VietJetAir suspends BLR and HYD operations

Update: I am given to understand that cancellations were due to permission issues. India and Vietnam do not seem to have bilateral agreement to offer direct flight between Hyd, BLR and Vietnam. It was VietJetAir's mistake to start accepting bookings without required permissions in place. Few of my friends who were affected have managed to reschedule via Mumbai or get refund. The airline seem to be fine otherwise.

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VietJet Air, with whom I flew to Phu Quoc in September for INR 15300, had expanded India operation to Hyderabad, Bengaluru etc, offering direct flights to Phu Quoc, Da Nang, Hanoi, HCMC etc.

I was thinking of one more trip to Vietnam (Da Nang) in 2023 if I can get a 10600-11000 INR return ticket from BLR. I had seen tickets for as low as 13000 for November 2022, but was waiting for similar deal in 2023.

Suddenly the airline has decided to cancel all scheduled flights from Bengaluru and Hyd. Website is not showing any flights

Flights are still available from Mumbai and Delhi. Not sure if they also will be cancelled.

VietJet Air has also announced flights from Ahmedabad but AMD airport is still not showing up on their website.

I am not sure why VietJetAir did this. Thousands of Indians have started visiting Vietnam now thanks to VietJet Air's cheap tickets and easy eVisa process. I am sure they had decent bookings. If occupancy is a problem they could have reduced frequency- like only 1 flight per week instead of 3- a bit of inconvenience but better than cancelling entire trip. Financially they seem to be doing well. Only reason I could think of is they found some other destination to fly to and make more money than they are able to make in India's Hyd and BLR.

Many people who had booked from Hyderabad and Bengaluru have got emails stating their flight is cancelled. Their option now is to take a full refund or credit shell (which is useless if airline is not committed to India operations). VietJetAir doesn't have a call center in India- so for Indians it is only email support or make an expensive international call without knowing if call center staff there can speak English or not.

This will cause trust issues with VietJetAir as airline has not explained any reason for suddenly suspending Hyd and Blr flights. There is a 12000 INR return ticket from Mumbai but I am not sure if they will cancel some flights from Mumbai in coming months

My September Mumbai Phu Quoc VietjetAir experience here

Do share your thoughts.

ANA "Sale" India to Japan for 97500 INR return is 4x pre covid price!

 Japan is opening up to tourists and ANA Japan is resuming India operations. But what is surprising is the 4x increase in price. ANA was selling India-Japan ticket for as low as 22-25k when they launched India operation before covid - read my 2019 post here on this.

But now the flights cost 4x more, almost 1 lakh INR per passenger.

Not sure what made ANA think people will pay this much. Of course Japan is a beautiful country worth exploring. Japan Visa process is simple, but at 1 lakh ticket price, Indians will think several times.

Europe tickets are available for 40000-50000 INR [Details]

We can go to Canada & USA for 1 Lakh rupees

Instead of spending 1 lakh on flight ticket alone, we can go to some other destination like Mauritius, Seychelles or other destinations within 40-50k flight and spend the rest on luxury stay/local activities.

I had visited Japan in 2016 on Air Asia sale 16k INR. Under current situation, any ticket up to 40-45k is good deal. While ANA will take you from Delhi to Tokyo non stop in 7-8 hours, one stop journey via Singapore or Malaysia are available for 46000-60000 INR range on Malaysian, SQ etc. One stop journey may take twice the time (15-16 hours) but you can relax a bit at transit airport. So would it be worth spending 40k more on ANA for a direct flight?

Let us see if ANA sustains this pricing or reduce it if no one is buying.

What are your thoughts?

Read all my Japan posts here.

Phu Quoc International Airport: Review & Observations

Phu Quoc International airport isn’t fully geared up for international passengers. Below are my observations

 

1. There is no proper forex counter. I saw a small desk outside the airport with Forex written, but no one was there at 9 AM (our flight landed at 8 AM)- Looks like someone set up a forest counter fto operate their personal pocket

2. There is an information desk at arrival- didnt ask them for forex but they sell sim cards

3. There are no forex counters inside the airport during departure

4. There are hardly any power outlets inside Phu Quoc airport for passengers to charge their device. I found one socket after long difficulty, but again I didn’t have proper adapter. (The hotel power sockets were better at accepting my two pin adapter, one at airport needed 3 pin local design plugs)

5. Apart from these shortcomings, Phu Quoc international airport is just good enough for budget airlines. 

 

Learnt about Bamboo airways for the first time. Need to explore more on this airline.

Bottomline: go with minimum expectations. Hopefully PQC airport will add more features as VietJetAir is bringing more and more passengers to the island.

Scotch prices for reference- if you want to check if alcohol is cheap or not.

Also read: VietJetAir India Phu Quoc experience *

VietJet Air India Phu Quoc experience

Recently flew on VietJet Air for the first time. This Vietnam based airline rose to popularity when their cabin crew posed in Bikini for a photoshoot, earning the nickname Bikini airline.

Booking Experience

When I saw their Mumbai Vietnam return ticket for around 15k in May 2022, I decided to resume my international travel after covid season and booked a ticket. Below are some basics you should know about VietJet Air

 

VietJet is a budget airline. One cabin bag (8kg) is free with cheapest ticket. For checked bag and other facilities you will have to either pay extra or buy a more expensive ticket class.

 

Select INR as currency and your ticket will be bit cheaper. I selected USD and paid a bit more due to unfavorable conversion rate, bank charges etc

 

VietJet is now flying from Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi in India to various cities in Vietnam- Phu Quoc, Hanoi, Da Nang, HCMC etc.  They are also offering some limited one stop flights to- Bali, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur etc via Saigon.

 

VietJet later ran some promo offer of like 9 INR ticket (followed by 6329 INR in taxes). Vietnam return ticket could be had at 10600 onwards- 5k cheaper than what I paid. I will use this amount as benchmark before booking another trip with them.

 

Onward Journey:

The flight was only half full on our Mumbai-Phu Quoc flight. I could sleep across 3 empty seats. During check-in the staff were not very strict about baggage weight and other rules. My guess is since airline is new, flights are empty they don’t want to be very strict. Once flights get filled up they may start enforcing all the rules to make more money. My request for window seat was  granted without any fuss. Person ahead of me asked for exit row which was denied.

 

On India route they have a special India Menu, which is nice. But I didn’t try any food on board.

Exit row seat you’ve to pay some 1200 INR onboard. Seats are black in colour and have a red arm rest. No overhead branding/marketing like in Air Asia. Aircraft was apparently A320 SR- first time I am seeing SR variant. 

Inflight magazine was good. Made some notes for future trips

 

Indian passengers as usual were rude and disobedient- not taking seats despite being asked and other usual behaviors. VietJet Air crew did their best to manage the crowd.

 

The 5 hour flight between Mumbai and Phu Quoc was uneventful and on time. Got good sleep. They played some nice Indian music while aircraft was in India- Alisha Chinaai Made in India!

 

Return flight was little more full, but still managed to get 3 empty seats to sleep across. Both flights were on time so that was a wonderful thing. 

 

VietJet Air current Vietnam return ticket is around 15000-20000 INR. Will wait for their next sale and planning to book a trip to Da Nang if I get return ticket for under 11000 INR. 

 

Overall great experience with VietJet Air. If they increase their frequency and provide more destinations in Asia, they can give good competition to Air Asia.

Also read: 20+ places to visit in Phu Quoc

Vietnam ticket 0 INR + tax, INR 10600 return!

Vietjet has sweetened  India Vietnam ticket even further. I had written earlier about Mumbai-Phu Quoc, Delhi Hanoi etc tickets being available for about 15000 INR. I had booked one as well for self and got few more friends to book them.

VietJet has reduced the rates further. As you can see in below screenshots, the price for economy ticket has been reduced to Zero. But that doesn't mean you will be flying for free. There is a tax component ranging between 60 to 75 USD, which takes one way price to 5500 to 6000 INR, return ticket costing around 10600 to 12000 INR.

I am not sure why Vietjet reduced fare further.  Most likely their plane is still empty so they are trying to get some people to book even at no cost. Airline will make some more money selling bags, meals and other services. It could also be that airline is desperate for some money and hence trying to sell as much ticket as possible to ensure some cash flows in.

I lost about 4500 INR booking this ticket in May. If you are still thinking, may be it is time to book. We need to hope that nothing goes wrong between now and your travel date.

What may happen once airlines start charging for toilet usage onboard!

Airlines want to charge extra for everything- seat selection, food, baggage, priority boarding, priority baggage out, for rescheduling your ticket and more. Luckily once you get on a plane use of toilets (lavatory in a more sophisticated wording) is still free.

But that is changing fast. Charging for toilets onboard is no longer a question of ‘if’ but ‘from when’. Ryanair has already leaked a pricing plan [details here]

RyanAir wants to force their customers to use toilet at the airport before boarding or after getting down, so that usage of onboard toilets can be reduced. If that happens, Ryanair can remove 2 toilets from the 737’s rear and add 6 more seats there, lowering everyone’s ticket price by another few percent.

I am imagining what would happen if Indian Airlines and airlines around the world start charging for toilets.

This might sound gross, but it could soon be reality. For now enjoy reading but pray this doesn’t happen

• First Class: Unlimited Toilet usage
• Business Class: 1 complementary usage per hour of flying, chargeable for additional usage
• Premium Economy: 1 complementary usage per flight, irrespective of flight duration. Pay 200 INR second usage onwards (max 2 minutes)
• Economy Saver: No complementary usage. Pay 250 INR per minute usage. Pre-book for just 200 INR and save 50 INR. But the pre-book comes with the condition that the passenger needs to select exact timing when he/she wants to use the lavatory. Else it is gone.
• Economy Flexi: Same as economy saver but comes with an option to edit your lavatory slot 2 times during the flight without losing it.

Other rules & practices that may come up...

• Passengers who’ve not booked any toilet slot but are having ‘urgency’ should pay 1000 INR for priority usage.
• Boarding pass will be issued only after you show to the counter agent that you’ve enough cash/credit limit to pay for onboard toilet usage or you’ve already paid for your slots.
• Passengers who have pre-booked the lavatory slot but don’t want to use it can give it to other passengers in need. But a Lavatory swap fee (LSF) of 50 INR will be charged to both passengers.
• Note that all usages are on a per minute basis. If you paid for 1 minute and didn’t come out within 60 seconds the door would automatically open at 61st second. You’ll get a notification to pay extra and extend your stay when 50 seconds have crossed.
• Airports will charge an extra 200 INR per person as “Lavatory usage fee”- as almost everyone will try to use airport toilets as much as possible to save paying for toilets onboard. This cost will now be added to ticket fare by default.

Airlines will also incorporate technology to measure how much waste a passenger has released into the lavatory. Once that technology is available a limit of how many ML urine a passenger can pass or how many grams of the other thing one can release will be announced. Anyone crossing this limit will be charged a penalty.

Business Analytics and Market Intelligence kicks in

Seeing that toilet usage revenue is exceeding profit from ticket sales, those who paid maximum for toilet usage will be upgraded to business/first class, but their toilet usage charges will remain the same as economy class because the airline doesn’t want to lose that revenue.

Passengers will start carrying portable toilets in their cabin bag to save on paying exorbitant fare for usage of inflight toilets. Once this starts, airlines will start measuring cabin baggage when you exit the plane as well, just to check if the weight has increased compared to what it was before you boarded…

Sensing the opportunity, some ticket booking startup will emerge offering complementary toilet pass as their unique selling proposition, funded by VC money. Everyone will rush to this website to make it a unicorn. Once they exhaust VC money they will be forced to increase “convenience fee” and other charges silently to make up for cost of complementary toilet pass. The startup will also negotiate with airlines for wholesale rate so that they can save some money..

Hidden city pricing in India- should you try?

I noticed that Indigo’s Mangalore (Mangaluru) to Belgaum (Belagavi) flight which is one stop via Bengaluru (Blr) is cheaper than a flight to Bengaluru which is half the distance on same day, same route.

Above: Mangalore-Bengaluru is 4467 INR

Below: Mangalore -Bengaluru on same flight as above+ Bengaluru-Beagavi is 3011 INR. Double the distance but cheaper.

IXE-BLR +  BLR-IXG costs 3011 on Indigo website for a random date in July while a flight from Mangaluru (IXE) to Bangalore (Blr) on same day, same flight is priced at 4467 INR. Because Blr flight is half the distance of Belgaum flight we would expect it to be cheaper than the longer Belagavi flight. But aviation pricing doesn’t work like that. Airline pricing is largely a demand supply game and what airline pricing managers think they can extract from passengers.

Effectively, if I want to go to Blr but book a ticket to Belagavi and get off at Bengaluru, I save more money compared to booking a flight only till Bengaluru.

This process is called hidden city pricing or skip lagging. It was popular in USA where some smart individuals started using this information to their advantage and then airlines started coming down heavily on such customers.

Part 1: Why do airlines price some destinations cheaper?

There are many reasons. Airline pricing is not a direct function of distance/cost.

• When a new destination is launched, airlines keep price to this destination cheaper to attract more customers
• When a flight is empty, airlines may sell a few seats for loss to ensure there is some revenue coming in for that flight
• If a destination is not that popular, no one is flying, airlines keep the price low. If demand is high, price is kept higher
• Competition: Destination where there is good competition fares might be lower compared to destinations where airline has monopoly
• Direct flights cost more- Many people value their time. A direct flight to a destination is charged a premium compared to a one stop flight which takes more time

Risks of hidden city pricing

• Your checked baggage will be tagged for final destination. So you won’t get it automatically at Bengaluru if you don’t board Blr-Belgaum leg. Of course airlines need to take off your bag from the hold once you don’t board, that way you may get your bag, but you could be caught trying to game the system.
• Airline may reroute you. If Indigo’s IXE-BLR flight is canceled, they may reroute you via Mumbai to Belgaum. Then your purpose of going to Bengaluru gets compromised
• Airline may blacklist you or take away your miles. Not well known in India but abroad airlines penalize individuals who game their pricing models.

Is it worth trying to exploit hidden city pricing?

It is for every individual to decide. Hidden city pricing are hard to find. You have to keep checking several combinations manually and should be lucky to find a hidden city pricing that suits your travel needs and saves you money.

You can assess if the risk vs reward is worth. Is the savings just a few hundred rupees or runs into thousands of rupees? What are your plans if airline routes you through another city?

If the savings are worth, you don’t have a checked bag and would love to save some bucks with the risks involved, then go ahead. A tweet I put on this topic recently attracted lots of traction. Do check the tweet and reply by various people..

Mangaluru to Belagavi via Bengaluru is just 3011 ₹ on @IndiGo6E but Mangalore to Bengaluru on same flight for half the distance is 50% expensive at 4500₹.. so book till Belagavi and get off at Blr.. (cabin bag only) follow me for more such tips. #skipleg #aviation #airlineblog pic.twitter.com/62N1WKa51A

— Shrinidhi Hande (@enidhi) June 24, 2022

Lufthansa Swiss Air complicated ticket booking process for Indians

Recently I tried booking a ticket on Lufthansa and Swiss Air. My previous flight in Lufthansa was booked by my company via a travel agent so I didn’t have to worry about booking the ticket. This time I saw a cheap return ticket to Europe so I decided to book.

To my surprise, the ticket booking process on Lufthansa and their partner Swiss were pretty complex. Amadeus is their GDS partner. Many international airlines have a complicated process for Indian customers- probably because their global payment gateway is not working for Indian cards or some other technical reasons. In 2019 it was near impossible to book a ticket on American airlines from Chennai, India (American Airline solution was that I give all my card details to their customer care on email and they will charge it...) so I decided to ignore them and book on SouthWest.

This time I tried booking on Lufthansa, the transaction would fail at the final step and I would get an error message on screen, asking me to contact customer service. No email, no SMS.

At first I thought it could be some issue with my card. Checked balance, limit etc and tried again- no luck. At the office I tried again once with a colleague’s debit card and with another colleague’s credit card. Same error. No luck.

Thankfully no money was debited from their account- life would have been hell if money was debited but the ticket is not issued.

There is no email/SMS about attempted booking, no call from customer care (many websites/companies track user activity and if you exit at payment stage call centers call you to check if there is any issue).

Decided to call the airline helpline. The Swiss Air helpline had a 10 minute wait but was finally able to speak to a human. They managed to recover by booking based on dates I had given and promised to send me a payment link. I was also given a PNR. (when I attempted booking the PNR was created, but not shown to me or sent via email).

Payment link came after 3-4 hours and I could make a payment using netbanking. It is a local payment gateway hence supporting all modes including UPI.

As of now I have paid the money but yet to get a confirmed ticket. Hopefully it comes in soon.

Update: Confirmed ticket was sent same day late night.

I also tried following up with Lufthansa- there also the same case- because 11 hours had passed, I was told they can’t retrieve my booking and I should try again. Their payment link email came after I had paid for Swiss Air itinerary, so will be ignoring the same.

I've booked tickets on Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, FlyDubai, AirAsia Malaysia and other international airlines from India. Didn't face issues like this. Singapore airline even accepts UPI payment.

If Lufthansa/Swiss Air are not able to accept direct payment from Indian customers they can call it out on their website, save all the trouble and trauma for the customers. After trying 3-4 times, troubling many of my friends to help me with booking, I had almost made up my mind to abandon this trip plan. If I had not called airline customer care, I wouldn’t have booked this trip.

Not sure how the payment will work if customers chose to buy some add on services later.

Anyway, this is just the start. Still several months to go before the trip starts. Hopefully everything goes fine.

Update: My Europe trip went well and within budget. Read more here.

Europe return ticket for 38000 INR- 2023

Flight tickets to Europe (and most parts of the world) are now insanely expensive. It was possible to get a Europe return ticket for 50k or less under normal circumstances pre-covid (I’ve seen cheapest at 28k to 33k), but these days we’re looking at spending 70-80k for a return flight to Europe. I was thinking about Europe but wasn’t keen to spend so much.

Accidentally I spotted a return ticket to Europe for under 40k INR, which is a really tempting price. Lufthansa and Swiss are offering Mumbai-Amsterdam, Mumbai-Paris flights for around 38000-39000 INR return, for travel dates in Feb, March, April 2023. You can check on official websites of Lufthansa and Swiss for the deals that interest you. I have given sample screenshots and data pointers below. You can explore more trying more destinations and date combinations on Lufthansa and Swiss Air websites.

Sample prices on Lufthansa/ Swiss Air for 2023

#	From	To	Travel Date	Price
1	Delhi	Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Venice	Feb, March, April 2023	37000-38000
2	Mumbai	Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Venice	Feb, March, April 2023	38000-39000
3	Bengaluru	Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Venice	Feb, March, April 2023	39000-40000

Ticket prices vary a bit on daily basis depending on Euro-INR currency fluctuation. Also I saw the lowest price 38007 for Mumbai-CDG at a time but within hours it went up to 39000 INR. I think they are manipulating the pricing using cookies.

This is not the cheapest fare I've seen. Pre-pandemic I've seen Qatar air offering 33k return to Paris. Air Italy had 28k return. But those are pre-pandemic scenarios. Right now Qatar is pretty expensive. 38k is decent fare under current circumstances.

These fares are mostly NOT visible if you check on 3rd party sites..

The good things about this cheap flight to Europe deal

• 40k INR return is half of current cost. So it is a good deal even if we have to wait 9 months for it.
• Enough time to apply visa, plan your trip etc
• Hopefully things normalize over the next 6 to 9 months and the overall trip can be organized in comfort and budget if no new surprises pop up before the trip.
• September to Feb is winter in Europe- not the best time. March, April is relatively better time.
• Lufthansa/Swiss Air are reliable airlines. Hopefully no major schedule change/crisis popups in next 9 months

Risks

• These low rates are for Feb, March, April 2023. 7-9 months from now. A lot can change by then. Another covid wave, some other rules and restrictions etc. You’ve to take a gamble and book.
• This is the non refundable fare. 150 Euro for any change of date + fare difference extra. 
• This lowest fare only gets you an 8 kg cabin bag and meals. Check-in bag and many other things extra.
• Currently there is a huge queue for Schengen visa. Hopefully things will ease a bit. Applying too early is also a risk, if your visa validity expires before your trip ends. You’ve enough time to plan but don’t delay your visa application for long. 
• February, March are the end of winter and beginning of summer. Hopefully the weather will be favorable. But do expect some snow spoiling your plans or some tourist places closed because it is off season.

Europe trip budget:

• Return flight: 40000 INR
• Schengen Visa: 10000 INR
• Stay for 1 week, budget option: 20000 INR
• Food, sightseeing and other expenses for 1 week: 50 Euros per day= 30000 INR

Total: 1 lakh rupees per person under normal circumstances

You can save a bit more if staying in cheaper hostels, eating cheaper food and visiting less expensive/free to visit places using public transport. If two people share accommodation, if staying longer per day expenditure may come down a bit.

Update: I tried to book but failed at payment stage. Tried with 2 different debit card and a credit card, got an error all the time. Had to call airline website, get a payment link from backend and then pay.

You can try at your own risk. Lufthansa/Swiss Air complicated ticket booking process explained here.

March update: My Europe trip went very well and in budget. Read details here.

Are you excited?

Similar: Lufthansa Premium Economy Experience * Comparison of European airlines *

NOK Air India operation may give competition to AirAsia

Thailand’s budget airline NOK Air, known for its colourful aircraft nose paintings is said to consider flying to India. Besides numerous destinations within Thailand, NOK air already has limited international presence as it flies to few cities in Vietnam, Japan, Myanmar and China.

Contextual Image- NOK Air Tail fin at DMK

It is not yet clear which Indian airport NOK Air will start operation with. Would they begin from cheapest airports like Chennai, or most popular ones like Mumbai, Del or multiple airports? We’ll have to wait and see. If they choose to fly from Bengaluru or COK and if I can get a return ticket for 15k or less, I will plan a trip to Thailand for late 2020. I have seen most of Thailand but can always make another trip to some lesser known destinations. Flights to Thailand are now costing around 20-30k return. The pre-pandemic rates are still a dream. Arrival of NOK air and resumption of Air Asia Malaysia might help in lowering the prices.

Will keep you posted as I get any update.

Srilanka crisis-is it safe to book Srilankan airline?

Sri Lanka as a nation is in deep crisis. However does it mean we should not fly Srilankan? Srilanka’s national airline is operating almost normally and its scheduled flights are flying. 

I did check flightstats to check if Srilankan flights are operating normally or not. Most flights seem to be operating normally

Is Srilankan a  cheaper option to fly? Yes

• Chennai-Melbourne : Srilankan: 66k , Next best option: 76k INR
• Mumbai-Seychelles: Srilankan: 34k INR Next best option: 58k INR
• For many other places Srilankan flies to, their rates could be competitive

Thus we can see that Srilankan is selling tickets for cheap. Many countries have issued travel advisory suggesting their citizens should not visit Srilanka. However there are no red flags on transit via Srilankan as of now. It might be a good idea to save some money and book Srilankan- while now is not the best time for visiting Srilanka, just a transit via Colombo airport should be fine.

Risks:

There is still some risk that your trip may be spoiled if unexpected things happen- like 

• some unrest in Colombo airport or 
• airport running out of fuel stock to refuel planes- happening already- Srilankan is filling their planes in India
• some major Govt decision affecting travel via Govt etc
• flights having to be canceled because the crew couldn’t reach the airport or some spare part couldn’t be procured etc. 

However hopefully nothing like these happens and your travel goes through. If you can take some minimum risk like above against the reward of saving a few thousand rupees on your flight ticket. Go ahead and book Srilankan. Even if you book the next best airline in the world there is no guarantee that there won’t be a single issue during your trip. Travel always involves some risk, so I would take some calculated risk if savings are good.

There are talks of privatizing Srilankan airline to raise money. But I guess that process will take a long time. Hopefully Airline won’t face issues like having to cannibalize planes for spare parts, start canceling trips etc which are not good for the airline valuation, PR and passenger experience.

When I tweeted this, majority preferred not to book srilankan

Given the Srilanka crisis, is it safe to fly @flysrilankan if their tickets are cheap? My thoughts here https://t.co/Vi7T6oFzXR .. what are yours? #airlineblog

— Shrinidhi Hande (@enidhi) May 27, 2022

What are your thoughts? Are you comfortable flying with Srilankan if the tickets are cheaper?

Similar: Srilankan reward experience * Srilankan long haul experience * My experience with Srilankan * My Srilanka related blog posts *