------------------------------------------------------------------------ * G * O * A * N * E * T **** C * L * A * S * S * I * F * I * E * D * S * ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Enjoy your holiday in Goa. Stay at THE GARCA BRANCA from November to May There is no better, value for money, guest house. Confirm your bookings early or miss-out
Visit http://www.garcabranca.com for details/booking/confirmation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1593065.cms How to find the cheapest air fare? ASHLEY COUTINHO TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ TUESDAY, MAY 30, 2006 12:00:00 AM] This is the story of Raghav and Radha (both Mumbaiites) and how their plans to elope to Delhi turned out to be a non-starter. At first, they thought of escaping via Rajdhani train, but they decided to take the aerial route instead, since they had read in the papers that it was now possible to buy flight tickets priced lower than train A/C fares for the same distance. So they started looking for the cheapest air fares on the internet because online booking is sometimes cheaper. For example, fares on tickets booked through the net are a little lower than those available through customer centres or ticket counters. They also realised that their friend Rinku's information about discounts offered under apex and super-apex fares had been incorrect as most airlines have now switched to dynamic fares. These fares fluctuate depending on the daily market demand and generally, the earlier one books the tickets, the greater is the chance of getting cheaper fares. The basic difference between dynamic and apex fares is that under apex fares, one had to compulsorily purchase the tickets a certain number of days (usually 7, 14, 21 or 28 days) in advance, but there is no such restriction in the dynamic system. Raghav and Radha began their hunt by checking websites of individual airlines. Indian's Easy Fares gave them a clear picture on how dynamic fares work. Easy Fares offer discounts up to 60% on specified sectors and are available under four levels for economy class. For a Mumbai-Delhi flight on June 10, they found that fares increased from Rs 4,270 for level 4 to Rs 7,350 for level 1. Once the seats for a particular level are filled up, the next higher level fare becomes applicable. But their fare for the same flight came down to Rs 3,205 under the newly-introduced unchecked fares, available for a limited number of seats in the economy class in select sectors. This was just the beginning of their journey into the labyrinth of special schemes and offers. Some of the prominent schemes they checked out were: co-branded cards, Sixer and Super Sixer, Fly now, pay later of Air Sahara; King Club of Kingfisher Airlines; One Fare Pass, Go Double Pay Single and Check Fares offer of Jet Airways; and Desh Videsh '06, Super Saver Utsav Plus and Indian Family Fares of Indian. Some airlines, they found, also offer special discounts for personnel in the armed forces, blind persons and cancer patients, while others offer concessional fares to senior citizens, students, etc. They also discovered that night fares and even some afternoon flights were sometimes cheaper than early morning flights. In fact, Jet Airways has a special scheme called Night Saver Flights divided into different classes. Their Mumbai-Delhi flight cost just Rs 2,640 under the H class of this scheme. Next, they checked out websites like travel.indiatimes.com, travelguru.com, ghumo.com and makemytrip.com. Despite the fact that each and every airline was not listed on each of these websites, they got some good bargains. For example, on ghumo.com, they found a flight at Rs 2,680 (Indian) and Rs 2,899 (Jet Airways). After much perusing and musing, they learnt a few home truths. Most airlines may introduce last-minute fares, which may be cheaper than fares bought in advance. Hence, last-minute travel may prove to be more economical at times. A full-service carrier can cost less than a low-cost one on certain days. The promotional and special schemes can be aborted anytime according to the discretion of the airline. For example, Indian's unchecked fares for the Mumbai-Delhi route are only applicable till June 15, '06. Cancellation fees are quite high - usually 50% of the basic fare. There are no discounts for children and so, an adult ticket may sometimes cost you less than that for a child. Some airlines like Indian and Air Sahara offer bidding options, which may get you great discounts. Others offer fare alerts and flight information through mobile alerts and newsletters, which can get you useful data on ticket prices. Lastly, anything is possible, at least theoretically. If you are lucky, you can bag a Re 1 (plus taxes) or Rs 500 (plus taxes) seat on Air Deccan, as the airline says that on any particular day, its first seats are always priced at these rates. But after hours of surfing, Raghav and Radha were more confused than ever. They started to bicker over how to arrive at the cheapest figure. With no consensus in sight, they broke up and went their separate ways. (This is not a true tale. But many a Tom, Dick and Harry have been harried in their quest to find the cheapest airfare.) ------------------------ Try flying to and from Goa. It may be at least as masochistic as bus or train during the busy season! :) _____________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. Goanet mailing list (Goanet@goanet.org)