Air Sahara unveils new discount scheme

This item was copied from The Hindu Buisness Line.

NEW DELHI, April 10, 2003

AIR Sahara on Thursday announced reduction in fares, which could average as much as 50 per cent or more on almost all its flights.

The reduced cost of air travel would work out to be almost at par with what a passenger will pay for a second-class air-conditioned class Railway ticket on the same sector.

The level of discount that you will get on the ticket depends on how early the booking is done.

A passenger booking 5-9 days in advance will get a discount of about 10 per cent on the basic fare, while those booking 10-14 days before travel will get a discount of about 20 per cent.

The percentage of discount increases to 45-50 per cent for those booking their tickets 15-19 days before travel and peaks at about 57-58 per discounts for those who book 30-45 days in advance.

This means that a ticket on the Delhi-Chennai sector will cost Rs 3,600 against the normal one-way fare of Rs 9,989 if booked 30-45 days ahead of travel.

Similarly, a ticket booked 20-29 days before the date of travel on the same sector will cost Rs 3,850, while a booking made 10-14 days before the departure will rise to Rs 7,100.

"In line with the marketing initiatives the airline has been taking in the recent past, we have decided to offer more opportunities to passengers to enjoy travel by air. There is no cut-off date for the scheme," the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Uttam Kumar Bose, told Business Line.

The airline plans to offer about 2,000 seats a day.

It is pinning hopes that apart from flights to popular tourist destinations, the discounted price being offered to places which entail long train journeys will also attract passengers.

Air Sahara's homepage

This sounds fantastic, Steven. Do the fares apply to all of us or just resident Indians?

i was unable to get any more info, i think it may apply to tourist's as well, as they are aiming at second class air-con train passengers and that is what most tourists use.

i will try and find out more.

Excellent...keep us posted. As much as I love the trains, for the really long distance routes I'd choose air travel any day!

I had a look at terms & conditions :

"For USD Passengers


For USD passenger, currently the payment cannot be made online. This is due to the Government regulations, which disallow online USD bookings.

--

The passenger will make payment in USD while accepting the tickets at the counter.

For INR Passengers


For INR passenger, the payment can be made Online. This facility is available only for Indian Nationals residing in India."

I guess this means you can book at home online, but I coldn`t find out when you had to show up and buy the actual ticket in India.

i'd be willing to bet dollars to chapattis that this not available to non- residents, but I'd happily choke down a few if I'm wrong.

sure m2 is only for resident indians...the last but one para of the OP says so

among many other things this is another great reason to be born indian

But I could not find any such deals on there site. Let me know how to book that.