Cut-rate domestic air fares

jarman_ah

Our local (Sydney, Australia) newspaper carried an item this week about a plummeting in price of domestic airfares in India by all three major carriers.... the item said that it is now slightly cheaper to travel by plane between major cities than it is to go by rail. An Indian Airlines fare of 2500 rupees for Mumbai-Delhi was quoted.

However, on testing out these fares on all three carriers' websites, I have only come up with the usual fares, at least three times the rate mentioned above. Have I just been unlucky, or are there special rules/conditions of which I am not aware? Are these fares available to foreigners or for purchase over the net?

pkalra

hi

the discount fares are Indian Rs fare and not available to people from outside india. As You are searching from OZ , you are not seeing those fares. contact someone in India to buy it for you or PM me and I can send you some details for trvael agent in Sydney to buy domestic fare in India.

I booked some flights recently on the special fares

guerik

It won't help you get from Mumbai - Delhi but Deccan Airways are offering cheap flights on a number of routes at the moment (link takes you to thread where it is discussed).

jarman_ah

Thanks to both of you for this! Pkalra, I have sent you a private message.

Scuba

Is it possible to buy plane tickets in Indian rs for non-indians?

jarman_ah

This question, thanks to some good advoice above, has now been solved very successfully.... I finished up booking with Air Deccan, via their on-line booking site. While I couldn't get the best fare from Mumbai to Delhi (they offer 700 rupees!!) on the date I wanted, I was still more than happy with the fare of 2100 rupees. And, yes, that fare in rupees was available to non-Indians. In Australian money that's about $65 to cross most of India, and that's a pretty cheap fare by anyone's standards.

radz

Jarman-ah cool please update here later, how is the service and expericence
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Deccan Air: discount airline adds flights

rhytha

the catch is you need to book 3 months advance

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ace

Hi all!

A few questions:

1. This Air Deccan fare . . . can we get it if we are not Indian? The website says nothing about it being offered just to indians, but is that the case? If so, is there a way around it (travel agent, etc.)?

2. Has anyone travelled on Air Deccan who can give us info -- eg. is this a reliable airline? are the schedules good?

We'd appreciate any info you have!

Thanks,
ace

radz

ace ,please read above reply post 6,8.
Hope it will answer your query.

ace

oops . . . missed the line "and ya, that fare was available to non-Indians" . . . i guess that's what happens when you try to read these things at 2:30 am!

i also read the indian times article -- nice post! and i know it's "no frills" but is it reliable? has anyone tried it? i, like you, am still waiting for someone to either tell me -- this is good service at a cheap price, just as good as any of the other more expensive airlines . . . or, don't bother, it's terrible, doesn't run on time, always gets cancelled, unreliable, not worth the cheaper fare

Hopefully, somebody will try it, and report their experiences back here on IM!

guerik

Even with a date 3 months in advance I'm finding it impossible to get a cheap airfare through Deccan now - anyone have any ideas?

jarman_ah

I can only suggest changing your dates slightly... the fare I booked for 2100R is now down to 1600R, three days later. Clearly these fares are volatile. Try your fare again in a couple of days and see what turns up.

The "no frills" article was interesting (thanks for pointing it out).... I don't think I'll worry about missing my free lunch on a 1 1/2 hour flight.... what I want to know is, are the planes as safe as the "big players", and, if so, do they run on time?