Jet vs Singapore Airlines SFO - Mumbai for families

jackh

Hi
We are planning to travel to India to visit my spouse's relatives in December, from SFO - Mumbai
We have a 13 mo old.
Which airline (Jet / Singapore Airlines) is better?
I know people love SQ, but I'd like to know which is worse - a 9 hr layover with an 18 mo old or taking the risk with Jet (a new airline and if something gets screwed - like cancelled flights,etc, we're screwed)
Thanks
Cheers
-Jack

Roaming Jack

This doesn't answer your q, but I thought I'd just offer it up as potentially useful info: Delta flies from SFO --> JFK --> BOM. The trip from JFK to BOM (approx. 15 hrs) is non-stop. Since there are many flights from SFO to JFK, it's easy to get a short layover trip on this route.

Kingfisher

A layover is not such a bad thing on such a long flight -- Changi airport in Singapore has a hotel in the transit area that offers rooms in blocks of 6 hours which is perfect for a break for shower and nap before continuing on to Mumbai. As you know, Singapore Airline is very highly rated and my personal experience bears this out. While I have no experience with Jet's international operations, their domestic service is first-rate.

Another excellent airline to consider is Cathay Pacific as they fly SFO-BOM with only a single break (at Hong Kong) rather than the two with SIA and this saves considerable flying hours. The ticket cost should be comparable if you find a good travel agent (CX's web fares not-so-good).

Nattusbs

I am flying Jet Airways end of June, one-way ticket SFO-BOM-HYD. I have always liked them in India, although last month I flew Kingfisher which was also very nice. The flight leaves SFO at 8:45 pm, gets into BOM at 8:30am 2 days later which would be 8 pm the previous day in California. Therefore the flying time is about 23 hours with a 2 hour refueling stop in Shanghai. Let us see how the international service is going to be, I would guess it would be nice, with new planes and especially since they are trying to make an impression as a "new" international carrier at least for Americans.

A lot of people have good things to say about Singapore Airlines, but my experience has not been that great except that I must add that their service of handling/transporting pets is excellent. The food was not that great for economy passengers, the wait in Chiang airport is way too long, I did have the transit hotel which was convenient. The choices of food courts at the airport were poor and expensive, so I just sat at the bar/pub and sipped a couple of Tiger draft beers! There are few reclining chairs in the lounge area and get taken quickly. The other good thing is that there is free access to Internet but, it time-limited. Rather nice system to check e-mail. I took the free guided tour of the city that is offered which was very nice. Singapore has a very humid climate.

Cheers

Nattusbs

bijapuri

just booked my flight yesterday on Jet.
SFO-TRV $1799.40 on their website. Didn't bother checking SQ cuz they are longer, and usually cost more. Great airline, tho.
what Jet has going for it is marvelous timing- the SFO flight is not only direct, with 2 hr refuel in Shanghai, but it gets into BOM in time to reach most Indian cities with a connection flight within a few hours.

That, and they have funny adverts running in the local papers and radio. One has Sachin Tendulkar talking. Another print ad has a baseball pitcher throwing to a cricketeer batsmen.

nomad

between singapore and delhi/mumbai. jet is much better than singapore airlines. singapore airlines probably flies its worst aircraft in this sector.
i have no idea about other lags of the journey.

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Piyush

Jet airways is good...but the food they provide is just average...

edwardseco

Nomad is right but you can get a deal or could for 1 or 2 day stopover hotel accomodations at Singapore. Its a great bargain given Singapore hotel costs. Last time I had a 4 star hotel and didn't want to leave except the 3rd night would have bankrupted me. Planes from SFO to Singapore are excellent..

jackh

Should we take a car seat on the plane?
We know in India the car seat will be of no use.
Thanks
Cheers
-Jack

chAos

Maybe you've already decided about the layover, but my experience with a 1-yr old and an overnight in a transit hotel was misery; forgot to account for jetlag. The baby slept just fine on the plane and didn't need the rest in the hotel, despite doing my best to convince otherwise.

About the carseat; how are you traveling around? Staying with family, hiring a car? Trains, not so much, but if you've got pretty much the same car and the room for it, I don't see the problem with a carseat. It's more useful in a car than an airplane, anyway, where the carseat only helps when there's bad turbulence, right?

Lou Wilson

I flew to India and back from Newark NJ in March. Its a new flight for them.
It was trouble free landing in Brussels for 1 1/2 hours. This does not answer your question but what I wanted to say was I flew in India with them a couple of times and no matter where we were - South India, Bhuj or Mumbai or in the air all the staff was polite and very helpful at all times and the fares were very competitive.

jackh

for a part of the trip,and sightseeing on our own for a part of it
We're still trying to decide on whether to take a car seat on the flight. I'm not worried on the ground in India. My spouse and her family are from there, and I'm sure things will work out
I'm just worried that my son (he'll be 19 mos at the time of the flight) will be too cagey on the regular seat, and folks say it's safer on a car seat anyways..but it's going to be a hassle lugging that thing around India,especially as domestic flights probably don't have a mandate for it.
Plus we're not sure about the cab ride to the airport..may have friends drop us off, but am leaning towards the cab
We have a super hyper active 14 month old, and this will be our first flight with him anywhere(go figure)
Thanks again buds..
-Jack

concoran

If you are traveling to India from U.S, try to hook up with an Indian travel agent. They usually give excellent deal. It's always better than booking online.
From SF, you could try Singapore or Malaysian. Malaysian's prices are much better. Only caveat with either Singapore or Malaysia - you will have some lay over in Singapore or KL.
With British, you'd probably not have much lay over at Heathrow.
I don't know much about Jet Airways. They recently started US->India service.

chAos

Jack,
You may as well bring the carseat. You can use it in a cab, or throw it in the trunk if you don't want to. You may even find that you use it in India. Depending on how long the domestic flights are, you could just leave it with your in-laws while you travel around India.

As I understand it, the only time that the carseat is safer on a plane is when you hit a big pocket of turbulence, the plane drops, and the kid flies out of a lap and hits the ceiling. [ouch!]

There are other reasons to bring it though. Especially if he's already used to sleeping in it during car rides, then he'll have that extra level of association which will make it more likely that he'll sleep on the plane. (Yes, you want that.)

It's also an effective way to keep movement to a minimum, and yes, you want that too.

Since you say you've never flown with him before, and since it will be ~20 hours in the air alone, I have some ideas about that. I typed some up, but then realized you may not need it, so if you're interested in some advice hard-won through experience, let me know and I'll post it.

jackh

We emailed Jet Airways USA , and they confirmed car seats are NOT allowed to be strapped onto a regular flight seat
We may go with a harness (FAA approved).
Let's see.
Hey 'chaos' - I'd love to hear your experiences.
I have never been to India, so this should be fun.
As always, you guys rock.

-Jack