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DEL at 0330hr, 4hrs 20 mins to next flight

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  • DEL at 0330hr, 4hrs 20 mins to next flight

    Hi all,
    I have a travel plan that looks like this:

    DOH-DEL ETA 0330hr
    DEL- SIN ETD 0750hr SQ405

    Any suggestions on what I can do at DEL for 4 hours+ at 0330hr in the morning ?

    Not been to DEL since June 2006, so dont know if progress have been made to the place.

    Any idea if I will be able to get the SQ boarding pass (and lounge invitation card) so early in the morning ?

  • #2
    acey, I must say, you like living on the edge more than I do!

    (Sorry, can't help you with info. )
    ‘Lean into the sharp points’

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    • #3
      I would guess it is the same as my upcoming midnight to 0430 transit at KRT. No onward boarding pass until they open up the gate (or check in if you go landside), no lounge until you are checked in.
      ..

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Kiwi View Post
        I would guess it is the same as my upcoming midnight to 0430 transit at KRT. No onward boarding pass until they open up the gate (or check in if you go landside), no lounge until you are checked in.
        I vaguely remember that one of the lounge in India allows people with "platinum" credit cards to get in...can anybody verify that ?

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        • #5
          Originally posted by acey View Post
          I vaguely remember that one of the lounge in India allows people with "platinum" credit cards to get in...can anybody verify that ?
          Search for "Mastercard lounge access" on the India Forum on FT. I started a thread on this a couple of years ago.

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          • #6
            Transit in DEL

            Originally posted by Kiwi View Post
            I would guess it is the same as my upcoming midnight to 0430 transit at KRT. No onward boarding pass until they open up the gate (or check in if you go landside), no lounge until you are checked in.
            Situation is still the same now with the new airport. What's the point of having a spanking gleaming new building if the transfer desks don't open until much later?

            My flight arrived in DEL at 1715. I sat and waited in the 'quarantine' area (no toilets, inadequate seats - some people were sitting on the floor) until transfer desk opened for my flight at 1930. I had my boarding pass in my hands at 2030. I then proceeded to sit in the lounge in the departures area until midnight. No showers in the lounge. Wi-fi logs out every 20 mins and an Indian mobile phone number is required to get the free code. I had to keep running to one of the guys in the lounge for the free code. I had little cat naps (sitting up) in both the quarantine area and the lounge.

            I have another transit in DEL at the end of the year. I would be arriving on AF at 2310 and departing the next morning on 9W at 0745. The hours in-between are my usual bedtime and I would really prefer to be in a horizontal position!
            1. Would I be able to get a boarding pass for the 9W flight issued in LHR or CDG?
            2. I would be subjected to the same 'quarantine' treatment again?
            3. I guess there won't be time for a transit hotel if I can't get the bloody boarding pass?!
            4. I read that there should be a transit hotel but no news about its opening, etc.

            I think there are one or two regular SQTalkers here who are familiar with airports in India who might be able to provide more information. Thanks in advance for your help.

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            • #7
              As a regular traveller from Australia to India I would suggest avoid staying overnight at any Indian airport at any cost. Search the internet for a closeby hotel and organise a prepaid cab from inside the airport or hotel shuttle to take to the hotel. I have known too many people to have lugguage stolen while sleeping. Most international flights into India arrive late at night or early hours in the morning which makes transit difficult. Another problem is that the domestic airport is ususally closed at airports like Mumbai so there is no place to stay to wait for flights. I have many horror stories which for liable reasons I cannot repeat on this site.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by phaleesy View Post
                I have another transit in DEL at the end of the year. I would be arriving on AF at 2310 and departing the next morning on 9W at 0745. The hours in-between are my usual bedtime and I would really prefer to be in a horizontal position!
                I'd suggest you book a room at the Radisson near the airport or the Crowne Plaza Gurgaon and get some sleep.

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                • #9
                  I actually found the 'quarantine' area okay, except that I have to sleep sitting up. It seemed quite safe to me. Transfer desk staff walking around. Fellow passengers surfing the internet, having a chat, sleeping, etc.

                  I thought it would be more scary going out of the airport to Delhi vs staying in the airport. I find taxi drivers in India worse than BKK.

                  Would look into the Radisson and CP as Savage25 suggested. Thanks. But seems like a pretty expensive sleep since it'd be more like a 4 hour sleep only since I'd have to clear immigration, travel from/to airport, get my boarding pass, security, etc. Plus I'd need to apply for a transit visa.

                  In an ideal world, AF should issue my boarding pass in LHR/CDG, and I get to sleep in the transit hotel.

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                  • #10
                    I've not experienced the new terminal. However, knowing how things work (and sometimes don't ) in India, I'd personally not risk exiting the airport on just a 4hr 20min transit...

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                    • #11
                      mhj, I think we learnt how to calculate 'time' when we were 8 years old.

                      I think my transit in DEL is 8 hours 35 mins. Should be right - I've used my fingers and even my toes to come up with this figure!

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by phaleesy View Post
                        mhj, I think we learnt how to calculate 'time' when we were 8 years old.

                        I think my transit in DEL is 8 hours 35 mins. Should be right - I've used my fingers and even my toes to come up with this figure!
                        And how right you are!

                        Me, personally, I sometimes get a little flummoxed when time is too linear...

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by milehighj View Post
                          I've not experienced the new terminal. However, knowing how things work (and sometimes don't ) in India, I'd personally not risk exiting the airport on just a 4hr 20min transit...
                          I thought you were referring to acey's starting post... (glances at thread title...)

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by phaleesy View Post
                            I think my transit in DEL is 8 hours 35 mins. Should be right - I've used my fingers and even my toes to come up with this figure!
                            I faced a similar predicament a few years ago when I arrived in DEL just before midnight and had a 7am domestic IC flight to JAI.

                            I walked straight out and followed the curb all the way to where it led to a side street where the airport hostel was. I asked the gentleman for a price quote and when he mentioned the price of a single bed, asked him how much to book an entire room (filled with 6 beds IIRC) and got a room for four hours of solitary relaxation. Played solo musical beds just to keep warm (it was January)

                            At 4am, checked out, loved the quiet exterior of the hostel (which had been laid seige the previous nights by touts claiming the hostel was sold out which I promptly ignored, marched straight past them and into the building to the reception desk) and the peaceful path back to the domestic terminal where I patiently waited for the IC check-in desk to open

                            I did consider booking the Radisson Gurgaon, but with only seven to eight hours transit time, felt it was more worth my while to stay close to the airport and take my chances on scoring a room all to myself at the airport hostel.
                            Le jour de Saint Eugène, en traversant la Calle Mayor...

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Savage25 View Post
                              I'd suggest you book a room at the Radisson near the airport or the Crowne Plaza Gurgaon and get some sleep.
                              But that would cost you another Rs 10,000 - 14,000 per stay.

                              There are chairs outside as well as inside the transfer area in T3. However, I would think one would be bored to death waiting there.

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