[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

As recommended by Turbanator, checked the Kayak website and found one trip quite cheap. So cheap that it had to come with its own issues listed below:
Its a 22hr 50 min flight from Hyderabad to Toronto via Dubai with a 5hr layover and 2 airlines (AI from H'bad to Dubai & Emirates from Dubai to Toronto) costing 1.3L but comes with this alert as below.

Will this be an issue considering there will be atleast 2 luggages?
Will there a Visa required for transit?

Try to get a single pnr ticket with bags checked in from the indian departure city to the port of entry in Canada. As mentioned by others, don't expect anything cheap especially with Canada in the next few months with a huge rush of students joining in September. Will be surprised if you get anything less than cad 2500 with two 23 kg checked in bags. I can suggest qatar with a layover at doha onto montreal and then a connecting flight booked on the same pnr. She would have to collect the bags at montreal, do immigration, collect her study permit and then board. There should be other options also with a layover in frankfurt/Amsterdam but make sure that bags are checked through. Also air Canada allows only one 23 kg bags these days so beware.

Your niece should make sure that her work eligibility is mentioned on the study permit, else service Canada will not issue her social insurance number without which she cannot legally work. Canadian bureaucracy and especially the IRCC is lazy and incompetent (not mincing words so that the message is conveyed accurately) and she can go through loads of inconvenience if the paperwork is not correct. Also, part time jobs are nowadays difficult to come by (even in Toronto and suburbs) and she should have other sources of funding available if she plans to complete her studies. Also, does she have relatives in Toronto who she can stay with initially atleast? If not then housing can also be a real challenge with rents going through the roof and students being forced to share rooms in basements, which will not be fun during Canadian winters.
She can actually do without carrying indian staples and spices as Toronto is fast becoming an Indian suburb located two continents away. Also, prices have gone up substantially since the pandemic and price references from even a year ago may not be valid. The rule of thumb that i have observed is that one CAD = INR 20 in terms of the dollars purchasing power in Canada. So while things become easy if you have an income in cad, it obviously becomes substantially expensive if you are burning your indian savings to survive there. Nore that services like going to the hairdresser and telecom and internet is substantially more expensive there.

[Amrik Singh]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Its a 22hr 50 min flight from Hyderabad to Toronto via Dubai with a 5hr layover and 2 airlines (AI from H'bad to Dubai & Emirates from Dubai to Toronto) costing 1.3L but comes with this alert as below.

Will this be an issue considering there will be atleast 2 luggages?
Will there a Visa required for transit?

AFAIK, the rules of baggage are : The baggage Rules of Originating Carrier are applicable to next Carrier too as long as the baggage is not claimed a.cnytime during flights.
So, if AIr India accepts Two Baggage, it will be carried by Emirates too.

[V.Narayan]

Bitchy post ahead.

I returned this week from a short trip to the UK. While going in wait time at the immigration queue was 57 minutes. While returning wait time at the Virgin Atlantic security queue was 52 minutes - allegedly the premium queue! If we had such wait times at an Indian airport we would have social media chanting on how lousy, as usual, things are in India. The queues in India were both only 4 to 5 minutes at best. Twice my internal train travel in the UK got derailed (pun intended) due to flash strikes. Though to credit British decency they would announce the evening before that XXX trains tomorrow are cancelled.

Muttering over.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Bitchy post ahead.

I see your rant, and raise a friend's rant.

A friend travelled from Mumbai to US (Charleston) a few weeks back on Etihad. Mumbai - Abu Dhabi - JFK - Charleston. The Mumbai - Abu Dhabi leg went off fine. Flights for the next leg kept getting delayed and Etihad didn't have answers or solutions. The passengers were in the terminal at Abu Dhabi (no hotel provided) for three days after which they were finally put on a flight. Due to these delays, they didn't have a JFK - Charleston connection, and had to then travel by train.

A ~ 20-24 hours journey took seven days.

With business, leisure travel picking up in huge proportions, and admission season coming up, this can get worse, considering the massive groundstaff, cabin and flight crew shortage.

[thanixravindran]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Bitchy post ahead.

I returned this week from a short trip to the UK. While going in wait time at the immigration queue was 57 minutes. While returning wait time at the Virgin Atlantic security queue was 52 minutes - allegedly the premium queue! If we had such wait times at an Indian airport we would have social media chanting on how lousy, as usual, things are in India. The queues in India were both only 4 to 5 minutes at best. Twice my internal train travel in the UK got derailed (pun intended) due to flash strikes. Though to credit British decency they would announce the evening before that XXX trains tomorrow are cancelled.

Muttering over.

Is this Heathrow? I remember London Heathrow airport has asked airlines to cut down flights (cancel) due to staff shortage couple of weeks ago Emirates refused to do it and either way fare paying passengers are only hit.

For train cancellation, didn't they arranged 'Rail Bus'?

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

A friend travelled from Mumbai to US (Charleston) a few weeks back on Etihad. Mumbai - Abu Dhabi - JFK - Charleston. The Mumbai - Abu Dhabi leg went off fine. Flights for the next leg kept getting delayed and Etihad didn't have answers or solutions. The passengers were in the terminal at Abu Dhabi (no hotel provided) for three days after which they were finally put on a flight. Due to these delays, they didn't have a JFK - Charleston connection, and had to then travel by train.

Probably the following news is also related to Etihad's fiasco described above:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/93353919.cms

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by thanixravindran

Is this Heathrow? I remember London Heathrow airport has asked airlines to cut down flights (cancel) due to staff shortage couple of weeks ago Emirates refused to do it and either way fare paying passengers are only hit.

For train cancellation, didn't they arranged 'Rail Bus'?

Yes London Heathrow. No railbus. I'm not even aware of it. Nor did I have the time to chase.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

The passengers were in the terminal at Abu Dhabi (no hotel provided) for three days after which they were finally put on a flight.

That must be horrible. We took Etihad for our Europe holidays and though the flight experience was good I would think twice before booking with them again due to the Abu Dhabi transit. Probably the worst airport I have seen in recent times; staying for 2 and half hours in transit itself was difficult. 3 days in the terminal would have been a nightmare.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

A ~ 20-24 hours journey took seven days.

Yikes!! I hope they were given access to the lounges free of cost atleast - otherwise the Abu Dhabi shopping areas are not that well equipped on food options (relative to global/popular airports).

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Bitchy post ahead.

A friend who travelled to UK start of this month was warned of the issues at Heathrow and went with his expectations set accordingly but surprisingly didn't face any delays or issues. Took him 20 mins from queuing to check in and security, while he reached 6 hours in advance for his return flight. Though his "complaint" was they have made Heathrow no smoking zones (is that so? Must be a rare airport that has done that).

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by vb-san

I would think twice before booking with them again due to the Abu Dhabi transit.

And you're saying this when your flights aren't even out of the Indian sub-continent! You should see the terminal for flights to/from India. Several bus and railways stations in India are now better than that!

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Yikes!! I hope they were given access to the lounges free of cost atleast

No food, no lounge, no accommodation. Every person for themselves.

[dmplog]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

- snip -
I returned this week from a short trip to the UK. While going in wait time at the immigration queue was 57 minutes. While returning wait time at the Virgin Atlantic security queue was 52 minutes - allegedly the premium queue! If we had such wait times at an Indian airport we would have social media chanting on how lousy, as usual, things are in India. The queues in India were both only 4 to 5 minutes at best.
- snip -

I am assuming that this was LHR Heathrow. Off late, LHR is providing a lousy experience - thank god you didn't suffer baggage handling issues!
But, airline travel experience has certainly taken a hit off-late across the board. I am guessing pandemic played havoc with finances and now they are just finding every bit of dollar to cut - which eventually ruins flying experience

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by dmplog

I am assuming that this was LHR Heathrow. Off late, LHR is providing a lousy experience - thank god you didn't suffer baggage handling issues!
But, airline travel experience has certainly taken a hit off-late across the board. I am guessing pandemic played havoc with finances and now they are just finding every bit of dollar to cut - which eventually ruins flying experience

I was in and out LHR and had no issue

Flew Emirates - At Heathrow T3 - tts a long welcome walk to immigration. I cannot comment on immigration as I am a "native" but the luggage needs to come from the other side of the concourse and being an A380, it takes a while. I was out in under an hour though.

On my return, no point going extra early unless you have duty free declarations. The queue is thick but moves. Staff were pretty pleasant. Security was quite quick (7 am!) - duty free area is a little crowded. If you want a seated restaurant, its a long wait otherwise grab a croissant and relax.

T3 works although it is a little drab. T4 is okay but old. T5 is swanky but serves only BA

[carboy]

For domestic flights how soon are you supposed to reach the airport these days if you do not have checkin luggage? Is 75 minutes a safe time time to reach the airport or should it be sooner?

[Amrik Singh]

Originally Posted by carboy

For domestic flights how soon are you supposed to reach the airport these days if you do not have checkin luggage? Is 75 minutes a safe time time to reach the airport or should it be sooner?

Early morning rush hour takes a bit longer for Security Check. It may or may not delay you, but anxiety builds up. If possible, keep around 90 minutes. Consider what other readers may opine too.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh

Early morning rush hour takes a bit longer for Security Check. It may or may not delay you, but anxiety builds up. If possible, keep around 90 minutes. Consider what other readers may opine too.

Do they still check vaccine records or do COVID tests at the origin airports? Does this take up any extra time?