Is it safe to buy fake flight tickets?

Flight tickets are an essential document for visa application submission. However flight tickets are often most expensive part of travel and loss is huge if visa is rejected. There are many websites that sell genuine looking fake tickets for a small fee- like 5$. Is it safe to buy such fake tickets?

Honest answer is NO. Following are the reasons not to go for fake flight tickets

• You may be caught. Embassy officials can detect if the ticket is genuine or fake. They can check with airline, they can use other means to figure out if you are cheating. If they catch you for falsification, your visa will be rejected and you could be banned from applying again.
• Flight schedules change, flights get cancelled- your fake ticket will not automatically update. 

How to check if a ticket is genuine?

Format with which the ticket is printed doesn't matter. A genuine ticket should meet following criteria

• It is possible to retrieve the ticket using PNR and surname on airline website.
• Flight date & time is in sync with schedule on the website 

Best way to get flight tickets for visa

• Honesty is best policy. If you are fully committed to travel, buy genuine ticket, explain with a cover letter on your need for travel and hope for the best.
• You can buy a slightly flexible ticket from airline website- it may cost a bit more but will get you a large portion of your money back in case your visa is rejected and you've to cancel your ticket.
• Fly to neighboring country- Like you have Canada visa and are applying for US visa- if you don't want to spend lots of money buying India- US ticket, plan such that you visit Canada and visit USA from Canada- this way you'll be risking a cheaper Canada-USA flight ticket, than more expensive India-USA ticket.
• Speak to your travel agent and see what options he has- travel agents will have more flexible cancellation terms with airline and may get you a genuine ticket with better cancellation terms.

Norwegian rocks! Temperature filter in flight search! A first?

 Norwegian was on the blink of collapse- but now airline has opened up sale for flights to UK for 2021. Flights to USA start at around 200 GBP onwards one way for the budget carrier. This amount is nowhere close to what WOW Air used to charge for transatlantic flights but 270 USD is not a bad fare (from UK)

An interesting thing I noted is the temperature filter- you can set temperature range of destination you want to visit- but when I checked, the filter didn't work. May be they are still fixing it. Still I think it is a cool feature. Don't worry about destination, just say "show me all destinations with sub zero temperature" and go to cheapest from the results.

Also temperature filter has 30 degree c as upper limit- how will it work on flights to Bangkok or other warmer destinations? (For Chennai, 30 should be minimum!)

Also we need to see which temperature applies- current or expected temp on the date of flight? Min, Max or average?

I had written about Norwegian earlier- about their love letter.

Let us hope the airline bounces back.

How much does it cost to hire a chartered flight in India?

 Aircraft charter was earlier the done only by large corporate companies and rich political parties. Now with covid-19, rich families are willing to shell out several lakhs to hire an entire plane for their family travel.

MakeMytrip has introduced a charter flight booking on their website. AirAsia India has also listed their planes for charter flights. Of course there're several individual companies owning smaller planes that can be contacted for chartered flights.

Question is, how much does chartering a plane costs and what are the terms and conditions?

This post tries to provide a quick answer:

Advantages of chartering an entire plane

• Flexibility to schedule as per our date & time, from and to wherever we want to go
• Full privacy and no contact with other fliers
• Less time in airport formalities
• Can carry pets

Factors that affect charter flight rates

• Size of the aircraft- Small 5-6 seater planes are cheaper to rent while chartering an Airbus 320 will cost several times more.
• Base city- just like how taxi companies charge garage to garage, aircraft companies start counting time from and to home base airport. Chartering a flight from Delhi to Bengaluru and back to Delhi will be cheaper, than chartering a flight between Tiruvananthapura to Chennai, as most aircrafts are based in Mumbai & Delhi.
• Time. There will always be some delays from your side or because of ATC/Weather etc and it will add to final price.
• Note that GST is 18% 

How much do aircrafts cost to charter?

As per makemytrip, hiring small planes all for yourself costs about 13 lakh onwards. But note that these small planes have limited space, seating, comfort and take 2x more time to reach the destination.

A more luxurious private jets can cost about 30 lakhs for a short trip. Makemytrip hasn't listed AirAsia's A320s for charter. Even AirAsia website doesn't list the planes for charter- AirAsia will communicate the rate in person if you make an inquiry. 

This Business Standard news says A320/B737 cost about 4.5-5 lakh per hour. At this rate, for a Delhi-Bengaluru flight, we are looking at 3 hours one way+  1 hour before flight, 1 hour after flight + 3 hours to go back to home base = 8 hours = 30 to 40 lakhs.

Other way to look at high aircraft charter price is to calculate per passenger expense. If an 18 seater beechcraft is costing 14 lakhs, it is about 80k per person, if you are filling all seats. That is probably 10-15x normal commercial fare but not an exorbitant amount for rich people. Per seat cost looks even better- like if a 180 seater A320 is available for 40 lakhs, it is just 25k per person. If you are using for both onward and return journey, then just about 12.5k per person, that is same as commercial flight. But you may not always have enough people to fill the plane, so calculate your per person cost.

Do I get security exemption if I hire a chartered flight?

No. You will still have to undergo security checks and all the restrictions applicable on cabin bag and check-in bag during commercial flight still applies for chartered flight. Of course you can negotiate a better baggage policy and some airports will have dedicated access/processing area to chartered flights- like you may be able to go till aircraft in your car. It may be convenient/safer this way, but cross check with operator, as not all Indian airports offer special treatment to chartered flight passengers.

Can we go to cockpit during chartered flight?

No. Passengers are not allowed inside cockpit as per rules- commercial or charter. But if your captain agrees to let you peep in off the record there isn't much anyone can do about it.

Can we fly international?

Yes, but it will involve lot more paperwork and regulatory requirements. You'll have to hire larger planes for longer duration hence cost will be high as well. Check with operator.

Are chartered flights safe?

There is no reason to believe they are unsafe. But then, smaller planes and their operators get less media attention and slightly less scrutiny from regulators. 

How to save on aircraft charters?

1. Find a flight returning empty- just like how airport taxi drivers are happy to pick up a ride for cheap money one-way (after dropping off a paid customer), if a charter company is flying a plane back to its base empty, then you can negotiate a bargain deal. For this you will need right contacts, high flexibility (to travel whenever an empty charter flight is available)

2. Negotiate directly with nearby operator: Team up with anyone else looking for similar service and bargain directly with aircraft operator. On weeks having low demand, you may get good rates. If your trip is from Coimbatore to Rajamundry, an operator based in Bengaluru/Hyderabad/Chennai can be lot cheaper, than having to get the plane from Delhi/Mumbai.

3. Plan to use round trip if possible. Cost is usually same either one way or return, because aircraft has to return to its base. Hire from a nearby operator to reduce empty flying or plan such that you can fly back too on same aircraft same day/next day, instead of hiring another charter few days later.

What are your thoughts? Fancy hiring an entire plane for yourself?

Vistara Delhi-London booking opens- Can we fly?

 Air Vistara has announced its flight to London Heathrow from Delhi starting August 28. Here's what we know.

Vistara has recently got delivery of its dreamliner, Boeing 787 and that widebody aircraft is being rightly deployed for London flight. You can enjoy an excellent aircraft with Vistara Hospitality for sure.

Can we really fly? The schedule is still subject to regulatory approval. Indian airspace is currently closed for international flights except few repatriation flights being operated under Vande Bharath mission or through air bubble arrangement between select countries. There's no word on resuming normal international flights as of now. Hopefully normal international flights can resume from next month but we will know only after Govt opens up the skies.

Looks like a case of UK trying to fly to UK without Govt OK

Economy Lite: Meals seem to be included in Economy Lite fare (they are usually buy on board for domestic flights). Assuming meals included, only difference between Economy Value and Economy Standard seem to be in excess baggage fare. If you need to carry a 2-5 kilos extra paying 1000 Rs more for Economy Standard would pay off. I would have liked a cabin baggage only fare for 2-3k less, but then Vistara is full service airline and not many fly around the world with just cabin bag as I might do

Vistara's advertised price for UK is 55k for a return ticket. Most dates I checked had pricing about 60k INR, which is not cheap but reasonable under current circumstances. If you are not particular about a direct flight you should be able to get one stop flights cheaper.

We also need to factor UK Visa processing timeline and quarantine rules.

Vistara is the only airline other than Air India to fly to London. Kingfisher and Jet Airways that used to fly to London are not in business now. Indigo had plans of one stop flight to London but didn't materialize. Spicejet has leased a widebody aircraft, let us see their next move.

Are you excited about flying to London? Do you think normal international flights will resume from next month?

Meanwhile, if you fancy going to London by bus, check this post. 

Similar: UK& Ireland trip expense report 

AirAsia Malaysia to exit India business? Impact?

As per this and this news on Business Standard, Air Asia's Global boss Tony Fernandes has lost interest in India business and is looking to exit India venture. This probability was looming over past few years because of multiple factors

• Indian authorities levied corruption charges against Air Asia India and Tony Fernandes for getting license and approvals related to Air Asia India
• Tatas hold majority state (51%) in the venture but Tony Fernandes's style is to control everything from Malaysia. Air Asia India's booking, pricing, sales etc were being managed on the unified global website.
• India business hasn't gained significant market share and profitability is distant dream after current covid-19 crisis.
• Tatas have already geared up to take over management of Air Asia India. News is that Tatas have commissioned TCS to build a separate website, inventory management and other solutions for Air Asia India.

It is just a matter of time before the crisis deepens or reaches a separation, making Air Asia India a separate entity from Air Asia Malaysia & other countries such as Thailand, Indonesia.

What this means for me and you as a potential passenger of Air Asia (India & International combined)

#1 Main challenge will to use credit shell. If the websites get separated, we need to see what happens to credit shell. For Indian customers, will credit shell remain with Air Asia India or Air Asia MY or will there be a split? At present if we have credit shell we can use it for domestic or international flights. Going forward, we may not be able to do that- we may be forced to use it only on India/International flights, which means less options and more chances of credit shell going waste.

#2 Big Sale: Air Asia is popular for its dirt cheap big sales. I had booked several super cheap tickets because of big sales, such as

• INR 502 one way between AMD-KUL
• INR 7800 return ticket Chennai-Brunei
• INR 200 one way KUL-Penang
• INR 5800 Vizag-Australia (Avalon Melbourne) etc.

However I don't think India management will have similar appetite for deep discount sales. With India business separated, Air Asia Malaysia also may reduce focus on India market- less flights, less sales etc.

#3  Two separate customer cares

Call centre is already separated. Indians can't call India customer care to sort out issues on AK/FD flights.  But website, chat support was unified. With separation, both will be different entities, more running around to fix our issues.

#4 IP: At present there's a unified experience across the board. This will split- we have to see if things improve for better or worse. Will new Air Asia India management keep the low cost experience as is? Will it merge air Asia India with Vistara? will they do further cost cutting? We have to see

What do you think?