Do any of you travel to India and if so, where do you book your travel? I looked at all the regular airline websites and then saw all the discounters... not sure if it's worth doing a discounter with two six year olds along for the trip. It looks like the layovers might be awful, and the planes not as comfortable.
Any experience you can share?
My neighbors are from India and Sri Lanka. They travel there about once a year and her kids go on about half the trips. She always pays for tickets from the major airlines. She says that between layovers and flight size and the "gamble" that can come of traveling abroad, she'd rather just pay for the ticket. She likes the peace of mind that she has a major airline getting her there and working with her if something happens.
I don't book international trips. However, I do book a lot of personal and business travel for our company.
I never, ever, use a discounter. When you do..... you may think you are getting a good deal and sometimes it works out... BUT, if there is an issue of any kind, you are stuck with an 800# and no one to help you at the airport. Also, the discounted ticket holders are the first to be bumped from overbooked flights which in turn can make you miss connections, and be out more money to get to your destination or home.
When you deal directly with a major airline website, you can sometimes get a fair deal depending on when you book. You also get peace of mind that if something goes wrong, you have a better chance of getting it taken care of at the airport with the representatives from the major airlines. You at least have a person to work with face to face vs a toll free # where the person on the other end could care less what happens.
I have family that routine travels to England because we have family there. They too, never, ever book through discounters.
Good luck.
Where in India are you going to? Depending on where you're going, and which route you take(based on the airline you choose), the layover varies. Here are your options (that I'm aware of)....check out Emirates, Ethihad, Air India (wouldn't be my first choice... but i believe its cheaper) Kuwait Airways, Malaysian or Singapore Airline (which goes from the west coast)... its about 22hr trip from US to India (including layover). Good luck...especially with 2 small children...
My dad travels there twice a year, I've been there 5 times, and I just booked my son's 5th trip for this summer. Prices for this summer's trip are much more expensive than they were just a couple of years ago.
I would not book through anyone except the airline. My son and I were there January/February 2012 and Air France had a strike and our flights home were cancelled, with only a few hours notice. We had booked through Delta, which is in alliance with Air France, so Delta was able to get us rebooked on flights the next day. Only took about 20 minutes on the hotel phone. Well worth it to be able to work through the airline and not some other website.
If your dates are flexible, look at flying in and out during the week, instead of a weekend. This last trip, we flew out on a Tuesday and had booked to fly back on Thursday and it was cheaper than flying on Saturday/Sunday. Look at airports where the layovers will be held. Some are definitely better than others. Depending on where you are flying too, it might be cheaper to fly an international carrier into the country and then fly domestic to your final city. We fly into Mumbai through Delta or their partners then switch to Air India or Jet Airways and fly to Hyderabad. Good luck!
You can try "makemytrip.com"
good luck
