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of the EU, the requirement of government permission for flying the flag-carrier airlines of other countries was withdrawn.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.

Domestic or international flight fare: Which is the better option to fly international destinations?

When you have to fly to some domestic destination, the choice is to be made from the domestic airlines operating from the country. These are the airlines which provide flight services within your country primarily, though international destinations can also be provided. So, when you have to fly international, you need to figure out which airline would you fly on? Whether you will book the air ticket international airline or use the domestic one for flying abroad will depend on a number of factors, such as:

•         Price tag and services offered: What will be the flight fare if you choose the international airline rather than the domestic one? The price of international ones is generally higher than that of the domestic carriers but you might still buy tickets from these if there are better services being offered.
•       Direct routing: The domestic carriers might not be operating the direct flights to the international destination whereas the airline of that country flying into your country might provide direct connectivity which can take you directly to that destination, saving you the time and the unnecessary hassles.
•       Domestic carrier might not still take you all the way to the destination in a multiple-stop trip. You might still have to take the international connecting flights. So, travelling on those international carriers which have alliance arrangement with other airlines for providing the cheap connecting flights might be a better option.
•       Destination not covered by domestic carriers: In this case, there is no other option but to travel on the air ticket international. 

How to save fuel in flight for offering cheapest air tickets?

There has always been a concern for providing the cheapest air tickets to the passengers. For this purpose, the aircraft manufactures try to develop the airplanes using the latest technology which can economize on the use of fuel. Similarly, the airlines try to economize on the fuel by conserving it by adopting all such ways and means which can result in fuel saving such as by cutting down on speed of flying, flying with the winds in upper atmosphere and in such a way that ensures that there is less drag on the airplane.

The cutting down on the speed of flight draws the analogy from the car driving. The more is the speed by acceleration, the more is the consumption of fuel and that too with higher inefficiency. At the same time, if the speed slows down too much then there might still not be efficiency in fuel consumption. Therefore, by flying at a little less than the average speed for travel and tolerating a little more flight time, the airlines can manage to save hundreds of millions of dollars of aviation fuel on an annual basis. There have been many such trial runs of the airlines where the airplanes have flown on a little less than their average speeds and have tried flying at consistent speed throughout their journeys. This resulted in their reaching a few minutes late on each flight but the savings of fuel on annual basis has been phenomenal.

Besides reducing the speed of the aircraft, the other methods of saving fuel in the flight and providing cheap flights is by way of flying in formation to reduce the air drag or by way of These actually turned into profits for the airline and the same could even be passed wholly or partly as cheap flights tickets for the passengers. 

How being loyal really pays off with cheap flights?

Do you prefer travelling one airline as compared to the other one due to any reason? Do you know that every airline has a loyalty rewards program in which it seeks to provide certain benefits to the passengers who prefer to travel with it for most part of their travel needs Most often, these programs would require you to travel a particular number of flight miles with it so as to be eligible for such a program and win the rewards points. These programs are provided by most of the full service carriers which do not provide the cheap flights generally to the passengers but withhold this benefit for those passengers who fly with it frequently.

These benefits of being loyal to the airline for much of your air travel requirements need not necessarily be in terms of the lowest air fare, but it could be also be provided in other ways. The airlines or the agencies collaborate with a number of other shopping portals and provide the products at discounted prices for the loyal flyers. These points can also be used to earn the free flying miles which can then be used for travelling without paying any price for the air ticket. Further, these accumulated points can also be used for upgrading your travel to a higher level and get the experience of travelling in a more luxurious way at the same lowest air fare of the cheap flights. You can also use these rewards points to fly with the alliance partners of the airline by booking the cheap flights to those destinations which are flown by these partners.

Some people are of the opinion that it is better to find the cheap flights every time you have to fly and do not bind yourself to travelling with one airline. However, since people do have preferred carriers, gaining the loyalty rewards does bring qualitative and quantitative benefits to the passengers.