Best Place to go for Deal on Airfare?

rob2go · Sep 24th, 2003, 01:03

looking to fly to either bombay or dehli @ start of november for 2 months. can leave from toronto or east coast (NYC, BWI). Can anyone recommend best consolidator in USA/CAN? Deals?
thanks!

wonderwomanusa · Sep 24th, 2003, 04:16

Have you checked the Sunday NYT Travel Section for deals? Those little teeny ads are often from consolidators.

rob2go · Sep 24th, 2003, 04:24

thanks, i happen to have the paper from sunday, so I will look there. any other suggestions much appreciated as we hunt airfares!

wonderwomanusa · Sep 24th, 2003, 04:27

You can try these folks, though they are on the West Coast; I know others who have had some good fares from them:

[http://www.around-the-world.com/terms.htm

-m2- · Sep 24th, 2003, 06:07

Toronto has a large Indo community so there will be many travel agents specializing in good fares to India -- if you have some Indo-Canadian friends they should be able to point you in the right direction, or you can check the travel section of the weekend newspaper for adverts.

For comparison with what you find in the NYTimes for flights from NYC, you could check the 'make my trip' website which is currently showing fares of $900 + $157 tax NY - Delhi (via Gulf), $935 + $155 (via Air India) and $1095 + $115 (Virgin). (I didn't check the fine-print)

http://www.makemytrip.com/default.asp?addcamp=toiban

rob2go · Sep 24th, 2003, 06:12

I am following everybody's suggestions. but so far, it looks like flyus2india has the best deal w/ air india @1025 coming back on dec 26 or $1225 (w/ free stop) if we stay until jan 10. RA (in the NYT) had a good flight around the same fare w/ american via zurich...
do these sound like good fares?

Tanuki · Sep 24th, 2003, 08:06

Rob, have you checked Air Canada? They are starting non-stop service from Toronto to Delhi next month, with special introductory prices. I paid $1172 USD round-trip from Boston via Toronto, so it would be a lot less for you.

rob2go · Sep 24th, 2003, 08:32

AC is taking a whopping $2767.05 for a similar flight for our dates!! I guess $1250 is sounding ballpark anyway -- there doesn't seem to be any knockout $1k flights.

turlapati · Sep 24th, 2003, 10:58

I have searched every online spot, travel agent, airlines themselves. The best deals I have found is through Delightful Tours. 1-888-889-2968. I always deal with Rao Dukkipaty. He just booked our October tickets and was really helpful. We are flying Emirates. His prices were 1/2 the published fares. Good luck.

rob2go · Sep 25th, 2003, 00:52

Do they have a website, email or local #? the 888 doesn't work from canada.
thanks

mjball · Oct 13th, 2003, 07:12

YEs I couldn't find their website...is there one?

rickshawwallah · Oct 13th, 2003, 08:56

Delightful tours has no website.
Their local phone # is 212 391-1919. They are just one of dozens of consolidators in midtown Manhattan, any one of which may be offering the best fare on any given day. You'll find ads for these companies in the Village Voice. Some companies also advertise in the New York Times travel section, but the Voice is much cheaper to advertise in, and targets low-budget travelers more specifically.

mjball: your location says "Australia". You should try looking for similar consolidators in Sydney or Melbourne. Whatever the "alternative newspaper" is in that area should have the ads.

mjball · Oct 13th, 2003, 15:06

Thanks for that....will have a look around. If any other Australians out there know of a consolidator in Melbourne, would be great!

e101g · Oct 13th, 2003, 22:53

Here is an older version of the US-India Travel agents survey.
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/grads/k/Pri...hli/agents.txt
Please google for the new version.

I use TravelEase in Rochester, NY. (Ask for Jane.)

atongchan · Sep 27th, 2005, 17:04

just an advisory against using make my trip either to fly to or from India.

makemytrip may look like a nice site, their fares might actually be a little lower, however unless you are *absolutely* clear with the operators on chat, you will run into problems.

their customer service and the majority of their operators (and I've sadly had to deal with a few) are abysmal.

I don't wish to rant, however I briefly will share the MMT experience. I had purchased a ticket in March for June-September 2005, explicitly asking what the fee would be if I extended the ticket to December. Thus informed, I purchased and have been in India since June. Then last week I sought to make the change to December and was informed my ticket was valid for only FOUR MONTHS, though I was not informed at purchase nor did the fare rules appended to my ticket note this.

So I urge you if you do use them (and I'm now wary of using them) that you ask EVERY question.

My status now is basically fighting with them daily, being promised callbacks with none arriving. Although they have checked the chat logs and explicitly acknowledged it was their error not to inform me at purchase, they are dragging their feet, delaying, refusing to change my ticket until they are certain the airline won't charge them for extending the ticket.

Customer service, in truth, has been serviceless. And I still await a change, though my original departure date is in less than 2 days.

They have now decided that if the airline doesn't extend my ticket, then the responsibility of MakeMyTrip, in spite of acknowledging *their* error, and in spite of the fact that I would *not* have purchased the ticket had i known it would be unextendable through december, they take NO RESPONSIBILITY for their mistake.

NO customer service in other words, and NO accountability even if it's their error.

At any rate beware makemytrip, beware any price that looks cheaper than the rest, there are likely to be hidden 'costs' either in stress or in money.

Sep 24th, 2003, 01:03	#1
rob2go Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: toronto-nyc Posts: 9	Best Place to go for Deal on Airfare? looking to fly to either bombay or dehli @ start of november for 2 months. can leave from toronto or east coast (NYC, BWI). Can anyone recommend best consolidator in USA/CAN? Deals? thanks!

Sep 24th, 2003, 04:16	#2
wonderwomanusa Maha Guru Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Dhaka Posts: 3,570	Have you checked the Sunday NYT Travel Section for deals? Those little teeny ads are often from consolidators. __________________ The map is not the territory. --Alfred Korzybski

Sep 24th, 2003, 06:12	#6
rob2go Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: toronto-nyc Posts: 9	tell me more! I am following everybody's suggestions. but so far, it looks like flyus2india has the best deal w/ air india @1025 coming back on dec 26 or $1225 (w/ free stop) if we stay until jan 10. RA (in the NYT) had a good flight around the same fare w/ american via zurich... do these sound like good fares?

Sep 24th, 2003, 10:58	#9
turlapati Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: texas Posts: 95	I have searched every online spot, travel agent, airlines themselves. The best deals I have found is through Delightful Tours. 1-888-889-2968. I always deal with Rao Dukkipaty. He just booked our October tickets and was really helpful. We are flying Emirates. His prices were 1/2 the published fares. Good luck. __________________ susan turlapati

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Sep 24th, 2003, 04:24	#3
rob2go Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: toronto-nyc Posts: 9	thanks, i happen to have the paper from sunday, so I will look there. any other suggestions much appreciated as we hunt airfares!

Sep 24th, 2003, 04:27	#4
wonderwomanusa Maha Guru Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Dhaka Posts: 3,570	You can try these folks, though they are on the West Coast; I know others who have had some good fares from them: [http://www.around-the-world.com/terms.htm

Sep 24th, 2003, 06:07	#5
-m2- . Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: . Posts: 1,577	Toronto has a large Indo community so there will be many travel agents specializing in good fares to India -- if you have some Indo-Canadian friends they should be able to point you in the right direction, or you can check the travel section of the weekend newspaper for adverts. For comparison with what you find in the NYTimes for flights from NYC, you could check the 'make my trip' website which is currently showing fares of $900 + $157 tax NY - Delhi (via Gulf), $935 + $155 (via Air India) and $1095 + $115 (Virgin). (I didn't check the fine-print) http://www.makemytrip.com/default.asp?addcamp=toiban

Sep 24th, 2003, 08:06	#7
Tanuki Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Boston, MA, USA Posts: 7	Rob, have you checked Air Canada? They are starting non-stop service from Toronto to Delhi next month, with special introductory prices. I paid $1172 USD round-trip from Boston via Toronto, so it would be a lot less for you.

Sep 24th, 2003, 08:32	#8
rob2go Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: toronto-nyc Posts: 9	AC is taking a whopping $2767.05 for a similar flight for our dates!! I guess $1250 is sounding ballpark anyway -- there doesn't seem to be any knockout $1k flights.

Sep 25th, 2003, 00:52	#10
rob2go Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: toronto-nyc Posts: 9	Do they have a website, email or local #? the 888 doesn't work from canada. thanks

Oct 13th, 2003, 07:12	#11
mjball Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 129	YEs I couldn't find their website...is there one?

Oct 13th, 2003, 08:56	#12
rickshawwallah I know cheap and best! Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: New York City, USA Posts: 204	Delightful tours has no website. Their local phone # is 212 391-1919. They are just one of dozens of consolidators in midtown Manhattan, any one of which may be offering the best fare on any given day. You'll find ads for these companies in the Village Voice. Some companies also advertise in the New York Times travel section, but the Voice is much cheaper to advertise in, and targets low-budget travelers more specifically. mjball: your location says "Australia". You should try looking for similar consolidators in Sydney or Melbourne. Whatever the "alternative newspaper" is in that area should have the ads.

Oct 13th, 2003, 15:06	#13
mjball Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 129	Thanks for that....will have a look around. If any other Australians out there know of a consolidator in Melbourne, would be great!

Oct 13th, 2003, 22:53	#14
e101g Just a dude.. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: USofA Posts: 58	Here is an older version of the US-India Travel agents survey. http://www.cc.gatech.edu/grads/k/Pri...hli/agents.txt Please google for the new version. I use TravelEase in Rochester, NY. (Ask for Jane.)

User Name		Remember Me?
Password

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
What's the deal with Sandals?	saikyo	Packing Tips for India travel	62	Dec 4th, 2008 04:52
How to deal with customs?	NeoAsimov	Crossing the Border	32	May 30th, 2005 15:56
Good deal UK - India	Stoi	Domestic India Flights	0	Nov 26th, 2003 18:10
Airfare	sockeyeron	Domestic India Flights	1	Jun 7th, 2003 10:00

Sep 27th, 2005, 17:04	#15
atongchan Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Mysore Posts: 6	just an advisory against using make my trip either to fly to or from India. makemytrip may look like a nice site, their fares might actually be a little lower, however unless you are absolutely clear with the operators on chat, you will run into problems. their customer service and the majority of their operators (and I've sadly had to deal with a few) are abysmal. I don't wish to rant, however I briefly will share the MMT experience. I had purchased a ticket in March for June-September 2005, explicitly asking what the fee would be if I extended the ticket to December. Thus informed, I purchased and have been in India since June. Then last week I sought to make the change to December and was informed my ticket was valid for only FOUR MONTHS, though I was not informed at purchase nor did the fare rules appended to my ticket note this. So I urge you if you do use them (and I'm now wary of using them) that you ask EVERY question. My status now is basically fighting with them daily, being promised callbacks with none arriving. Although they have checked the chat logs and explicitly acknowledged it was their error not to inform me at purchase, they are dragging their feet, delaying, refusing to change my ticket until they are certain the airline won't charge them for extending the ticket. Customer service, in truth, has been serviceless. And I still await a change, though my original departure date is in less than 2 days. They have now decided that if the airline doesn't extend my ticket, then the responsibility of MakeMyTrip, in spite of acknowledging their error, and in spite of the fact that I would not have purchased the ticket had i known it would be unextendable through december, they take NO RESPONSIBILITY for their mistake. NO customer service in other words, and NO accountability even if it's their error. At any rate beware makemytrip, beware any price that looks cheaper than the rest, there are likely to be hidden 'costs' either in stress or in money.