See your holiday plans fly away8217;

NEW DELHI, JUNE 13: A dream vacation to Goa, with airfare and three nights four days at top hotels like the Leela, at just Rs 6,000. And...

NEW DELHI, JUNE 13: A dream vacation to Goa, with airfare and three nights four days at top hotels like the Leela, at just Rs 6,000. And just a little over double that Rs 12,528 for 3 days and 2 nights at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza or the Rembrandt in Bangkok.

Well, before you rush out to call your travel agent to grab all these, and a whole lot more attractive flyaway8217; holiday plans announced by Indian Airlines over the past few weeks, just think again. And read the fine print in the advertisements released by Indian Airlines in major magazines.

It8217;s very clearly spelt out there 8212; that8217;s as clear and bold as you can get in the fine print. None of Indian Airlines top officials wished to comment on the matter when it was brought to their attention. While the official spokesperson passed the buck on to the commercial director, the latter never returned The Indian Express8216; calls.

The quot;Goa Flyawayquot;, for instance, talks of the exotic holiday with return airfare, meals, boat cruises and hotel stays etc, at a price of Rs 6,000 quot;upwardsquot; per person inclusive of taxes. quot;Upwardsquot;, that8217;s the catch. How upward can be judged from the fact that when you call up Indian Airlines, as this reporter did, you8217;ll find that the Delhi-Goa-Delhi package with a stay at Majorda Beach Resort costs around Rs 14,500 per person. Since this is on what is called a twin-share basis, or two people to a room, it8217;s best you go with someone you know. Unless, of course, you8217;re the adventurous sort.

So what8217;s the Rs 6,000 about, and is Indian Airlines lying? No, like all ads, it8217;s just giving you the good news. The fares taken are for the shortest possible flying distance and the cheapest deal. So, if you fly Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai and stay at Majorda, you can do it at Rs 6,000. But if you opt for Leela Palace, the cost even from Mumbai could be as high as Rs 12,876.

The ad figures for the Kerala Flyaway are even more imaginative, at Rs 5,556 upwards8217; per person. If you8217;re thinking of going to God8217;s Own Country from Delhi or Mumbai or Calcutta on this fare, think again. From Delhi, the 6 day/5 night package costs Rs 23,128 per person. In fact, the advertised fare again, it8217;s for the shortest flying distance of Chennai-Cochin-Chennai is not even for adults. It8217;s for a child below the age of 12! For a 13-year old and above, the Chennai-Cochin-Chennai package is Rs 14,295.

In the South East Asia flyaways category, Indian Airlines offers three days/two nights packages to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. In case of Singapore, there are options of either going on a cruise boarding the Super Star Virgo or the airlines. Here, the fine print reads: quot;Package price vary depending on the sector and the hotel property chosenquot;.

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The Singapore package advertised at Rs 15,911 including stays at luxury/5-star hotels like Westin Stamford is actually only from Calcutta. It8217;s again on a twin-share basis and you do have to pay additional airport taxes and charges ranging from 85 to 150 depending on whether you want a more fancy hotel stay. Just the airfare for Delhi-Singapore-Delhi costs Rs 17,585 in this package, and if you add the hotel stay, you8217;re talking of a cost of around Rs 20,000 at least.

In a similar fashion, the advertised Kuala Lumpur package charges Rs 18,992, but this is only from Chennai. From Delhi, the airfare in the package alone adds up to around Rs 18,700, and this works out to around Rs 21,000 at least.