SFO to Delhi stop over in Dubai or Honk Kong?

LostCoastSteve

I'm getting ready to book tickets for a trip to India in October/November, and I'm hoping to use a stop over city to releive the jet lag.

I'm leaving from San Francisco. It looks like I can fly via Dubai or via Hong Kong. I've never been to either city.

Can you get out of the airport to catch some fresh air and sunshine to help releive the jet lag? Can you find a quiet comfortable place to sleep for a few hours? Can you get a hotel room for half a day?

I'm interested in hearing about others' experience and recommendations in Dubai, Hong Kong, or other stop over city between the US West Coast and India.

Thanks!

Haylo

Last time I stopped off a plane into the sunshine at Dubai, it was about 45 degrees in the shade. That's 45 degrees Celcius! While the air might have been technically fresh it certainly didn't feel it!

I believe most nationalities need a visa to leave the airport in Dubai. Can't say about Hong Kong.

Dubai airport is very uncomfortable for any length of time, but the good news is that it's only a brief hop to Delhi from there.

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Eastern Mind

I have this severe jet lag problem too. Have you tried booking two round trips. IE One SFO to Hong Kong, and another Hong Kong to Chennai return. Sometimes the prices are actually cheaper this way. It depends on when and how you're booking. That way you can get longer stop overs, and actually get to a hotel room for a whole night. Some travel agents can do this as well, with no extra cost. Seems to me from SF it would be better to go west. Depends also where in India you're going. there are other options besides Delhi. Bottom line is to really look around.

concoran

I typically fly between LAX and Bangalore(or Bombay). I usually take a day's break in Singapore. I've done it 3 times, and each time I've had no jet lag when I land in India. You could also use Kaula Lumpur.
A lot also depends on what airline you're traveling. For instance, a friend leaves Phoenix next Saturday at 8:00 PM, lands in UK at 1:00 PM (GMT, Sunday), flies off to Bangalore at 2:30 and lands at 5:00 AM Monday morning'. A couple of my friends have done the same route and have had no jet lag whatsoever.
Not sleeping or eating at odd times on the first day of landing is the key. Otherwise you easily screw up a week.

Oddly, I get the worst jet lag when I fly from west coast to east (LAX-TPA).

costaguana

I've never flown through Dubai, but Hong Kong is a great airport to transit through. There isn't much in the immediate vicinity of the airport, but the city is easily accessible if you have a long enough layover. Also, Cathay Pacific (which I am assuming you would fly?) is a terrific airline. Singapore is another great airport (and airline) but this constitutes a detour when travelling between North America and India which adds a few hours to your flying time. For this reason, I prefer Hong Kong.

nycank

Between the two I'd take HKG. That said, if you have never been to Hong Kong, see if your airline allows a free layover without extra penalty.

Northwest Airlines/Delta Air Lines, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Continental Airlines, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and the list goes on. These are all one-stop from SFO to Mumbai/Delhi.

You get to stop over at- Atlanta,Dubai,HongKong,Newark, Paris/CDG, Amsterdam/Schiphol, Frankfurt, London/Heathrow Of these stop over, only AMS has airside hotel to sleep and charge you by the 1/2 a day rate.

If you were more specific about the arriving airport, and approximate dates one could check which airlines have free overnight visit-my-city-country-package deal going :-)

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LostCoastSteve

Hello Frequent Fliers! Thanks for all the replies and food for thought.

Details are: I'm flying into Delhi the last week of October.

I will look for a free overnight package deal, or I'll possibly just get two round-trip tickets to and from one of the stop-over cities.

nycank

Your cheapest option for the last week of October is China Airlines via Taipei which arrives in Delhi late afternoon. The next alternative is Continental via Newark. Continental will arrive in Delhi between 8-9 PM. The difference as of now (08/25) is about 200USD.

Unfortunately, there no visible promotions of any value for the last week of October that I could see. San Francisco has many bucket-shops (i.e travel agents who have unpublished fares) which can craft an itinerary for you which would allow you one day stay in many of the cities I mentioned in the previous post. Hongkong, Amsterdam are wonderful cities for a layover or more....

LostCoastSteve

Thanks. Can you recommend a bucket shop or agent? I searched on google and only found numbers that are no longer valid. I've got so many tabs open in my browser window from all the airline searches that I'm getting dizzy!