Finding a good fare to India -- 2005

crvlvr

docgirl, i just purchased tickets to India. I called my travel agent for the same rate, and he could not match it. I guess we will finally be able to get international tickets to India on internet at lower costs than from agents.

But I ended up calling BA over the phone (and paid the extra $20) and then paid an extra $20 so that the ticket is "changeble" . The lowest fare allowed "no changes" and the flex fare was not available online. BA just started offerring direct flights into bangalore. Lufthansa is the only other airlines, and they have hiked up their rates to astronomical levels -- suring the peak season.

mobissimo is especially great for travel to europe. itasoftware has great rates on domestic carriers too. For some reason, the low fares for airlines along the pacific (malaysia, Singapore) do not come up on either of the websites.

itasoftware is less expensive as, per their claims, they charge only 20 cents per bbooking. the other sites must charge more.

edwardseco

Great thread although I find a good agent with a consolidator link to be value added. Just one reminder that there is an interesting risk, though small, in using consolidator tickets. The title to that ticket belongs to the consolidator and if it goes under so does your ticket not with standing the airline symbol, etc. on the ticket. Had it happen once and discovered this ugly fact. Fortunately, travel in India teaches always keep trying. Therefore, I submitted the ticket to numerous clerks until I got one to accept it..

redleader

well, I'm still shopping for tix. I've found only one or two acceptable deals online but I'm kind of wanting to actual talk to a local travel agent. For one, I want to make sure that I get a ticket that will qualify for frequent flyer miles. Last year I flew to Hong Kong on Sinagpore. Singapor is a Star Alliance member and so I can accrue miles on Singapore with my United Airlines Mileage Plus account. However, when I submitted my tix to United for credit, they told me that the Singapore ticket was a "discounted" or "special fare" ticket that didn't qualify for frequent flyer miles What a waste!

Second, I want to make sure I get a flexible tix. My work schedule might change and I might be flying out of a diff city than first anticipated, so i want to make sure that I get one that is flexible. I get the feeling that dealing with an actual live travel agent might be able to iron out any kinks that could come up. I live in San Francisco Bay Area, does anyone know of any good travel agents around here that can get me tix to India ?

Thanks!

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have a happy day!

mitcham

Big thanks to you, Sticky! I am always lurking on IM, it is my number one way of procrastinating at university – I just don't post because usually my questions have already been answered, and I don't want to be redundant. Anyway, I saw this post, went on the website, found a cheaper fare than the one we'd previously booked, and we were able to transfer it over. So instead of spending $1526 with Thai Airways, we are spending $1300 with Singapore Airlines [flight was $920 plus $380 taxes]. Hurrah for Sticky and India Mike!

jem

Hi

i wanted to know what the price range for flights from delhi to colombo, sri lanka during the christmas season...i'll probably going around the 19-20th...

thanks!

oldhippie

Be careful when booking with CX through a el cheapo agent. CX flights to India are almost always booked out months in advance and often people on cheap fares often get bumped off and stranded in HKG.

There is a rumor in HK among the Indian community that they might discontinue flights into Delhi later this year. It might not be true but CX has done it in the past so it would not surprise me.

Finally the HK airport is very modern and comfortable so a few hours transit is generally not a big deal.

Thai is currently offering HK$1000 (US$120) deals from HK to India (return) on certain days of the week. This is available through many of the cheap local bucketshops.

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Too Many Gandus, Too Few Bullets.

shanthi

If you're travelling to Bangalore from the Cork City area in Ireland, Foreign-A-Fares in either Paul Street Shopping Centre or Carigaline have a great deal for us - which is in itself VERY unusual for our small Island. Could be that it might help people going to India (Bangalore only) from the States too though.
A ticket for October from Dublin to London Heathrow, then Heathrow to Muscast (Oman) and the final leg from Muscat to Bangalore PLUS an onward bound leg, 5 months later from Bangalore to Colombo (Sri Lanka) is costing me about 750 Euro's. Last year a return Cork-Bangalore-Cork ticket cost 1400 Euro's Can't be bad eh? These flights are with British Midland from Dublin to LHR - Gulf Air from LHR to Muscat and Gulf Air from Muscat to BLR. The onward bound leg is with Air Lanka (they're the greatest airline in my humble opinion!)

-m2-

A bit of catching up to do here:

As mentioned earlier, I booked with Singapore Airlines from Vancouver for mid-October for the CAD$1350 + 188 tax. Currently, the best fares from Vancouver to Delhi are CAD$1350 with BA, or CAD$1400 with Cathay, Singapore or China -- these are for Oct/Nov departures, December will be several hundred $ more. All of the Vancouver travel agents mentioned earlier should have similar prices.
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redleader: no points, or reduced points, are common on heavily discounted tickets -- you just have to take the value of the points into consideration when pricing tickets. Have you had any luck finding a local discounter? Can anyone help with a bay-area agent?

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mitcham: Nice going! the savings will go a long way in India.
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jem: I don't think you will find any discounted fares for the holiday season, but perhaps someone can help out -- I did a quick look at the airline sites but don't see anything promising.
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oldhippie: I'm pretty sure you're OK when you are just transiting as you get a boarding pass for the onward leg on the original check-in. If you were bumped in that circumstance, surely the airline is responsible for looking after your expenses until you get out.

Those deals from HK to India sound very good -- better than from BKK! Currently you can fly to HK from Vancouver for as low as CAD$890 (US$750) on China Airlines, probably similar deals from LAX or SFO, so this would be another alternative for an inexpensive way to India for someone wanting a stopover in HK . Do you know if any of those bucket shops take bookings from abroad?
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shanthi: sounds good!
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Keep the info and questions coming -- contact information for agents you have found to be good in your area are particularly welcome!

mikewill

In the past I have always flown from UK to India via the Gulf and have used various airlines
Kuwait in 1995, Heathrow to Delhi via Kuwait - only average but nop problems;
Gulf Air in Feb 2003, Heathrow to Chennai via Bahrain, £532 inc taxes, excellent flight;
Qatar Air in Dec 2004, Heathrow to Trivandrum via Doha, £573 inc taxes, also excellent;

However, all these flights are indirect and do have some disadvantages, mainly the length of the journey. It adds several hours usually. Perhaps not such problem when it's a medium length journey, but if you are already doing a 12 hour trip you may not wish to prolong it. Also take a good look at both arrival and departure times - you can quite easily lose almost a whole day, precious if time is limited.

So next time we'll go direct and I've just booked with Vigin directly. Heathrow to Delhi next January £484 inc taxes. Marginally cheaper through an agent, but compensated by no credit card surcharge. Booking direct also gives a little extra protection should anything go wrong with the agent.

Just for comparison, other possibilities (with reasons why I didn't choose them) were
British Airways £458 (lousy timing for return flight)
Alitalia (via Milan) £412 (early flights and longish stops)

So, not the cheapest, but for us the best option all round. And yes, I know we could pay for big chunks of the trip with what we could have saved, but I also know how tiring the long overnight flights are and I want to start fresh. Delhi is hard enough as it is!

Nick-H

I've got lazy for the last two years and paid BA's fare for the direct flight to Chennai (from London).

But this next time I want to go loaded up, even if it means a few hours in a middle-east airport... what's the best luggage allowance (Economy class ) that I can get?

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

cyberhippie

The best price I've found so far for an Amsterdam-Delhi flight is around Euro 735 (504 GBP or $ 916) this for a 4 and 1/2 month ticket (important as many cheap tickets here in The Netherlands have a 45 day or 2 month restriction if you want longer the price increases)
This is with British Airways and flies via London!
I found it here Cheap Tickets!
Anyone found anything better out of Amsterdam/Schipol???

mikewill

Hi Nick

Seeing as you are no longer a student you may wish to contact Southall Travel - see their links on these pages. I couldn't find cheaper fares anywhere and I'm sure they will be able to advise you on baggage allowances. I didn't think there was much to choose though. Got a date planned yet?

Mike

Nick-H

...No date yet, but I guess it is going to be Sept or October now.

If one isn't too fussed about date of travel, can flights to India ever be picked up cheap from the 'where could I go today' sites like lastminute? When they are not booked up do airlines sell off tickets cheap for long-haul flights?

< daydreams about £5 Chennai flight >
< ...upgrades daydream to First Class: why dream cheap? >

redleader

[quote=-m2-]A bit of catching up to do here:


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redleader: no points, or reduced points, are common on heavily discounted tickets -- you just have to take the value of the points into consideration when pricing tickets. Have you had any luck finding a local discounter? Can anyone help with a bay-area agent?


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QUOTE]


Yes, I learned that recently.... So my latest progress has been that I contacted an old indian co-worker. I figured he and his family fly back often so he shoudl have some leads. He referred me to his travel agent, but he's from boston, and so his is travel agent. I called anyway and found that the prices they offer are no different from the best on the net right now. So I might go with them for the simple fact that I can actually talk to someone. Well at least I've done my homework and checked around. Anyway, back to the mileage thing....This travel agent of my friends gave me a price on a full fare ticket that allows mileage accrual and it was almost DOUBLE that of the discounted ticke which does not allow mileage accrual!!! DOUBLE!!! yikes, so I guess that's the trade off. Maybe mileage accrual isn't so important afterall, ha ha.

Also, the travel agent confirmed what I've learned on this thread...that for me, being in San Francisco, a round trip to DEL and a one way from Kathmandu back to DEL is the best bet, rather than going SFO-->DEL and then KTM-->???-->SFO.

GoanCanuck

That is quite expensive considering that Chicago-Delhi is just a little over $1000!