book a flight or take the train

summer01

as another "first timer" to India - my question is:
1. How long does a train from Mumbai to Cochin take? Is there a chance to get a train ticket at the day of my arrival?
2. Any chance to make train reservations from Germany?
3. How much is a flight - appr.-?
4. Any recommendations for flight reservations? The cheapest they show on travelocity is $ 300 for roundtrip from Mumbai to Cochin!

Thanks, help in my travelplaning is really appreciated!

steven_ber

how long is your holiday? what is your budget? what class of travel do you prefer? who are you traveling with?


if you are restricted by time, then you must fly.

if not, why miss mumbai, a long flight then a 27 hour train journey can take more out of you than mumbai can.

there is one direct daily train from Lokmanya Tilak (Kurla) 16 km north of Mumbai CST, it leaves at 11:45 and gets to Ernakulam Junction (for Cochin) at 14:20 the following day.


in second class air conditioned (darkened windows) it would cost Rs1491 ($32 single), in sleeper class (reccomended) it would cost Rs321 ($7 - 8 single).

not much chance of getting a reservation on day of arrival.

there is a company in london that can book train tickets, they are on the web, search for s.d.enterprises on the web, they may be able to help with your tickets.

summer01

We could afford a flight - and since we probably only have 2 or 3 weeks, it probably would be the better idea!

The question is now, better to book a flight at the airport in Mumbai or to make the arrangements now?
But as I said, $300 for the flight on top of the $900 for the flight from Europe to Mumbai - a bit much for such a short vacation.
Any ideas for me, how I can get a cheaper flight?

Thanks again!

steven_ber

$900 are you going for xmas/new year?

have you already purchased your tickets to india?

the best way would have been to fly with one of the gulf airlines, a change in the gulf and then flights to cochin/trivandrum/calicut/goa.

you could have probibly gone that way for about $900 (unless your going xmas)

if you have already purchased your tickets try re-negotiating your tickets, threatening to cancel them often works (not for xmas), but if you do try this make sure you have an agreed price with another airline first.

if the other airline's prices are good enough, consider canceling your original tickets, (remember the cancelation fee) it must be worth a try.

Heraclitus

To the best of my knowledge, you can only book train reservations from outside of India if 1) You purchase an Indrail pass from an authorised vendor and 2) you provide that vendor with a list of your desired trains at the time of the booking. The IndiaRail web site has a list of authorized vendors (GSAs).

Steven_Ber referred to S.D. Enterprises in Wembley. If you DO decide to get an Indrail Pass this is a very good service. The incomparable Dr. Dandapani has got to be the greatest expert in the Western world on the Indian rail system. However, be aware that the Indrail pass seldom makes sense from a strictly economic viewpoint. You would have to be riding the rails almost every day for it to pay off. Still, it does permit you make rail reservations up to a full year in advance.

I believe it is also possible to book rail tickets through a local travel agent in India (up to 60 days in advance.) Maybe Gerlinde can enlighten you (and me) about this.

Gerlinde

Only authorized Railway agents are allowed to buy train tickets for other people. Remeber my corruption case due to 7 tickets - supposedly for each 5 Rs. bribe - going back to 95. Since 98 on bail - now with judge no. 4.
60 days in advance are correct.
Gerlinde

summer01

But my travel dates are pretty firm, in order to squeeze in 2 weeks of vacation and at the moment I'm having a really hard time - $ 900 bucks, that was 2 days ago, now the cheapest fare the airlines quote is around $1500 - all the way up to $2500 - for a coach class ticket. The return flights to Germany are all booked.
So - thanks guys - maybe in 2003 then!

yweinstock

I am booking all my tickets (air and rail) through www.indiatravelite.com
So far they have been very professional and responsive. I am having them fed ex me the tickets so that I know I have them in time for my trip.
BTW: 300 to Cochin must be round trip, right? Otherwise you're paying way too much.

summer01

Thanks - I checked out the web site. On more question - would you prefer to fly jet airways or is indian airlines also a good company - safety records and so on?!
Thanks again!

vpsingh

Jet is certainly better in quality of service than Indian Airlines. However, to me safety records of all Indian airlines are sound enough. And anyway, since the fares for them are almost same, go by Jet.
BTW if you prefer model air-hostess, you can always go by Kingfisher ;-)

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