Answer: Dear Shomak,

You can change your booking by entering your details on the Cathay Pacific website’s Manage Booking webpage. The amount you have to pay extra depends on the availability, and the type of ticket you bought (refundable, non-refundable, open etc.). In most cases, if the new ticket fare is higher than the old ticket, you will be asked to pay the difference. If the new ticket fare is same as the old ticket, you will not have to pay anything extra.

Please enter your details on the above webpage and check whether your dates are available, and fares for thse dates.

I hope you find this information useful. If you have any queries about any domestic or international airline, please write to us.
Wishing you a safe and happy flight!

Best Regards,

FlightGuru

My queries are:
My flight AI130 on 3 Nov is from London Heathrow to Ahmedabad, however my ticket says that it includes a technical Stopover at Mumbai for about a couple of hours, so will I need to go through the immigration check at Mumbai Airport or directly at my destination Airport, which is Ahmedabad Airport?

Another thing I want to know is, if I have to go through immigration check at Mumbai Airport, I have heard of there being problems of bribe and other such things at the Airports in India for international passengers, how true is that?

Also, Do I need to collect my check in baggage at the Mumbai Airport and recheck in for my flight to Ahmedabad which is in midnight around 1 am (after 2 hrs of reaching Mumbai).

Another questions is, does the flight normally depart from the same terminal for domestic destination on which it arrived from Mumbai? I mean, do I need to travel on my own to Domestic terminal from international terminal at dark in midnight, or are there any services from Airport or the Airline to transfer their transfer passengers to domestic departure area?

Apart from this, if you believe there is anything else, that I must be aware of, for my smooth journey to Ahmedabad, please do let me know.

I will be traveling back to London, in about 2 to 3 weeks time then.

Thanks, I await your response!

- Jai

Answer:

Dear Jai,
Air India will transfer you to the domestic flight at Mumbai without having to go through immigration. You will just just have to change gates at the international terminal, and you will remain airside. Your baggage will be transferred to the Ahmedabad flight, and you will have to clear customs and immigration when you arrive at Ahmedabad. Air India staff at Mumbai will guide you to the domestic connection.
Jay, all Indian passengers arriving from foreign countries are allowed to bring in goods worth INR 25,000/- without paying any customs duty. If the value of the goods you are bringing in exceeds INR 25,000/- you have to declare them at the Red Channel and pay customs duty for it. Only if you try to evade customs duty, then the customs officials will stop you, otherwise you should have no problems in clearing customs.

Please note that in additition to goods worth INR 25,000/- you can also bring in 1 Laptop without paying any customs duty, as part of your duty free allowance.

I hope you find this information useful. If you have any queries about any domestic or international airline, please write to us.

Wishing you a safe and happy flight!

Best Regards,

FlightGuru

Answer:
Dear Kedar,

It is possible to come out of Mumbai airport for a quick visit to the city. But I would not suggest it for the following reasons:

1. If you want to exit at Mumbai, you will not be able to avail the ‘Through Check-in’ service offered by Kingfisher. ‘Through Check-in’ allows you to check-in your bags from BLR up to DXB and you do not need to ccollect your bags at BOM. But, if you want to exit the airport at BOM, you will have to collect your bags at BOM domestic terminal and re-check-in again at the BOM international terminal. The international terminal is 30 minutes away from the domestic terminal.

2. If you ‘Through Check-in’ up to DXB from BLR, you will be able to avail the free Transfer bus from inside the domestic terminal at BOM, and you will be dropped at the international terminal. Your baggage will automatically be transferred to your BOM-DXB flight. The transfer coach runs every 30 minutes, and takes only 20 minutes as it travels inside the airport campus.

3. It takes at-least 30 minutes after your flight arrives at the domestic terminal to collect your bags, exit the airport and get a taxi to the city. At the international terminal, it takes at-least 1 hour to screen and check-in your baggage, collect your boarding pass, go through customs and immigration and security check. It may take more depending on the time of the day and traffic at the airport. Kingfisher recommends that you check-in 2 hours before your flight time. This leaves you with just 3 hours which is not a comfortable time to see Mumbai. Most of the places worth seeing in Mumbai (Gateway of India, Marine Drive, Colaba, Fort, etc) are in South Mumbai, which is an hour’s drive from the airport (one way).

In view of the above, I would suggest you avail Kingfisher’s ‘Through Check-in’ facility at Bengaluru (BLR) and the free transfer bus at Mumbai (BOM) and transfer to the international terminal at BOM as soon as possible. There are plenty of shopping, and eating options at theMumbai (BOM) international terminal, and you will find enough to kill the 4 hours time in between your flights.

I hope you find this information useful. If you need any other information about Kingfisher or any other airline, please write to us.

Have a safe and happy flight!

Best Regards,
FlightGuru

Response from Kedar:

Dear FlightGuru,

I thank and appreciate you for the quick response, correct information and time/effort in replying to my query.

I shall follow your guidelines and would not venture out of the airport limits of Mumbai.

With Great Regards,
Kedar

- Ashwin

Answer: Hello Ashwin,

If you have on onward connecting flight to USA or Canada, all full service (not low-cost) airlines in India, including Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Jetlite will allow you to check-in your 2 piece (23 kgs + 23 kgs) international baggage allowance on all domestic routes. Your connecting flight should be within 24 hours of the domestic flight. You just need to show your US ticket to the Air India check-in clerk at Lucknow to avail the 2 piece baggage allowance on the Lucknow-Delhi route.

For your information, your baggage allowance on your Lucknow-Delhi-Chicago flights is as under:

Cabin Baggage: Please note that on all connecting Air India domestic flights and all international flights to USA, all passengers can can carry 1 bag each, weighing upto 8 kgs as cabin baggage. The sum of the length, width and height of the hand baggage should not exceed 115 cms. Basically the cabin bag should be able to fit in the overhead bin.

You can also carry dry food items, snacks, etc in the cabin baggage. Please avoid messy, smelly, oily, liquid, and complete powdery foods. Due to safety regulations, you are not allowed to carry any liquids, gels, nail polishes, or any sharp items like razors, scissors, nail cutters etc in your cabin baggage. You can carry all such items in your check-in baggage. If you wish to carry liquids with you in the cabin, make sure the quantity printed on each bottle is less than 100 ml, and that all such bottles are packed in a transparent, re-sealable plastic bag. You may be asked to open the resealable bag to inspect the liquids at security check. A total of 10 such bottles (total 1 litre) are allowed per passenger. You can also carry medicines, cough syrups etc with you in the cabin, provided you have the prescriptions with you.

Please note that if you have any expensive items like jewellery, cameras, or any other expensive electronic items, it is wise to carry them with you in the cabin baggage. Also note that in addition to 1 piece of cabin baggage, each passenger is also allowed to carry ANY ONE of the following in the cabin:

1 Laptop Bag OR 1 Ladies Purse OR 1 Still/Video Camera OR 1 Handheld Video Game OR 1 Umbrella OR 1 Overcoat OR 3-4 books for reading on the flight.

Check-in Baggage: All passengers flying on Air India’s domestic connections and international flights to USA are allowed to check-in a total of 2 pieces of 23 kgs each, (23 kgs + 23 kgs = 46 kgs total/per person). You can carry household goods, packaged foods, utensils etc in your check-in baggage.

I hope you find this information useful. If you need any other information about Air India or any international or domestic airline, please write to us.

Have a safe and happy flight!

- FlightGuru

I’m flying into Paris for a holiday, then taking the Eurostar train from Paris to London, before returning home from London Heathrow airport.

Please advise where and how I should make my VAT refund claims for items purchased in Paris, i.e. do I submit my French VAT refund claim forms at London Heathrow airport? Will they accept it?

Thank you.
- Ramesh

Answer: Dear Ramesh,

First of all, please note that in France you need to spend a minimum of €175 (approx. US $ 211 or INR 10,000) in one store, on the same day to be eligible for a VAT refund. In France, the VAT is 12%, so you will be refunded 12% of goods value. The VAT is not refunded when you are traveling within the European Union.  The Eurostar between Paris and London is within the EU, so you cannot claim the VAT refund in Paris. The VAT is only refunded when you leave the EU, so you will have to claim your VAT refund at London Heathrow, when you are on the way back home.

Here is what you need to do:

1. First, buy only at stores in Paris or other countries in the EU which display the VAT Refunds or Global Refunds sign. Some stores in France also process VAT refunds through Premier Refunds.
2. Ask the store to provide you with a Global Refunds or a Premier Refunds Tax Free export declaration form, mentioning the details of the goods purchased, the price paid, including VAT and the amount of refund applicable on that purchase. Keep all such forms with you along with the goods till you reach your last port of exit from the EU.
3. At your last port of exit from the EU (in your case London Heathrow), present the tax refund forms, along with the goods to the customs department, who will stamp the forms for you, no matter which EU country you made the purchases from.
4. Once the forms are stamped, you can either mail the forms to Global Reunds or Premier Refunds at mailboxes provided at the London Heathrow Airport, and they will send the refund to your credit card or by check within 4 weeks OR you can go to a Global Refunds or Premier Refunds counter at the airport and get a cash refund in the currency of your choice.

Remember, there are long queues at London Heathrow to get the VAT refund forms stamped by Customs, so arrive at least 1 hour earlier than usual. If the VAT refund amount is very small, it is not worth going through the hassle at every store and at the airport. Use the time to do more sightseeing instead, and enjoy your time in Europe.

I hope you find this information useful. Do let us know your experiences with the VAT refund at London Heathrow. Your feedback is very useful for other travelers in a similar situation. If you need any other information about VAT refunds,or any other airline, please write to us.

Bon Voyage!

- FlightGuru