How much time does normal post take to reach the USA from India?
[Not an Answer]I had my friend send me a speed post on 29th august 2017. She sent it from California, united States to Hyderabad, India. But, I haven’t received it yet. Today is 16th October 2017. It has been more than 45 days. I don’t know why. I am still expecting the post.UpdateMy post finally reached on 5th of December 2017. Took almost 125 days. So, this is normal I guess.
For a flight going from the United States to China or Japan, why would an airline choose the long route over Europe and the Middle East instead of going over the Pacific Ocean?
John Cheshire's answer to this was really good. Also, there are other considerations such as fuel, food, duration of a single flight, etc. The ocean is a death trap for downed planes, so better the less time you fly over it. But I would speculate that the number 1 reason for an airline NOT to do a direct route as you suggest: it's not profitable enough.As a civilian contractor working in Afghanistan, I used to fly direct routes between Dubai (U.A.E.) and either Washington-Dulles (United) or Atlanta International (Delta). Those routes were flown by Boeing 777-300s with seating at around 450 passengers. Economy tickets were usually around 1900 USD months in advance and I never saw an empty seat on those flights, except occasionally in first class. Between rising ticket costs as the plane fills up, luggage fees, and the cost of higher class seats, let's assume that the average price per passenger on those flights was only 2200 USD. That's nearly a million dollars per flight, and they were flying it both ways, seven days a week, for almost $14 million a week on a single route.How could they possibly fill all those flights? Mostly because of U.S. contractors working in the Middle East, because the majority of us flew through Dubai. The demand for a full-time direct route was there, so the airlines supplied one. Airlines (just like any other company) will give people what they want to the extent that profit is maximized. If there are no direct routes from the U.S. to Asia, then I suggest that it's because it's not profitable.Also, there are direct routes. I'm on Skyscanner right now looking at a Non-Stop flight from New York to Hong Kong on American Airlines, round-trip for 3982 USD, last minute, with a stop in Johannesburg on the way back.Los Angeles to Tokyo, same story. Non-stop outbound, 1 stop in Singapore on the return. Last minute round-trip for 1248 USD. Maybe those Americans whom you met are just finding cheaper flights with more connections.
What if I purchase an iPhone from abroad and use in my country?
Let me keep this answer dead simplePros-Cheap price (you will get the iPhone in USA for about 10,000–15,000 INR cheaper.Cons-You will not be covered under warranty for iPhones’ warranty is restricted to its country of purchase.You will be getting the standard US charger, not the indian unit. There would be no difference in power output but you would have to purchase a converter or an indian power adapter (which retails for about 1500INR).That’s it. Personally, I believe it is a pretty decent deal to get it from the United States. No iPhone dies randomly on its own unless it is damaged physically or due to liquids, and apple warranty does not cover liquid or physical damage.P.S. If you are getting the carrier unlocked version then you will NOT face any issue regarding networks, sims, et cetera.Now, regarding the models. Please do not get the carrier locked ones. You can go for any other model (either GSM or CDMA) .