r2i forum

So continuing this old thread about award travel to India --- I was looking for award travel to India again, and I see that American and United both have decent award travel to India from East Coast in the coming months (largely via partner). Although American does not seem to have availability with Eitihad any more

But delta has almost nothing worthwhile. Award travel is generally very expensive in terms of miles (especially business class awards) and almost the only availability seems with Aeroflot via Moscow ! Delta has alliances with Air France/KLM, but they seem to be very stingy about award travel. And whatever alliances they have with Eitihad and Jet aren't offering award travel either.

On a non travel award note, Jet seems to have dropped flights to Newark and dropped Brussels as a hub too.

Earlier in this thread, it was mentioned that Turkish business class is good (for flying from East Coast to India). Anyone have any comments or thoughts on that ?

I see there are a number of Turkish Airlines award seats open for flight to India via Star Alliance booking. Note that these were open even before the bombing at Istambul airport, so I don't think that was a factor that might have lead to a drop in bookings followed by a release of award seats.

greyfri;634605Earlier in this thread, it was mentioned that Turkish business class is good (for flying from East Coast to India). Anyone have any comments or thoughts on that ?

I see there are a number of Turkish Airlines award seats open for flight to India via Star Alliance booking. Note that these were open even before the bombing at Istambul airport, so I don't think that was a factor that might have lead to a drop in bookings followed by a release of award seats.

If you are getting award seats, you should definitely consider Turkish Airlines (TA). I haven't flown TA business class although it is on my list. The flight timings does not suit me when flying from India. But TA business class has been rated quite high in the flyer community. It has always featured in the top 10.

Another perk flying TA business class is the access to one of the world's best airport lounges in Istanbul.

More about the TA business class:

https://www.loungebuddy.com/blog/turkish-airlines-business-class-experience/

Nowadays, I'm flying Emirates. IMHO, the EK A380 business class beats all. But they are not part of any of the top FF programs, so you may not get any award ticket options there.

Another good read if you believe in airline awards

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/12/aviation/worlds-best-airlines-2016-skytrax/index.html

Flew Etihad Business class, excellent in every respect.

Best use of air miles is to use them for business class upgrade, one needs to buy premium plus ticket for this upgrade. Wednesdays usually have good chance of availability and confirmation.
From my experience Emirates, Etihad and Qatar business classes are very good in that order. British Airways and Jet Airways are also not bad. Emirates and Etihad also give transportation to and from airport at source and destination in a luxury car for business class passengers.

ILuvHyd;634691Best use of air miles is to use them for business class upgrade, one needs to buy premium plus ticket for this upgrade. Wednesdays usually have good chance of availability and confirmation.
From my experience Emirates, Etihad and Qatar business classes are very good in that order. British Airways and Jet Airways are also not bad. Emirates and Etihad also give transportation to and from airport at source and destination in a luxury car for business class passengers.

A family member had an Emirates ticket to Delhi from NYC. He received an offer to upgrade to business class for $200. That sounds like a great deal, but it was only for the Dubai to Delhi leg (and no lounge access i or transportation to/from airport). Not worth it for a 3 hour flight.

You used to be able to book Eitihad with AA miles. Not sure if that is still possible. It doesn't show up in search results.

I typically fly United non stop to/from Newark to Delhi. Unfortunately, upgrades with miles are tight on this leg, and availability is typically not confirmed till just before flying.

greyfri;634771
I typically fly United non stop to/from Newark to Delhi. Unfortunately, upgrades with miles are tight on this leg, and availability is typically not confirmed till just before flying.

You can consider Lufthansa with a stop over in Germany. There is a very good chance of getting an upgrade on the Germany to Delhi leg as business class is not full on the 747. But you will need to purchase a valid Y booking class or simply go with Premium economy.

Another option, if possible, is travel to India during 'off peak' season. I have observed on some of my trips, plenty of empty seats where you can easily stretch.

Still trying to figure out which are true 'off seasons'

why not just pay for it?

rajradio;634822why not just pay for it?

If you can get an award ticket (and are willing to be flexible with your plans), why not try and get one ? Paying an extra 2-3 K for business class can be a bit grating:)