The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Cheap air tickets not an unmixed blessing

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 27, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Cheap air tickets not an unmixed blessing

Special Correspondent

Bangalore: Fares on certain airlines may be lower than those for air-conditioned first-class on a train, but do all travellers benefit?

Air Deccan recently offered one lakh tickets at Rs. 999 each (including taxes) on a few sectors, for travel till April 20. The airlines said the tickets were sold out within hours, and it has offered an additional 50,000 tickets at the same price.

According to business travellers, cheap air tickets are for those who can plan their trip well ahead. Those who finalise their plans near the date of journey find that the tickets are all sold out. People planning vacations or attending a family function such as a wedding, usually planned months in advance, get most of the low-priced tickets.

"Airlines do not always tell us on which sectors the discounted tickets are available and how many are available on each sector. Websites don't always give the total picture and neither do call centres,'' some travellers complain.

While being first on that phone helps to grab cheap tickets directly, you also try to get them through a travel agent or at some outlets which each airline periodically advertises. Cheaper tickets also depend on factors such as "load" on a certain sector at a specific time, like say, late afternoon or late night, and on specific days of the week when bookings may be lighter. In the case of a budget airline such as Air Deccan, fares are always lower than others, even if you are not quick enough to make use of the Rs. 999 offer.

Reading the fine print helps because cheap tickets do come with conditions attached. There may be a minimum cancellation charge of 10 per cent of the ticket cost, going up to 50 per cent depending on how close to the flight date and time you cancel a ticket. Some airlines do allow you to reschedule your journey till four hours before departure.

Airlines sources on a few sectors admit that on flights with a low load factor, they are happy to offer discounted tickets so that they do not have to fly with almost 50 per cent of seats unoccupied. For others it is the time of the day that matters because not many business travellers want to catch a mid- or late afternoon flight and lose out on working time at the destination and then get back at night.

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