[Anonymous]

[NewBAexec]

I am flying to Delhi later this year and wanted to try something different this time. I am getting a bit tired of the poor service offered by BA in their Club World cabin and the crew always apologising.

I was looking at Air France, excellent product and the price sounds very reasonable and the aircraft is an A340-300. Or maybe another airline.

Any suggestions please. Many thanks

[JonathanCohen09]

Hi NewBAexec,

I have flown AF in business on many occassions on long haul flights and have always been quite happy. The seat is ok although angled flat not fully flat. The food and service have always been excellent and the entertainment is pretty good and usually AVOD. The lounge at CDG is not as good as BA at LHR but is perfectly acceptable.

The worst aspect of flying AF is the transit through CDG which may include a change of terminal. I hate CDG with a passion but will put up with it as the fares on AF are very competitive and IMHO it is not worth paying the premium to fly direct with BA although their CW seat is probably the best in the sky.

All in all, the negatives i have outlined not withstanding, i would give AF a chance.

Please let us know what you decide and if you fly AF how you get on.

Safe travels,

Jonathan

[Tidmtrax]

Hi,

Have you tried Qatar, LHR – DOH – DEL, trip time 12 – 16 hours depending on connection. Could be a 777 on all sectors again depending on timings.

I fly Qatar to Chennai and Shanghai several times a year. i would use BA but I can do a Monday – Friday trip at a sensible Business fare without incurring the non Saturday night BA surcharge.

The hub at Doha is usually OK for a short time although i have got a 9 Hour stopover early July! (booking error)

Aircraft’s are clean food is good and although i do like the CW seat the 777 seat on Qatar are fantastic for space and comfort. (5` 7″)

Enjoy Delhi.

Simon

[craigwatson]

also check out kingfisher and jet, as their fares seem to be about the same as AF at least in october, but not sure when you are travelling, and its a direct service from LHR, so avoiding CDG

[Senator]

Hi,

Can I suggest LX via ZRH on the new A330-300s? From LHR/LCY fares start at 1550 GBP in business or 3900 GBP in First. Flat beds in business.

For the best F&B, I would suggest OS via VIE if you are not so bothered about latest seat and entertainment. Would only suggest this on the day flight.

LX and OS can be combined for around 1600 GBP. Personally, I avoid AF like the plauge…

[NewBAexec]

Thank you so much for all the info guys! Really appreciate it.

[rodders]

I would suggest Kingfisher, and you also get your BA points/miles, so a win win. Not a big fan of the seats on AF, and agree with the comments on CDG.

[BlackTower]

Try Kingfisher.
Drink is simply superb. (Smith Haut Lafitte etc etc)
Food not great
seat fully flat

1/3 cost of BA

[Deleted User]

Try F I N N A I R (if they fly to Delhi of course!!)

http://www.businesstraveller.com/discussion/topic/Finnair-Unfair

[MarkCymru]

I go to Delhi a lot and agree with most of the postings.

AF goes from 2B so you will have to transfer from 2F but its pretty painless. You can walk airside (which I’d recommend as a way to stretch your legs) or take the bus and use Priority ! security lanes. I find AF crews unfailingly nice and the food is good. Variants of the business class seats (5 in all, I think) are annoying. The earliest ones are not so good but the later ones are pretty comfortable.

Finnair has the latest business class on many flights to Delhi and it is excellent — aisle access for 3/4 of seats and fully flat. No-one would accuse their crew of being effusive or bubbly but they are pleasant and efficient and transfer at Helsinki is amazingly easy. You don’t have to go through security again on the way out (although you do on the way back). They even have saunas in the lounge.

The new Swiss business class is very similar to Finnair although transfer in Zurich is a bit more complicated — the only lounge is a long way from the gate and not enroute if you are transferring from the UK to an intercontinental flight.

Qatar Airways is excellent and the premium terminal works well.

[David]

Hi NewBAexec,

I posted the below regarding Finnair just yesterday.

To briefly add to this note, I find the food and beverage to be excellent on Finnair (IMHO, better than BA Club World) and the fully lay-flat seats (not on all of the A330s, but you can see which a/c you’re on before purchasing) to be comparable in comfort (although slightly more narrow) than the lay-flats of BA. Good luck!

From 22.06:

Travelling 4 to 6 times a year to India (from Sweden), I have always flown BA.

I widened my search this time around however and found that I can fly Finnair ARN to DEL saving 3 hrs 10 mins on the outbound and a whopping 6 hours 40 mins on the return (vs. flying via LHR on BA). Part of this savings is the allowable connection times in Helsinki (I have a 50 min only layover in HEL on the return from DEL – try making a 50 minute connection at LHR!) and of course the geography of flying a more northern route.

The prices are somewhat cheaper on Finnair than on BA (important but not my first or second consideration when choosing a flight) and the aircraft used on these flights offer the new fully-flat Business class seats.

What I like about the process of booking on the Finnair website is that you are able to choose your seat prior to paying (this way you can actually see what aircraft/product is offered as well as see whether the available seats are ones that are acceptable to you).

I don’t hold a Finnair Plus membership but dump the miles/points either into my Oneworld BAEC or AA accounts (depending on which account needs topping up at the time).

I will be flying Finnair for a quick 24 hour trip to Delhi next week.

[DrGautamSehgal]

hi New Baexec
the problem with air france are many
1) lost luggage
2)rude crew
3)cdg could be the worst airport

Try Jet airways out of bru,smaller airport,flat bed and a great lounge in bru.
I have shifted compeletly to jet airways after poor service in airfrance and dealing with cdg airport
enjoy vedmed

[Author]

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