Bangkok to Chennai

edoq

Hi,

I'm considering 3 options for flying into India from Thailand (I have to reach Chennai by specific date)

1. Evening flight Bangkok to Kolkata by Kingfisher, then 28-hour journey to Chennai by train
2. Evening flight Bangkok to Mumbai by Jet, then overnight stay in airport/hotel in Mumbai, then morning flight Mumbai to Chennai
3. Morning flight Bangkok to Mumbai by Jet, then evening flight Mumbai to Chennai

prices are roughly the same - it's a bit cheaper to fly into Kolkata if then take Sleeper class in the train, a bit more expensive with 2A class, but all within +-10% range.

As I see, advantages/disadvantages are:
for the first option - long train journey, spending the whole day in the train, travelling in Sleeper is not very comfortable, hard to get tickets for other classes - waitlists are already rather long. By the other hand this route looks more direct - no unnecessary sidestep to Mumbai and only one flight, train travel may be more interesting.

for the second option - two flights instead of one, overnight staying in busy airport or rushing to/from hotel for a relatively short sleep, airline seems less classy than Kingfisher. But saving one day and avoiding long train ride.

3rd option compared to 2nd has shorter connection, but neary the whole light day is spent in flying-connecting-flying.

What would you choose?

nycank

One way or round trip ? Thai Airways flies non-stop to MAA(Chennai) Srilankan via Colombo would be cheaper.

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bade bhaisaheb is outsourced

edoq

round trip: Kolkata->BKK->Kolkata or Chennai

For my dates Thai Airways are much more (about 2 times) expensive when flying back directly to Chennai, but rather cheap if to Kolkata. But if flying by Thai to Kolkata, there's tight connection: arrival at 21:05 and train to Chennai departs at 23:45. So there's only 2h 40m and AFAIK the train station is about 1.5h by taxi from the airport.

edoq

Unfortunately for my dates these flights are either fully booked or more expensive (all the cheap tickets are sold out, I suppose). So only Kingfisher and Jet are on the list.

ribhu95

hv u tried flying in into blore or hyd ?

also try buying a Kingfisher or jet ticket via mumbai / kolkata to chennai......they are likely to give a good deal including the local leg......

ribhu

nycank

Your round trip is originating in India or Thailand ? Is it BKK-CCU-BKK OR CCU-BKK-CCU ?

edoq

in India: CCU-BKK-CCU
or CCU-BBK-BOM-MAA

nycank

CCU-BKK-CCU is indeed the cheapest @286USD for January flights and Air India Express at USD198 for mid November flights.

Boston123

You may want to consider a stopover/change at a airport outside India. E.g. Singapore airlines, Bangkok to Singapore, then non stop Singapore to Chennai.

edoq

Yes, I did it - and after all found the best option for me is to fly by Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur to Trichi, then stay there overnight and take morning train to Chennai. More convenient, more interesting and cheaper.

And now I have to choose between Jet Airways and Kingfisher for flying from Kolkata to Chennai. Departure/arrival times are nearly the same, and Kingfisher is slightly (i.e. about 1200INR/ticket) more expensive. Is Kingfisher really better and worth this additional money?

gaurav1441

If the Jet airways is not the Jet Airways Konnect flight you can book the Jet Airways flight if timings suits you more.

edoq

No, it's direct flight (as well as with Kingfisher) and Kingfisher timings are slightly better also - they depart 30 minutes earlier and arrive one hour earlier than Jet. They somehow manage to fly 30 minutes faster. Also I've heard they have less delays, better aircrafts and so on, and inclining to take Kingfisher - but want some confirmation that they are still the best.

gaurav1441

Just make sure it is not "Kingfisher Red" Flight

edoq

The flight info is:

KINGFISHER AIRLINES
Non-Stop / IT 21
Cabin: Kingfisher Class/Kingfisher Red / Airbus A321-100/200

No first class on this flight - when I select this option I'm still given "Kingfisher Class/Kingfisher Red" for the same price. So is it actually Kingfisher Red? If yes, is it really worse than Jet Airways?

ribhu95

It shouldn't matter......it all depends on one's preference. no significant difference.

Personally, I would still suggest jet.

ribhu