Finding a good fare to India

Nobody likes paying more than they have to for air tickets, so maybe we can pass on our experience finding a fare for this season as a kind of bench-mark for those still seeking.

In general, the best deals will be with travel agents who specialize in budget tickets -- some times called 'consolidators' or 'bucket shops' -- typically, these will be small, low overhead outfits catering primarily to an ethnic clientelle (which typically travel fairly regularly to visit family 'back home'). You will often find adverts for these shops in the weekend travel section of major newspapers. Otherwise, if your town has a 'Chinatown' or Indian commercial area, this is another place to start. For those living on the west coast of N. America, getting a 'cheap ticket' to Bangkok and buying an onward ticket from a Bangkok discounter is an economical alternative. (Bkk-Calcutta rt around $200 US, Bombay or Delhi a bit over $300 typically -- and you can 'open-jaw' tickets (i.e. Bkk-Bom returning Del-Bkk) for the average of the two fares. Olavi.com is one such Bangkok agent, but there are plenty of others to be found in the tourist area of Bangkok.

So what have you found? be sure to tell us where you are flying from and any restrictions, if any, on your ticket.

For me, Vancouver - Bombay rt with Singapore Airline, good for a year, CDN $1610 which is around $1000 US. Cathay Pacific was slightly higher, and it is possible to fly via Europe for $100-200 more. My flight requires an overnight in Singapore, but it is at the airline's expense.

And you?

Tarif's deregulation is totally unknown in Italy, my country, and when in India, I try do not compare how much I've paid with other travellers from Europe : of course they 've bought the same ticket (I mean the same Airlines, same validity, etc.) for half of the price. From Italy no direct flighs to India (except Alitalia to Bombay, but it leaves from Rome and I do not like Alitalia) , so we need to flight via London, Paris, Frankfurt or Zurigh. The fare is about 900 $ for a return ticket with fixed dates...

It is understandable that you dont like Alitalia. Only this summer, two friends of mine that flew to Italy on different dates and to different destinations found themselves without luggage!!]

Anyway, if I remember correctly , when I flew to India over year ago, I payed around 600€ (at the time 750$). The flight was Bilbao (Spain) to Frankfurt with IB and Frankfurt-Delhi with Lufthansa with an open return. I thought it was a good deal since I had booked the ticket quite late. British airways usually has better offers but you have to book well in advance to make sure you get the deal.
I am told that what also helps is flying to other less travelled destinations: Goa or Chennai for example! But I wonder how they compare in quality. Is the flight rougher? And what are customs like?

my original post is from last year, but things not much different from the west coast this year, though I'd hoped the much stronger CDN$ would have dropped prices somewhat from Canada. One member reported a better fare (YVR-DEL for $1350) with Asiana by flying through US, but this fare was only valid through September so I think around $1600 is still ok direct from Vancouver. One advantage of Singapore airline is that they fly to several cities in India and one can open-jaw to and from any of them for the same price.


Bangkok to India fares still around the same -- best if you can book ahead or are planning to be in Thailand for a while as it might not be possible to get a confirmed ticket out on really short notice.

Just had lunch with a couple going to India for the first time. They got fares (end of December departure, for a month) from San Francisco to Delhi (stop in Taipei) on China Air, USD 2100 R/T for both.

Hi,

m2 do you know what a return ticket Bangkok-Delhi is going for nowadays???

This is the route i'm going very soon, so have a special interest! I just assumed it would be easy to get a good price there.

I've seen flights from Vancouver to Bangkok for 800$
From Toronto to Delhi I found 1350$ !!! 6-month return! on Kuwait airlines, so theres the deal to shoot for nowadays!

all the above prices are in Canadian dollas by the way

STA travel (in Bangkok) show 13.500 baht (US $320) for rt BKK-DEL with Thai. Charlie Connection, mentioned in another thread was a bit cheaper, but using Biman (Bangladesh). Both are Koh San Rd travel agents and are just representative, I haven't dealt with either. There are many to check out if you are there in person. Here is the STA link which has prices (in baht, currently 43/USD) just for reference:

http://www.statravel.co.th/fare.html

I may think about the Bkk option from Vcr as well. I haven't checked Bkk prices lately and assumed they were still around $1k CDN. I'm still inclined to make it easy on myself and go direct via Singapore. I've used the BKK route 3 times to Mumbai and it worked out fine twice; the third time not so as the flights to Mumbai were so overbooked for the following two weeks that the airlines wouldn't even put more people on the wait-list. I wound up flying standby (successfully) to Kolkata but still had a long ways to go to get to Goa.

good luck with your plans!

m2

Scott, was that Tracy (LotusFlora) and Ray? If so, I believe I know the TA from whom they got their ticket and will post the info here.

Yes Gretchen, Tracy and Ray. The address regarding their TA would be nice; they got a good price . . . good enough to make me start going over my packing checklist . . .

This is a wonderful TA... he specializes in Australia, but gets these great-priced tickets to India. My friend there is Kaushik, and his wife is Suzy -- they have a few other people working in the agency, because Kaushik travels a lot.


World Travellers' Club
415-296-9626

I'm sure there's a website, too, but I've never looked for it!

I find the best place to get fares is through the travel agencies in the back of the local Indian magazines. For instance: just got a RT San Francisco to Delhi for $1050 on Cathay Pacific...only the "desi" travel agencies had this fare...

Hi All!
Actually we went with another TA because we found one that beat the World Travelers Club in San Francisco!!!

It's an agency in Sunnyvale and they gave me 1085.00 pp rt including all taxes whereas the World Travelers Club was charging us 1279.00 pp rt.
I couldn't pass up the Sunnyvale Travel Agency!

Indiagirl aka Lotusflora~!~

We're not going roundtrip to India, but are instead doing a "pseudo-RTW" ticket from Seattle to Bangkok to Mumbai, then from Delhi to Frankfurt, then from London to New York for U$ 1400 per ticket, including taxes (U$ 1245 before).

8 1/2 months, baby!!! Starting September 15...we can hardly wait.

Nice price, jonny . . . I feel your excitement! Have a Great Trip! Peace. Scott

that sounds good, jonny -- I've always thought the RTW tickets I've seen advertised seemed overpriced but I haven't tried to price out the pieces lately; looks like it's worthwhile to do the math.

...hey, less than a month to go...lucky you!