SpiceJet cancellations take the tang away from travel plans

LUCKNOW: Lucknowites flying to and from the city this holiday season are having to cough up astronomical amounts of money, or abandon their plans altogether. Their holiday plans seem to have crashlanded. With SpiceJet partially discontinuing operations and cancelling several flights, including all in the Lucknow sector, other airlines have their minds set on cashing in on the opportunity, mindless of the passengers' woes.Airfares have soared across the country, leaving vacationers and homegoers with no choice but to shell that extra buck or cancel their much lookedforward-to winter vacation.
Says Gagan Gurnani, owner of Dreamway Travels in the city, "Vacationers are facing a harrowing experience, being forced to book new and much-expensive tickets at the last minute. Flights from Lucknow to Delhi or Mumbai normally costs around Rs 3000-Rs 4000, but it is now available for almost Rs 10,000. Holiday cancellations are out of question, since the hotels will not refund the security deposit. Just yesterday, I had to reschedule a passenger's flight who was returning from his vacation in Goa. He was stranded at the airport for six hours, with the airline constantly announcing delays and then finally cancelling the flight. We then booked him on another airline and the ticket cost Rs 9500."
Agrees Pooja of Hollywood Travels in Hazratganj. "I have revised almost 10 itineraries in the past 10 days, and the number of queries coming in is on the rise. Passengers are now opting for break journeys and going to Delhi by train to avoid paying the expensive fare. But getting confirmed railway reservations at the last minute is also a very difficult task," she says.
Honey, they ruined the honeymoon!
"People are having a really bad experience," says Amit Prakash (name changed), regional executive of an online travel portal. "Worst hit is the Goa and Kerala sector, which also happens to be the top pick of honeymoon-goers at this time of the year, since there are limited flights to those destinations. I witnessed crazy scenes at the Lucknow airport yesterday. A couple, who were flying to Goa via Delhi, shelled out Rs 35,000 to purchase new tickets, since SpiceJet cancelled their flights. Most of my customers had booked their tickets for Rs 1799 during the promotional schemes in October. Now with the cancelled flights, they have had to shell out almost five times the amount to rebook!" he says. Rajiv Arora, proprietor of Rayhaan Travels, has a similar opinion. "Honeymoon couples travelling to Goa and Kerala are suffering the most. A couple whom I'd booked tickets for was travelling to Munnar, reached their destination at 2 am last night, when they were supposed to have reached early in the morning," says Rajiv, adding, "We have received cancellations to the tune of Rs 2.5 lacs, with the clients not being refunded. Even with partial operations resuming, people are not taking a chance and are booking on other airlines. They have no choice but to shell out almost Rs 10,000 extra per ticket."
Vaibhav Anand, a marketing executive in a real-estate firm in Lucknow, was travelling to Goa for his honeymoon this week, but remains stranded in Delhi. "I went to Delhi by train and was flying to Goa on Wednesday, but my flight was cancelled. I've been trying to look for alternate flight options, but they are all so expensive! I'll have to slash my honeymoon budget to pay for the flight tickets. It's a real mess," he says.
Woes of the students
Besides the honeymoon-goers, another community that is hit are the students who were returning to Lucknow for their vacations. Says Manisha Singh, who is pursuing her MBA from Pune, "My university hadn't declared holidays earlier, so I wasn't sure about coming home this winter. But at the last minute, we got a ten-day break and I booked my tickets to Lucknow. A Lucknow-Pune round trip approximately costs about Rs 12,000, but this time I'm paying Rs 30,000 to come home."
Saloni Jaiswal, who is pursuing her graduation from Delhi University, says, "I had booked tickets for December in October itself, and that time, they cost me just Rs 1800. However, at the last minute, they cancelled my flight and I was left with no option but to come by bus. My parents were extremely angry, but there wasn't any other option."
Family reunions disrupted
Milan Misra, a marketing professional, was slated to fly to Mumbai from Lucknow yesterday for a family wedding. However, the cancellation of flights sent his plans for a toss. "I was to attend the wedding reception of my sister in Mumbai on December 18. However, they cancelled the flight at the eleventh hour, and the other tickets are way too expensive. I have no choice but to cancel the plan," rues Milan.
Manisha Chopra, wife of a retired air force officer, is flying to Bangalore to celebrate New Year with her daughter. "The ticket normally costs around Rs 8000. However, this time when I checked, the fares were as high as Rs 20,000. I booked under the Defence quota and I still got the ticket for Rs 14,000!" she says.
On the other hand, Himani Shukla, a fashion designer working in Bangalore, was flying back home to Lucknow to spend New Year with her family . "I had booked tickets on SpiceJet, but they randomly cancelled all their flights. The only other option available is the direct Indigo flight, which costs almost Rs 23000 on the date I wish to travel. Booking that is out of question. I'll have to spend my New Year here alone," says Himani.
Ajay Agarwal, a prominent lawyer of the city, shares his experience. "My father was supposed to fly on SpiceJet to Bagdogra on the 30th of this month. With them grounding their operations in Lucknow, I have had to rebook his ticket, which has cost me about Rs 10,000," he says.