We are getting ready to fly out soon and i have been checking the fares available.London to Mumbai then Goa by Budget if neccesary or all inclusive like on Kingfisher.Here is what i found out.Firstly there is a £75 pound surcharge on all long haul tickets courtesy of the idiots in New Labour.Jet Air is fully booked on the dates i wanted for a starters ! Kingfisher on the return you have to go via Delhi which means 2 hours extra on the journey.Emirates is by far the cheapest but the return means a stay in Dubai between 7 hours and 14 hours.Totally unacceptable.All the Middle East hub airlines have quite long delays on the return journey.Charters are only allowed for a maximum of 4 weeks.Is this correct ? BA is £728.Kingfisher £716.Emirates.£484 but only to Mumbai.I also discovered that Kingfisher are in trouble with non payment of taxes to Indian Government and they have a 50% debt burden and have never been in profit.That worries me because they are already getting rid of Kingfisher Blue their budget arm.With the economic situation around the world i keep thinking BA as its the safest choice.As we have debated before on this forum the so-called Indian Economic miracle is a mirage for the few, not the many.The current minimum wage level in India is 115 Rps.The official poverty line is 38 Rps.Any ideas ?

Is that 115 rps a day or an hour?

Steve that's 115 Rps per day.The Poverty line has been drawn at roughly 40 Rps per day.Interesting article in today Guardian by Pankaj Mishra.Page 25. Its all about the so-called economic miracle and the realities behind educational scams that produce graduates who are not worth the paper their BA is printed upon.I read another interesting article in Asian Age concerning a Peons(porter) Job being advertised in Bangalore and over 2000 persons turned up for the job quite a number of whom were graduates with degrees in IT and Engineering.Will have look at some of the suggested sites today re flights.Thank you.

Just looked at Southall Travel Kingfisher were the lowest at £515.00, we usually fly with Jet but thay want £667.00

Just had a look at Qatar and the transit times can be between 30 to 13 hours on some flights....! £547 cheapest.Kingfisher £688.Heathrow to Goa.BA is £730, so far another £42 you get peace of mind.Jet are very similar to Kingfisher in flights.London to Delhi, Mumbai then Goa inward.With BA you fly straight in to Mumbai then fly with Kingfisher to Goa all on the same ticket.There is always some catch with the other airlines.The Middle East ones should provide you with accommodation on some flights as the waiting times can vary between 5 hours and 22 hours on one flight i checked out.My experiences with Emirates have always been good but you have to bear in mind that you are not protected by EU rules at all concerning flight protection.Also Dubai is a very boring airport and its always full of travelers sleeping where they can.Also the hotel upstairs used to be $10 an hour now its $50.Abu Dabi is rubbish and i would rather wait on a park bench than have to sit in that dump.Gulf should be called Gulp Airlines....its got the worst ratings too as to passenger feedback on their flights.

Went with BA once, very good flight, on time, good service etc but still one of the more expensive. Jet has been good but just expensive for the dates we want. Will have to see what the costs are when my husband gets his passport back from Hayes.

As far as I am concerned the best two airlines to Bombay are Jet Airways and Kingfsher. They both have an organised transfer at Bombay (take your bags off you in International - they arrive in Goa) and we completed the transfer on Kingfisher from arrival at 10.45am to on board the flight to Goa and taking off at 12.35pm. The main advantage (for long stayers anyway) is that both give a terrific 46kilo luggage allowance (I had 50+kilos in hold luggage without them even blinking).

It maybe that on your dates the flight to Bombay is full hence they are putting you through Delhi or Bangalore, but call Southall to enquire.

As for peace of mind, if you pay by Credit card your contract is with the Credit Card company so it makes no difference which airline you choose you are covered anyway.

Just to put your mind at rest, I don't work for any of the companies mentioned in the post

If you book flights from Goa with Makemytrip, or tours, they do not charge you for using your credit card.

Personally I always use Jet whatever the cost. The airmiles are stacking up especially travelling to SE Asia on my 2 months out!I`d booked a flight back to India 2 weeks before my visa was refused and it was expensive. I had to cancel that flight and the refund very nearly covered the cost of the new flight booked 10 days later and the same day I got my visa-a special offer on. To cancel a flight with Jet is £150 .To change a flight with jet is £100 plus the extra if the the flight has increased in price.
You don`t necessarily get the best prices by booking in advance.I couldn`t believe how the prices had dropped in the week before I wanted to fly!!!!!!!!!!

Had a mate who worked for Gulf Air in maintainence - they only use 50% of the amount of rivets to hold their planes together - that was enough to put me off !!

Dread - x

As my Yorkshire friend would say "Hell Fire"