How to save money on domestic flights in India

The flight scenario looks bleak for both consumers and flight operators. Scenario: Declining competition, continued losses, rising prices of fuel and a depreciating rupee. However, searching for the best deal has become very easy with the rise of online booking sites.

The convenience of online booking is unmatched. However, there is also stiff competition in this market. This means: lots of deals! Typically, online deals can shave off a few hundred, or even more off your ticket cost.

Compare Prices on at least 2-3 sites

MakeMyTrip
Yatra
GoIbibo
Expedia
Cleartrip

Check out all existing Offers!

MakeMyTrip
Yatra
GoIbibo
Expedia - Cannot find standalone domestic flight offers
Cleartrip

Convenience Fee

Typically most online sites are now charging a convenience of around Rs. 180/ticket.

Yatra.com: Rs. 180/ticket
MakeMyTrip.com: Rs. 180/ticket
Goibibo: No Convenience fee as of now
Cleartrip: Rs. 180/ticket
Expedia.co.in: Rs. 180/ticket

Beware of Air Miles or Airline reward schemes

BASE FARE ONLY. This is the mantra of all airline reward schemes. Base fares are extremely low for domestic flights in India. It is actually quite ridiculous. If you’re booking a ticket more than a month in advance you’ll often find the base fare to be Re. 1. The whole price of 2000-4000 (varies) is just tax.

Also, rewards typically provide less benefit than cash back offers/promotions that you may find at the time. Spend your energy on finding the best offers and the lowest flight prices. This will be much better for you than giving regular business to one flight carrier or agent.

Only for Regular last minute travelers or international travelers

You can use airmiles/rewards to get only the base fare free. This makes sense if the base fare is high. Base fare is high for last minute bookings and international flights. So unless you book last minute/last week flights regularly, or travel abroad the reward schemes are not for you. Don’t buy agent/airline oriented credit cards unless you fall in the above category.