Air Travel Tips for NRIs Booking Flights to India from UK

Hordes of NRIs (Non-Resident Indian) residing in the UK plan holiday tours to India every year either for business purpose or for relishing some time with their family and friends. Though they do not forget their Indian cultures and traditions, there are few things which they must practice in order to make their air travel experience to India and outside the country comfortable and gratifying.
Coming into India

• While planning holiday tours and netting tickets for cheap flights to India, you should always book airport transfers well in advance to avoid the hassles of finding taxis and haggling with taxi drivers to reach your desired location.

• Due to long hours of travelling, the flights to India from UK can be really tiring and exhausting for you. Keep all your travel documents including PIO card, passport, tickets, etc ready to avoid waiting in long queues at the airport premises. Moreover, you may also ensure that all your papers are stamped and handled as per the rules.

• Before taking flights to India you must know about your duty-free allowance. You are usually allowed to shop up to $580. However, sharing of duty free allowance with other co-passengers is not permitted.

• Though flying business class may not help you in netting cheap flights to India, you can surely get yourself cleared with all the airport baggage procedures faster. At baggage clearance, the green channel denotes baggage without dutiable goods, while the red channel is for ones carrying dutiable items.

Flying out of India

• It is very important to confirm your flight tickets and baggage allowance while going back to UK beforehand.

• Tele check-in is a smart way to reduce the time spent at the airports. You may also provide your local number to the airline you are flying with to get updates about the changes made, if any. This becomes highly useful if you are visiting India during winters when fog sends airlines’ arrival and departure schedule off gear.

Reference: http://indiaflights.blog.com/2012/04/16/air-travel-tips-for-nris-booking-flights-to-india-from-uk/

Connecting Flights – What You Should Know

Booking a connecting flights deal to India? Before you book an inappropriate itinerary, and later feel jittery about making a successful connection, read the below tips and useful information. With these you can easily get away with the qualms of missing your onward flight and comfortably reach India for your wonderful holiday breaks.

• Try to book your tickets on both the legs of your flights to India with same airline. In case, if you miss the onward connection, the airline may book you onto a later flight. This may not be possible with connecting flight booked with different carrier.

• Check from which city airport or airport terminal the connecting flight to India is departing. If the connections are at some other airport or terminal than the one you landed at, make sure you allow for the travel time to this airport while making the booking. There are around five airports local to London; London Heathrow alone had five sprawling terminals; it does take some time for getting between them.

• If you have booked your tickets on cheap flights to India with two different airlines, you may need enough time for claiming your baggage from the first flight and checking-in with later flight. Be sure to allow for enough time for baggage reclaim and check-in into the later flight.

• Confirm the gate number and terminal at the connecting airport’s reception. There are chances of modifications in the gate number, so it is better to confirm it beforehand.

Missed connections

Many holiday makers looking for cheap flights to India often take two or more connections. If you miss a connecting flight and you have booked to travel multiple airlines on the same reservation (through ticket), it is generally the first airline on the ticket that is required to look after you by meeting your such needs as meals and accommodation.

In case the connecting flight (missed) was with the same airline as the previous one, then some airlines may look after you while others may not.

Arguably, the airlines should pay for or reimburse the cost of food and stay arrangements for those with missed flight on air travel. However it might be difficult to get the airline to make a refund or reimbursement. Travellers can take the guidance of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the specialist aviation regulator in the UK.

Reference: http://louiskieran.blogspot.com/2012/04/connecting-flights-what-you-should-know.html

Tips on How to Handle Flight Cancellations

No matter how careful you have been in planning, it’s true that travel plans may be thrown into disarray anytime for many reasons. Imagine having painstakingly booked deals on cheap flights to India, you thought that you made fool proof plans for your holiday break but suddenly an airport announcement of flight cancellation due to bad weather threatens your tour. What can you do to mitigate the loss, inconvenience and stress?

Contact the Airline or Travel Agent

Call who ever you booked with – the airline or the travel agent. Ask for your rights and understand policies of the airline for such incidents and the terms and conditions of the booking related to changes and refunds. Airlines usually come up with two options – rebooking the tickets on alternative flight at a later time without any penalties, or full refund. Enquire what your options are. When flight schedules are affected by days rather than hours, then travellers are more likely to get full refunds on tickets that they booked on cheap flights to India.

Intimate the Hotel

Holiday makers must inform the booked hotel about the cancellation of their flight. Else the hotel will not refund the deposited reservation fee. Calmly explain them that your cheap flight to India has been cancelled due to severe weather and you won’t be able to make it. It may spare you from cancellation fees. If you have booked the package holiday with travel agent, then your travel agent should do this. But do not assume, enquire if they have already or are going to do it.

Keep eyes on Departure and Arrival Screens

Make sure to check the departure and arrival screens at the airport for keeping eyes on flights which are operating after yours. It helps in getting proper information about the next operating flights to India.

Rebook the Ticket

It is advisable to get the ticket on your flight to India rebooked while the airlines are offering it as an alternative. If you have booked with the travel agent and you opt for a refund, the airlines are going to advise you to contact your travel agents for refund. Travel agents usually take a long time to refund money, especially if there are thousands of refunds during such natural calamities as the recent snow crisis in the UK and the Iceland volcanic eruption.

Reference: http://journeytoincredibleindia.blogspot.com/2012/04/tips-on-how-to-handle-flight.html

Tips For Snapping Up Last-Minute Airfare Deals to India

Booking tickets for a leisurely break to India well in advance can help you make enormous savings! However, if you are an impulsive, last-minute traveller, a little research and smart work can get you the real good last minute deals to enjoy those enchanting  holidays to enigmatic India without spending an arm and a leg!

So if you still haven’t booked your tickets to India in advance, don’t disappoint.  Use the following tips to snap up a lucrative last minute ticket deal on cheap flights to India.

Have a Flexible Approach

Being flexible with travel preferences helps a lot in netting last minute deals. Often airlines operating flights to India at odd hours come out with cheap last minute deals. Flexibility with choice of departure and arrival airport also increases chances of booking cheap last minute deal.

Go for Popular Websites

It has often been noticed that a search for lucrative last minute deals for cheap tickets on flights to India remains incomplete without browsing through prominent airfare listing and flight comparison websites. These websites offer loads of information on last minute deals available both with airlines and travel agencies. However, do check out airline and tour operators’ websites separately to compare the quoted airfares.

Contact Airline

Just because you have found the airfares on the website billed as last minute doesn’t mean it is the best possible discounts! To enhance your savings you need to know the original airfare. Contact airlines to find out which cheap flight to India has vacant seats and last minute tickets available on it. You might grab a better one!

Go For All-Inclusive Holiday Packages

Besides cheap airfares, one also requires affordable accommodation and car rental deals for a gratifying break. It is sensible to look for a last minute all-inclusive holiday package as it enhances savings and avoids individual expenditures made on airfares, accommodation and possibly a car rental from the airport. Furthermore, many tour operators offer deep discounts on all-inclusive holiday packages.

Don’t Forget Travel Consolidators and Ticket Auctions

Check with travel consolidators as they often sell air tickets for prices less than the airline's advertised prices. Airline ticket auction websites are also great places to snap up lucrative last minute flights’ tickets.

Reference: http://jackolivor.blogspot.com/2012/04/tips-for-snapping-up-last-minute.html