sankar@Shasta.ARPA (03/22/85)
This is a reply to Amitabha's letter. I am assuming that one has to buy two separate tickets - a round trip from New York to London and another from London to Delhi. I have two questions. Both assume that the same plane that flies from New York to London continues on to Delhi. My questions really question the possibility of being able to continue on the same flight to India, I feel that one would have to wait for the next flight in London, which might be a delay of one to three days as my questions below show: 1. It is necessary to reconfirm LOCALLY a ticket when there is a break of journey for at least three days. This reconfirmation has to be done at least three days before the departure time of the flight. Therefore reconfirmation has to be done both at London(for the London-NY) and at Delhi(for the Delhi-London). The reconfirmation at London poses a problem, it is needed because the two legs of the flight are totally independent from each other. It has to be done either on the way to India, in which case one has to hope to find an Air India ticket counter quickly, preferably in the transit area, otherwise there is the problem of emmigration and immigration. This would need a certain amount of time in London. Alternatively, the passenger would have to break journey for at least three days on the way back at London. 2. Now since the two legs are separate journeys on separate tickets, the passenger will certainly have to get off the plane, go to an Air India counter, and reboard with the new ticket, and most probably will get another seat! This problem most probably will involve checking out the baggage and checking it in again. I do not know. But if it does, I am reasonably sure that it is not possible to get from the point where one collects baggage back to the boarding area without emmigrating and immigrating again and paying airport tax at London. This certainly would involve a considerable amount of delay. If both the above problems really exist, then it is going to cause a lot of inconvenience. Secondly, it is always a good policy to stick to one travel agent. I used the same agent this year as I did last year, and also recommended some others to him. I have got much better service this year. Some examples of better service are: One can pay for the ticket at the last moment, though reserve the ticket well in advance. Only, one will have to pay the rates effective on that day. If they go up, one has to pay more. My agent gives a guarantee of the price on the day I reserve the ticket. If he knows its going to go up, he buys the ticket with his own money, and I will pay(in this case) immediately. Also they try harder to get the best deal once you have already bought a ticket with them and recommended others to them. So even if you decide that the Dutch travel agent is getting you a cheap deal, realise that your regular travel agent can also get you the same deal, you just have to make him aware of it. The cost of the ticket depends on the ticket and not where you buy it, though discounts may vary slightly depending on the agent. Sriram.