Air India's monsoon sale now open for bookings till 25 May 2016

Air India is currently running a Monsoon Sale, for bookings made till 25 May 2016, valid on flights in the monsoon season, ie from 1 July to 30 September 2016. These are valid on domestic sectors (including the domestic part of an international routing). Fares start at Rs 1,499 a pop. Here's more.



There are four fare levels, at Rs 3,099, Rs, 2,499, Rs 1,899 and Rs 1,499. Capacity restrictions apply on this sale, one can get great value going by AI's listed prices for the applicable sectors. Here are some examples:

  • For Rs 3,099 each way:
    • Delhi - Port Blair
    • Delhi - Trivandrum
    • Delhi - Kochi
    • Delhi - Coimbatore
  • For Rs 2,499 each way:
    • Delhi - Vijayawada
    • Chennai - Kolkata
  • For Rs 1,899 each way:
    • Delhi - Aurangabad
    • Mumbai - Gwalior
  • For Rs 1,499 each way:
    • Chennai - Goa
    • Bangalore - Pune

However, note that fares under this sale are in the "E" fare bucket (or RBD), which earns only 10% of the base miles.


Airlines in India generally announce sales in May and June (or even earlier), for flights in the second quarter of the fiscal year, ie, 1 July to 30 September. This quarter is generally the lean season for aviation in India, since it is after most of the country has had its summer vacations, and is before the Puja / holiday season that starts October. SpiceJet and Indigo have already run their sales.

Air India's sale will be no different from what other airlines do, in that, these are for seats that would otherwise go empty, based on the airline's calculations, past trends and capacity utilisation.

Here are a couple of examples - one of the advertised price applying (Delhi-Kochi)...


...and one where the price is vastly different from the advertised price (Chennai-Kolkata) - possibly due to capacity reasons.


Conclusion

These are great fares if there are seats available, and you're therefore able to get them at the advertised price. Some Star Alliance carriers, however, permit a higher mileage earning for the E category RBD - eg, United credits 50% of the base miles!

Readers: Are these prices good enough to get you to book with Air India?

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