Spicejet Hyderabad-Pondichery direct flight

Those visiting Pondichery had to by default land in Chennai and go by road to Pondy. The 150 km taxi ride easily costs around Rs 4000 to Rs 9000 depending on type of car, 1 day/2 day etc. Plus the road journey takes 4-5 hours in total. Toll, interstate permit fee and other expenses also add up.

Tourists now have an option to fly in to Pondichery directly. Spicejet has introduced direct flight between Hyderabad and Pondichery. Spicejet is taking advantage of Govt of India's UDAN (Udega Desh ka Aam Nagarik) scheme that subsidies short haul flights to poorly connected tier 2/tier 3 cities.

Quick Summary:

• Airline: Spicejet
• Destination: Pondicherry  (Pondy/Puducherry)
• Airport Code: PNY
• Flight from: Hyderabad
• Frequency: Daily
• Aircraft: Bombardier Q400
• Departure Timing: Pondy-Hyd: 11.40 AM, Hyd Pondy- 10AM
• Price: Max Rs 2750
• From: 16th August

Spicejet flight will leave Hyd at 10.00 AM, arrive at Pondy at 11.20 AM, fly back to Hyd at 11.40 AM. Fare is capped at 2500 one way + Rs 225 per person convenience fee. Frequency is daily. Don't miss your flight, because there'll be no other flight out of town until next day!

If you're visiting Pondichery from other part of India, it might be more convenient to fly direct there via Hyd than flying to Chennai and traveling by road. But if you fly direct, you will miss the opportunity to experience the scenic east coast road, world heritage site Mahabalipuram and other attractions between Chennai and Pondy.

Spicejet had put some flights between Puduchery and Bengaluru in 2013 but had to discontinue due to poor load factor. Hopefully this time they will get enough flyers to keep the route profitable. What they have deployed is a 78 seater Bombardier Q400. So I guess if they can get at least 50 passengers on an average, the flight can cover its expenses and sustain. There are 35-40 direct flights between Chennai n Hyderabad every day- getting 50 passengers to fly direct to Pondy shouldn't be a problem. All the best from the Airline Blog for this new flight.

Passengers flying out of Vijayawada also will have a more convenient/quicker connect to Pondy as the Vijayawada-Hyderabad flight will be flying onwards to Pondy.

What to see in Pondy?
Pondichery is a former french colony and offers pristine beaches, colonial buildings, great food, cheap alcohol and more. Aurobindo ashram, Auroville attract lots of tourists. There're backwaters and even a house boat company is in operation.

I am curious to see of Pondichery police will check outbound tourists for alcohol bottles at Pondy airport. On the road they search cars and buses and seize alcohol bottles if they can find any.

Within 150 kms from Pondicherry you can explore Pichavaram, Mahabalipuram, Chidambaram and so on. Luckily Pondicherry airport is not too far from city- you won't have to spend a bomb on taxi to reach your hotel.

Do you like this flight? If you're visiting Pondy, would you prefer this flight via Hyd or prefer to land in Chennai and take road?

Top airline news this week

Here's a quick summary of top aviation news this week...

1. Air India serving Veg only food to domestic economy passengers- this is probably the most discussed news item this week. In an attempt to cut costs, Air India has decided to discontinue non-veg meals option for economy passengers across its domestic network. Vegetarians are happy with the news, as they will now have guaranteed availability of veg food plus won't have to smell the non veg food from passenger sitting in adjacent seat. Naturally non-veg lovers are upset with the news.

Air India hasn't directly admitted this as a cost cutting measure- they say lots of non veg meals are getting wasted and crew is losing precious time asking who wants what. In my opinion the least airline can do is give a pre-book option where those who prefer non veg can declare the same during web check-in and get assured serving of non-veg.

2. NZ woman dies in the Caribbean due to jet blast
A New Zealand national died in the Caribbean islands this week as she got hit by the jet blast of an incoming plane. The incident happened in Princess Juliana International Airport in Sint Maarten, which is right adjacent to Maho beach. (Sint Maarten is a small dot in the world map, somewhere below the Puerto Rico area.)Beach goers often get close to the airport fens to take closer look at incoming planes despite warning signs.  Read full news here

3. Check in cargo- a tin of beer
An Australian passenger hogged world limelight for his idea of checking in a tin of beer on a Qantas flight. His cargo arrived safely at the destination. Airlines around the world will have a nightmare to deal with if passengers start checking in random stuff without a real need, just for fun. Full news on BBC

4. Indigo grounds 10 A320 aircrafts with P&W Engines
Indigo had to ground 10 aircrafts- recently acquired A320 Neo fleet due to engine problems. These planes have Pratt and Whitney Engines. Expect some disruptions in Indigo's operations in coming days. Souce:

5. Possible Union trouble for Air India
Air India employee union is reportedly planning a strike against the government decision to sell it off. Expect some service disruptions this week

6. American Airline terminates codeshare with Etihad and Qatar
AA has sent notice to Etihad and Qatar airways stating the code share agreement will terminate end of business March 28, 2018
Read full news

Qatar Airways CEO's positive outlook despite blockade

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker in this video with Al Jazeera speaks about the crisis in gulf region- the economic and deplomatic blockage imposed on Qatar by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, later joined by Libya and Maldives.

Primary victim seemed to be Qatar Airways- following were the immediate impacts
-Closure of airspace over Saudi, UAE etc, forcing Qatar Airways to take a detour/much longer routes
-Closure of 18 destinations in these countries for Qatar airways
-Closure of Qatar airways offices, website etc denying them an opportunity to arrange refunds/re route passengers or even take personal belongings of the employees and more.

All these cast a shadow on future of Qatar Airways, induced confusion among employees and passengers. In wake of all these, below video from the top boss of Qatar airways is reassuring. Do watch it.

Main points to take home:
- Qatar airway's expansion plan was put on hold due to capacity constraint. Now that they are not serving the 18 destinations, they can use the planes to fly to newer destinations they had in mind. The details of these new destinations are not known yet, though wikipedia page of Qatar Airways lists few of them
- Qatar has 206 planes as of now, 500 million USD in profits and enough cash to sustain any short term loss due to the crisis.
- Qatar has not resorted to any discount sale to win back customers. I think they are doing pretty well despite some inconveniences.

Do watch the video below to know more.

6 Flight Ticket Booking Tips no travel website tells you

In this post I have listed 6 tips that can come very handy during flight ticket booking. But most travel companies, airline websites or OTAs with commercial interests won't tell you these, as their ultimate motive is to make you spend more money, not really to tell you the loopholes or help you optimize your spending.

1. Book for yourself, let your friends book on their own.
Generally when we plan a trip, we check with our friends, relatives to check if they also would like to join. Many will even say Yes, without a 100% commitment. You might offer to book for them and collect money later. This is a bad practice. I suggest book for you and your immediate family or those who are fully confident will join. Let others book their own tickets separately. Why? read on

Risk of booking a large group in one PNR
-Partial modifications are not allowed- if say 2 out of 6 people wish to travel a day earlier or later, there's no way to support that. Modifications should be done to whole group. If the PNRs are separate, each PNR can be modified on its own.
-No discount for large bookings. Airlines do not usually give any discount because you're booking multiple seats. Pricing is per seat, convenience fee is per seat, there's no savings at all
- Risk of paying next slab.- If there's one seat left at 8000 and next seat is 10000, if you book two tickets, you will have to pay 20000, not 18000, as system applies new slab rates for both passengers. So if you have too many people in a PNR, you might be paying more. Always check for 1 passenger, then check for more.
-Plans change. Sometimes friends back off or worst, will be a no show last minute- unless they are prompt enough to pay, you might end up losing some money in cancellation fee etc. It is less headache if you make everyone handle their own tickets.

Benefits of booking separate PNRs
- Better flexibility
- Possibly better rates
- Less financial risk- no need to followup with them for money etc

2. Hold PNR
Some airlines offer what is known as a "Hold PNR". That is, the price you saw will be locked for you till next 24 or 48 hours. Highly useful when you've not made up your mind 100% or waiting for someone else to confirm etc. If your decision is a Go, then you pay and confirm the ticket, else let it go. If you don't use this option and book upfront, any change in decision will cost you a lot later.
Spicejet offers this, many airlines offer this but usually only if you call the helpline.. On the website there won't be such options. If you go till payment section and close the tab, some airlines track it and send you an SMS, offering you to an option to book the ticket at same price within next 24/48 hours.

3. Free Cancellation within 24 hours
Jet airways offers a no questions asked free cancellation within 24 hours of ticket booking. Use this option if you've done some mistakes or if your decision changes.

4. Use possible schedule changes to get full refund
If you cancel your own, sometimes you get almost nothing back, except few hundred rupees in taxes. Under normal conditions there'll be a cancellation fee (between 2-6k usually) and you will get the rest back. If you have the need to cancel but travel date is too far, then it may be better to hold on for some time. Here's why.

Airline schedules get modified often- due to various reasons. If you've booked a ticket well in advance and if the flight timings now change or get cancelled, you are entitled to use this as an excuse and seek full refund. You can claim the modified timings are not suitable for you. You will either get full refund on your credit card or get your ticket modified free of cost for an alternate date/flight.

5 Book additional services closer to travel date
Booking websites may be tempting you to buy all the additional services like baggage, meals, insurance upfront. But I suggest don't. Book these closer to travel date on need basis. Here's why.

• While seat cost will change (mostly increase) over time closer to travel date, rates for additional services like check-in bag, meals, insurance etc doesn't increase over time. You can always add them later closer to travel date.
• If you've booked 20 kgs bag to one of the two passenger and he/she can't travel, the baggage fee paid can't be transferred to second person. You will be asked to pay separately. Better off buy these closer to travel date as things firm up.
• If you have to cancel your ticket, you're better off without these extra services already paid, since they are non-refundable.

6. Book on airline website instead of OTAs
Booking on 3rd party site may feel same priced as airline website, it is more convenient and hassle free if you book it directly on airline website. Reasons below
- In case of cancellation, travel websites deduct additional amount for their service, further reducing what you get in hand post cancellation
- In case of various things that can go wrong, both airline and OTA can keep tossing you around blaming each other
- OTAs or travel websites are constantly rolling out various marketing campaigns, offers to make people book through them. Cost of this has to be recovered from customers somehow. Airlines on the other hand just need to focus on what they do best-flying

Have any other tips in mind? 

August Long weekend- last minute cheap to fly destinations

If you've not yet finalized your plans for August long weekend (12-15), below are top 5 destinations at reasonably cheap fares

Option 1: Delhi-Nepal, 10k
If you're centred around NCR, you can have a short trip to Nepal for about 10k in flight, may be another 10k for other expenses. If you're not in Delhi, factor another 5k to 10k extra

Option 2: Singapore with TigerAir, 14k
Singapore return ticket rates at this moment are at reasonable levels. 12k or less is cheap, but 14-15k is reasonable, if the dates work out for you. But you will spend relatively more in Singapore as stay and all attractions will be expensive. Factor another 20k per person for stay, food and attractions for a 5 day holiday. Total budget, 35k.

5D/4N optimized itinerary for Singapore can be seen here

Option 3- Male, Maldives with Srilankan, 15k 
For about 15k you can get return ticket to Male, Maldives on Srilankan. Meals and baggage included and lot more luxury than budget airline. In Maldives you can either spend a fortune on one of the luxury resorts or stay closer to capital in budget/mid range hotels.

Option 4: Dubai, Jet Airways, 16k
If you've not been to Dubai yet, the prevailing rates are around 16-17k from Chennai, 14-15k from Mumbai. Factor another 5k for visa processing and 15-20k for local expenses in Dubai.

Option 5: Air Asia/Tiger Air to Phuket, Thailand, 19-20k

You can fly to Phuket in Thailand for about 20k per person, hand bag only. The cheapest fare I have seen to Phuket is 10k return from Chennai. Even at 20k it is not a bad consideration, given that you're booking less than 1 month in advance and Thailand is not an expensive country to visit. But note that August is supposed to be rainy season in Phuket, expect a day or two to get washed away in rain, though I don't see prospect of all days getting washed away in rain.

With another 10k per person for hotel, food and other local expense, you can have a nice trip in a budget of Rs 30k per person.

Points to note: 

• Prices as seen at the time of preparing this post and may change any time
• Do try few alternate date combinations to find out cheapest fare
• It is cheaper to fly one stop than to the hub (Chennai to Phuket via Bangkok DMK is only marginally expensive- another k or two compared to Chennai-Bangkok, Chennai Male is only a k or two expensive than Chennai-Colombo. So take advantage of this.
• I recommend booking direct on airline website. 
• Most of these are non-refundable fares, exercise caution...
• Please check for your city of origin, hopefully it shouldn't be too expensive than the Ex Chennai fares mostly shown above...

For the price shown above, factor another 5-10% extra for any hidden expense like convenience fee, food, insurance etc.

Have nice trip.

Are dreamliners safe? Al Jazeera sting video and response

Dreamliner was Boeing’s most prestigious project but its launch was delayed several times and got lots of bad press due to battery related fires and airlines having to ground their entire fleet of 787s. Recently I watched this Al Jazeera video (available below) which accuses Boeing of compromising on quality of 787 Dreamliner aeroplanes, in order to save time and cost. It involves hidden camera recordings of employees saying they will never fly on the Dreamliner, few former employees stating that they were pressurized to give quicker sign offs/compromise on quality/safety procedures in order to meet the deadlines and that FAA officer who certified Boeing Dreamliner was later hired to lobby for the Boeing with US Government.

The story looked convincing and viewers would feel very unsafe flying in a Dreamliner.  Video has secured 2 million+ views and counting, thousands of comments both in support and in denial. But then, are the accusations true? Consider these:

Above video was published in 2014. Dreamliner first entered service in 2011. It has been several years since the Dreamliner is back in service and selling in good numbers. If there were serious flaws in its design and constructions, there should have been some serious incidents by now. Fortunately, nothing of that sort happened. Except the initial fallback due to battery issues, there’s not been any significant incident post its re-introduction.

I am sure the airlines around the world are not fools to accept a faulty plane. They will do enough checks and testing before accepting a delivery. Any major fault should come out during such a pre-delivery inspection.

Only thing we don’t know is the long term durability. If quality of materials/worksmanship is not good, may be planes will start giving trouble early- like say after 15 years instead of usual life span of 20-25 years. Only time will tell this- we can’t assume or predict right away. Hopefully, Dreamliner will last longer and provide good ROI to airlines.

Below is what CEO of Qatar Airways says… He says Qatar inspectors are working on the ground with Boeing in the assembly plant to ensure that planes are being built with required quality. He feels the AlJazeera video is a sensationalization attempt by a few former disgruntled employees and there’s no risk with the Dreamliner. He says delays are minor issues are always common with airline projects and they are never serious enough to hamper safety of passengers and will be sorted over time.

If you’ve watched both the videos, what is your opinion?

Cheap tickets to Maldives on Srilankan-Book now

Srilankan has some really cool fares to Maldives. If you've been thinking of a trip to the island nation, you can check and book your tickets now.

For travel dates not so far- like November 2017, you can get a return ticket for about Rs 12000, which I think is a good deal.

• Gan Island is not the main entry point to Maldives. Male (MLE) is the main airport. You can also fly in to Male, it will cost a few k more.
• Work Permit holders visiting Maldives for the first time are required to enter via Male only, not via Gan Island
• Gan Island will be far less crowded compared to Male. There're enough resorts and islands around Gan, so you can have an equally good Maldives experience.

Why I think Rs 12000 to Maldives is a good deal?
1. Srilankan is a full service airline. Price includes meals and 30kg check in baggage
2. Last time I flew to Male with Srilankan, it was in A330-200 and A330-300 wide body double aisle aircraft- gave a true international experience compared to flying narrow body aircrafts like A320 operated by Spicejet and Air India
3. If you can split your journey you can add a few days of stay in Srilanka as well
4. 11222 you see below is the lowest I have seen on Srilankan to Gan Island, don't think it will get any cheaper. For Male airport, lowest I've seen is some 10800+ not available right now.

Both Air India and Spicejet connect to Maldives (Male only) via Trivandrum/Kochi. But I am sure Srilankan can give a much better flying experience than Spicejet or Air India. Even if Srilankan is expensive by a thousand or two, I would still recommend them.

Indians get free Visa on Arrival at Maldives.

Points to Note:

• Srilankan may charge your credit card in USD. So factor an additional 3% for currency conversion charges (your bank may charge this).
• Sign in, get your frequent flyer ID and then book. Mapping your booking to frequent flyer ID later is not very easy on Srilankan 
• Above fares are non-refundable. You will get almost nothing if you can't travel. There're other expensive fare if you want flexibility.

Above: A sea plane in Maldives
Below: Inflight Meals on Srilankan. Read a detailed review of my experience with Srilankan here

Read some more about Maldives
1. Things to do in Maldives- Complete list
2. Sea Plane watching in Maldives
3. Male island- places to visit
4. Hulhuale, Maldives

Book Srilankan here. For hotel bookings, use the widget below.

Booking.com

Top Airline news this week

Here's a summary of major airline/aviation news this week

1. Laptop Ban lifted on Qatar Emirates and Etihad
Some good news to US bound travelers- the laptop ban enforced on 10 Airports has been relaxed a bit with Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi getting exemption, effectively all Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad passengers now can carry their laptops in hand bag inside the cabin.

Read detailed news here and here

2. Indigo Passengers injured in Delhi:
5 Indigo passengers inside a bus heading to their plane in Delhi were injured this week, reportedly due to jet blast from a spicejet plane taxing to its bay. Read the news here, more details awaited

3. Air India Delhi- Washington DC direct flight starts
Washington will be 5th US destination for India's National carrier Air India. Delhi-Washington direct flight has been started this week, with a 777-200 equipment. AI 103 and AI 104 will fly 3 days a week ferrying upto 238 passengers per flight.
Detailed news here

4. Flying out of Delhi is now cheaper
UDF has been reportedly cut down to Rs 10 per passenger (domestic) from an earlier Rs 275-550, for passengers flying out of IGI New Delhi as per this ET Article. For international passengers now it is Rs 45, down from Rs 500-1000+ earlier. Your flight should now be cheaper by a few hundred rupees and you can use that for buying meal may be! I did a quick check on Spicejet website to see if this is true and indeed (but at Rs 12 instead of 10, 2 Rs tax?)

5. Indigo looking to start low cost long haul flights
As per this news, while trying to buy part of Air India's business, Indigo is looking to introduce a low cost long haul unit, something similar to Air Asia X, I assume. There is huge potential if Indigo can launch cheap flights to Europe, Africa and South East Asia from major Indian cities. There's hardly any budget airline flying to Europe from India right now, so we're paying upwards of 35000+ per trip in full service airlines, to say Paris or Amsterdam from India. If Indigo can offer the same in 22000-25000 range, they will have great occupancy. Similarly for many South East asian destinations we are dependent on Air Asia/Scoot like carriers with a one stop flight. If Indigo can introduce direct flights it will be more convenient and hopefully cheaper.

Are there any other aviation/airline news that got your attention this week? Let us know.

Direct Flight between Palawan, Kalibo and Cebu, Philippines

When I visited the Philippines in January this year, I couldn't find any direct flight between various islands (such as Cebu, Palawan etc). All flights were via Manila, wasting precious time and money.

Looks like now the things have changed. Both Cebu Pacific and Air Asia Philippines have introduced couple of direct flights between the islands. Click here for my posts on Philippines 

Cebu Pacific's direct flight to Cebu from Puerto Princessa (PPS) (main airport in Palawan Islands) departs at 4.10 PM where as AirAsia's direct flight leaves at slightly more convenient time of 8.30 PM

The direct flights are now opening new possibilities- you can now do a circular flight hop and return home. Example:

1. Arrive in Manila, spend a day or two
2. Take a flight to Puerto Princesa, spend several days (as much days as you  can afford)
3. Fly direct to Cebu, spend a day or to.
4. Fly back home via Singapore or Kuala Lumpur directly from Cebu
5. or fly further to some other islands such as Davao or Kalibo

Above: Air Asia plane in Puerto Princesa

Below: Approaching Cebu

Ticket prices in Philippines are also very affordable. A few thousand rupees and totally worth over another option such as bus or ferry, considering the time saved by the flight. 

Be advised that Puerto Princessa airport collects an additional 300 PHP per person before departure, over and above the ticket fare already paid.

Happy Journey! Make the most of your next visit to the Philippines.

Some of the finest/funniest in-flight safety videos

In flight safety demonstrations are routine and boring stuff. Crew doesn't want to do them, passengers do not want to watch them, but they are to be performed on every flight, for safety reasons and to comply with regulations.

Airlines with in-flight entertainment systems have made it easier for their crew by playing a video of the safety instructions, than cabin crew having to perform this manually on each flights. Some airlines have gone very creative in this safety video and are able to communicate the message more effectively through their creative videos. Here's a compilation of some of the interesting in-flight safety videos.

All rights and IP of these videos belong to respective owners/airlines. I am only compiling a list.

1. Air New Zealand Safety Video
This 2 year old video has amassed 16 million views and involves some real crazy and creative stuff. Do not miss.

2) Philippine Airlines Heart of the nation video by the national carrier of the Philippines. With close to a million views, the Philippine Airlines video depicts various places of interest in the Philippines as well.

3. Qantas In-flight safety video
Qantas is the spirit of Australia and their video shows all the highlights of the country and can tempt you to plan a visit right away.

4. Virgin America Airline
The Richard Branson airline uses a dance theme and has 12 million views as of now

 5 American Airlines

6 Qatar Airways: Qatar sponsored Barcelona football team and made a video featuring them

 7. KLM Royal Dutch

 8. Air France
 
 9. Air Mauritius

 10. Iceland Air

 11. Hawaiian Airline

Emirates, Lufthansa and Cathay on the other hand seem to have a plain vanilla safety video. I feel they should try something more creative.

Is there any other airline inflight safety video you liked a lot or found it a lot creative? Let me know through a comment.

Who charges least convenience fee for flight ticket booking?

Convenience fee has become a necessary evil. The amount you see in first screen while checking airfare is never the amount you pay. The final amount charged will always be a few hundred rupees to few thousand rupees more.

Why is convenience fee charged extra?
Airlines work on wafer thin margins. Every cost component is broken down and separated. A fancy restaurant probably has a profit margin of 20-40% or even more on the amount you pay, so they can afford to pay 2-3% to banks as transaction fee when you swipe the credit card. But airlines prefer to skip including the transaction charge upfront as it serves two purposes- one they can keep the initial amount low and appear cheap and second, since transaction charges could be different for different modes of payment, including it upfront may not be right.

But what should be the right convenience fee? 
This is always debatable. To my understanding, banks charge a % of transaction amount- which is usually very small, around 1 to 2%. If a flight ticket costs Rs 2500, convenience fee shouldn't cross Rs 50 (2%) I can probably pardon another % more. Further, airlines are high volume customers booking tickets worth crores every month- they don't necessarily have to pay what a small shopkeeper pays. Airlines can negotiate transaction fees with banks and should be able to pass the benefit to customers. But most airlines and OTAs often markup this expense and charge a fixed fee per person per flight. Sometimes the convenience fee comes to one fourth of the ticket price-like during the current Spice Jet Monsoon sale- you can get a Chennai-Hyd ticket for Rs 2500 but need to pay Rs 500 as convenience fee, which is 20% of ticket cost. I fail to understand how exactly Spice Jet is incurring a payment/bank settlement related expense worth Rs 500 on a Rs 2500 transaction. I think for many airlines and ticket selling websites convenience fee is a mean to earn extra revenue through a pure psychological game. Consider this:
1. Most customers do not even notice that an extra Rs 400-500 has been added to Amount Payable. Easy money to the airlines
2. Few customers will notice, but since they've already spent lots of time n effort in selecting the date, entering passenger details etc, they might think it is OK and continue paying the convenience fee
3. Few customers will notice it but they have to travel anyway, so will be forced to pay the convenience fee as there's no other option or almost all airlines charge similar amount.
4. Only very few like opportunistic travelers like me try to assess the trip is still worth even after the huge convenience fee and decide not to proceed with ticket booking as 20% convenience fee on Rs 4500 ticket is not making economical sense and I have no compulsion to travel to specific destination.

Above: Spicejet has revised its Convenience fee- now costs Rs 800 on an international flight round trip. But you may be able to save this fee by using Gift Card option.

I think banks only care about total amount transacted- they don't care if it is one way ticket or return or if there're 2 passengers or 4, domestic or international. Airlines have made it convenient for themselves by charging convenience fee per flight per user, instead of keeping it as a % of total amount payable. Now they are trying to milk more from international travelers, by charging another 100-150 extra one way for international tickets. Makes me lean more towards Srilankan, AirAsia etc who have a more favorable convenience fee terms.

Another possible thought: Airlines are probably considering worst case scenario- like max fare on any domestic ticket is around 20000, so 2% of 20000 is 400, so airlines charge this flat amount even when amount payable is much lesser- penalizing cheaper ticket buyers.

I can understand online payment incurs a transaction cost- but why for airline counter or sale counter? If I am booking say 4 return tickets on SpiceJet, the convenience fee adds up to Rs 2000. It is cheaper for me to take a taxi, go to their sales office in Chennai or airport counter in Chennai and pay in cash. But they charge convenience fee for cash payment also, which defeats the whole purpose because despite undertaking inconvenience of having to physically reach the counter, I am forced to cough up extra. If they've decided to charge a fixed fee irrespective of mode of transfer, they should ideally factor it in base fare and avoid this last screen shocker.

Convenience fee by mode of payments:
Credit cards are the most expensive form of payments for merchants, because banks and payment gateway charge a commission on transaction plus there is a long credit period (like 45-60 days) before the amount is actually realized. Net banking on the other hand should be low risk and quicker, so some vendors charge less for net banking transaction.

I made some checks to identify how much different airlines/travel portals charge per return ticket (domestic only). Below is what I found. All amounts in INR

Payment Mode/ Airline	Credit Card	Debit Card	Net Banking	UPI/ BHIM	Rupay/ PayTM	Airport Counter/sales office/cash	Others
SpiceJet	500/800	500/800	500/800	250	500/800	500
Indigo	450	450	450	450	450	450
Jet Airways*	600-3000	600-3000	600-3000	600-3000	600-3000	Free as per website
Air India	25	25	25
Air Asia	340	340	99	NA	99		316 (cash)
Vistara	150	150
Makemytrip	500	500	500
Cleartrip	400	400	400	-NA-	-NA-	NA
Yatra	400	400	400	400	400	NA

Disclaimer: All amount as spotted during my check. Fees and charges may vary from airline to airline over time depending on multiple factors. Use your discretion.

Jet Airways

Jet Airways convenience fee is a function of ticket fare. Up to 20000 INR it is Rs 300 per ticket, for tickets priced 1 lakh and above it is Rs 1500. So expect a minimum Rs 600 extra cash outgo on whatever fares they advertise. They seem to be the most expensive of all airlines in terms of convenience fee.

Air Asia
You can check Air Asia's convenience fee here, they don't charge it as a % of fare but a fixed fee for sector and depending on payment type. Paying by net banking is a bit cheaper at Rs 99 whereas credit card payment costs Rs 340 more, still cheaper than most rivals. International flights have a different rate card!

SpiceJet: 
Rs 250 per flight,per person, adding to minimum Rs 500 per return trip per person, irrespective of mode of payment (only UPI is cheaper). Earlier they used to charge Rs 100 per person, per flight-now increased to Rs 250 during sale, Rs 225 otherwise. For a low cost ticket (like Rs 1000 one way) convenience fee of Rs 250 is like 25% extra- very inconvenient indeed.

Spicejet customer care used to provide a phone banking option through which there was no convenience fee. Not sure if it is still possible- reaching the customer care is often tough.

Indigo:
Indigo convenience fee is marginally cheaper than rival Spicejet, at Rs 450 per return trip per person

AirIndia:
A pdf document on Air India website claims a convenience fee of Rs 25 per person per ticket will be charged- this is cheapest of the lot and most reasonable. But I tried checking on the site- selected a destination, put some name and went till payment page- couldn't see the amount going up. May be they will include it only while processing payment?

Update: A reader has commented that he/she was able to book an Air India ticket without paying any convenience fee...

Vistara
Vistara charges Rs 150 per return ticket for credit card payment. Fair amount I can say.

Easemytrip gives a coupon code that negates the convenience fee value. But be careful to compare the ticket fare with airline website- sometimes the fare will be higher on Easemytrip. If it is same or less and you can save on convenience fee, then Easemytrip is great option.

Scoot:
FlyScoot charges the maximum convenience fee I have seen- Rs 500 per sector. So for a return ticket from Chennai to say Bali via Singapore, a total of Rs 2000 extra over and above the fare shown.

Many other airlines like Qatar etc do not add additional convenience fee- whatever amount shown in booking screen is the amount you pay. Of course, they sell high value tickets- each usually costing 30-40-50k or more, so they don't need to irritate customers by adding another 300-400 Rs in final payments page. Even airlines in USA do not charge extra convenience fee.

Conclusion

So far Air India and Air Asia has the best model for convenience fee. Air Asia are truly the masters of low cost aviation. Other airlines can learn a thing or two from Air India and Air Asia. Jet airways, Make My Trip and Spicejet are most expensive when it comes to convenience fee.

There was a news that convenience fee will be abolished- unfortunately nothing like that has happened.

Next time you book your ticket, pay close attention to the convenience fee. Don't let the initial amount fool you. The total amount you pay is what matters. Did you have any specific experience w.rt convenience fee?

AirAsia cheap flight to Honolulu US-Pros and cons!

As you may be aware, AirAsia has introduced a flight to Honolulu, USA. You can now reach US from India via KLIA2 and Osaka (Japan) with Air Asia. But for an Indian traveler, does this option makes senses? Would you fly to US with this Air Asia route? This post offers an analysis to help you decide.

The destination: Getting regulatory permission to fly into US is a big confidence boost for the Asian low cost carrier. But there’s one problem. The destination Air Asia has chosen to fly to, in the United States of America, is very convenient (to fly into) but not very practical (from a US bound traveller point of view). Honolulu (capital of Hawaii state) is a small island far away from mainland united states.

Why would an Indian traveler like to visit to Honolulu/Hawaii

As a tourist: Hawaii is an island and offers beaches, watersports and related adventures plus a lot of memorials (including Pearl Harbor), art galleries etc. If island/beaches are what excites you, there’re lots of places closer and cheaper- Maldives, Mauritius, Bali, Thailand, Philippines etc. Not sure one would go to Hawaii spending 70k approx for return ticket and 30+ hours in travel each way.

However, if you’re determined to visit Hawaii or you need to visit Hawaii only then Air Asia is the cheapest way to get there, though not necessarily most convenient. Other options are also 2 stop flights via Europe and middle east. (There is only one 1-stop option- American Airline flies direct to Honolulu from London Heathrow, but it takes close to 60 hours in travel onward from Chennai, 30 hours for return, costs 30-40% more than Air Asia + UK Visa headache needs to be dealt with

As a stopover enroute to US: May be your main destination is somewhere in mainland United States but you have some extra time to make a stopover at Honolulu, Hawaii. If this is the case, Air Asia makes sense.  Hawaii to mainland US flights (say to SFO or LAX) cost about 25-30k return. May be you can book a one way ticket to Honolulu via Air Asia, spend a few days there, fly to your intended main city in US and then fly back to India through other airlines

As a business traveler: If you’re not spending on your own will you prefer to fly to US with Air Asia? My guess is no. It is a long journey and you will need some food, baggage allowance and a more reliable route where if you miss a connection you don’t have to lose a full day. Hawaii is not the place where most business meetings happen (say compared to Silicon Valley or New York area), so I don’t see much reason why business executives will consider air asia.

The India US Air Asia fares:

Whatever sale any airline runs, getting a ticket to the united states for under 50k is a near impossible task. Average fare is around 60k and one should be lucky to spot a fare in 50-60k range. AIrAsia’s fare to Honolulu also is around 70k. I missed to check their promo fare to Honolulu during the last sale. Best fare to Osaka Japan was around 22k return. Adding another 10-15k for Osaka-Honolulu leg, if you’re lucky you might get a return ticket to Honolulu for about 35-40k is what I am guessing – this is without checked in bag and food etc and if booked several months in advance.

It is very unlikely that you can manage with a hand bag while going to or returning from US, so if you factor checked in baggage cost and food cost, the cost advantage over a conventional airline narrows down even further. At least for Indian travelers, flying to US via Air Asia is not really 'cheap' under normal scenarios. Only hope is to be able to bag a lower fare during a sale.

If you plan to fly to mainland US from Hawaii factor another 30k for return ticket.

Of course, this post is from an Indian traveler perspective. Air Asia flight may make lots of sense if you’re based in Malaysia or Japan or in a country that doesn’t have convenient flight options to US and Airasia is most convenient/shorter/cheaper.

One alternate option could be to fly to Osaka or Tokyo Haneda using Air Asia's cheap fares and from there fly to mainland US directly using any other airline such as ANA or United etc. You will need Japan visa for this, which is not too difficult to get- details available here.

Disclaimer: Fares are indicative, as seen online at the time of preparing this post.. Fares vary by dozens of factors, please check yourself for your preferred dates.

What is your take? Do you find the Honoluru destination via Air Asia exciting? Do comment.