# Cheap transportation to India? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 12, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-transportation-to-india/194562 "2003-08-12T02:29:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-transportation-to-india/194562/1 "2003-08-12T02:29:25Z")
I’ve got an invitation to stay in Delhi for a couple months with my favorite relative. As a budding world traveler, I’d really, really, really love to do this. However, I have at most $1500 to my name. Once I get there, things will be pretty cheap. But airfare alone seems to hover around 2k. Is there _any_ way to get there cheaper? I am perfectly willing to spend a month on a cargo ship getting there, or take a flight on a prop plane that stops five million times. Hitchhiking from a cheaper destination might not be the best idea, but I’d even consider that. Time and comfort are not an issue. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-transportation-to-india/194562/2 "2003-08-12T02:43:32Z")
Maybe air courier? [http://www.aircourier.org/post.html](http://www.aircourier.org/post.html) ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-transportation-to-india/194562/3 "2003-08-12T02:50:23Z")
Have you looked at the ticket consolidators? Here they generally have ads in the Sunday travel section. They buy up blocks of seats and resell them at a discount. I’m sure there are ones online too, but I couldn’t tell you which are reputable. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-transportation-to-india/194562/4 "2003-08-12T02:51:44Z")
Oh, also try ethnic travel agencies. Go to your nearest Indian neighborhood, or ask Indian friends where they buy their tickets. ---
**Author:** ![Trygve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4af34b/32.png) [@Trygve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trygve)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-transportation-to-india/194562/5 "2003-08-12T06:22:22Z")
You might try Aeroflot via Moscow. I am not sure if the flights connect, but I have flown them twice fro the US West Coast - not great service but certainly cheap. You may end up spending a night in the transit hotel at Sheremyetevo (Moscow Airport). They fly out of LAX and SFO. Also you can often get cheap fares across the Atlantic on Pakistan airlines and once in the UK there are lots of bucket shops to get a ticket through… if you could have a ticket from tehm in advance, it might work out ok. ---
**Author:** ![Trygve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4af34b/32.png) [@Trygve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trygve)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-transportation-to-india/194562/6 "2003-08-12T06:26:46Z")
You might try Aeroflot via Moscow. I am not sure if the flights connect, but I have flown them twice from the US West Coast - not great service (but not terrible either) and certainly cheap. You may end up spending a night in the transit hotel at Sheremyetevo (Moscow Airport). They fly out of LAX and SFO. Also you can often get cheap fares across the Atlantic on Pakistan airlines and once in the UK there are lots of bucket shops to get a ticket through… if you could have a ticket from tehm in advance, it might work out ok.