checking airfares to India

akt

I am sure you know your requirements best but having played the airfare game for years, I may be able to contribute some thoughts.

First, being slow, I'd like to clarify the numbers 1500 and 1200. Not sure how 1500 is lowest if 1200 is possible...Do you mean that if you flew right now, the best fare is 1200 but 1500 on your desired dates (what are those?)?

Of course, every contraint costs money, some cost big money, and none should be invoked lightly. Still, let's avoid AI---what the heck, we won't consider one of the cheapest options. However, what about "direct"?

Can you fly direct from Chicago to Chennai? If it is not Chicago-Chennai direct, then it is not direct. If you must change plane somewhere in Europe, then it is no less direct to do so in Delhi.

In fact, do look into connecting in Delhi. There is much more competition and cheaper fares available to Delhi. Then, very cheap domestic flights availble from Delhi-Chennai (these are ignored by international search engines, making their price-comparison results essentially useless).

*One* change of planes between Chicago and Chennai if you use American to Delhi, that's no less direct than what anybody else has to offer.

With two changes you can consider Continental too. (On American, it is 15 hours to Delhi; on Continental 17 hours.)

ba9rn

If it's true you don't really mean direct in its literal sense, you might find that British Airways via London would be one of the least expensive options (given your downer against AI). They often have good deals, and will depend when you are going.

__________________
"After the battle, many new ghosts cry. The solitary old man murmurs in his grief." Du Fu

akt

I don't know the Chicago-Chennai route, but my guess is one flies to a European hub (London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam) and then changes planes to Chennai. That's the modern hub system.

The extra option I was suggesting YogaGal look into is conencting in Delhi. There are tons of cheap dometic flights within India. Delhi-Chennai is 1000+ miles, about 15% of the journey, so it can make a meaningful impact on the total price. These options are not covered by international price-comparison sites and have to looked at "manually".

cyberhippie

Online booking ISN'T always the cheapest. I happened to be in the Indian Tourist Dept in Amsterdam a couple of weeks ago. There was an Air India flight for as cheap as I'd seen it online, with TWO free domestic flights thrown in. The good old fashioned Travel Agent can still beat the big online companies.
In fact some of the bigger online bookers should be had under the trade description act their prices are so bad!

akt

You are absolutely right. What I have learned is that no single formula can be trusted to keep working. Quite a change from those innocent days when I thought all I needed was one good travel agent who'll take care of me forever. While he offered me tea each time, eventually I found I was paying about $100 more than my friends.

I like to consult:

(1) A few price-comparison sites (these days it is Kayak and ITA Softeware, but I have learned not to get wedded to anything and to keep looking).

Such sites can bring up odd possibilites I'd never think about checking: Once I found the cheapest connection via Helsinki, some Finnair promotion. I have known friends who found awesome deals to India via Iceland, Turkey, or Indonesia! These tend to be one-time opportunities, not something to count on.

(2) A few individual airline sites. Airlines often have deals on their sites that somehow have not been communicated to the outside world yet.

(3) AirfareWatchdog.com . I do look at the most promising airlines myself, but this site monitors many more for any specials.

(4) A few ethnic travel agents. Sometimes they have the best deal.

With practice one can get a decent idea in 30 miuntes and do a pretty thorough research in a few hours.

cyberhippie

Buy the ticket and see a cheaper price in the newspaper two days later

Sod's law

Sama

"direct": I mean direct as in "I don't want to make 10 different stops along with the way starting in places like Outer Slobovia...."

In other words, direct as possible. the two times I've flown Lufthansa to Chennai has been Chicago-Frankfurt-Frankfort. so yes, Delhi would be an option.

Sure I've seen cheaper fares....but also with 2 or 3 stops along the way. The flight from Chicago is long enough so I don't want it turning into a 24+ hour flight, which I've seen.

and yes, I have seen "cheap" flights to Delhi going on to Chennai (like AA connecting with Air Sahara to Chennai), requiring an overnight stay in Delhi....but I don't want to stay overnight in Delhi. To me that's just a waste of my time.

__________________
My India, 2005-2008

"a clear conscience is the sign of a bad memory"

SteamBuff

YogaGal and why the "No Air India" ?

akt

There must be another law...that the lower price you see really does not include all taxes and the true price is higher anyway.

akt

OK, I understand, you used the word "direct" in a personalized way but it has a standard meaning in the industry. You are said to fly "direct" when you don't change the planes, although your plane can be making stops along the way.

Now a days, airports often require all passengers to deplane, with their belongings, sit in a lounge, and go through security before reboarding the plane. I find it no different from changng planes, so "direct" has lost its meaning for me, and a flight is either "non-stop" or it is not.

I pay most attention to price, and for small diiferences (say <$50) to the total time spent in flying and airports. Although I do like certain airlines, airports, and airline food better than others, I have found that such considerations increase the price more than they are worth to me.

My attitude towards breaking journey is also different from yours, so let me try a little advocasy: Rather than arrive exhausted at my destination and crash there, I prefer to sleep a night in the middle, arrive refreshed and be a normal person there. Two 9 hour flights seperated by one night's sleep feel very different from one 22-hour marathon (9+9+4 hours at the airport). In particular, if an airline was offering a night at their expense (it does happen), I would grab that chance for sure! (Does AA-Sahara deal include free hotel, or are you on your own?)

So do consider connecting in Delhi, even sleeping a night there. There are many cheap options to Delhi, but AA arrives at 8:30PM, perfect for catching a night's sleep! Sleep in and take a late morning flight to Chennai. You don't have to take Sahara. Many airlines fly Dehhi-Channai. For a fraction of the money you save, you can even fly King Fisher for a truly deluxe experience.

Merchant

It's still fairly tough to get to Chennai directly and cheaply. You can try Kuwait Air, with brief touchdowns in London and Kuwait City, before continuing on to Chennai. I tried to do this last summer but was delayed to London (due to weather in New York), missed a connection in Kuwait, and so was sent to Mumbai and picked up by Jet Airways for the Chennai leg.

Easy and cheap don't really go together in terms of air travel to India. You can pretty much land in whatever city you want, with a minimum of layovers and changes, if you are willing to pay for it.

If you don't want to pay more than $1,200, you are going to have to change planes somewhere and land in Delhi or Mumbai.

cyberhippie

Never a truer word spoken!

For us Europeans I suppose it's a bit of a breeze, 8-9 hours and you're in Delhi/Mumbai
So budget tickets are a better option for Europeans, than those of our stateside cousins (in that a quick stopover in the Middle East won't add loads of travel time on an already long flight)

As a traveler who hates flying I can see YG's dilemma

Sama

the air fare game, whether it's domestic or international, is nothing but a crap shoot as far as I'm concerned. as I said, it's the luck of the draw depending on what hour of the day or night you check fares. That $1200 Air France fare was a fluke. Now it's over $1500.

I saw an excellent program a while back on PBS about American Airlines -- how the seats are priced, what number of seats they hold back for consolidators, how you might pay $150 for a seat and the guy next to you paid $700 an hour later, how much they make per seat, how many seats they need to sell to break even on the flight, etc etc etc.

it's all a game and may the best (wo)man win.

Merchant

A game, true.

But did you know that air fares are at historical lows? It costs less per mile to fly now than it ever did in the history of commercial aviation.

pbrandma

I have found the cheapest fares on this site

http://farechase.yahoo.com/