Flight Booking - MS in Australia
For international students who are flying abroad for the time, flight booking can be an arduous task. However, booking flight tickets online is quite simple. With this article, we have given you all the pertinent details to help you through the entire process.
Table of contents
Typical fare: Rs. 15,000 - 40,000
Before You Start
- Decide on when you will be leaving for Australia. You would want to be there 7-10 days before your orientation begins. Choose a day between Monday- Friday; your flight fares will be cheaper. Wednesdays are generally the cheapest for flight journeys.
- Look for information online, discuss with other students who have travelled before you, join Facebook groups and make inquiries on the best available deals with the highest baggage allowance.
- Some of the airlines allow you to carry an extra check-in bag (20 kg) for students travelling to Australia. These flights land in Sydney/Melbourne, or to interior points in Australia via Melbourne/Sydney. Confirm with the Air India portal for more details.
- Ensure your bank account has sufficient cash for online payment.
- Check with your university for airport pick-up assistance and check if the service can be provided on the date, time of your arrival to Australia.
Required resources
- Passport
- Credit card/Debit card/Internet banking
Step by step guide
- Step I: Assuming you haven’t searched for any preferred deal, go to this website - Kayak.
- Enter the cities you will be travelling from and to. Select all the options highlighted below. Under the Flexible? tab, select Exact dates as ± 3days.
- Step II: Now, a list of available dates and flights will be displayed, where the cheapest fares will be in green.
- Step III: Click on the button shown in green colour with the tag ‘Cheapest’, which is the most economical flight fare. Click on View Deal for flight fares. This might redirect you to another website (might not be the one as shown).
- Step IV: If multiple trips are displayed, choose the one that meets your requirements. If not, begin with entering the passenger details and payment information.
- Step VI: Verify the personal details entered for your booking and go for the payment.
- Step VII: Once you finish the payment, you will get a confirmation in your e-mail inbox, which will contain the payment receipt and your flight booking details. You will also get the e-ticket in the email.
- Step VIII: You will be given a booking reference number which you can use to go on the airlines’ online website (link will be provided in the mail you receive). You can reschedule/cancel the ticket (if needed).
Useful Tips
- Book your tickets as early as possible. The fares will be much more cheaper.
- If possible, book your flight with someone you know. If this is your first air trip, it is natural to feel nervous.
- You can grab the student offer for flight booking only once. Take full advantage of this offer to carry all the things you need.
- If you think that there might be chances of rescheduling/cancelling your bookings, it is best to book your tickets on the airline's website itself, than from any third party website. Third party websites are not conducive to refund/rescheduling of flight booking.
- Searching for your air tickets using the incognito/private browsing mode will get you the lowest, best prices. Depending on the cache and cookies in your web browser, the flight prices fluctuate if a particular course is extensively browsed.
Links and Downloads
