Bangkok to Delhi by Air India
 

I am planning to take Air India from BKK to DEL, but a bit worry about its on time record. Has anyone travelled on the same route before and how was the experience?

We flew BKK - DEL in February. It was a 3 AM flight that was on time. We travelled in business class which was the same as business class on a short flight in the USA. Seats were somewhat cramped but the plane was clean, the food was good and people slept for most of the flight.

Hi
I travelled on the SHA > BKK leg which I believe was then going on to Delhi. Going to Shanghai was no problem, but coming back, there was a delay of at least 4 hours announced.

They kindly put us on a different airline carrier which worked out fine. Hopefully then if there are probs on Air India, another carrier e.g. Thai may be flying at the same time and maybe air india can arrange sthg.

Will that be a better idea to take Thai Airways, even it's $80 dollars more?

oh that's a hard question!
Thai Air is likely to be a nicer plane, and probably cleaner. (My India Air flight was part of a stopover so my seat wasn't very clean). The service on Thai is great too and delays are probably less likely as I am guessing that they have a good sized fleet of planes ready and waiting in BKK.
On the other hand, I've had Thai air cancel on me a few times!

I would go with the airline with the most convenient time. If both times were the same and money was no object, I'd choose Thai though. Hope this helps.

I 'think' the Thai flight eparts 8.50 pm arriving 11.25 pm ( 777 ), I personaly would go for the extra and fly Thai.

Another interesting point ( and one that never occured to me before ) was relating 'hotel stay' to flight times, that is, say you took the Thai flight, you would need to check in about 6.30/6.50, so if you got say a late check out of 2 or 3 pm then you have had value from the previous night stay, the arrival at delhi get's you to your hotel maybe 1 am so reasonable value there.

Now, if you take a 3 am flight would you check out 12 hours before? If you wanted to stay until dsay 10 or 11 pm you would have to 'pay' for that hotel night!
Arriving Delhi about 5.35 am and getting to hotel say around 7.30 would a room be available, if yes great but otherwise you might have to wait until room ready.
I hope you all get the idea as I haven't worded that good, but I recently realised that on one particular flight paying about $40 more on a flight was cheaper then having to pay a wasted hotel room at $90. Another minor example, having to leave a Singapore hotel at 5. am for a flight had to cost be SGD 32 for a tacxi to the airport, although there was an MRT right next to the hotel and I only had carry-on, if I had gone for a later flight not only would I have had a good night sleep but I would have saved SGD 25 by taking the train to the airport instead of a taxi.

I am sure others who get the idea can explain better but on the lines that what 'looks' the cheapest sometimes isn't when you take into account your accommodation/transfer costs.

I should point out that Air India flies at 3 AM only once a week - we took the flight because it connected well to our flight that arrived BKK at midnight.

For service Thai Air is rated much higher than AI. You could luck out with the latter but service is spotty. Personally I'd go Thai if the timing was right and even for more $. You get what you pay for. JM2C. Larry

I'd spend the extra money and take Thai.

Here is the schedule for both airlines:
BKK - DEL TG 315 1950 - 2245
BKK - DEL IC 856 1410 - 1640
TG costs $295 & IC costs $215
Air India is cheaper, but it has no way out if any problem