[mridula]

I was trying to search for information about whether Agra has an airport or not. I am sure this must have been discussed at the site. But the right hand corner link is very fond of pulling lot of information but not google like. I remember there was a google 'search this site' option earlier on the front page of IM. Where did it vanish?

And why do all travel agent sites are so fond of telling that you can take a flight to Agra when I can't find any flights listed by Jet, Air Deccan or Spicejet. Indian Airlines lists Agra in cities but gives no flight schedule for Delhi-Agra even if I vary the dates and check the weekly schedule. Can someone solve the mystery?

[nadreg]

Originally Posted by mridula

I was trying to search for information about whether Agra has an airport or not. I am sure this must have been discussed at the site. But the right hand corner link is very fond of pulling lot of information but not google like. I remember there was a google 'search this site' option earlier on the front page of IM. Where did it vanish?

Click on Search and then click on Advanced Search in the drop down. You'll see Google Search on the top part of the page.

[steven_ber]

Originally Posted by mridula

And why do all travel agent sites are so fond of telling that you can take a flight to Agra when I can't find any flights listed by Jet, Air Deccan or Spicejet. Indian Airlines lists Agra in cities but gives no flight schedule for Delhi-Agra even if I vary the dates and check the weekly schedule. Can someone solve the mystery?

First, there are no longer any scheduled flights to Agra, there used to be a few years ago (Delhi-Agra-Khajuraho-Varanasi, then the plane came back to via the same route), but this flight was withdrawn.

Travel agents often just steal info from other websites (Any google search will find the same info repeated word for word by hundreds of travel agents), what doesn't help is that many state websites offer poor advice in the first place, then this is copied be travel agents, and even worse, there never seems to be any attempt to update the info, all in all, there is a lot of poor info out there, but when lots of people are offering the same info, it tends to be believed.

Regarding searching for flights, there is no need to go to individual airline websites now, the following 2 flight search websites are very good, the first one is the most comprehensive and accurate (100%), the second one is easier on the eye and about 99% accurate.

http://www.ixigo.com/html/home.ixi

http://www.cleartrip.com/

Sadly, you still have to search day by day for flights that may not operate daily, how difficult would it be for these websites to add a 'get weekly schedule' button (after initial day search)?

[Nick-H]

...easier still would be the facility, offered by some airline sites, to set a +-n days when giving your dates, so it returns the nearest dates that are available.

I do like the way BA does this.

[steven_ber]

Originally Posted by Nick-H

...easier still would be the facility, offered by some airline sites, to set a +-n days when giving your dates, so it returns the nearest dates that are available.

It's not really about availability, more about knowing your options when planning an itinerary.

I've posted some 'feedback' on the iXiCO website with some suggestions, lets see if anything comes of it.

[Nick-H]

That's what I meant, really.

But even when planning a simple journey it is such a pain to have to try different dates before hitting a day-of-the-week on which your journey is possible.

[mridula]

Nadreg, Steven and Nick, thanks a lot for your replies. My interest in the flights is more academic than travel at the moment Both the sites don't let you search for weekly schedule. Only the Indian Airlines site let you do that for its schedule.