What is the best airline to fly from India to USA?
If you want a direct flight to either of Chicago, San Fransisco or New York at the cheapest possible fares, with an Indian cuisine and Indian crew on board, then Air India is the best choice for you.Several benefits that I find in Air India :1.More legroom than almost all Western/ Middle Eastern carriers.2. Friendly and professional crew, and you can talk with them very friendly in your native language as well(a lot of crew going to US/Canada are well versed in Punjabi, Marathi and many other regional languages as well, other than English and Hindi). Air India Flight 187, Toronto to Amritsar, is a flying village | Toronto Star3. More baggage allowance. Air India allows 46 kg (2*23 kg) baggage on flights to US. Ever heard of anyone standing even close to this, other than Etihad, Qatar, Kenya, Ethiopian airlines ? (Thanks fellow quorans for the info)4. All the 3 nonstop flights to US, AI 173(DEL-SFO), AI101 (BOM-DEL-JFK), AI 127(HYD-DEL-ORD) depart and arrive at very favourable times. They depart at midnight and arrive at early morning in local time.5. Best aircraft on all routes. B777–300 ER to Chicago, B777-200 LR to San Fransisco and B777-300 ER to New York, also remember the legroom factor. Not to forget, the IFE which boasts of a large variety of Hollywood, Bollywood and regional content. Air India on board experienceI think its only because of these factors that Air India forced American Airlines to shut their ORD-DEL route and became the sole leader there. Further, Air India has several more wide body aircraft on order and you can expect several more non stop flights to US soon like Washington and Los Angeles.You can start collecting your Flying Returns miles today and use them on Air India's vast domestic and international network as well.Further, Air India is a member of Star Alliance and you can use the lounges of Star Alliance members and you can also use your Flying Returns miles on these airlines.Happy Journey!
7 hour layover in Istanbul? (I'm new at traveling)?
I don't think you will have enough time. You will need to clear immigration and customs upon arrival, which can take up to an hour. It then takes minimum half an hour to get to the city centre, and can take much longer if the traffic is bad (which it is on most days!). You will need to head back to the airport at least 2.5 hrs before your flight (allowing an hour to get there, and 1.5 hrs to check in, go through passport control and security). This means that at best you will be left with three hours in the city, assuming you have no delays or other problems. Having said all that, Turkish Airlines operate a city sightseeing tour called 'TourISTanbul', which is aimed at passengers like yourself, with "at least 6 hours" layover. They take care of all the transportation etc., and best of all this is a FREE service! See http://www.istanbulinhours.com