“All-in” air fares made mandatory to exhibit for the airlines

Surprised that the cheap ticket fares that you saw in advertisements are actually not so! Well, if you are flying on Canadian airlines then you will not be surprised anymore. The airlines regulators have made it mandatory for the airlines to exhibit the actual prices of tickets on all types of advertisements such as print advertising, billboards and the online advertisements. Earlier, it was quite a common practice, and is still so in many other industries and countries of the world, to have different prices of flight booking on the marketing materials than the actual costs for the sake of attracting the customers. There was the invariable sign of some special character on the advertised prices which indicated that the prices is subject to certain conditions and might include or exclude a number of other charges.

Ottawa has begun this process of change since the marketing materials will now feature the prices which the customers will actually have to pay if they book the supposedly cheap international flights to destinations. The ticket prices exhibited will now include all the taxes, fees and other charges such as airport development fee, etc. so as to enable the customers to know which airlines is offering what all prices upfront without having to run through the process of flight booking to find the true prices.

The move will usher in more transparency in the advertisements and will prevent people being taken to a ride by the airlines or the agencies. It often used to happen that the customers got to realize at the fag-end of their flight booking exercise that there are more charges to be paid for. This left them with two options, either to abandon the online booking at that site or to pay the price for completing the booking, though with a bad taste.

How are interline agreements for air ticket booking are different from the code share agreements?

You must have heard of the code share agreements between the airlines. As a result of these agreements amongst the airlines, you do air ticket booking on one flight but are flown on the other airline, which might surprise you when you take the boarding pass. The code share agreements are quite common among the airlines. These give the benefits of extended market reach and better seat factors to the airlines. However, the interline agreements are relatively rare as compared to code-share ones. Both these types of flights can have flight numbers different from the one of primary airline. But, there are some basic differences between the two.

In case of the code share flights between the source and the destination in a multiple-leg trip, the flight number of each airline with passengers is different. But, in a similar situation, the interline agreement provides the same flight number for all the airlines.

Another major difference between the two is that the code share agreements allow for honoring the frequent flyers programs of airline on which cheap flight tickets are booked with the code-share partner carriers. So, when you are flying on the code share flight, your miles will keep on getting aggregating. Further, you can redeem these points on these carriers as well. But, in case of interline agreements, the rewards programs of booking airline are not honored for those segments of journey whose flights do not have code share agreement with one another.

Yet another difference is with respect to the baggage which needs to be checked-in. In case of code-share agreements, the baggage needs to be checked-in at each segment of flight since these are treated as separate flights. However, in case of the interline agreement, the baggage follows you wherever you go obviating the need for checking-in all the time.

Seat shortages in Indian Aviation Market

There is a handful of domestic airlines and you can count them on fingers: IndiGo, Spicejet, Jet Airways, Go Air and Air India. Together there airlines offer close to 2 lakh seats every day to the passengers. In a country, where the percentage of population travelling by air is not even 1 percent, these number of seats are still very less. So, this fact is sealed that there is indeed a shortage of seats, especially since the Kingfisher Airlines has been grounded. Add to it the persistent problems at the Air India and even these seats become susceptible to availability.

Out of these airlines, it is only Air India and, to some extent, Jet Airways which provide the medium and long haul flights. Since these are the full service carriers, these carriers do not provide the cheap international flights. So, if you have to travel to the destinations beyond Singapore on west and the United Arab Emirates on the East, you do not have many options in terms of carriers flying on these segments. So, besides the shortage of seats in the domestic market, there is also a shortage of seats on the short and long haul flights on the domestic carriers. Well, the foreign carriers do fill that slot but these might not offer as much cheap air tickets as the domestic ones. 

Besides the absolute seat shortages on the domestic and international flights, there are also shortages in the class-wise segments. While the no-frill service providers are filling the ever increasing demand of the cheap air tickets of the economy class travel, there is acute shortage of the business class seats for the people who want to use more comfortable travel options on all routes.

These shortages are the prime reasons for the prices of the air tickets shooting the roof, stoking the fears of cartelization of air fares by the domestic carriers. 

Why Are Red Eye Flights Operated?

Red Eye flights are referred to those late night flights on short haul routes which reach the destination early morning. So, it is quite normal for the passengers on these flights to come out with redden eyes since they might not have slept the whole night. What makes these flights important? Why do the airlines fly these flights?

When talking about the rationale behind these flights, there are many reasons. The first and the foremost reason has to do with the operational requirements of the next day. The airlines might need to have the airplanes at specific destinations in order to operate as schedules the next day. For this purpose, the airlines have to make the rearrangements by moving the airplanes which would be a lost opportunity to earn some revenue if these are operated without passengers.

Besides this rationale, another important reason is that since these flights are cheap, it gives the people an opportunity to fly on these flights. The business executives, who have to be at their offices the next morning, prefer to take these flights as it saves them time as well as money. Further, in the cheap flights moving from one time zone to the other, it is often more convenient to take these late night flights as they can sleep all night in the plane and remain awake during the day at the destination.

Thus, the rationale for the Red Eye flights stem from the benefits that these provide to the airlines, in managing their schedule for next day, and to the customers, for the lowest air fare and better management of time zone changes.

Changing use of the self- services kiosks

A kiosk is a free standing computer screen which is used by the passengers to print baggage tags or air tickets, scan the printed boarding pass, seeking confirmation of flight information, review and change the assigned seats and even tell you which gate to approach for taking the flight. The emergence of online commerce in travel industry, whether on your computer or on the mobiles, is fast changing the way the traditional kiosks are used by the airline for performing a variety of functions like doing the check-in, getting boarding passes and offering a few other services. With most of these services being offered on the internet to the customers and the once long queues now becoming a thing of past, the airlines have started mulling the usefulness of the kiosks afresh since it does require considerable expenditure on its maintenance.

As per IATA, there are about 5000 kiosks around the world and some of which have been closed by the airlines as they feel that the time is up for these kiosks. But, with about 20 percent of passengers still using these, most of the airlines feel, it is time that these are put to other uses as well.

The experts point out that the relevance of the kiosks will continue for the passengers with the hold baggage. These will continue to hold immense importance in the processing of the self service baggage and flight tickets processing.

Another likely use of the kiosks, as per IATA, is in the verification of the documents. One specific requirement pointed out in justification of this use of kiosks is that of passenger passport scanning. Though there are efforts at developing a mobile scanning and verification solution, it will take time to develop it and, in the meantime, the kiosks can be used for this purpose.

It has also been suggested that the use of kiosks as the first point of call for the passengers can be changed to provide a more comprehensive set of services and products. So, these can be used, as per IATA, as multiple channels product and service offer points. 

Struck by High Diwali-time Fares, Ajit Singh Orders CCI Probe

It is not new that the charges of cartelization of prices have been leveled against the domestic airlines. Before this year, there have been at least two other occasions in the last two years when the charges of increasing the prices of the tickets by airlines acting as a cartel have been leveled. On one occasion even the Competition Commission of India conducted the probe but found no evidence of it. This year, the charges and the CCI probe are back in news. At first, it was Captain Gopinath who brought forth this charge of FIA acting as a cartelization body under whose garb the airlines fix the entry level prices of the tickets. Not long after this charge was made, the people who wanted to fly on premium domestic sectors on Diwali found the prices to be just too high to be reasonable. Even the airlines which offered the lowest air fare were charging unexpected higher sums.

It was this unexpected exponential rise in ticket prices, even of the cheap flights offering airlines, which was considered well beyond the realm of reasonableness and the demand-supply mathematics, has led to the ordering of a probe by the Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr Ajit Singh. Under the terms of the probe, the CCI will be required to investigate the reasons in the high prices during the Diwali time and also to look into the charges of cartelization which have often been leveled against the airlines.

It is noteworthy that the airlines release the number of seats and fares for each flight in buckets. The first bucket generally has the lowest price and its seats get booked, the next bucket of seats and its prices is rolled out. The last bucket has the highest prices. Generally, the more is the demand, the more are the prices. And, this is precisely the logic of high demand and less supply in the last buckets of seats which is advanced for justifying high prices. But, the lid seems to have gone too high this time, prompting a probe into the airline ticket pricing system of the airlines. 

Indian Winters: Weather Plays Spoilsport In High Demand Times for Flight Booking

The winters are back, as usual, with their own set of benefits and troubles for the airlines and the passengers. The winters are good seasons for tourism in India, as the people are saved from heat of the sun which prevents them from making vacation and travel plans. Similarly, this is the time when a number of festivals happen around the world and there are working offs in most parts of the world. These are the times when the people plan their travel schedules and set-off to vacations in different parts of the world. If you had tried doing a hotel booking in this season in India, you would realize the heavy tourist rush during this season since most of the hotels would be reporting a total booked status for days and months ahead.

Heavy domestic and international tourist demand makes the flight tickets pricier. You shall not expect the lowest air fare during this season. And, even if you are flying on the dearer tickets, you shall not expect that the flights will be operating on schedule and that you will be saved of the troubles and inconvenience which arise due the flight operations in winter season. There are good chances of getting the dense blankets of fogs all through the late evenings to the early mornings. And, if the fog is able to beat all the advanced flight landing and take-off systems such as CAT II or CAT III and which it does more often than not, then you can always expect time delays in the flights or even the cancellations of flights.

This also puts a lot of pressure on the seat factors in the flights operating at times when the fog is expected to be clear since the people prefer to do flight booking at these times when fog is not around. So, there is huge demand and the cheap air tickets are out of question. In fact, the fliers can expect long queues at congested airports, waiting for their turn. Airlines can also expect to see a rise in the number of flight cancellations and the consequent claims for refunds. So, the typical weather conditions of winters make these both the restraining factor as well as the high demand factor for booking domestic and cheap international flights.

Captain Gopinath Puts the Spanner in the Works: Blames FIA for Catelization of Ticket Prices

In a scathing attack on the way the aviation industry functions in India, the former founder of the Air Deccan and an old industry veteran, Captain Gopinath, has blamed the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) for behaving like a cartel and charging that the airlines under its ambit fix the entry level prices among themselves. These serious charges are likely to dent the image of the aviation industry of the country and raise a public outcry as customers have been taken for a ride, if these charges are established to be true. The passengers normally assume that the airlines operate the cheap flights under competitive environment. However, Captain Gopinath has blamed the low-cost carriers and the full-service carriers of colluding with each other and for maintaining almost same prices of the entry level air tickets.

In the light of this blame, one can recall that the airlines have been asked in the past by the regulator and also by the Ministry to restrain the rapid price increases. The regulator has even tried to take measure to make it mandatory for airline to disclose its price band. There has been initiation of investigation into these charges as well but these were not conclusive of any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, both the full service and the low cost carriers have refuted the charges. IndiGo has said that in the age of internet, where the customers can check and compare the prices across different airlines, evolution of a cartel is not possible. Spicejet, another LCC which provides the domestic and international cheap flights, puts it straight that since cartelization is done for making profits, every airline would be have booked profits. Rather, the picture of the financial health of airlines is very dismal. 

Maneuvers on the Australian Aviation Chess Board: Singapore Airlines Turns Heat on Qantas

It was when Qantas Airlines of Australia declared a potential alliance with the Emirates Airlines of Dubai that the turbulence was caused in the lucrative Asia-Pacific aviation markets. The importance and impact of such a deal could not have taken the other major players much time from making strategic moves to bolster their position in the Australian aviation market. And, the observers were not disappointed. The Singapore Airlines has picked up a stake of 10 percent in Virgin Australia in a deal of AUD 105 million.

Virgin Australia is the main domestic competitor of Qantas in the Australian market and in order to protect the regional interests in aviation, Singapore Airlines has decided to firm up the Virgin positions in the domestic aviation market of Australia. It is worth noting that Singapore Airlines itself has its own LCC Tiger Airways in Australia which aims to provide the cheapest air tickets to the passengers. However, Singapore Airlines has chosen to expand the Tiger’s fleet by firming up the hands of Virgin, the main competitor providing the cheap flights to the passengers. Virgin has, in the same measure, announced acquisition of 60 percent stake of Tiger Airways. It also plans to further strengthen its hold in the regional aviation markets by acquiring Skywest, the regional operator.

The biggest beneficiary of these maneuvers will be Virgin Australia which will consolidate its position in the region and be able to fulfill its cherished wish of becoming the airline of choice in the region. 

Lessons from Kingfisher Airlines debacle

Kingfisher has landed itself in a $2billion soup with the end result of license being cancelled. As the downfall looks imminent, there are lessons to be learnt by the key stakeholders, chiefly the banks and the airlines since it is the former which will take the financial hit and the latter will lose out on a huge potential that Indian aviation market holds for the future. It is ironical that the lowest air fare domestic carriers have taken a lead in the Indian aviation market over the best value airlines that operate the domestic and international routes.

Let us first take banks for what lessons shall they learn. It is quite understandable that the present condition of the airlines has not been like it all of a sudden and that it has been developing for a long time now. There was sufficient time for the banks to have turned off their taps of funding and pressurize the airlines into working with more financial discipline. What made the banks reach this stage? Were the banks expecting too much from the other, cash rich businesses of the Kingfisher owner? By turning a blind eye to the basics of financial management and hoping too much from the other business, the banks led themselves into a comfort zone which was a myth, a bubble which could have been created by the airline management. So, the lesson for the banks is to view each business of an owner as totally distinct from the other.

For the management of the airlines, there are many obvious lessons to be learnt on the front of operational and fiscal prudence. However, the lessons shall also be learnt on being careful not to hit the soft underbelly of trust of the customers and employees on which the turnarounds can still be achieved even if the biggest of financial troubles come up. The recent statements of the top management of Kingfisher on employee attitude do it no good. They were still with the airline for being without salaries for months. Rather, a harsh look at the extravagant ways of management and luxurious facilities to the staff could have been a more prudent step to take. When times are bad, the management turns to operational and financial management by curtailing the flight plans, providing cheap flights and doing many other things and it conveniently forgets the “soft under belly” which forms the basis of any successful turnaround. 

Delhi and Mumbai airport abolish ADF, are cheap flights on anvil?

The news which caught the attention of newspaper readers this morning was the abolition of the airport development fee (ADF) being charged from the customers flying from Mumbai and Delhi. It shall be recalled that the exponential hike in the ADF was severely criticized by the airlines, customers and even IATA. This levy made the other cheap flights out of these two cities very expensive as compared with the other airports within and outside of the country. The charges were justified by the airport developers who argued that the recovery of revenue within the stipulate time period would be possible only in these rates. Due to the high ADF, some low cost carriers such as Indigo stopped using the newly built Terminal 3 for its flights.

However, the recent news of the abolition of these charges is welcome news for the stakeholders including the airlines and the customers since there will be reprieve from high charges of air tickets which were being charged ultimately from the customers. Many critics believe that this reprieve might be temporary since the airport developers might have to raise revenues through other means such as equity or debt, both of which have their own costs of financing.

The rationale for the abolition of the ADF lies in the CAG report which pointed out that there was no provision for levying of the ADF in the original draft agreement between GMR and Delhi airport authorities. Despite the non-existence of this provision, DIAL was allowed to levy ADF. CAG noted that this was against the terms and conditions of the agreement. However, this move is expected to set the process right but for the customers the reprieve might be very little and is likely to last for about two months. 

Institutional changes being considered for setting the course right for Indian civil aviation

The state of Indian aviation in the present times is churning many heads, and even the institutions. The government seems to have taken a very serious view of the airline debts and other problems and is working on bringing reforms to the existing system which would ensure that the problems associated with the airlines in particular and the aviation sector are addressed well in time, before these become too unmanageable. The moves are centered on the airlines and the regulators and these are likely to make the customer happier since, besides the cheap flights, the customer can expect the airlines to show a more responsible behavior.

Indian aviation minister has recently announced two such measures which are being considered. One relates to the airlines submitting their business plan before purchasing the aircraft from abroad and the other relates to the creation of a separate body for exclusively monitoring the financial health of the domestic airlines. Both of these measures are being considered deeply for ensuring that the kind of debt burden airlines today have does not happen in future.

The prior submission of business plan is being mooted to ensure that the airlines do adhere to this plan after the purchases are done. If the plan seems too unreasonable, then the airlines might be asked to provide the clarifications or justifications. Similarly, the institution of DGCA might be left only with the technical and safety aspects to focus on. For monitoring the financial health of the airlines on an on-going basis, setting up of a separate body is being planned which will keep a tab on financial aspects of airlines.

Further reforms are also on the anvil and it is the customer who will ultimately benefit from these reforms  and will continue to get the cheap air tickets.

Qatar Airlines announces plans to join OneWorld Alliance

Qatar Airlines has become the latest Middle East carrier to announce its plans to join the OneWorld Alliance. This announcement comes close on the heels of the Etihad also joining the OneWorld Alliance grouping and after a month of Emirates going to the fold of the SkyTeam Alliance. The Middle-East region is fast becoming a strong hub of airline operations as the crucial connectivity is provided by these airliners to the passengers from Asia to the destinations in Europe and USA using the long haul fleet of aircraft. In fact, the airlines of the region have been the game changers in providing flight tickets to USA and Europe by making Middle East hub of their activities, reducing the importance of the traditional European hubs. Qatar Airlines already has a pact with the Malaysian Airlines and it needs to have more pacts with the other members of the alliance before is formally joins to grouping.

These three instances indicate that the old players of world aviation, who had once rued the emergence of gulf carriers as prominent players, are now coming around to the reality of these carriers being here to remain for a long time and the shedding of inhibitions related to them. What the customers get in return is the international flights to newer destinations, privileges and benefits associated with the frequent flier programs on a much wider numbers of airlines, coordinated schedules and common access to airport lounges.

What makes Japan suitable for LCC operation?

Recently, there has been news of not one but three low cost carriers making foray into the Japanese aviation space for the first time. AirAsia Japan, Peach Aviation and Jetstar are the three airlines which have recently announced their flight operations in the country. It has also been reported in the news items that for the people of Japan, who love to buy expensive things, this would be a new trial. It is expected that the rates of flight booking will simply be slashed to half with the operation of these new airlines. The people might have to live with certain limitations and constraints but they would get to travel at lowest air fare, for their business as well as for their vacation needs.

There are many factors which favor Japan for the LCC operation. These are:

• An island nation: Japan is an island nation. It has many islands under its sovereignty which are good locations for vacationing and are frequented by the people of Japan as well as the outsiders. With air travel becoming cheap with the introduction of LCCs the vacationing as well as business trips are expected to increase to these islands.
• Travel to nearby foreign destinations will get cheaper: There are many nearby countries and cities which can be reached within a few hours flight of the LCCs. These are South Korea, China, Russia and Taiwan among others. With fares almost down to half of the present value, there is going to be encouragement to the movement of the people on the short-haul flights which see high demand from the people of Japan.
• High per capita incomes: The per capita incomes of the people of Japan are one of the highest in the world. The LCC operations are likely to be highly successful since the people already have a penchant for air travel and the lowest air fare tickets are expected to give it a fillip. 

Flight Duty Time Limitations Data and Relation to Airfare

Flight Duty Time Limitations Data is the statistical information about the flying and duty hours which the pilots and other crew members of the airplane lock in on a routine basis. This data tells us about the extent of utilization of the crew and can be analyzed to know whether the crew is overworked or underworked. While it might be dangerous to fly with the airline whose crew is overworked, it might not be inefficient to have an under-worked crew. So, airline tickets sale might fall for an overworked airplane flight from the customer end but the carrier might stop flights due to inefficient operations in the second case.

In India, the Director General of Civil Aviation, the regulatory authority which issues the guidelines on this matter, has directed the AI pilots and crew members to follow the guidelines related to the six parameters which define the flight duty time limitations. On doing the mapping of the guidelines with what is being done at the practical level, it was noticed that out of the six parameters, the pilots and crew only followed one of these. Incidentally, this parameter was of Rest Period. The other five parameters, such as Maximum Daily Flight Duty Period, Maximum Daily Flight Time, SOD Travel/positioning/dead headings, number of landings and Limitation of Flying hours on weekly/monthly/annual basis, were under-utilized. By under-utilization of the working hours, the AI was required to maintain more staff than the optimal levels. So, the DGCA has now asked the AI to adhere to these guidelines and attain optimal levels of working hours.

This measure is likely to free up more pilots and crew members who can be deployed on planes which are likely to arrive in the near future. The costs of operations will also be brought down and the passengers would benefit by getting reduced air fare due to reduced inefficiencies. 

Taking Polar Routes For Cheap Flights

Routes have always been one of the prominent methods of effecting the cost control over the flights fares, providing cheap flights to the customers. While there been lots of information on lowest air fare of the direct, via or connecting flights and also of the single or the two way routing fares, there is also another route which reduces the travel time significantly and, consequently, the airlines using these routes are able to provide the lowest air fare to the passengers. These routes are the polar routes which connect the transcontinental cities.

Out of the two polar routes, it is the North Pole which is used the most by the carriers for travelling between destinations in USA, Europe and Asia. The use of these routes cuts down on the flight distance, saving not only on the time but also on the fuel. There are some conditions and preparations required by the airlines for travelling from these routes. These are elaborately mandated by the FAA of USA. The routes which are most commonly used are of connecting the northern European cities with the destinations in Canada and western USA. Similarly, there are destinations from the interior of USA which are connected with the Asian cities using this route.

Earlier, there were many restrictions imposed on flying of different aircrafts due to the special climatic conditions of these regions, some of which have been relaxed now. Earlier, the two engine aircrafts were not allowed to fly on these routes but this restriction has now been removed due to development of better technology. Earlier, there were problems of cheap flights encountering prospects of fuel freeze which have now been removed with the development of systems which can signal this happening well in time, giving the aircraft sufficient time to descend to lower altitudes. 

Restriction that come with the Cheap Tickets of European LCCs

There are many LCCs in Europe. Due to the Open-Skies Treaty of 1992 among the member countries of the EU, the requirement of government permission for flying the flag-carrier airlines of other countries was withdrawn. This opened the way for LCCs to fly without any restrictions or limitations. The passengers could now travel on air ticket international within the EU without any hindrances. The European model of LCCs is based on certain restrictions which these carriers impose on the passengers for flying on their cheap tickets. These are:

• No meals are provided inside the flight. Or, if it is provided, it is charged for. The best option is to bring your own food. However, these might not allow the messy food on flights. Further, there might be restriction for carrying the liquids. Liquids are generally required to be carried in bottles of up to 100 ml and these shall be carried in the clear, transparent bag of 1 liter only.
• No in-flight entertainment is provided by the airlines. So, the only option is to carry your own laptops, ipods, books, magazines, etc.
• The LCCs might also land you at an airport which is not so famous and which can be far away from the city where you have to go. This is so because the LCCs prefer to use those airports which have low airport costs in order to provide cheap tickets.
• If you are late for check in or even for getting the boarding pass, you would miss the flight. The airplane will not wait for the late passengers. There is a requirement for quick turnaround times of the aircrafts so that maximum number of flights can be accommodated in a day.
• You usually do not find the tickets of connecting flights on LCCs since these mostly operate on the point-to-point routing model. So, if you need the connecting air ticket international, you will have to make a fresh booking and even have to check-in baggage another time. This could be inconvenient for passengers.
• Extra charges: The airlines also charge extra sums for a number of things such as extra baggage, meals and other products which are usually allowed for free in traditional carriers. 

Rail Tourism in India: Courtesy IRCTC

IRCTC was initially in the field of offering the e-ticketing facility on the internet. Thereafter, it diversified into the catering and tourism sector as well and at present, it provides the special train tourism packages for people. At the same time, it has evolved into a multi-product travel and tourism organization as it also provides the flight booking on domestic airlines, hotels and even the cabs facility.

Here is a list of all the special tourist trains and special packages which are provided by the IRCTC.

Special Train (code)	Days/Nights	Dates of Tour	Route	Fare (Per Person)
Bharat Darshan Trains
Dakshin Bharat Darshan (NZBD56 )	12d/11n	24-09-12 to	CHANDIGARH - AMBALA - KURUKSHETRA - KARNAL - PANIPAT - DELHI CANTT.- JAIPUR - AGRA - GWALIOR - JHANSI - BINA - BHOPAL (HABIBGANJ) - MANMAD (SHIRDI) - RENINGUNTA (TIRUPATI) RAMESHWARAM - MADURAI - KANYAKUMARI AND BACK TO CHANDIGARH ON SAME ROUTE VIA BHOPAL	Rs 6192 (service tax included)
Bharat Darshan ( SZBD100 )	10d/9n	26-Sep-2012	HYDERABAD - GOA - COCHIN - TRIVANDRUM	Rs 5155 (service tax included)
DAKSHIN BHARAT YATRA ( WZBD80 )	14d/13n	04-10-2012	JABALPUR - ITARASI - SHIRDI - TIRUPATI - KANCHIPURAM - RAMESWARAM - MADURAI - KANYAKUMARI - KOVALAM - COCHIN - GOA - ITARASI - JABALPUR	Rs 7216 (service tax included)
THE MAGNIFICENT AVATARS ( SZBD101 )	6d/5n	06-10-2012	VISHAKAPATINAM - SRIKAKULAM - BHADRACHALAM - RENIGUNTA(NAGALAPURAM)	Rs 3100 (service tax included)
DAKSHIN DARSHAN VIA LUCKNOW ( NZBD57 )	12d/11n	08-10-12	DELHI SAFDURJUNG - MORADABAD - BAREILLY - SHAHJAHANPUR - HARDOI - LUCKNOW - KANPUR JHANSI - BHOPAL - MANMAD - TIRUPATI - MADURAI - RAMESHWARAM - KANYAKUMARIAND BACK TO DELHI SAFDURJUNG VIA BHOPAL	Rs 6192 (service tax included)
MAHALYA AMAVASYA SPECIAL ( SZBD102 )	10d/9n	12-10-12	SAMALKOT (PITHAMPURAM) - JAJPUR - GAYA - VARANASI	Rs 5155 (service tax included)
BHARAT DARSHAN ( WZBD82 )	13d/12n	25-10-12	SOLAPUR - KURUDWARI - DAUND - PUNE - KALYAN - VASAI - VADODARA - AHMEDABAD - DWARKA - SOMNATH - UJJAIN - INDORE - MATHURA - AGRA - HARIDWAR - AMRITSAR - JAMMU	Rs 6710(service tax included)
JYOTHIRLINGA DARSHAN ( SZBD103 )	16d/15n	25-10-12	PARLI VAIJINATH - GRUSHNESHWAR - TRIAMBAKESHWAR - NAGESHWAR - SOMNATH - MAHAKALESHWAR - HARIDWAR - KASI VISWANATH	Rs 8250(service tax included)
SHIRDI,TRYAMBKESHWAR AND MAHAKAAL SPECIAL VIA LUCKNOW ( NZBD59 )	7d/6n	31-10-12	DELHI SAFDERJUNG - MORADABAD - BAREILLY - SHAHJAHANPUR - HARDOI - LUCKNOW - KANPUR - JHANSI - BINA - BHOPAL - ITARSI - KHANDWA - MANMAD - NASIK - KHANDWA - ITARSI - BHOPAL - UJJAIN - BHOPAL - BINA - JHANSI - KANPUR - LUCKNOW - HRI - SHAHJAHANPUR - BAREILLY - MORADABAD - DELHI SAFDERJUNG	Rs 3612(service tax included)
BHARAT DARSHAN ( WZBD83 )	12d/11n	08-11-12	KOP - SHAHUMAHRAJ - PUNE - UDAIPUR - JAIPUR - AGRA - MATHURA - HARIDWAR - AMRITSAR - JAMMUTAWI	Rs 6190(service tax included)
Maharaja Express Train (Luxury Train Tours), prices for 2012-13
Heritage of India	8d/7n		Mumbai- Ajanta – Udaipur- Jodhpur- Bikaner-Jaipur-Ranthambore-Agra- Delhi	(adult) $6360-$22000 (1 supplement) $4,797-$22,000 (1 child, 5-12 years) $3,180-$11,000
Treasures of India	4d/3n		Delhi – Agra – Ranthambore – Jaipur – Delhi	(adult) $3,580-$12,000 (1 supplement) $2,700-$12,000 (1 child, 5-12 years) $1,790-$6,000
Indian Splendour	8d/7n		Delhi-Agra-Ranthambore-Jaipur-Bikaner-Jodhpur-Udaipur-Balasinor-Mumbai	(adult) $5,560-$22,000 (1 supplement) $4,193-$22,000 (1 child, 5-12 years) $2,780-$11,000
Gems of India	4d/3n		Delhi – Agra – Ranthambore – Jaipur – Delhi	(adult) $3,580-$12,000  (1 supplement) $2,700 -$12,000 (1 child, 5-12 years) $1,790-$6,000
The Indian Panorama	8d/7n		Delhi-Jaipur- Ranthambore-Fatehpur Sikri – Agra – Gwalior – Orchha – Khajuraho- Varanasi – Lucknow – Delhi	(adult) $5,560 -$22,000 (1 supplement) $4,193 -$22,000 (1 child, 5-12 years) $2,780-$11,000
Other Trains, prices per person
Panj Takht Darshan Ex-Amritsar	5d/4n		Amritsar * Fatehgarh Sahib Ji * Anandpur Sahib Ji* Bhatinda * Delhi * Patna * Nanded Sahib Ji * Amritsar	Starts at Rs 88050 (II AC) Rs 97500 (I AC)
Panj Takht Darshan Ex- Delhi	7d/6n		Delhi * Fatehgarh Sahib Ji * Anandpur Sahib Ji * Bhatinda * Delhi * Patna * Nanded Sahib Ji * Delhi	Starts at Rs 90000 (II AC) Rs 100001 (1 AC)
Ex-Kalka to Shimla	1d			Starts at Rs 2200
Ex-Shimla to Kalka	1d			Starts at Rs 2200
Mahanirvana Express	8d/7n	Total 13 dates of departure in a year	Delhi-Bodhgaya-Nalanda/Rajgir-Varanasi/Sarnath-Kushinagar-Lumbini-Sravasti-Agra/Delhi	$770-$1270 (for different classes of travel)
Steam Express	2d/1n		Delhi-Alwar-Delhi	Full tour (adult) Rs 10200 (child) 5100

Besides these trains, you also have the hill charter trains which operate on small scenic routes in the mountainous tracts of the country. Then, there are special tourist trains as well. However, it is important that you check for the IRCTC seat availability on these trains since these are quite popular among the domestic as well as the international tourists.