can anyone offer suggestions/experiences on flights between delhi and kolkata. my FF program will only get me as far as delhi, but an intrepid sikkim/darjeeling tour i'm considering starts and ends in kolkata. i'm curious about which airlines make the flight, how often, how long, how reliable the timetables are, whether i can make advance reservations and, of course, the cost! is the train worth considering to watch the country roll by?

thanks!

thanks, fodorites.

As an alternative to the Intrepid trip you might like to consider this: http://www.assambengalnavigation.com/index.htm

it looks great. My wife and I are doing it in March/April.

Can't help with the planes, but I did do Kolkata-Varanasi-Amritsar-Delhi by train. I don't think I'd be too keen on Delhi-Kolkata by train, that's a long trip - but if you can afford the time to stop in Varanasi that would be great.

There are several airlines daily between Delhi and Kolkata. Indian Airlines, Deccan, Jet Airways, Sahara,Indigo, Spicejet, to name a few.
All have schedules that cover the day, mainly to capture the business traveller, but tourists also do well out of this.

thanks, friends. (thursdaysd, i see you've caught up with and helped me on both this and my potential-RTW-trip post!)