Air India Direct vs CX via HK Hey Guys - have an upcoming work trip to India and want to get peoples thoughts on air India J direct SYD-DEL vs CX J SYD-HKG-DEL.

Air India Direct vs CX via HK

Hey Guys - have an upcoming work trip to India and want to get peoples thoughts on air India J direct SYD-DEL vs CX J SYD-HKG-DEL.

Direct will save about 5 hours, but don't know if its worth it?

SC's and FF points are not a priority on this trip.

Personally I would choose AI. Its a direct flight with convinient timings. You can still earn FF points on any *A members. AI runs its dreamliner on its route & has fully-flat beds. The two criterias to consider are IFE & food. IFE collection is not as good as CX. So if you are carrying your own tab/laptop then you should be fine. If you like Indian food then you will enjoy a hearty meal. There is a western selection too but do not expect top of line wines & elegantly presented continental dishes. After much deliberation I decided to travel SYD-LHR in J early this year and had a good & uneventful experience including transit. Nothing like some of the bad reviews I read online.        

Definetley AI, their product is actually alright, not on par witht the major airlines but is still a good product. With convienent departure times, a dreamliner and being non-stop definetley AI

CX. Go and read the AI reviews in FT etc. 

What an interesting proposition....

How does one value the trade-off of 5 hours?