The price of international flights is going up day by day. Even after Covid-19, the price of flights for some destinations like India has increased by 20 % to 40 %. In this article, we will explain to you how to find cheap flights to India. So let’s dive into it.
Some basic reasons which determine the price of flight tickets
The basic reasons which are making it difficult to get affordable flight tickets are the frequency of regular airlines for India, airports along with other taxes, fuel hikes, and currency exchange rates.
So, excited to learn how to get cheap flights to India?
Here are the best tips to get the best affordable prices for a flight ticket for your trip to India.
1. Book in Advance
Try booking your flight tickets at least 3 months in advance. Even though this might sound cliché, it’s worth a mention. For longer-distance flights, three months may still not be enough to get you a good deal, as this is the time when airlines try to fill the planes as much as possible.
2. Check to fly for weekdays rather than weekends:
It’s an established fact that flight tickets are more expensive on weekends than on weekdays. Try to fly on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday rather than Thursdays, Fridays, or Saturdays.
3. Pick A flight with a layover :
Although this is not convenient for everyone, this can be a money saver for some people. Believe it or not, flights with decent layovers are always cheaper than direct flights to India.
4. Avoid heavy touristic season and summer vacations :
If you are trying to fly to India during the summer holidays i.e. July and August, this is the time of vacation in Europe. It’s obvious that the flights are expensive. If the period has no restrictions to plan your holidays to India, then try to book a flight during Sept/ Oct/ Nov /Jan / Feb / March. These are the months when you can get good deals on international flights to India.
5. Get Two-way tickets than One-way Ticket
Even if you don’t know the date of your return, we advise you to take always a two-way ticket than one way. You can also change your return date to the cheapest alternative or free of cost (according to dates and some airlines).
6. Check for alternative airports for cheaper options
It is true that booking an international flight to any place in India will cost you somewhat similar. However, sometimes you might get a cheaper flight to an airport other than the one you want to fly in.
For instance, instead of booking a flight from London or New York to Chennai, you can opt for flights arriving to Delhi or Mumbai, or Bengaluru. Then you can travel to Chennai on a domestic flight. Since travel in India is cheaper, thus you can save a lot of money.
7. Avoid Indian festive seasons
If the period of travel is not important for you, we advise simply booking your ticket during the non-festive season like Diwali, Christmas, etc…
8. Compare different flight searching sites :
We advise you to check the flight tickets price to India on several online international flight comparison portals. We name some are momondo.com, kayak.com, etc..
9. Leave No Trail
Did you know that when you search for particular destinations, you leave behind a trail of data as cookies? The online booking portals then use these cookies to manipulate prices depending on your search history! Well, do not worry because there is a clever solution to this problem and this can help you get a cheaper flight ticket to India.
Always search in incognito mode since this can help you stay hidden when you search for flight tickets and get the best prices available.
Here is how to put you in incognito mode :
Go on the upper righthand side of your browser, click on the small dots, and click on search in incognito mode and you are done.
10. Skip the Refundable Tickets
At the time of booking flight tickets to India, you will get refundable and non-refundable tickets. Refundable tickets are more expensive. Even though these might seem tempting because of zero cancellation fees, it is better to avoid them. To avoid confusion, you better book your ticket only when you are 100% sure about the travel dates so that you do not end up buying expensive refundable tickets.
11. Take a Look at All Available Airlines
Sometimes, it may not be the best available option to book a return flight. There is increasing competition among different airlines. That is why getting two different tickets for the return journey often seems to be a more practical option. Since every airline has its own operating procedure the cost will vary among different routes and timings.
Therefore, instead of getting a return ticket, know all your available options so you can get a cheap flight ticket to India and back. Different factors that influence the cost of tickets are baggage fees, base fare, in-flight services, etc. Therefore, these need to be kept in mind when you are doing the research.
At the end:
Thus, as explained above, if you apply these tricks and tips, we are sure that you can easily get cheap tickets for your next holidays to India.
So make sure next time you book your flight ticket to India, you keep all these handy tips in mind.
