Air India flights are often disgusting. As in their cleaning crew, if they have one, neglected to show up for work. The passengers often have no sense of personal space and the flight attendants no sense of service. But hey it’s often half the price of the competition. So if you’re a world traveler looking to save a buck and can hold down the squeamishness. Go for it. (As I write this, the gentleman sitting next to me just decided to share his satisfaction with the inflight meal by regurgitating it to me in gaseous form right from his mouth with substantial force and volume.) If you have standards and are not in the mood for “budget travel” spring for another carrier.
Also, how hard is it to keep the light on in cabin? I’m not talking “Ladies and gentlemen we’ll be dimming our lights for take off and landing” or “to allow passengers to get a good nights rest.” I’m talking about randomly shutting off all of the cabin lights in one fell swoop a dozen times over the course of a flight for durations varying from 10 seconds to 15 minutes. I fly a lot. I can’t say I’m scared of flying but seriously intermittently shutting off power to a flying tin can 30,000 feet in the air, like its a shack on the outskirts of a third world town with a faulty electrical grid, is not very reassuring. Oh and maybe you could train your stewardesses not to slam down the platter of mixed goo containers you call the in-flight meal on my kindle. And here’s another brain busting idea. It’s ok to turn on the air conditioning before the plane hits 30,000 feet even on short hall flight, especially if its 90 degrees outside (and 100 inside for that matter.) In the interest of honesty I must counter-disclaim though that the goo marked as “Non-Veg Main” is generally surprisingly edible. I can’t say the same for the one marked “Dessert.”
Note that in my experience Air India flights to/from the United States seem to be a little better as they are often co-shares and at least they have some shame. When you fly inside Asia, its a free for all.
As far as transfer hubs go, Delhi is actually pretty good. The airport is new and well laid out. The Eaton Hotel right in airport has decent clean rooms and is a great option when your transfer requires an overnight stay and you don’t want to waste time and money on obtaining a transit visa and leaving the airport. The airport even sports sleeping pods for the more budget conscious. The Nature Spa at the Ishana outlet is also excellent and reasonably priced for the level of quality. Go for the 30 minute foot massage or add on the 60 minute full body massage which incorporates yoga stretches if you have the time. The treatment quality is far superior to what you’ll find at most airport spas and the decor complete with floor to ceiling views out onto the tarmac is great.