Flight tickets to USA were averaging 1 lakh rupee few months ago and one had to be lucky to spot a ticket around 80k INR return
Now the prices are down to 60-70k INR return.
Need to see how this fares going forward over next few months. Keep an eye. If you want to travel to USA and if you get a return ticket around 50k INR from India, it is a very good deal
Return ticket to Kenya is available for 24k on Indigo from Bengaluru, Kochi etc for various dates in next few months
July to October is good season to visit Kenya, for the famed Masai Mara migration season. Of course land package you've to book separately and will cost a few lakh per person easily.
Tickets to Nairobi for March 2026 cost 40k+ Indigo doesn't give any discount if you're booking 1 year in advance. Better wait and book closer to travel date.
Fly Arystan has suspended flights to India. Fly Arystan used to operate Delhi Almaty flights
They had already suspended Mumbai Almaty flights. Now Fly Arystan website is not showing any Indian airport on their list. The low cost option to fly to central Asia is gone. Now we've to shell out 25-30k minimum to Indigo, FlyDubai or Air Astana to fly to Kazaksthan
I had flown Fly Arystan Delhi to Almaty in March 2024 for just 7400 INR, one of the cheapest international trips in recent times. The experience was fine.
Sad to see Fly Arystan stopping India flights. Hope they come back soon.
Related: Almaty trip planning tips *
I had to travel between Udupi & Mumbai (as my Baku flight was cheaper from Mumbai)
Train: I tried bookin train tickets 59 or 58 days in advance (booking opens only 2 months in advance now) but all the seats were already taken. I got waitlist 95 in one train (Mathysaganda express) and Pool Quota Waitlist 15 in another train with chair car. With 1 month to go, the probablity of confirmation is very slim.
Train was my preferred option but due to holiday season, bookings opening only 2 month advance, I couldn't get lucky. Tatkal is too late to wait and not reliable.
Next option was Bus- VRL, KSRTC and few other operators ply buses between Mumbai and Mangaluru- but a seat in AC bus costs 3000 INR + and takes 18-20 hours of journey. Bus operators have about 10-12 different pick up points all around Mumbai and half of day time will go in travel.
Flight- one stop flights via Hyd or BLR is available for 5k, direct flights 6k to 7k. Cost of traveling home from airport extra. Flight fares shoot up to 12-13k if not booked in advance.
I finally booked an early morning Indigo flight- that goes to BLR first and then I've to change plane to land in Mangaluru. Hopefully all goes well.
This is the hotel I stayed less than 1 km from Mumbai airport T2
What is your preferred mode of transportation for distances of about 1000 kms accessible by overnight bus or train? Do you prefer to save money or always prefer shortest mode of transport? Do share.
ANA's 38k sale is back. Mumbai Tokyo 38k return available for about 38k. You can try Delhi as well
Star Air is a low cost airline launched by Sanjay Ghodawath group. They have been in business for few years (started in 2019) now and operate short haul flights in and around airports of South India. I wanted to try their flight but didn't have any need so far.
Recently I fould their Hyderabad-Shivamogga flight a good match for one my travel needs. Have booked a ticket, will look forward to the experience.
Observations so far:
The flight is in June 2025 though, so you've to wait for 2.5 months for a review.
Related: Star Air new routes * Star Air takes off *
Indigo has launched Mumbai-Seychelles flight, which is good. But the not so good part is their pricing is no cheaper than full service airline Air Seychelles.
Air Seychelles used to charge about 34k return if you plan 6 months in advance. Indigo is charging the same amount. Given that Indigo charges extra for food, there should be some gap on the lower side compared to Air Seychelles flight.
Let us see how it goes over the time. Will Air Seychelles drop its price?
Seychelles is very expensive destination in Africa to visit- No hostels, taxi is expensive, local flights and ferry are also expensive. So need to plan well.
Related: Air Seychelles cuts India flights
Manta air website is no longer selling tickets from BLR to Dhaalu atol in Maldives and back.
This BLR-DDD flight was announced and launched sometime in 2024 but for reasons best known to them, they kept the fare very high at 50k return, more expensive than a ticket to Europe. I guess the patronage has not been good. I was willing to give it a try if return ticket is available for 20k, but 50k was not reasonable for me. Now they don't operate this route any more. To go to Dhaalu atol you've to fly to Male and then take another flight, increasing cost and time.
Will be good if Manta air reconsiders direct flight to India- BLR is bit far for the small plane- maybe Kochi to DDD for under 20k, at least 2-3 times a week will be great opportunity for folks who've already visited Male & Gan Island.
Vietjet had announced flights from BLR and HYD to Saigon in their early India days (2022) but had cancelled these flights due to some permission issue. [Read 2022 post on this]
Vietjet has resumed flights from BLR and HYD finally. You can fly directly to Ho Chi Minh city or one stop to other destinations
Not very cheap- a return ticket is costing 17-18k as of now to Saigon, but you can check for your dates and destinations or wait for next sale.
Malindo Air/Batik Air operates flights from Malaysia to India. I had flown with them few years ago and service was good.
Booked another flight for 2025 sometime in 2024 but could not travel. The ticket was multi city ticket between BLR, Langkawi, Kota Kinabalu and back to BLR. At about 18k, it was very tempting deal, even cheaper than Air Asia. So I took a chance and booked back then.
But then I couldn't travel. Airline changed timing of one of the flight by about an hour and I applied for refund on their website. But I got automated replies stating the bank details are not enough and they can't refund to my India bank account.
I gave all the details one more time, again it was rejected.
Then I escalted to few people I knew. Eventually Batik Air India team was looped in and they processed some refund manually, after taking my bank account details, cancelled cheque etc.
I got about 4k INR back out of 18k, just 25%, as I had booked a cheapest non refundable ticket. Only airport tax and few such components of the ticket will be refunded in such cases.
If I had paid 50% for a more flexible ticket I would have got back more, but if I had travelled I would have lost that extra money. So it was a tough gample
Note: Prices are indicative- do check for origin, destination and dates of your choice on Batik Air website and compare options for yourself.
Summary:
Air Arabia sale is ON. You may get cheaper tickets on their network.
Flight to Casablanca seems to be have been suspended.
Lots of destinations I have in mind- in Central Asia are best visited in Summer, but I am unable to book as of now for April/May 2026. Need to wait for next sale I guess. If I book for Sep 2025 onwards it will be cold.
Do check if the sales interest you.
Air India is running a sale but surprisingly they have got their pricing ulta...
Business class is cheaper than Premium economy, Premium Economy is cheaper than Economy on certain routes!
Above image shared by Gopinath Prabhu in response to my below reel where I spotted Premium Economy being cheaper than Economy.
These were from BLR to MRU (Mauritius) for sometime in March 2025. You can try your luck for other destinations and dates.
Watch this reel [Watch on Instagram]
Why this happens?
Possible reason 1:
Economy sub class is sold out- like Air India pricing manager would have set something like
Now cheapest economy seats are sold out, triggering next slab while premium economy seats are not yet taken.
Possible reason 1: Human Error
Warning: Do NOT book this. Many users in facebook have said Air India later downgraded them to economy without explanation, without refund. You've been warned.
Let me know what you think
After public outcry that tickets to Prayagraj is more expensive than going to London, Govt made big announcement that airlines have been asked to reduce flight fare to Prayagraj.
However airlines haven't bothered to implement the same. Airlines have only reduced slightly by 5%, 10% max. Tickets to Prayagraj for various dates in Feb are still selling for 45k to 60k return from BLR
After Maha kumbh ends, ticket price is 15k return for March & April 2025
So airlines are in no mood to reduce price or follow govt directive. Passengers need to cough up 4x the price if they want to fly to Prayagraj.
There is an immense craze for refundable tickets when it comes to air travel. Non refundable tickets are sometimes 50% cheaper but people don't want to book them fearing "what if I can't travel".
People book refundable tickets paying 2x the money compared to non refundable ticket and if they do travel on that ticket, they are already losing lots of money compared to non refundable ticket.
Watch this reel [Watch on insta]
If you've not yet made up your plan for 2025 and looking for recommendations, below are some ideas
1. Chennai Colombo: 13k return
Chennai Colombo flights are back to pre-covid rates now. At 13k return it is lot cheaper than going to Srinagar or other domestic destinations. If you've never been to Srilanka, plan a trip in 2025
2. India to Vietnam: 15-20k INR Return
If you've never been to Vietnam, do plan a visit. If you can wait for an airline sale, you will get return tickets for about 15-17k on Air Asia and Vietjet Air. Vietnam offers easy eVisa for 25 USD and depending on how much time you've got, you can visit numerous places around Hanoi, Da Nang, Saigon, Phu Quoc etc. You can plan a 4-5 day trip in about 50k per person all inclusive.
Related: Da Nang planning guide *
3. Blr to Mauritius for 30k INR:
If you can plan well, you may get a return ticket from BLR to Mauritius for about 30k INR. More details in this post. It is a good deal under current circumstances to explore Mauritius.
4. Mumbai-Seychelles-35k
Not very cheap but Seychelles as such is an expensive destination. If you can afford spending a lot on hotels, taxi etc you can plan a trip- Mumbai to Seychelles direct flight you will get for 35k, which is pre-covid price, if you're flexible with dates. You can easily spend a week visiting various islands of Seychelles.
5. Multiple destinations for 22k return
Wait for next Air Arabia sale- you may get various destinations in Africa, Middle East and Europe for about 22-25k INR
6. Taiwan for 30k
Air Asia sale and VietJet Air sale- you can get a ticket to Taipei for about 30k
7. Japan for 35-40k
Wait for good deal from ANA- you may get direct flight to Japan for under 40k INR. VietJet air and Air Asia sale may sell tickets to Japan for about 35k during their sale.
Let me know what you think. Happy travels!