A YetiGuide® to Airlines, Airports and Domestic Air Travel

[hrag]

What is etyadi? As in call center etyadi and waitlist etyadi? Upholstery etyadi?

[iraghava]

Etyadi (in Hindi) = Etc.

[ScarySkulls]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Guys the British Airways site doesn't get messier. They quote 23kgs per bag x 2 allowance but before health regulations in the UK take effect in November until then 32kg x 2 bags are permitted. I just printed out my itenary which says 23kg per bag. How stupid and confusing!!

British Airways - Checked baggage

I will take a print of this website snippet and take it along and fight my way out may be.

facing this very same problem!
Our travel agent keeps telling it's 23kgx2 + 7kg. But if I look at the rules, they indicate that's it probably not the case.
Bah! Totally confused

[deep_bang]

I had an experience of traveling to Mexico a few days back.
Onward journey was from Boise (which is a really small airport) to LA to Hermosillo in Mexico and from there to Chihuahua, MX. Since i booked my tickets very late, i got bad flight timings all the way.

Boise to LA was on Delta and as expected. LA airport being a huge one was a mess. My next flight was supposed to be operated by AeroMexico and the sign board indicated AeroMexico terminal to be terminal 6. I went there through a long tunnel and surprise, there is no AeroMexico terminal at all. And curiously, other airlines dont seem to even know about it. Anyway, someone said it is back in Terminal 5. So went back through the same tunnel (The tunnel as i call it, was basically a connecting link between the 2 terminals, fully covered, tubelight lit, painted yellow on all sides, and it looked as if it was an old hospital at midnight, with a few beeps coming on every few seconds).

Terminal 5, as i knew did not have aero mexico as i already knew, but i got to know a new piece of information - that this particular aeromexico flight operated out of a Delta terminal. So I finally located the lost plane.

Hermisillo and Chihuahua are small cities in Mexico, and their airports are really small. However, i cant help but wonder that they were pretty well organized compared to our Indian airports. I guess the small traffic makes it pretty easy. (Consider this: They dont have XRay machines to scan luggage. They do a manual check).

Return Journey:
As i went back after a week, they said the flights are overbooked and gave me a totally different itenerary. THis was through Contenental airlines from Chihuahua- Dallas - Chicago - Boise. Continental was surprisingly good with better seats than Delta (and the air hostess was better too). Dallas was a good airport and although quite big, had good sinages. Chicago - this is probably the most chaotic airport i have seen after Mumbai (My last experience in Mumbai was 5 years back at Chatrapathi Shivaji airport - so it could have changed a lot now). There was a queue for the shuttle bus, which transports people from one terminal to another.

But Continental airlines really impressed me. On each flight the snacks served were of good quality.

[tsk1979]

A question about flight booking.
First week of october I plan to book tickets for Delhi-Goa
Whats the best way
1. Sites like yatra/makemytrip etc.,?
2. Directly go to website of go air etc.,
3. Contact an agent.

If an agent can get me cheaper than online rates, then I would go through agent route, otherwise its direct airline booking.
But one thing I discovered, if I book the same flight by makemytrip etc., the fare is refundable after rs 750 deduction, but if I book via website of airline its not.

[Bass&Trouble]

^^

tsk, I usually use makemytrip or cleartrip so that I can see all flights for that day or time period along with fares on one page. Once I have narrowed down which flights are of interest, I check fares on airline website and travel agent and go with lowest. However I have not seen airline direct fares to be lower than travel websites ever. Since I prefer paying by CC online and printing the itinery immediately, I also seldom book through travel agents, unless I prefer to pay later.

Airline offices at the airport can scam you. I once missed a flight and wanted to book another flight at the airport itself. I found out that the flight leaving soonest to my destination was by Kingfisher. So I went to the counter and got a fare of Rs. 7000/-. After getting that fare, I went over to the Jet counter opposite to check the fare for a flight that was departing 15-20 mins after the KF one, and they quoted me 9000/-. When I came back to the KF counter, they said that the 7000/- seats are over and they only have seats for 12000/- now. They did this deliberately because I went to the other counter. I shrugged and waited another 10 mins till there was barely half an hour for the flight to depart, and surprisingly the lady at the KF counter called me and said "One Rs. 7000/- seat has opened up".

[nishantgandhi]

tsk, I do quite similar to what Ajay has mentioned. Its best to compare fares across Cleartrip, Yatra, TravelGuru and MakeMyTrip (I have noticed difference of +/- 50-100 bucks across these 3 websites) and check the respective airline website.

I use either of these travel portals only when some offer is running (e.g. MakeMyTrip has a Rs 500 cash back offer running these days if you book using ngpay or through your mobile). Out of these, I have consistently found Cleartrip, closely followed by Yatra to be the best. I would stay away from MMT and TG though due to bad experiences.

However, of late I have been using Cheap Tickets India, Low Air Fares Booking, Domestic Airlines, Cheapest Online Booking - iXiGO (easyGO, ezee Go, eazyGo) - Flight Deals on Indigo, Spice-Jet-Lite. This website aggregates fares from different airlines - directly from their websites, and not from travel portals mentioned above. To book, it then takes you directly to the payment page of that airline. Simple.

It really gets you the BEST fares. Try it, you wont regret. My tip - even for a return trip, try searching individually for 2 one way journeys and you will get your preferred time and fare easily.

P.S. I recently got a Delhi-Mumbai fare of Rs 3325 (Air India Express) through Ixigo, while all other travel portals were quoting a minimum of Rs 5500 (including low cost carriers. This was because AI Express is not a partner airlines of any travel portal, it did not show up in their result.

[karanraheja]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

But one thing I discovered, if I book the same flight by makemytrip etc., the fare is refundable after rs 750 deduction, but if I book via website of airline its not.

Tanveer , could you specify the airline? Give a shot at yatra too ! I prefer booking through Yatra . If you have further doubts try inquiring with your travel agent too about refundable fares..

[Bass&Trouble]

Thats cool, Nishant. I didn't know about Ixigo, and it certainly seems to be the best option.

Originally Posted by nishantgandhi

My tip - even for a return trip, try searching individually for 2 one way journeys and you will get your preferred time and fare easily.

Not advisable for international bookings.

[spadival]

Any idea where I can get the cheapest possible fare for Mumbai-Sydney-Mumbai between 15th Sept and 15th Nov 2008. I can travel on any dates, just need a gap of 1 week between onward and return journey.

The cheapest I got was for Rs 47k via Quantas direct flight (12H). Problem is none of these travel websites lets you search for the cheapest possible flights between 2 given dates.

[finneyp]

Spadival, just check the price at Singapore Airlines & Malaysian Airlines!

Malaysian Airlines normally offer good price!

[nishantgandhi]

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

Not advisable for international bookings.

Agree completely. However, my statement was only wrt searching on Ixigo, which does not do International flights.

For intl flights, its best to go for return fares and on the same airlines. In fact, in my experience, its cheaper to directly book on airlines' websites for international flights, unless of course you have a corporate tie up with a travel agent who can probably get you cheaper options

Originally Posted by spadival

Any idea where I can get the cheapest possible fare for Mumbai-Sydney-Mumbai between 15th Sept and 15th Nov 2008. I can travel on any dates, just need a gap of 1 week between onward and return journey.

The cheapest I got was for Rs 47k via Quantas direct flight (12H). Problem is none of these travel websites lets you search for the cheapest possible flights between 2 given dates.

Apart from Yatra, Travelguru, MMT and Indiatimes Travel (which I am sure you would have tried), the other options are:
1. Airline websites
2. Cheap Flights, Airline Tickets, Cheap Airfare & Discount Travel Deals - Kayak.com
3. Low Fares, Discount Hotels and Travel Deals - One Travel
4. Orbitz: Cheap Travel, Flights, Hotels, Vacations, Car Rentals, Cruise, Activities
However 2-4 might be slightly expensive so its best to compare with airlines' directly

EDIT - I remember my travel agent telling me a few days back that flying to Australia on Qantas is quite expensive these days+there is limited availability. She suggested Singapore Airlines instead.

[tsk1979]

Ok Guys I have booked through Yatra. The ticket is dirt cheap, the taxes are not.
A good Con job these airline fellows have set up.
Sir ticket for 2 rs. but 20000rs fuel surcharge.

Hopefully I won't have to change my travel plans, and we will fly on schedule.

I got a printout of this booking number etc., and do I have to do anything more now, or I just go to the airport with this printout?
BTW the airline is indigo. On indigo website when I book it says non refundable, but on yatra.com it says refundable with 750rs charge.

I guess if you cancel you loose 100% of the taxes and fees, and 750rs get deducted on the base fare right?

[maddy42]

@tsk you would need the pnr number. Most probably you will get an sms from indigo informing you about it. Carry you cc with which you booked and some photo id which will be more than suffiecient.

[spadival]

Originally Posted by finneyp

Spadival, just check the price at Singapore Airlines & Malaysian Airlines!

Malaysian Airlines normally offer good price!

Originally Posted by nishantgandhi

EDIT - I remember my travel agent telling me a few days back that flying to Australia on Qantas is quite expensive these days+there is limited availability. She suggested Singapore Airlines instead.

So far Qantas was the cheapest I could get, probably because they fly direct (Nonstop) between Mumbai and Sydney. So you avoid the extra charges the airlines incur due to the stopover.

The base fare in Malaysian Airlines is low, but +tax fare is higher by about Rs 10,000 compared to Qantas..so need to be aware of this usual gimmick of jacking up the tax part of the fare!!