Hi all, I am a female who has not flown since a child, will be flying out of the US alone to India , Mumbai exactly and have no idea what to expect, how to find my party in such a big busy place, security, customs, I am in need of any and all info, sites or direct answers appreciated so very much.
Donna
Thanks in advance.

chaos at first but you will adjust to it....its india!!

Immigration is now very quick and very easy. Just make sure that your form is filled out, you should have been given it on the plane but sometimes you have to wait for arrival and make sure that you join the foreigner’s queue and not the Indian queue.

You normally have to wait a while for your luggage to arrive, plenty of trolleys around. Customs involves putting your luggage through an X-Ray machine. I have never had a problem with Customs, they seem to be mainly interested in returning Indian nationals.

Following Customs, you have to hand over the last portion of your landing card as you leave the hall – so don’t pack it away with your Passport whilst you are waiting for your luggage.

I hope that you have arranged for your hotel to meet you – most offer a free service. If you have, there will be someone amongst the crowd waiting at the exit point holding a sign with your name and the hotel name on it. One you find that your luggage will be handled for you and you will be taken to your car and the adventure starts.

Have a great trip.

Donna, are you meeting a group at the airport who are arriving on another flight? If so, I very much recommend that you wait for them at baggage claim. The airport in Mumbai is not like any international airport you have been to before. There is no area outside baggage claim/Customs where you could or would even want to wait that will be convenient, no chairs, no open area, no restaurants, snack bar etc. The area outside is very crowded and as noted above, quite chaotic If their flight is coming in much later, then I would suggest that you go to on to your hotel by yourself. I also quite strongly agree that you should pre-arrange transport to your hotel with your hotel. It is worth the small extra cost. Otherwise, there is a pre-paid taxi desk inside the terminal, just as you exit from baggage claim/Customs which you can use to get a taxi. I still really recco a hotel car, they will take you exactly where you want to go.

If someone is meeting you outside the baggage claim/Customs exit doors, this area is quite crowded most times of day. This may be problematic in trying to find you, hopefully you all know one another. I don’t have a particular recco, there is a long railing which is designed to keep people in line along the outside exit doors, tell them to try to get up close to this and look for you. A phone which works in India and their phone numbers would be very helpful.

Once you land, follow the signs and your fellow passengers downstairs to Immigration, as noted above you should be given Immigration forms on the plane. Mumbai is quite efficient. You will either go right or left after Immigration to get to your baggage carousel, look for the signboard above and behind the Immigration desks which lists the directions for each airline. Luggage carts are free.

For Customs, theoretically, you are supposed to put all your bags through an X-Ray machine once you get them and before you get to the Custom doors (you will see the line), if you are not Indian, I would skip this step and just walk by the X-Ray machines with some confidence, I have been doing this for some years and have never been stopped. They are mostly concerned with stopping returning Indian nationals from bringing in dutiable items like computers, etc. The very bottom portion of the Immigration card, a small slip about a third of the size of the card, is the Customs form mentioned above which you have to hand to the Customs officer after you have collected your bags and are going through the exit doors.

It would be good to have some Rupees with you before you arrive in case you need to get a pre-paid taxi etc.

I have flown a lot and am pretty seasoned as a traveler for my age but nothing could prepare me for the Mumbai airport. It was shocking but fun. India is a crazy place but gave me the best 2.5 months of my life. Security and customs are nothing but it shard to find where to get money (i was lucky that i had a prearranged hotel cab and could get money the next day outside my hotel) After I got in my car all you can do is laugh to yourself. It is so different than where you are from but India is really great and unlike anywhere else in the world. Have fun.. I am jealous you get to go. As long as you have prearranged a ride you should be fine. Just be aware of people that like to take advantage of "fresh faces". Even if you do get taken advantage of it will only be a few dollars to you.

at the ;luggage pick up to the side is seating. We waited for a friend coming on another internal flight an hour later and it was fin. If you go ourtsie its hassle. You should book a car for the arrival of your friends flight and they will be waiting with a placard with your name on it. ALL hotels do this in India if requested.

Actually I am incorrect as you will be arribing international and I was in the domoestic area...Oops!