Dirt cheap tickets for immediate travel!

Can you travel at short notice? Then some good news for you. For lots of destinations, last minute fares have dropped to very low levels, making them super attractive. The saying "Book Early to save more" is not always true. If demand is low, airlines drop prices last minute. You can now travel for much cheaper, almost rock bottom prices, with only 1 week/10 days advance booking.

Check the examples and screenshots below: 

#	Origin	Destination	Travel Date	Airline	One way fare	Remarks
1	Doha (Qatar)	Kochi (India)	26 October	Air India Express	7900 INR
2	Chennai	Sharjah	31 October	Spicejet	6300 INR
3	Mangalore	Dubai	26 October	Air India Express	5400 INR
4	Chennai	Paris	29 October	Jet Airways	13000 INR	+ 17k for, return (30k total)
5	Chennai	Hanoi (Vietnam)	28, 32 October/1st Nov	Air Asia	7600 INR
6	New Delhi	Paris	28 October	Jet Airways	15500 INR
7	Chennai	Male (Maldives)	1st Nov	Spicejet	6230 INR
8	Chennai	Singapore	1st Nov	Scoot	4000 INR
9	Mumbai	Nairobi Kenya	3rd Nov	Saudia	13000 INR
10	Chennai	Doha	7th Nov	Indigo	7500 INR
11	Chennai	Abu Dhabi	3rd Nov	Srilankan	7200 INR

Further, Rohit Tripathi has provided following low fares he has spotted

1. Chennai- Kuala Lumpur, 7^th -13^th feb, Rs 6000 return
2. Chennai- Jakartha 10^th Nov to 14^th Nov: Rs 10700 return
3. Chennai - Bangkok 22^nd to 26^th March : INR 9200 return
4. Kochi- Kuala Lumpur:  15^th to 18^th Nov: 5200 INR return
5. Chennai-Bali 20^th to 27^th Nov: 15000 INR return

There's no magic formula to find the cheapest origin and destination- you need to keep trying for multiple destinations and dates till you land on jackpot.

These low fares are most probably due to empty seats- not many people seem to be traveling this Deepavali season compared to last year- may be they have less disposable cash due to GST, inflation. May be people are avoiding unnecessary travel due to flood like situation in many cities. May be those settled abroad are not making a trip to home this season. Not very sure, but the result is evident. Airlines have resorted to deep discounts on select dates and destinations where the flight is almost empty. If you notice these are departures in next few weeks. If you can pack your bag and fly, this is the time.

Chennai-Singapore Scoot- INR 4000

Doha-Kochi on Air India Express, INR 7900 

Mangalore - Dubai- 5400 INR, Air India Express

If you notice carefully, only on 31^st October the fare is dirt cheap. On all other days it is higher. You should be lucky to spot this kind of fares. Also return flight will be tricky- you should be flexible to fly back on whatever dates it is cheap

Chennai-Paris, Jet Airways Direct flight- 13000 INR
Thanks to Karthik Murali for bringing this to my attention this morning

 Mangalore-Dubai Spicejet INR 6000
 Chennai-Male (Maldives)- Rs 6221

Chennai- Hanoi- Air Asia, Rs 7600

Further, if you notice, Make My Trip ad has got just a bit more informative- they are showing on which date the advertised fares are available. This is brilliant as we can instantly verify and book. Good job. May be they listened to my rant in an earlier post.

Points to note:
1. Visa requirements: Visa to some of the countries cost several thousand rupees and few days of processing time. Ensure that you've factored visa cost and processing time before booking

2. Return tickets: Above fares are one way. Return should be available at similar fares, but you should be flexible to try multiple dates or different airlines.

3. Convenience fee: Factor a few hundred rupees extra per person as convenience fee- may vary by website/airline.

4. Recommend booking directly on airline websites for better handling of any issues/changes post confirmation

5. Some low cost airline fares may not include check in bag, meals and such add on services.

All fares as seen on airline/makemytrip website at the time of composing this post. Prices may change over time. Let me know if you booked any tickets after seeing this post.