[Saraswati]

I will be travelling to Trivandrum from London on 1 February. I got my tourist visa and booked a charter flight only as I have other accommodation. I now read in my guide book (Rough Guide to Kerala) that it is illegal to buy charter flights only to Kerala without accommodation. Sometimes tour operators issue dummy vouchers to pretend you have booked accommodation but I did not receive those. I only received vouchers for the flight itself. Does anybody know if that is going to be a problem? Thanks.

[cyberhippie]

Don't worry about it, there are any number of travel comapnies offering this deal and it's not a scam. You'll be fine.

[john.sw]

Hi Saraswati, and welcome to The India Tree!

As far as I know, the rules are for the tour operators, not for the tourists.

The Government has "guidelines" for the operation of tourist charter flights to and from India and these flights are subject to the condition that tourist charter flights will be permitted only for ‘Inclusive Tour Package’ (ITP).

Inclusive Tour Package (ITP) is defined as a round trip for a pre-determined period for one or several pre-determined places charging an inclusive consolidated price for the airfare for all segments, hotel accommodation and other ground arrangement services like visit to tourist places.

I have never been on a charter flight, but I can't imagine that the passport control at Thiruvananthapuram will ask to see your hotel vouchers or proof that you are staying on an package holiday.

Whenever I have used an agent to book accommodation or a driver, I have not had any paperwork with me on arrival - it was handed to me by the company after I had been met outside the airport.

Does anyone else have experience of charter flights?



Reference - GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AERONAUTICAL INFORMATION SERVICES - DIRECTOR GENERAL OF CIVIL AVIATION http://dgca.nic.in/aic/aic02-04.pdf

[Freenote]

Used a  Monarch  charter flight down to Trivandrum  as  a flight only a few years ago and never had a problem .Never even saw there rep . Also met people who had dumped there return flight ,stayed in India a few months and then flew home by another carrier . Never tried it myself but it apears to work  

[Saraswati]

Hi all

Thanks for the helpful and knowledgeable comments. I have booked with Thomas Cook and they seem to be usually a reliable tour operator. I will then trust that it is not going to be a problem. Thanks again.