Saving cost on airfare to India from Singapore !

Everybody wants to save costs on airfare as that is the major cost when you are living away from your family/relatives. If you are visiting 1 or more times in a year to India from Singapore, its important that we understand what are the ways we can reduce costs on airfare. Also a better planning will help you to get the same preferred airlines of yours with reduced cost !

In order to understand airfares to various destinations from Singapore, goto http://www.airfare.com.sg. This website provides us good overview of all the types of airfares and airlines available for the various destinations. This is a starting point just to get an idea.

Other travel agents who provide competitive fares to India and other destinations are :

• Mustafa Air Travels
• Serangoon Air Travel Located at Tekka Mall @ Little India

I have used Serangoon Travels and my experience has been good with their service and competitive fares. But one needs to do this planning just before you are looking for the fares for which you have finalised the dates. This helps a lot as fares are dynamic and change due to seasonal requirements. e.g. fares are higher during school holidays.

Following are the airlines who offer flights to India on major destinations : Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Jet Airways, Air India, Indian Airlines, Silk Air, Srilankan Airlines, Tiger Airways etc .

Some points to note :

• Most of the time Air India / India Airlines provide the best fares
• Lookout for deals from Singapore Airlines from time to time in newspaper
• Point to Point international flights are cheapest e.g. If you take Singapore - Hyd flight, it is cheaper, but if you book Singapore - Hyd - Pune it is expensive. Rather book Sin-Hyd flight from here & book the Hyd-Pune flight separately in India.
• Lookout for code flights schedule. e.g. Air India operates with Singapore Airlines. So you fly Singapore Airlines by paying Air India fare :)...this is the BEST TIP !
  
• Avoid budget airlines if your schedule likely to change later.
• Check for baggage allowance with airlines, as budget airlines offer less baggage allowance and no wavier most of the times.
• As far as possible keep one airline, that helps to build the miles and also frequent flying helps you in case of wait listing or priority boarding !
• Book in advance as far as possible to avoid paying higher fare for preferred dates(e.g. friday night flight)

Hope this helps ...please comment and share your experience with other people on saving cost on air fare and some more tips to manage air travel better !