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technically yes - dutiable goods should be 25k and jewellery is practically excluded. The phone can look used and so can the grinder. The RULES are here:
Baggage Rules at a glance - CBEC

I think that the baggage rules apply to stuff that a person brings with them when entering the country, not to goods despatched from abroad and received here.

(But I haven't read that page for a while)

Do I have to book my tripod or I can carry in cabin baggage in domestic flights.

You would have to put it in the luggage due to lack of cabin space to accomodate the tripod

Its a foldable one ranjitp1.It fits very well in the cabin space

Then there is no reason for you to put it in the luggage,there are no rules preventing you from carrying a tripod,the only thing is if it is metal,you might have to explain to the CISF people the purpose of it,and they would make a note of it in their log book.The screening machines are now a days great in all the airports and so no issues with screening.I have a friend who carries it but checks it in as his is metal and he says they might only have a problem if the material is metal.

Its really strange. I have never seen spicejet flights landing late, the staff is courteous, the ticketing counters are also helpful, they normally (always for me) waive off 5 Kgs off your extra baggage, and they are the only airlines that started the concept of shouting out flights whose check-ins are closing, and then checking in their passengers out of turn.
Other airlines are in sharp contrast when it comes to being on time, transparency in operations/check in/refund etc.

i hope your experiences with the airlines change for good.

Had been to Vizag(VTZ) last week, posting my experience. Its going to be a slightly long post so bear with me please.

I went on June 2nd and retured on the same day. No direct flights so a total of four flights in one day! I did a web check the previous day and selected the seats and printed out the boarding passes for all my flights. BLR to VTZ was on Jet Konnect via Chennai. Flight was scheduled for 10:25. Had managed to get an emergency exit row seat so was happy. While doing the web check in got a message that your flight is delayed to 10:35. Got an SMS from Jet the next morning as well. Reached the airport and i see the departure time is the original 10:25. Didnt affect me as i had reached with plenty of time to spare but its quite silly really. And the flight took off from BLR 20 min late anyway (there was a bomb scare at the BLR airport so all flights were delayed according to the Captain).

Turns out that the emergency exit row did not recline! While selecting the seat online only the row in front of the emergency exit row was shown as non reclining. Not too pleased but at least we had the extra legroom. Was pleasantly surprised to see that all seats had an LCD screen(7" i think) and there was a wide choice of content as well. Watched a TV show (Modern family) for a bit. Despite the delay, they made up the time in MAA and we reached VTZ on time.

Return was via HYD. Jet Konnect Flight to HYD at 18:55 which reached at 20:30 and connecting flight to BLR on KF Red at 21:35. Cutting it a bit close but my manager seemed to think it was ok. And we didnt have any checked in baggage. Finished the work we had in VTZ and reached the Airport at 17:30, plenty of time to go. Did a web check in for the KF flight for my manager, the KF staff were quite helpful. It was an ATR flight operated by Jet Airways. I had selected a rear aisle seat (those who've flown ATR's know what im talking about. They load from the rear and the aisle seats have a lot more headroom). When i see my boarding pass i see somehow it is a front aisle seat! Probably because of some error in their system i guess but i cursed myself for not checking it while printing the boarding pass.

We boarded on time and were seated in the aircraft by 18:50. Flight dosent take off for a while. We are anxiously waiting as we have a connecting flight to catch! Finally Captain announced at 19:10 that we are waiting for an approaching aircraft to land and will take off in 5 minutes. So we took off after a 20 min delay and landed in Hyd only by 20:45. Due to it being an ATR, no aerobridge and they parked it at some corner and it took a while to reach the terminal. Checked my watch, its 20:55 by this time! Rushed to the departure terminal and got our tickets stamped by them.

Got through security and boarded the aircraft. Looked like we werent that late as people were still boarding 5 minutes after we did. Flight took off on time. Was not able to get an emergency exit row for this flight. The flight had the LCD screens but for some reason the buttons on mine were not working and i wasnt able to operate it. And i thought KF Red served a snack on board (i remember they the last time i flew them) but nothing was served. Besides the ladies werent all that good looking either :D Anyway bought myself a sandwich and ate that as i knew it'd be midnight by the time i got home. It was fairly decent (it was a corn, mint and cheese panini).

Overall a fairly good experience. Would fly both the airlines again

KF red doesn't serve anything on-board. Its a budget carrier.

KF Red has discontinued the snack box that was being served,IIRC,they discontinued this some time in Decemeber/November last year.

Hi guys

I'm gonna travel on an airplane for the first time, so a few questions.

1. There is a significant difference between the lowest fare and the highest. Assuming the lowest fare is from a good airline and you're happy with the refund rules etc., is it alright to buy the cheapest ticket?

2. Anybody tried booking on the air.irctc.co.in portal? I found prices were about 5% cheaper there than any other site.

3. If three people of the same family are going together, and baggage limit is 20kg/person, and we have three bags whose combined weight is below 60 kg, but one bag exceeds 20kg, will we have to pay extra charges or are we good?

Regards
Ankush

Please go ahead and book the cheapest available ticket.

If all the 3 members are on the same ticket ( pnr),the combined weight of the luggage needs to be 60 kgs, excluding cabin baggage which is 8kgs per head.I recently traveled on B'lore-Hyd sector and i was allowed to check in 11kgs extra luggage.

Airlines do not allow luggage pooling if you are booked on different pnr's.

First of all, remember that the refund rules apply only to the base fare (which often is only about 10-15% of the total fare). As per DGCA rules, airlines have to refund you Fuel Charge, Congestion Charges etc. if you cancel regardless of the ticket type. So, depending on your situation, even non-refundable tickets (which are cheaper than refundable tickets) might work.

Though they all charge a Rs. 750 cancellation charge per passenger (rip-off, if you ask me).

To answer you, yes - it is fine to buy the cheapest ticket.

Go for it. My personal experience is that the airline's own website often has the cheapest fare anywhere. Use a comparison website to look around for the best fare.

Some portals show you a cheap fare, but when you try to book it, will say it is no longer available and try to con you into buying a more expensive ticket. Don't fall for this. In my experience, Cleartrip.com has never done this to me.

You are good. Though airlines would have an upper limit on the weight of individual pieces of luggage. Best to check with the airline. Most airlines charge about Rs. 900 per excess kg, so you better get this clarified beforehand.

Since you say this is your first time, I'd suggest you fly with Indigo if it flies where you want to fly to when you want to fly, and the fare is within your budget. :-)

ok, I flew AI127 from Hyderabad to Delhi - the same/similar aircraft continues to Chicago o'Hare.

BRILLIANT aircraft - the takeoff/landing were the smoothest in domestic travel in years and negligible turbulence. The food was ok ok but the seating, the leg space and the whole feel of the 777-300 ER aircraft was superb and plush. The service was not as professional as the likes of big international carriers but still very nice, homely and caring.

I wholeheartedly advise anyone flying back from Hyd, to try this aircraft sometime (was only 20 min late) - just remember checkin closes one hour before departure.

Honestly, as/when I ever go to US - I would seriously consider these AI flights - I loved the aircraft!

Does travelling international (Paris - Mumbai) and taking a Mumbai - M'lore flight involve going to a different terminal @ Mumbai?

Somebody I know is travelling, and afaict, is yet to book tickets ATM.