"केल्याने देशाटन, पंडित मैत्री सभेत संचार, शास्त्रे ग्रंथ विलोकन, मनुजा चातुर्य येतसे फार"
"Travelling around the world leads one to many a learned folk, makes one understand science, review literature and overall lead to increased intelligence"
The above couplet, in Marathi, still holds good for travel today, except may be the bit about the literature review, unless you are going to a specific literary tour. The lessons I learnt from my recent travel to Canada have greatly contributed to my intelligence on how not to chose an airline or book an airline ticket.
The fiasco was probably of my own making, given I waited till the end to book my airline tickets and then at the last moment, sweating over 4x normal fares, decided to take the plunge and book a trip that still ended up costing me 2x the normal fare, included two stopovers, including an overnight one and resulting in a completely exhausted family of four wasting two precious hotel nights due to jet lag without having spent a single moment taking in the beautiful sights that this country has to offer. The other mistake I made was to think that a lousy airline, once taken over by a well known carrier (as you may be aware, Alitalia was taken over by Etihad) will mend its ways to the better once the takeover is complete.Just does not happen.
Skyscanner is a beautiful website, thoroughly useful aggregator of airline fares which, if used wisely (note the emphasis) can substantially reduce your airline costs. But from my experience, I have learnt some critical lessons:
1. Never ever (I mean, ever) book your tickets less than a month before your are scheduled to fly, thinking that the airlines will reduce the fares for last minute flyers. It just does not happen
2. Do not book on multiple carriers. This is really important as each carrier, even if a part of an alliance, will pass the buck to the other when it comes to your luggage.
3. Never, ever, take a stopover longer than 4-5 hours if travelling with a family (with kids)
4. No matter how many pieces of luggage you have, always check every piece thoroughly, including the locking mechanism once you get your luggage at the arrival carousel
5. Always print a copy of the conditions of carriage, including cancellation, rebooking and luggage conditions
6. Chose your airline carefully, You might pay 10-15% extra for a reputed airline, but trust me, its worth it. Alitalia has been a lousy carrier and I have had my share of bad experiences with the airline, and it has not changed for the better after the takeover by Etihad.
The flights sucked, the entertainment system and food was pathetic, two pieces of my luggage are completely gutted from the journey. So much for the additional intelligence I acquired!
All of these are pretty basic and intuitive, really, but you will be surprised as to how many times I have ignored them and paid the price. Hopefully you would not!
Bon Journey!
"Travelling around the world leads one to many a learned folk, makes one understand science, review literature and overall lead to increased intelligence"
The above couplet, in Marathi, still holds good for travel today, except may be the bit about the literature review, unless you are going to a specific literary tour. The lessons I learnt from my recent travel to Canada have greatly contributed to my intelligence on how not to chose an airline or book an airline ticket.
The fiasco was probably of my own making, given I waited till the end to book my airline tickets and then at the last moment, sweating over 4x normal fares, decided to take the plunge and book a trip that still ended up costing me 2x the normal fare, included two stopovers, including an overnight one and resulting in a completely exhausted family of four wasting two precious hotel nights due to jet lag without having spent a single moment taking in the beautiful sights that this country has to offer. The other mistake I made was to think that a lousy airline, once taken over by a well known carrier (as you may be aware, Alitalia was taken over by Etihad) will mend its ways to the better once the takeover is complete.Just does not happen.
Skyscanner is a beautiful website, thoroughly useful aggregator of airline fares which, if used wisely (note the emphasis) can substantially reduce your airline costs. But from my experience, I have learnt some critical lessons:
1. Never ever (I mean, ever) book your tickets less than a month before your are scheduled to fly, thinking that the airlines will reduce the fares for last minute flyers. It just does not happen
2. Do not book on multiple carriers. This is really important as each carrier, even if a part of an alliance, will pass the buck to the other when it comes to your luggage.
3. Never, ever, take a stopover longer than 4-5 hours if travelling with a family (with kids)
4. No matter how many pieces of luggage you have, always check every piece thoroughly, including the locking mechanism once you get your luggage at the arrival carousel
5. Always print a copy of the conditions of carriage, including cancellation, rebooking and luggage conditions
6. Chose your airline carefully, You might pay 10-15% extra for a reputed airline, but trust me, its worth it. Alitalia has been a lousy carrier and I have had my share of bad experiences with the airline, and it has not changed for the better after the takeover by Etihad.
The flights sucked, the entertainment system and food was pathetic, two pieces of my luggage are completely gutted from the journey. So much for the additional intelligence I acquired!
All of these are pretty basic and intuitive, really, but you will be surprised as to how many times I have ignored them and paid the price. Hopefully you would not!
Bon Journey!
