pasqualino

My husband and I will be flying into Delhi from Varanasi. I haven't booked this flight yet, but considering Jet Airways that arrives at 18:25 or Air India that arrives 21:00. I think they both use T3. (There are other flights, but I think they use other terminals.) Our international flight to Dubai on Emirates departs 04:10 T3. What should we do?

If we take the JA:
Plan A. Go to dinner at the Marriott and check in for a few hours at the Ibis (cheaper than Marriott.)
Plan B. Go to dinner at the Marriott and loiter in their lobby until 12:45 am.
( I read traffic may be really bad to Aerocity. Is the airport metro a good option - just one stop?)
Plan C. Dinner at airport and check in few a few hours at Holiday Inn in the terminal.
(I read that it's an onerous process to get to hotel, a lot of slow, checkpoints.)
Plan D. Dinner at airport and go to an airport lounge or loiter in the airport.
(I read the lounge is really gross.)

If we take AI:
Plan E. Get the latest flight out of Varanasi and loiter at the airport.
(Is the last flight of the evening out of Varanasi too risky?)

We have never been to the Delhi airport, or India for that matter, so I'm not sure how easy/difficult my ideas are. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Also wondering, do we need to check in three hours before our Emirates flight? We typically do two hours. Thanks!

lcuy

I have been to India many times. I would never risk arriving in Delhi the day of (or night of) my international flight. Flights in India are often late or cancelled.
If you must do this, make sure you buy travel insurance.

I would definitely aim to arrive at the airport 3 hours prior. Chaotic roads, chaotic entry points into the airport, chaotic checkin counters. You will understand when you get to India. You may get lucky, but an international flight can be very expensive if you miss it.

jacketwatch

I agree. Traffic can be a nightmare even during late hours and my advice is avoid AI. They are relatively unreliable and I read the govt. is trying to sell it off and may have to consider writing off its 8 billion debt to attract a bidder.

Like lcuy said get their as early as possible

jacketwatch

BTW what month is this? Delhi is notorious for being fogged out in winter months. Why don't you get in during the day and book a tour?

DMBTraveler

Just flew Jet Airways in coach and had an enjoyable flight with a nice inflight service along with an early arrival into Delhi.

Flew Air India a few months ago with comparable service although had some of the worst turbulence ever and not a word from the flight deck crew which was disappointing.

Air India did have some of the best inflight peanuts

As for Delhi Airport... No Wi-Fi access unless you have an Indian cellphone number. Also Transfer Desk can be a pain.

jacketwatch

AI gets mediocre reviews and even our Indian friends don't like it but some take it anyway due to price and it's the only NS from ORD-DEL.

We flew JA from DEL-HK and I remember every AI flight on the board for the time frame we were there was late!

pasqualino

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts. There is now a Jet Airways flight that arrives in Delhi 17:00 - that's 11 hours before my international flight. (It's in the beginning of March, the eve of Holi to be exact. I believe the celebration starts that evening, so that is why I deliberately didn't want to be out in Delhi.) Do you still think this is cutting it too close, too risky?

Does anyone have experience with the airport express metro? I was considering taking it from T3 to Aerocity - one stop. But again, the whole place sounds so darn chaotic, I'm not sure if this idea is reasonable. (I just watched a video on the train stampede in Mumbai this week, very sad...and scary.)

Again, I greatly appreciate your advice.

jacketwatch

11 hrs. should be fine.

I have not used the metro, sorry.

Good luck with your trip!

Larry, .

lcuy

it's not that you need to worry about the time you arrive in Delhi. What I'd look at is what happens if your flight from Varanasi is cancelled.

If there's bad weather, can you afford a few hours delay? Does that airline have several more flights that same day? I found in India that airlines aren't really happy to put you on another company's flight if one of their's is cancelled. It's often," we'll take you on our next flight tomorrow". Wouldn't be the end of the world, but you better have good travel insurance as the int'l flight will charge you to reschedule!

I like to be in the city of my int'l flights the day before, or in this case, I'd want to leave Varanasi on a morning flight at the latest. Spend a little time in Delhi, (Extra shopping? A tour? Tea or dinner at the Imperial? A nice massage?) then check into an airport area hotel for the half night.

jacketwatch

I did not think about that. Good point. I too like a great deal,of lead time esp. for an Intl. Flight.