Airlines put base fares online,agents say it’s far from reality

“This fuel surcharge is most crucial when passengers want to cancel their tickets. At that time,airlines have a tendency to refund only the base fare and the fuel surcharge is held back,which is against the DGCA norms. The tax to the government is only Rs 225,with the exception of the airport development tax,everything else goes to the airline as the ticket fare,” said Rajesh Rateria,president of the western region Travel Agents Association of India. In a statement on Tuesday,the federation of airlines association said that airlines had decided to publish fares in a consumer friendly format and this would include different fares levels on each route. But none of the tariff cards have incorporated an explanation for the various fare brackets.

The tariff cards list out the various fare brackets that are available to passengers throughout the month. Airlines list as many as 14 fares on each route,on the economy sector,and around four to six fares on the business class sector but it does not list how many tickets will be available against each fare bracket. So many of the cheaper fares will become invalid as most airlines slot very few seats against the cheap fares on offer. “Where are these tariff cards making fares more transparent? It is unfair for airlines to not be upfront about all the other charges and taxes. It gives people false hopes,” said Rateria.

Travel agents say although the airlines have put up fare cards,passengers would have to book well in advance and keep an eye out for the cheaper fares on a dynamic basis.

“December and January are traditionally a peak season for airlines. Airlines have limited inventory at this time,they will take full advantage of it,and they are unlikely to bring down their fares,” said Dharmendra Gursahani,treasurer of Travel Agents Federation of India.

Agents also say that fares are subject to demand and supply and that they have not gone down significantly. “Today morning a corporate client called after he heard the minister and the DGCA say that fares have been slashed. He bought a business class ticket from Mumbai to Calcutta at Rs 26,600 on November 23,his return ticket also on the business class is for Rs 33,682. He asked us to check our systems again and rebook on the discounted fares. But we have not found that fares have gone down. Such fares remain,” said Shashi Mokal,a travel agent with Travelmartindia.com.