Mumbai Travel Forum

I'm travelling to mumbai and I've read some bad reviews about the airport, is it as bad as people say???

I didn't have any problems. You'll know that you're not in High Wycombe, but if you go to the pre paid taxi stand (you'll see it on your way out)you should be fine. The trick is in knowing where YOU want to go and not dealing with any of the many drivers and touts outside who desperately want to take you to a "best price" hotel or business of Their choice. In the end, it's all part of the adventure. Good Luck.

It's pretty bad (the international side is currently worse than the domestic terminal, which is much newer). But it's not unbearable--at least, on your way into India. Things are reasonably well organized as far as collecting your bags and finding the taxi stand. That said, getting out of India at BOM can be a very slow and crowded business. The answer to your question about whether you can successfully transfer from a domestic flight landing at 11 AM to an international flight leaving at 2 PM is "with difficulty." Try not to check your bags on the domestic flight, if at all possible. If there seems to be any delay in getting the bus from the domestic terminal to the international, forget the bus and catch a cab, even though it seems crazy.

Hi, thanks for your help. Unfortunately I will have to check in my bags, would the best thing be to get a cab from international to domestic and vice versa?? Is the process same as in the UK, i.e check in bags then go through security? I'm a bit nervous as never travelled like this before

Take the inter terminal free shuttle coach service which runs every half hour or so from both the terminals. It should not take you more than 20 minutes to get from one terminal to the other. Do keep some time inbetween flights if you want to avoid missing your onward flights due to ATC delays which are pretty frequent nowadays.

Cheers,
Aadil.

any chance of changing your ticket to an earlier flight, or even the day before? It might end up cheaper to pay for any changes, than missing your international connection.

Hi there, just got back from Mumbai 7 days ago. No problems when arriving, but we had major problems on the way out. The terminal was in total chaos, and took about 2 hours to get from outside and checked in. But, I must say, I did not have similar problems with previous visits, maybe because it is peak season (it was 6 January).
Do make use of pre-paid taxi - to Coloba/Marine drive = 450 Rs. Some hotels charge up to 1200 Rs.
Contact me anytime if you have questions.
Pierre

Aadil--just to note, the inter-terminal coach can take a LOT longer than 20 minutes. Last time I tried to do this, we reached the queue for the bus to find about 40 people there ahead of us--and the bus driver told us that it would be another 30 minutes before the bus left. If you have a tight connection like this, it's really better to take a cab. By the time the person gets off the domestic flight and collects luggage, he'll be down to (at best) 2.5 hours to transfer to the international terminal and check in. That is very, very tight, since it can often take nearly two hours just to fight your way into the international terminal and check in. BOM is shockingly over-stuffed these days, as you well know!

Thank you, what is the airport itself like?
With regards to the pre-paid taxis, it is just a case of going outside and getting one?

Thanks
Roz

The international terminal is pretty grim. It is old, very shabby, pretty dirty, and extremely overcrowded (built for a far lower volume of passengers than it now carries). At peak hours, the check-in area is almost impossible to maneuver through since it is crammed with lines of people waiting to get their immense piles of suitcases through the X-ray machines and then more lines of people waiting to check in with their airlines. The gate waiting areas are also ill equipped for the numbers of people trying to use them. Elite lounges are a pathetic joke, and if you don't get there 2.5 hours ahead of your flight, you won't find a seat in one anyway. Many of the European international carriers use gates located on the lower level of the terminal, which usually requires you to haul your bags up and down long flights of stairs because the escalators are not working about 80% of the time.

There is currently a renovation project in progress, by which the airport is getting modernized and expanded, but the work is years from completion. So far, it seems that the company doing the work has focused all their attention on expanding the duty free shopping. !!!

There is one domestic terminal that is quite new and pretty nice, but not all of the domestic carriers use it.

I agree 100% with travelmad.
Concerning pre-paid taxi: As you leave the arrival hall - been through security, you will find counters on the right-hand side. That is where you pay for the pre-paid taxi, you will get a number - and walk outside - where you can get the taxi. I wnr to Marine drive, it was 01h00 morining, and paid 450Rs for non-A/C taxi.
Happy travels