Finding a good fare to India -- 2005

ononotu

Round trip ticket on Air India from Newark, NJ to Mumbai, prime time. 12/16/05 - 1/6/06. Adult $1093.15 US, Child $849.15 US.
Bought ticket thru Travelocity.

Seeker710

Early June is my travel time from Madrid to Mumbai:
$893 (US) round trip
purchased using Travelocity using the flexible dates feature with a lot of patience trying different date combinations to find an airline that had both a reasonable rate AND seats available on dates that would work for me.

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Phillip

"I am a firm believer that EVERY person, every once in a while, needs a good ass kicking."

-anon

pkalra

I think u need to add $100 for 1 yr fare, confirm with the Travel Agent pls.

Jaya

I am flying on June 13 (just 29 days ( last day of so called low fare) from Boston - London Mumbai and coming back from delhi -London-Boston with British Airways. if i change my dates will have to pay around 3000 Rs in India.
Got the tickets for 1320 USD (tax included) Apparently BA charges 80% for children (rest of the airlines charge 75%), It was 1100 $ for my sons. Looks like BA is good for adults.
I found 2 agents “Alanita travels” (http://www.alanitatravel.com/) and Apollo Travels in Boston (617-876-4471) run by two brothers (Yash and Anil Sood) . I bought tickets from both the agents. Personally found Sood brothers better with service.

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DoDi

An Indian co-worker told me to call Madhavi at Travel Merchants (608) 245-1879 or (650) 348-7000. Web address: http://www.travelmerchants.com

Travel Merchants is a consolidator in Northern California... and they saved me $500 on my round trip tickets from SFO to Trivandrum in March this year. I had checked online discount ticket services and regular travel agencies... the best they could do was about $1400 when fees and taxes were all added in. Madhavi (not sure if that's the correct spelling of her name) booked me a wonderful trip all the way through on Singapore Air with a quite enjoyable one day stopover in Singapore.. and it cost me $900 total, taxes and fees included.

Yes that's right, $900.00 usd round trip, San Francisco to Trivandrum.

Madhavi and Travel Merchants get ***** rating from me.

BTW... There are things to criticize and bemoan about the current craze for outsourcing, yes indeedy..... but there are a few perks too if you think about it (and you like to travel to India). One of these is finding a best price airfare agent... My suggestionis that you go directly to an IT shop in your town and ask one of the Indians working there. They travel back and forth all the time and they know where to buy good cheap tickets.

ladyrunner

Depending on where you are in the US, you may get a lot of travel agency and discounted ticket offers through http://www.sulekha.com/travel/ or also if you prefer to buy tickets online www.makemytrip.com is a good one.

I personally call up at least 5-6 local travel agents (I am in Atlanta, GA, USA) at least 2-3 weeks and do bargain shopping. I'll post the numbers and names tomorrow, but most of these operate on a cash/check basis since the tickets are deeply discounted per them. Last year I flew Lufthansa from ATL-FRA-BLR in late november and return about 3 weeks later for $1375 incluidng taxes, bought via HK Travels .

This time however someone is offering me a 'buddy pass'...so that should be a further discount than a travel agent I suppose. I am going to use this type of pass for the first time, so I have no experience with it except that I was told fare would be around $250 + taxes for one way from Atlanta to Mumbai/Chennai.

mitcham

Hello all,

I was just wondering whether or not someone could tell me whether there are 'bucket shops' in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne?

I am looking for a cheap flight leaving in Nov 2005 [Sydney to Chennai, Delhi to Sydney], returning within 3 months. I have contacted Redtree Travels about the cheap flight that was suggested a few posts back. I have also been quoted a $1600 flight with Student Flights, which I was going to take before I came to this forum.

As it is my first trip overseas, I feel that if I tried the Bangkok to India cheap fare thingy, I would just end up being royally screwed.

Any help would be appreciated.

john.sw

It is a nightmare trying to get the best fares.

Web site and newspaper adverts have "FROM" prices, and when you contact them the price doubles.

There is one web site that I always check for long haul flights:

http://www.travelsupermarket.com/fli...rStep1.asp?p=0

It only has flights from the UK to Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi, but it is pretty useful to see what fares are about.

For my flight later this month, Travel Supermarket showed a return trip from Heathrow to Bombay - Direct flight with British Airways - for UK Pounds £395.90

I went onto the British Airways web site and booked it with an Amex Card for the UK Pounds £390.10 including Blairport tax, etc.

The travel agents we use at work couldn't find any flights for less than UK Pounds £426.00. Their systems told them that the British Airways flights were sold out! No doubt, BA keep a few tickest back for themselves...

Booking internal flights in India through a UK travel company will at least double the fare.

For example, the best fare on Expedia was £751.90

So, to get the best prices, you really have to do your homework. It is a real bore, but my journey from London to Bangalore and back, including internal flights, has cost UK Pounds £166.00 less than any of the travel agents could come up with.

UK Pounds £166.00 (Rs.13250/-) goes a long way in India!

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Kanbe

Does anyone have any price estimates flying return to any city in India from Kuala Lumpur or Hanoi? for a 30/35 day ticket.

Also, any online travel websites to book ex Kuala Lumpur...Im not really looking for general airticket sites like travelocity...but like a site that exclusively deals with flights ex Malaysia (I posted up one http://www.ticketworld.com.my/ previously but I need more options...Im on more of a budget that what is offered on that site).

thanks!

-m2-

I have updated the Vancouver section to include a couple of limited time seat sales available from Bains Travel: 6505 Fraser 604-324-2277, 1-800-661-3488 Prices in $ CAD.

Singapore Airlines: several destinations in India, the fare for tickets purchased for fall departure $1350 + tax (must be bought before July 15)

Cathay-Pacific: Delhi or Mumbai for $1400 + tax

British Airways: via London $1380 (overnite in London, no hotel provided)

These fares sound good to me -- Singapore has been around $1600 for the past 2 years, and Cathay Pacific $1650!

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I have also added:

Goyal Travel: 4152 Fraser 604-877-7777 has Japan Airlines, Delhi via Tokyo for $1600 + tax. Overnite in Tokyo with hotel provided.
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if you have found a good fare to India for this season, please let us know about it and include the contact info and any limitations!

webtraveller

Friends, Please include the currency you are talking.
Say, when it is from Vancouver, I presume CAD. But when I see the $ symbol then, I suddenly dont remember anything other than US $? Some times seeing those $1600 plus tax, I get dizzy. Then I have say myself, oh yeah, it may be a different currency.

-m2-

point taken, done.

currently the approx exchange rate is $1 CAD = $.80 USD or $1 USD = $1.25 CDN

Maisie Bee

London > Goa

After reading an article in the London Evening Standard that airfares were going up because of increasing oil prices I checked on my 2nd favourite web site (www.southalltravel.co.uk).

I found to my delight that the price war has begun and I have just bought return tickets, London/Goa via Mumbai ......leaving London mid November and returning mid March '06 for £350 + taxes with Jet Airways, as opposed to £500+ with BA.

eater

Montreal > Bombay --- $1900 Canadian --- July 2005
All taxes included.
Air France, Leaving Montreal July 9 change planes Paris > Bombay
Return from Bombay july 24 change planes Paris > Montreal

On line booking , Air France website

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Just happy to be here.........

camelgirl

That's a very good fare and not a bucket shop! BTW, there will be a new non-stop direct from Newark to New Delhi on Continental (14 hrs. ) starting Nov. 1 and it's $1,390 from their website.