amitabha@rochester.UUCP (Amitabha Mukhopadhyay) (04/09/85)
Those with long memories may remember I had posted info on a low air fare to India thru an European travel agent. The response has been literally overwhelming, and I am sorry if I haven't replied to recent mail queries. As promised, here is an update: Agency: Malibu Travels (Ad Latjes) Damrak 30, 1012LJ Amsterdam, Holland. Phone: 1-800-626-4280. (HOURS: 4AM-12noon EST; HE IS IN HOLLAND!!) ( He may be a bit hard to reach sometimes, but I have had good luck since I always call around 4AM! ). All his tickets are ex New York (JFK) on Air India/Thai. After the recent dollar plunge, he would like to quote in Dutch Guilders, although he has honored his previous fare to people like me who had called in early enough. His current rates for Air India (Thai is slightly more): Destination Rates in Dutch Guilders (1$ = 3.5-3.6 Glds) ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Delhi/Bombay 3,400 Glds Madras/Calcutta 3,600 Glds Bangkok 3,640 Glds (with stops at Lond, Delh/Bom, Cal,etc) Singapore 3,700 Glds (via Madras) Hong Kong 3,800 Glds (via Bangkok) These are fixed prices in Glds; the corresponding dollar rate will depend on the Exchange rate on the day of purchase. For those of you with an adventurous bent, I would strongly recommend that you drop by Bangkok even if for a few days, it's an exhilarating experience and real LO-O-o-w cost, and only 10$ more than CAL fares... Singapore, is, of course, for the more consumer-oriented. He maintains an attorney in NYC, who is responsible for all checks and payments, and will deliver your ticket to you. Payment is usually in certified cheque or M.O. or cashier's cheque. In some cases, he can "offer facilities whereby cash payment can be made and tickets collected immediately" from the attorneys, who are in Manhattan. This seems a prudent approach, though to all appearance, this guy is a genuine fellow. Some often-asked questions: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1) The tickets are issued in two parts: NYC-LOND-NYC; and LOND-remaining-LOND. However, by presenting both tickets at the same time at JFK you can have your baggage forwarded direct. I have done this several time before, but on one occasion (in Hong Kong airport) my baggage got misrouted after an overnight halt... maybe Heathrow is better? (misrouted luggage has the advantage that it often transcends customs, if you care abt such things.) The moot point here is that US luggage rules apply. 2) Regarding the other point raised by Shankar@Shasta, in the above mode, there is no break at London, so no reconfirmation is necessary. You do have to reconfirm your return flight from India for both sectors. (S@S was worried that you may have to reconfirm three days in advance from London). 3) This guy makes reservations for you (he IS a travel agent). In fact, he CAN NOT buy tickets for which reservations have been made in the US. 4) The ticket is valid for min. 6 days/max. 90 days stay in India. 5) You may, if you wish, have a stopover in London and give up your extra suitcase luggage allowance. 6) There are flights every day. Why is it cheaper? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Because European agents have access to special discounts which US agents do not. This is true of many other parts of the world; e.g. Bangkok - if you go LA to India, the direct ticket is about 30-40% more expensive than if you go LA-Bangkok, shop around for a good fare, and then go Bangkok-India. If you open a London Times (any day) you'll find advertised India fares of about 325 #s. Also the US dollar used to help. This is, perhaps unfair to US travel agents, and I can see no reason why the same rates shouln't bee made available in the US also. By the way, I have received the following info which I have not confirmed: > From swm%brown.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa Wed Mar 20 16:17:01 1985 > Date: 20 Mar 85 (Wed) 16:17:01 EST > From: Swaminathan Manohar <swm%brown.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa> > To: amitabha > Subject: Tickets to India > > Thanks for the news item about this. I know of another attractive deal: > > Raj Travels,NYC Phone: 718-779-0525 > NYC to London by AI and > London to Del/Bom by Gulf Air > Fare : 825/- return.(with stopover in London if desired) How reliable is this? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In all such situations, there is only one golden rule: CAVEAT EMPTOR! I myself haven't got my ticket yet, but I hope to get it next week, and if there is nothing further on this in abt two weeks, that means there was nothing wrong with the ticket. If there is nothing more in a month, then quite likely the trip was also OK. I hope this is useful. - Amitabha Mukerjee (khuto) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ UUCP: ..!{allegra, decvax, seismo}!rochester!amitabha ARPA: amitabha@rochester.arpa ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PS: Please do not phone me; send mail.