Book a Cheap Air Ticket to India

Book a Cheap Air Ticket to India

Happy Convenient Travel Comes from Educated Decision

If you are planning to travel to India and looking for an air ticket, which is both time convenient and economical, this post is for you. Of course, all the following things will also be true for any other international travel. This post details what I learned in the process of finding economical air tickets for me and my family from/to India. I had to research websites and airlines for reliability and spend time reading reviews about them. Internet was full of suggestions and third party online travel sites and their positive and negative reviews. 

There are two types of websites which are available on web. Some sites show comparative fare from individual airlines and other sites comparative fare on various travel companies. These websites in the (better to good) order of their reliability and performance are:

1. Kayak: Kayak shows comparative fare from individual airlines and from select travel companies. It is always my priority to book a ticket. One can also compare fare on other travel sites. Vayama and Airfare are two reliable external travel sites.

2. Airfarewatchdog: Airfarewatchdog does not give its own comparative fare, but presents comparative fare on different travel sites, which one can check after clicking different tabs. If you find good deal on a reliable travel site, you may go for it.

3. Google Flights: Google Flights gives fare directly from airlines, and also from reliable travel sites. Sometimes deals are exclusive and cannot be found on airline or other travel sites. Main drawback of the service is that the price may not be real time price if the price changes often: real price may be lower or higher.

4. Hipmunk: Hipmunk offers fares from individual airlines in terms of cost, layovers and travel time with a color scheme. The booking is done on a different travel site. If you do not care for a few extra dollars and want to get a good deal in two minutes, the site fits your needs.

5. Cheapoair, Indiaeagle and Orbitz: Cheapoair, Indiaeagle and Orbitz often have cheap fares. The first two often suggest cheapest fare around your travel dates and airports, which may be a boon if you dates and airports are flexible. If  you get a good deal on Cheapoair or Orbitz, you may go for it. I have no research based recommendation for India Eagle.

6. Priceline: Priceline is popular in the US because of its name your own price feature. If you get a cheap ticket, you may book it without worrying about the service quality. The service fee, in case you need to change your travel dates, is also less than the fee some other travel sites charge. However, you should think well before using its name your own price for international travel. The travel time might be beyond your convenience. 

7. Travelocity, Expedia and Hotwire: Travelocity, Expedia and Hotwire have good reputation in the US. You may not find a cheaper international ticket; but if you find one, you may go for it.

8. Others: Cheaptickets, Smartfares, Cheapfareguru, Airfaregeek, Airtkt, Studentuniverse, Justairticket are some other travel sites where you may find a cheaper fare. I have no research based recommendation for these. You might also be able to find a cheaper fare on any other site not mentioned above, especially ASAPTickets. You should not be tempted by the low fare in the searches. The fare may change once you go for booking. You should read this before transacting with ASAPTickets. You should also read BBBTips on Airtravel.

One of my earliest experiences with airplanes

Suggestions:

Buying a ticket is like doing any other business transaction, especially because the fare fluctuates on the demand and supply rule. Therefore, you should avoid travelling on high demand time. Summer is not high demand time because it spans over a two-three months period, while Christmas break is, which spans around a week. The only rule for high demand time is to get ticket as soon as possible, about 90 days in advance. 

A news channel in the US recommended, and many agree on, three steps for a cheaper ticket:

1. Book ticket three months before travel. (This may not matter if you travel from a major airport on off peak dates.)

2. Book tickets around 3 p.m. on Tuesday. (Fare goes up automatically in the airline software during the week as the available for sale tickets are sold. The fare is usually adjusted on Monday and available to buy on Tuesday. However, this is not always true about middle east and Air China airlines.)

3. Travel on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday. (Week day travel is best for international travel.)

Recommendations:

1. You should plan to spend at least 30 minutes on some of the above sites before you pick a ticket. Most of these have something to offer at different times.

2. Search your ticket on Kayak, Google Flights and Hipmunk. 

3. Keep the above three suggestions in mind.

4. Weigh your options: Booking with an airline directly or with a third party. A ticket through a third party like Cheapoair and Airfare might be non-refundable, though changeable, and any change might cost extra (airline fee plus travel site fee). Ticket may be cheaper from airline sometimes. A particular itinerary may only be available at a third party site. Customer service is provided by the travel site if the ticket is booked there and by the airline if booked at the airline site.

5. There are only better to good airlines. Every international airline invests billion dollars and obeys multiple regulations. Saudia comes with restrictions in terms of food and entertainment. There have been reports of racial discrimination against some Indian travelers by British Airways. Most airlines like United, Lufthansa, KLM, Delta, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways offer one check-in bag and one carry-on for free. However, Air China  offers two free check-in bags and one carry-on.

6. You should avoid booking a ticket which has any layover for more than 5 hours. Long layover may require transit visa.
7. If you plan to come back later, consider using a private or incognito window when booking flights online. Travel websites may track your visits and may raise the price or manipulate results.

Ideal Ticket to India:

What is an ideal ticket to India? If you find a round trip airfare from a major airport in the US, say Washington DC, on an off peak time for about 900 dollars and on a peak time for about 1100 dollars for approximately 24 hours travel time, it is a good air ticket. 

I hope this helps you make educated decision about your travel as well as help you travel conveniently.

Liberal Islam of India

                                                          Baab-e-Syed, one of the gates to liberal Islam

On October 16. 2014, I read an article entitled Why India’s Muslims Haven’t Radicalized by Jake Flanagin. This article stood out to me especially because it coincided with the recent ISIS crisis in the middle east and many western Muslims going to join it, Nobel prize for peace to Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai and India's Kailash Satyarthi, which some called dirty western politics, and recent India-Pakistan border conflict. I agreed to a T with the author's views and information. But it lacked a narrative which could justify that Indian Muslims are liberal when media often report of the terrorists, like Daood, which moved out of India and radicals who are involved in religious riots and fatwas.

My first encounter with Islam happened in my childhood. But I consciously experienced it when I went to Aligarh Muslim University to continue my higher education. I faintly remember my inconvenience going there. Upon reaching there, I could not believe that Muslims were no different from me. Muslims had existed as demons in one story about some Aadam temple in a distant place far away from India (I guess it was Meccah) which I often heard from my traditional Brahmin grandfather and as untouchables in the life teachings of my grandma (mother of my father's friend) who professed that one should not allow a Muslim in the house, and if allowed, the mat or the cot should be cleaned properly to maintain piety. I am not sure to this day whether they ever had any first hand experience with Muslims or aware of the ideological implications of the thoughts which they did not practice in their day-to-day life.

When I spent time with Muslims, I realized that I had already had two Muslims in my life. Wonderful Imam Maassaab in my village who taught us in middle school and a friend of my grandfather who, a butcher by profession, often had tea, chat and financial transactions with him in my presence were, in fact, Muslims. When the teacher loved us all, grandpa's friend never greeted him and us with anything but "Ram-Ram" (Hindu greeting with religious overtones).

I witnessed in Aligarh Muslim University that mutual respect existed among Hindu and Muslim colleagues, and love and care among classmates and students and their teachers. There were exceptions, no doubt: some classmates always considered me, a Hindu, in an outsider circle, and one Hindu custodian could never sit on a chair in the presence of other adults. I received unconditional grooming from more than one Muslim teacher, and two of my teachers even offered food and tea at least on two distinct occasions during Ramadan. Isn't eating in front of a fasting Muslim in Ramadan a punishable crime in some countries? Could you receive such an offer from a radical Muslim?  

I have many Muslim friends who pray five times in a day. They often greet me with Namaste when I greet them with Salaam. I am also in touch with many Muslim teachers who are there to help me in any way any time. There are Muslim colleagues with whom I would love to spent time when I visit India.

Radicalism is the last thing that the world should expect from Indian Muslims. It is not simply in India's loving-all nature. Exceptions exist in every religion and country, even in grammars.