights!

I have personally read in travel magazines that Singapore Airlines may be the best commercial airliner but I don't know if it is worth an extra $300 USD per person (over Asiana) and an extra 5 hours of travel each way.

Has anybody flown Asiana before, and if so, what was your experience. Also, what is your favorite airline to Asia for economy class??? Thanks.

fiona

My favourite is not one of your choices- but it has to be Emirates. Food, service were great and the legroom was a little better than other airlines. Personally I like the stopovers ( assuming they are not too long) as I get bored stupid on long flights!

JamesA

Asiana from LAX to Delhi is your fastest routing, they only have 2 flts per week from Seoul to Delhi. Service wise they are good, if you liked Korean most rank Asiana as better! Your other option would be Cathay Pacific, they go 4 x a week non-stop from Hong Kong. Unless you want to s/over somewhere for a speedy flight and good connections then Asiana should be fine.

If you have to choose ebtween Lufthana and Air France I'd go for Air France as the better of the 2. Though I would still check Cathay Pacific via HKG as they have some real good promotions going on post-Sars!

dywong

Having flown on both Singapore and Asiana, in economy and business, we can attest that the entertainment options on Singapore are better, while Asiana's staff tries harder to accommodate your needs. We flew last year on Singapore to BKK and although there was an extra layover in S'pore which we could have done without, the kids didn't mind because they could pick from many video games and movies. In contrast, this year, even in business, they resorted to watching a movie on my laptop since nearly all the games were in Korean and the movie selection was limited. The food on Asiana was slightly better though and the staff was very nice and helpful despite us carrying on a dog. All other things being equal, I'd go with the one with the shortest flight every time.

kikahead

Best for me is not on your list--Cathay Pacific. We just flew Asiana last month at it was great. Food was good, space was great (none of our flights were full), entertainment was okay. They had nice touches like having playing cards for us, LOTS of toothbrushes in the bathroom, and personal video screens. I would fly them again in a second.

kiki13

Of the ones you named I prefer Singapore Air. But due to price/time for you, I'd say choose another.
If you do fly Air France make sure you do not go over weight limit for baggage...they are very strict! You could end up paying for it...literally.

Have you checked w/ Malaysia Airlines?

Consider buying tickets from LAX-BKK and then BKK-Delhi...could be a cheaper alternative. Can't understand why 1500$RT leaving LAX. I would think you could find cheaper. Keep checking for deals.

AAFrequentFlyer

Rocco,
You didn't say when you're going, but the fares you quoted are little high in my opinion.
Malaysia Airlines is around $750
Air India is about $100 more
and my favorite airline, and others too as it was voted the best airline by frequent flyers, Cathay Pacific will get you there for about $1000.
Personally I would stay away from Air France. If you do decide to go that route, Lufthansa would be a better choice. Did you look into British Airways?
Have a great trip!

AAFrequentFlyer

Rocco,
The above fares were based on Travelocity, but I didn't actually check if they're available.
Good Luck!

Roccco

AAFrequestFlyer,

I will be going in early February and staying for two weeks. Ideally, I would arrive on February 11th so that after my initial 3 night stay in Delhi that my wife and I could be in Agra (Taj Mahal) on February 14th (Valentine's Day). But, I am basically open to depart anytime between January 30th and about February 27th.

The very lowest rates that I have found have been in the low $1,000's per person but mostly on dates that didn't work for me. I really can only afford to miss a maximum of ten working days and I am trying to stay for about 12 nights--Delhi (3), Agra (2), Ranthambhore (3), Jaipur (4).

If it would mean flying on an emptier plane, I wouldn't mind going through Asia rather than Europe, although I don't know how full planes would be going through Europe in February.

UKUKUK

Asiana is a good airline. Certainly much better than Delta or Continental.

BillT

I have flown on Singapore and Asianna and overall I would say that Singapore Air is the best. But the difference is not big.
US airlines will never rise to the level of service offered by Singapore/Cathay Pacific/Asianna. They simply either do not understand or refuse to implement true customer sevice.
The staff at Singapore are always trying to anticipate your needs and meet them before you have to ask- on US airlines many times you have to beg/demand service. Ever notice how on US airlines the staff tends to mingle at the back of the plane- you can't find an attendant at times? On Singapore they are always moving up and down the aisles to assist passengers.
Its night and day- if the CEO's of United/Delta/etc.want to know how to get it "right" they just need to fly a few of these asian carriers and they will see the difference!

JamesA

It is actually very strange. I read a post on one of the other sections of Fodors where complaints against US airlines seem to be non-stop, the other side is that there was a huge debate going on about how to complain about a Cabin Attendent wearing strong perfume!
It always appears that US companies have highly regulated proceedures with huge departments to handle Customer Service, highly complex and strict regulations relating to service issues, then when you fly or deal with companies the service is downight loussy!
I have been dealing with such a company on business these last few weeks and it have become a sheer fiasco in attempting to obtain any response, information, actually a response of any kind.
Asian airlines are not nearly as rigid in Customer Service, they do not have complex lengthy complaint formalities or rigid proceedures, yet overall provide a very high level of service.
I have no idea why this is. I have not flown that much on US carriers but Delta to me was the pits. I rank asian carriers at the top followed by Gulf airlines such as Emirates, Gulf Air, Qatar Airways etc which are also superb. European Airlines come way down the list.
It seems that the more 'rigid' employee control is the worse actual Cusomer service becomes. We do not have that much dealing with the general public it is mostly business to business, but we have no manual, only simple guidlines, 99% of any problem is solved on a '1st call' basis, the staff have simple instruction, keep the customer happy or anything you have to do unless it means it is going to cost us big bucks and then let's talk about it.
Singapore/Thai/Cathay all emply vate numbers of staff but whether it's a call to reservations or a drink on the plane, they seem to get it right.

Kenstee

Be aware that Cathay Pacific has some of the most cramped Economy/Coach class I've ever seen anywhere. At least on its 747 fleet from North America. Cathay really packs a lot of people into a relatively small space. They devote so much space to First and Business Class - which is great - that they compromise the quality in Economy.

The best coach class I've ever had to Asia has been on JAL.

flyerkid

I fly to Taipei all the time and prefer EVA airways, I usually connect TPE-Hong Kong, and prefer the service.

et415

I choose United because I can accumulate miles and they have great asian partner airlines.