Indigo's female passenger seat indicator!

Indigo makes it to CNN with its option to let female passengers know which all seats are taken by other female passengers.

I first saw this in a tweet by Khabri Lal. Image is taken from the tweet

Below is what I have understood from the news

#1 The option to see which seat is taken by female passenger is NOT available during purchase of a ticket but only during web check-in, which opens 24 hours prior to flying. So you can't really decide if you want to buy a ticket or not, you can just hope to optimize your seat selection for better comfort.

#2 Indigo has not earmarked a section (in many city buses one half or front few rows are reserved) or few rows exclusively for solo female passengers, like KSRTC buses in Karnataka do. Female seat selection is scattered all around the plane and there will be male passengers around. So men will be seated in front, behind, nearby, on the other side etc while only person sitting besides is a female- this only reduces the risk of harassment by others, not eliminate it.

#3 It is not clear if females who travel with a male passenger are excluded from this- they might prefer to travel with their husband/father/son/boyfriend/relative than sitting with another female passenger

#4 Indigo charges for seat selection. So if you wish to sit next to a women or avoid sitting next to a women you will have to pay for seat selection

#5 If you don't want to pay for seat you've to wait for random seat allocation that will happen only 3 hours prior departure. Not sure if Indigo's seat allocation algorithm tries to keep male and female passengers separate. IRCTC apparently has such a logic- it never makes a single male sit with single female.

#6 Looks like this visibility is given only for female passengers. If a male passenger chooses to avoid sitting next to a woman he has no way to do it. He may select a sit unknowingly next to a female passenger.

#7 What happens when the flight is full and only seat available for a male passenger is to sit next to a female? Such male passengers will be denied boarding? Can the women complain? Will Indigo ask some other female passenger to give up her seat next to her husband/boyfriend/father/son and sit with this solo female passenger?

#8 People can change their seat selection anytime. Would a lady passenger be notified if female passenger next to her has changed her mind, selected some other seat and now a male passenger may be allocated to that seat?

#9 If there is a mix of male and female in a row of 3 seats, there will be inconveniences- during boarding, while going to toilets etc male/female will have to pass by each other in the constrained spaces of an aircraft fuselage. For maximum impact, all 3 seats in a row should be given to either male or female.

#10 Despite all these circus, airlines often change seat allocation last minute citing "operational reasons"- you won't get any refund if you'd paid for a specific seat and that can't be given. 

• Seat change will be needed if aircraft type changes (say A321 is replaced with A320)
  
• If there is a need to redistribute weight of passengers across the plane, or 
• There is some pressure to make a family sit together or 
• some seats reported damaged/not usable
• A passenger is not able bodied, can't understand crew instruction and hence can't be seated in exit row
•  or any other reasons

Even if you get your allocated seat you will have to deal with request from families who wish to sit together and request you to take some other seat. Do men now have to take permission from woman passenger in such cases if their seats are changed and adjacent passenger is a female?

What next? Reserve half the toilets and doors also for women? In a way this is also outright discrimination against men, branding all men as predators and should be kept distance from.

I am not seeing the scheme is bad. It may have its merits. Just that not enough clarity right now. Let us see how this scheme rolls out and what male and female passengers feel about it. Maybe Indigo will refine its policy or other airlines might be asked to follow suit not to lose women passengers.

Update: I asked ChatGPT to help

With just 20 female passengers out of 170, male passenger's probability of getting an empty seat next to them drops from 55.56% to 13.33%

First we calculate probability of a passenger getting an empty seat without any gender preference, when a plane as 180 seats and only 10 seats are empty

Next we induce a preference to give empty seats next to female passengers and check what is the chance of a male passenger getting empty seat next to them. Still possible but probability drops from 55.56 to 13 % or outright drop by one third.

But I think chatGPT is wrong. Assume 10 middle seats are left empty, then 20 people get to have an empty seat besides them. 20 out of 170 is some 11.7%

If preferences are given to 20 female passengers onboard to get these seats besides an empty seats, male passenger has 0 chance of getting empty seat next to them.

Do share your thoughts

GulfAir won't accept return tickets with other airlines?

Recently a circular was seen floating on internet in which Gulf Air instructed its frontline staff not to accept/give boarding pass to customers who do not have a return ticket with Gulf Air. 

Another social media post suggests similar instruction from OmanAir

A copy of the circular below, as tweeted by a twitter user Priyesh Sharma. (images and info taken from this tweet this tweet 

It is not clear if these guidelines are only for passengers from select countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or worldwide.

Also not clear if it applies to only passengers visiting UAE or those transiting through UAE. The official portal for travel documents- TIMATiC says nothing about this new bizarre rule.

While Gulf air's motive for this rule could be that in case a passenger is deported, all countries need airline which brought that person into the country should take him/her back. If passenger has already bought a return ticket airline's cost of transporting him/her back is covered.

But this is a very low probability- maybe one out of 10000 passengers get deported.

It is usually cheaper to book return ticket on same airline for most of the cases, than booking two separate airline tickets. But many passengers will have genuine reasons not to book return ticket from same airline.

But mandating that all passengers should also buy return ticket from same airline is outlight illegal- there are no regulations anywhere in the world that passengers should return on same airline.

- When we do multi country tour, it is not possible to book same airline if same airline is not serving other destinations we are visiting (Example: India to UAE, UAE to Europe, Europe to America and then America to Bali, Bali to India

- If return ticket is cheaper on another airline for the date/origin/destination of our choice, we are free to book on other airlines

- Some passengers can't book return ticket in advance- those going for studies, work, those going for business without knowing an exact return date etc

- Having return ticket doesn't guarantee 100% that passenger will return on same flight- they can buy another one way ticket, there could be genuine reasons to reschedule return ticket or people may ignore return ticket and overstay in the country- so what exactly this rule is helping?

Apparently Gulf Air subsequently modified their circular, downgrading from "deny boarding if passenger doesn't have return ticket with Gulf Air" to "passengers returning via other airline will be subjected to additional scrutiny"

These airlines haven't issued any press release or update their website with their rules. They are just trying to secretly enforce it on passengers. It could be some fake news/miss communication as well. I have tagged these airlines in my tweet- let me see if they give any reply denying these rules.

Gulf Air is an "also there" airline based out of middle east, offering limited network and services. They are not as cheap as say Fly Dubai or Air Arabia and no match to top 3- Emirates, Etihad, Qatar. 

So this circular isn't helping them much in terms of PR, customer delight and business growth. Let us see how this issue develops over coming months.

India to Fiji for 64k INR!

I am tracking flight tickets to Fiji since pre-covid days. The cheapest I had seen Mumbai to Nadi was around 62000-66000 INR.

But post covid I wasn't able to find anything in that price bracket. Everything was touching close to a lakh.

Recently spotted Kochi to Nadi return ticket for around 72-73k INR, which seems like a good deal.

Update: Hyderabad to Nadi is available for 65k INR return on Makemytrip.

• Fiji is too far- over 10 hours of flying from Singapore and not many airlines operate
• Most convenient option is to fly one stop via Singapore or Hongkong, where you reach Singapore or HK on Singapore Airlines/Cathay Pacific and next leg on Fiji Airways codeshare.
• At times we may find cheaper, 2 stop option via Australia but then we will need Australia transit visa which adds to complexity.
• If you have an Australia visa or are anyway visiting Australia, adding a quick trip to Fiji might be convenient- Fiji is still 4 hours flying from Sydney and a return ticket would cost around 30000 INR
  
• May to October is deemed best season to visit Fiji
• Fiji is visa free for Indians, so one less headache.
• Hostels are available in Fiji, so stay doesn't have to be expensive, but domestic flights, cruise and other activities will be expensive.
  

Let me know if you're considering visiting Fiji

Mumbai Japan return ticket for cheap (39k INR) ANA

 Return ticket to Japan are available for under 39k on ANA or All Nippon Airlines.

I found one for October 18-Nov 08. Need to try different month combinations to find other suitable dates.

This 38500 INR is cheaper than what ANA's own marketing team has advertised- their ad says Mumbai Japan is from 39700 INR

40k is NOT the cheapest- Air Asia or VietJet Air at times sell ticket to Japan for around 33-35k INR during their sales. But you've to pay extra for bags, meals etc.

However, ANA is worth it due to below reasons

• Direct flight, no long layover in Vietnam or Malaysia
• Full service airline with food, baggage and in flight entertainment included
• Loyalty points and some remote hope of upgrade.
• If you can spend another 10-12k you can opt for Premium Economy seat
  

Note that ANA's cheapest fare is NON Refundable. Fly on it or loose it.

I was checking for 2025, but prices are high at around 67000 for 2025. They will only reduce the price closer to travel date if flights are having lots of empty seats.

Thanks to Peter for this tip off.

Japan trip cost has increased 3x in past 10 years. Back in 2017 I had visited Japan for only 77000 INR all inclusive (trip expense details) . Now tickets costs 2x,3x, JR Pass price has doubled, visa is more expensive via VFS and other things like capsule hotels are expensive too. But there is no sign of anything getting cheaper- if Japan is on your mind, might as well travel now, than postponing to future.

Read my Japan travel guide * 

4 reasons why Delhi airport is a benchmark

There are specific reasons why I like Delhi airport and wish other airports in India take Delhi airport as a benchmark and follow the guidelines.

1. Drinking water for city prices

I could buy a bottle of drinking water for just 10 INR (500 ml), which is same as city price. Vending machines inside Delhi airport sell stuff at MRP, which is great. Most airports a bottle of water will cost 50 to 100 INR

2. Assurance that everything is same as city prices

3. Great metro connectivity

• Delhi airport has great metro connectivity to city, saving us thousands of rupees on taxi expenses.
• Mumbai has metro but not close enough to airport
• Bengaluru- don't even ask. Airport is 100 kms from city and no train, no metro. (At least there are buses) 
• Chennai airport is good in this aspect
  

4. Check in at Shivaji Stadium Metro

Customers of Air India and few other airlines do not have to bring their check-in bag all the way to airport. They can check them in at Shivaji Stadium metro. A lot convenient. However this service is available only with Air India and few other airlines.

Airports have hidden intention to extract as much money as possible from passengers, who are a captive audience and if not left with much options could be forced to shell more money. Good that Delhi airport has kept some basic things affordable for its passengers.

Delhi Cambodia direct flight, 23k return with bag

So far India didn't have a direct flight to Cambodia. We had to fly one stop via Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam or Thailand. 

How there is an option. A Cambodia based airline has announced direct flight between New Delhi and Pnom Penh, Cambodia.

A return ticket will cost about 270 USD or 23000 INR. CambodiaAngkorAir is not a low cost airline. The ticket price includes one check in bag of 23 kg. But I understand food is for purchase (around 6 to 12 USD)

Points to note:

• The India-Cambodia flight is subject to Govt approvals
• I find it strange that CambodiaAngkorAir has chosen to fly to Phom Penh and not capital Siem Reap
• CambodiaAngkorAir is NOT offering any one stop flight from India via Cambodia to other domestic or international destinations. The airline apparently flies to Paris, Sydney and several other destinations around the world.
• 23k might work out for people in Delhi, but if we've to fly from rest of India, one stop via Kuala Lumpur or other destinations using Air Asia or other airlines will be cheaper than flying to Delhi to catch this flight. But if you're going to pay extra for check in bag anyway, the direct flight with check in bag included might be a good deal. Doesn't look like airline has entered into any codeshare with Indian airlines for domestic connectivity.

Official website: cambodiaangkorair.com

Price drop alert-BOM SEZ (Seychelles) 34k INR return

A return ticket to Seychelles from Mumbai was costing close to 50k post covid. Recently I saw that prices are down to 34k INR, that too for a direct flight on Air Seychelles.

That is a good sign. Hopefully it will drop a bit more to under 30k INR return, a tempting price.

Pre-covid Srilankan used to sell Mumbai-Seychelles via Colombo at a competitive price- long flight but was cheaper.

I am also hoping one stop option via Ethiopia or other middle east/African hubs could be even cheaper, as airlines compete among each other. Will wait and watch. If I spot a sweet deal will plan for 2025.

Mauritius is still high at 50-55k for a return ticket. Hope that drops too, to under 30k as it was pre-covid.

Manta Air suspends BLR DDD flights? (resolved)

Update: Able to see ticket prices now. Might be some temporary issue with the website. You may ignore this post. Manta Air twitter handle also responded and confirmed all is fine. Have left my feedback that 50k is too much.

---------- Original Post ---

Maldive's Manta air had started Bengaluru to Dhaalu Atol (airport code DDD) flight in March and now it looks like flights are suspended.

Shrinidhi Hande had written earlier that the tickets are very pricey- costing 50000 INR for a return ticket between BLR and Dhaalu Atol. May be this is the main reason not many people showed interest in this flight- it the ticket was priced around 20000 INR even I was considering planning a trip to Maldives.

For 50000 INR I can go to Mauritius, Seychelles or Europe, so no point spending half a lakh flying to  a small island in Maldives.

My MAA- Gan island flight several years back was just 12000 INR per person via Colombo. Hope such cheap fares return soon.

Of course adding fire is the damaged relationship between India & Maldives. Indians have started exploring alternative destination to Maldives thus reducing demand for flight to Maldives.

Hopefully those who had booked but their flight cancelled now will get their refund from Manta air. 

Manta Air website apparently not selling ticket to any origin-destination on their network! Not sure what is wrong

What is your thought?