Wednesday, September 2, 2009

LAX to Mumbai in Business

A friend is going to Mumbai from LAX for work and will be flying business class. I don't know if she will have a choice in airline, but if she does these are her most obvious choices.

Being bored (and I love doing this kind of thing) I decided to look up what kinds of flights go to Mumbai from LAX. I'm hoping I can show what options are out there in an easy to read way in case you have a choice in how you get to Mumbai. There might just be an obviously more comfortable flight for you (or not, we will see).

Before I go any further I'll say if you can fly Virgin Atlantic Upper Class do it (they don't have business, but they do have economy plus... not as good as business). If you can't fly Upper Class on Virgin then keep reading.

Los Angeles to Newark to Los Angeles
Continental Airlines Business class - Not quite lie-flat seats; AC Power; Personal TV; 777
5 Hours 19 Min. / 15 Hours 10 Min.
Return: 15 Hours 45 Min. / 5 Hours 56 Min.

Los Angeles to JFK to Los Angeles
United or American to/from JFK and Air India JFK/Mumbai
United Business and American Business in the U.S. will be similar
Air India Business is called Executive Class - The good 777 planes have Lie Flat seats; EM Power (need adaptor); Personal TV (a beware... some of their planes don't have lie flat seats)
5 Hours 22 Min. / 15 Hours 15 Min.
Return: 15 Hours 55 Min. / 6 Hours 10 Min.

Los Angeles to Atlanta to Mumbai
Delta Elite Business - Some of their 777 planes have "mini suites" with Lie-Flat seats; AC Power; Personal TV
4 Hours 20 Min. / 15 Hours 50 Min.

Mumbai to Paris to Los Angeles seems to be the return for this
Delta ... operated by Air France
Air France Business called Affaires Class - Not quite lie-flats seats; AC Power; Personal TV
9 Hours 10 Min. / 11 Hours 30 Min.

Los Angeles to Frankfurt to Mumbai
Lufthansa Business - Not quite lie-flat seats; AC Power; Personal TV
10 Hours 45 Min. / 8 Hours 0 Min.
8 Hours 55 Min. / 11 Hours 35 Min.

Los Angeles to London to Mumbai
British Airways Business is called Club World Class - Lie Flat Seats; Em Power; Personal TV; 747 (you could sit in the upper deck!)
10 Hours 15 Min. / 9 Hours 0 Min.
9 Hours 20 Min. / 11 Hours 0 Min.

Los Angeles to Dubai to Mumbai
Emirates Business - Not quite lie flat seats or worse recliner seats; AC Power; Personal TV
15 Hours 55 Min. / 2 Hours 45 Min.
3 Hours 15 Min. / 16 Hours 35 Min.

Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Mumbai
Cathay Pacific Business; If you get their "New Business" the seats are extra wide Lie Flat seats; AC Power; Personal TV
14 Hours 35 Min. / 6 Hours 20 Min.
5 Hours 50 Min. / 13 Hours 0 Min.

Flight times are from Orbitz and can vary a lot depending on head winds going west and tail winds going east (it takes less time going east because of the winds).

Delta, British Airways, and Cathay Pacific seem to have the best business classes (if on a plane with the new seats).

British Airways through London avoids a 15 hour flight.

If you have a choice I hope one of these looks better than the others. If you don't have a choice then I hope you get a good flight.

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