Date: 20 Feb 96
On Mon, 19 Feb 1996, bhaskaran edwina wrote:
> I am sure Air India has probably has the chepest or one of the cheapest
> rates. But, PLEASE PLEASE do not travel by them. Unless you would like to
> see you relatives arrive two weeks later than expected.
I do sympathise with the problem that you had with Air India. However my own experience with Air India has been quite reasonable. I have noticed that some of the Air Hostesses are not very polite with Indians. Bit my own experience is that they are not very polite only with those Indians who are polite with them.
I for one go with Air India when I fond that it is as cheap as any other reasonably reliable air line. I would like to patronise Air India as far as possible.
Subject: Why do planes arrive in Bombay around midnight?
From: kalia@sludge.phys.nwu.edu (R. Kalia)
Date: 26 Feb 96
In article
>I recognized that all planes going to Bombay from Germany arrive around mid-
>night and a bit later in Bombay. Normally, you arrive in Asian countries
>in the early morning. Is there any reason for that?
>Hartwig Wiesmann
Flights by European airlines operate on the "hub and spoke" system.
Once-a-day flights reach the hub airport (in your case, Frankfurt) early in the day; people get off, wait for a few hours, then take departing flights later in the day. This is how the airline carries people from, say, the US to India or vice versa, without having to operate a single plane between those points or pay for hotel rooms for all passengers.
Given the 8-hour flight time and 4.5 hour time difference, a late morning or afternoon departure inevitably arrives in India late at nght (about 12.5 hours later in terms of local time). Similarly, a morning arrival in FRA requires a late-night departure from India---the flight time is about 9 hours and the time change is -4.5 hours, so local time changes by only about 4.5 hours between India departure and Europe arrival. Flight times are longer going west because of prevailing upper-atmosphere winds.
If you were going further east, e.g. to Bangkok, both the flight time and the time change are greater, so you would arrive during daylight hours the following day.
Now the interesting question is why Air India, which does not operate a hub in Europe, also has its flights arrive and depart in the middle of the night. Entirely an academic question, since no one should ever fly Air-India unless required by law to do so.
From: Nicholas Doylend
Date: 23 Apr 96 18:52:05 GMT
Myself and a friend are planning a months trip to India.
Since it seems that it is no longer possible to get cheap standby tickets I checked out some prices from the local travel agent.
I've been given the following prices for flying from London Heathrow to New Delhi return:
Royal Jordanian Airlines UKP 360
Turkmenistan Airlines UKP 337
Gulf Air UKP 382
Air France UKP 398
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines UKP 443
Turkmenistan Airlines are obviously the cheapest here but the I'd guess the safety record of a former soviet republic's airline would be somewhat dodgy.
From: Bill Bracewell
Date: 24 Apr 96
>...
Have you tried looking at the adverts on ceefax? There are good deals for most places advertised there. Also the Sunday Times carries lots of adverts. Asian travel agents in places which have a large Asian population should be able to get a good deal. (I use a travel agent in Bradford for Indian trips) Ring around and maybe even haggle.
The cheapest flights usually have a break in some middle eastern or eastern blok country. A non stop flight is less tiring, and can be worth the extra. If you contemplate a flight with a break, weigh up how many flights they have a week. If they only fly to Delhi once a week you could be stuck for a loooong time if you miss your connection
Don't pay more than a deposit until you have seen your ticket with an OK status. Paying by credit card may cost you extra (credit companies charges) but *could* give you a measure of protection. Check your credit cards rules.
Hope this helps.
--
Barnacle
! Gradually, very gradually, we saw the great mountain sides Bill
! ..until far higher in the sky than imagination had dared to
! suggest, the white summit of Everest appeared.
<GL Mallory>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: pgray@hoasy5.isd4.tafensw.edu.au
Date: 6 May 96
In article <4mefbm$n0q@nadine.teleport.com>, datuk@teleport.com (Abang) writes:
> viy@hkstar.com (Victor Yeung) wrote:
>>There is a cheaper airfare from HK to Osaka by Air India. Can somebody
>>tell me your experience and story.
> Service is OK. However, due to on-going mechanics strike in India,
> flights tend to be delayed.
>
I found the Air India staff to be very help. I'm a big fellow and they found me a seat where I could sprawl. They had free beer (good German-style stuff) and the food was hearty if not fantastic. I had a delay of one hour in my Madras transfer and my flight out from Delhi changed departure gates 10 minutes before the flight and I had to run across. So a good experiance all round :-}
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phil Gray Title: Information Services Officer Padstow College
Phone: ( 02) 774 9252 Southern Sydney
Fax: ( 02) 772 3220 TAFE NSW, Australia
Internet: phil.gray@tafensw.edu.au
From: bk078@torfree.net (Peter Selk)
Date: 11 Apr 96
Mona Oommen (oommen@psyclops.psych.purdue.edu) wrote:
: I am in the process of figuring out my travel schedule within India
: this June and would like to know whether it is really cheaper to
: get someone in India (friend/relative) to buy airline tickets on
: the domestic flights rather than buy it outside India? I've heard
: that there is a "foreign" rate. If this is so, how much more
: expensive is it? I would appreciate any help in this matter.
There are several issues here. For Indian Airlines, the national domestic carrier, the foreign rate is about 25% more than the rupee rate. However, you also get more for your money. When you pay in FX, you get what we would consider a full fare coach class ticket. So if you change your plans or miss your flight, you just take a later one, no problem. If you have the cheaper rupee ticket it's more like a charter class ticket -- you'd better make your flight, or your ticket is wasted.
I have often bought and used the rupee tickets, but not in the last three or four years. People have posted here recently that, as foreigners, they were not allowed to buy the rupee tickets in India. So apparently there are new rules. One person, who may have used the device of having an Indian buy his ticket for him, was even caught at the airport in Delhi and refused carriage. I suspect that this last was an exceptional case, but can't be sure.
All of the above is complicated by the fact that there are now a lot of new private-sector domestic carriers in India, so there is competition, and presumably each airline makes its own tariff and rules. Modiluft, which is half owned by Lufthansa, is probably worth checking out.
From:
Date: 11 Apr 96
bk078@torfree.net (Peter Selk) wrote:
>There are several issues here. For Indian Airlines, the national domestic
>carrier, the foreign rate is about 25% more than the rupee rate. However,
>you also get more for your money. When you pay in FX, you get what we
>would consider a full fare coach class ticket. So if you change your
>plans or miss your flight, you just take a later one, no problem. If you
>have the cheaper rupee ticket it's more like a charter class ticket --
>you'd better make your flight, or your ticket is wasted.
not quite. at least till about a year ago you could cancel such tickets and get a portion of your money back even after you've missed your flight. in that respect, IA fares offer a lot more flexibility in changing or cancelling your plans, because if you were to cancel your ticket a few days before your journey you can get back most of it (90% i think), and the amount refunded gets smaller as your journey date approaches.
and again, till about a year ago, if you were a non-resident indian under 30 and willing to pay in dollars, you got a 25% discount off the regular domestic rate. for instance, the ticket from PNQ to madras cost $105 regularly, but i paid only about $75 (and they accepted credit cards). at that time there was talk of doing away with this archaic feature, but i'm not sure if the change has already been implemented or not.
From: exushml@exu.ericsson.se (Shyamal Prasad)
Date: 16 Feb 96
<4fto57$18a@altrade.nijmegen.inter.nl.net>
"Hendriks" == R J Hendriks
Hendriks> exushml@exu.ericsson.se (Shyamal Prasad) writes:
>> keep things in perspective....for example Rajasthan is about
>> the same size as California, with perhaps more to see, but
>> (unlike California) practically *nothing* moves faster than 60
>> mph on the ground.
Hendriks> You realy mean 60 mph? I sometimes wish that was
Hendriks> true. You are lucky if average speed is 40-45 mph. I
Hendriks> think you mean 60 kmph.
Yes, 60 kmph would be a good *average* speed in India.
Actually, I meant 60 mph as a *top* speed.
I've driven thousands of kilometers in India, in many parts of India. I am surprised at how many people look at me in disbelief when I tell them that you can drive a steady 80-100 kmph (50-60 mph) in many parts of India safely. While you cannot do this everywhere (certainly not in urban areas where 40 kmh is *fast*), it's possible and it's relatively easy on many inter city routes.
Cheers!
Shyamal
-- "Washing and Bathing in the crocodile infested river is prohibited.
Survivors will be prosecuted."
- Sign in the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu, India.
I speak for me, only me, and just me......
From: Prakash Jayaraman
Date: 12 Apr 96
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Subject: Rental cars in India.
From: BF6LTD1@BAPLAZA.BELL-ATL.COM
Date: 12 Apr 96
Prakash,
I don't have access to post articles in the newsgroups, that's why I am sending e-mail. You can post this in rec.travel.asia newsgroup.
I traveled north India with 4 others from 26 Dec 95 to 29 Jan 96. We rented a cab from Agra and used the same cab for 20 days to travel all over Rajastan. They charged us Rs1000($28) per day, including driver commission and fuel. This made our schedule very flexible and relaxed.
It worked out cheaper too, since we are a group of 5. This is may not be the cheapest rate.
In the North(Delhi, Agra) the typical rates quoted to us is Rs7 to 8 per KM and Rs50 to Rs100 per overnight stay as the driver commission.
In the South(Madras, Bangalore), the rates are much cheaper, from Rs3.50 to Rs5 per KM and Rs50 to Rs100 per overnight stay as the driver commission.
Daily fixed rates for intracity travel is around Rs600. In Delhi, the distance is limited to 80KM.
The rates have double in 3 years, in 1993 I traveled south India for 30 days covering 3500KM, and we paid Rs8000 or so.
-Ravi
© J. Mário Pires, 96
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Subject: Flights from London to New Delhi (cheapest rates).
Subject: Flights from London to New Delhi (cheapest rates).
Subject: Experience on Air India
Subject: Different prices on air tickets for foreigners?
Subject: Different prices on air tickets for foreigners?
Subject: Driving speed on indian roads.
Subject: Rental cars in India.
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