Chaaipani Founder vents frustration over Rs 21,000 ticket from Delhi to Ahmedabad

Shruti Chaturvedi, the founder of media platform Chaaipani, recently expressed her frustration on Twitter regarding the rising cost of domestic flight tickets. She mentioned that she had paid Rs 21,000 for an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Ahmedabad.

Indignant about paying Rs 21,000 for a one-way ticket from Delhi to Ahmedabad on low-cost airline IndiGo, Chaturvedi tweeted: “WTH is happening with flight ticket costs?”

“Paid 21k for Delhi to Ahmedabad… for Indigo??! Indigo ki audacity bhi hai itne maangne ki?? (How does Indigo even have the audacity to charge this much?)” she added.

WTH is happening with flight ticket costs? Paid 21k for delhi to ahmedabad ..for Indigo??! Indigo ki audacity bhi hai itne maangne ki??

— Shruti Chaturvedi (@adhicutting) May 30, 2023

The prices of domestic air tickets have been steadily increasing since tourism returned to normal after the pandemic. The situation worsened when Go First declared bankruptcy and canceled all its flights, leaving many travelers with limited options and forcing them to either modify their travel plans or pay exorbitant amounts for last-minute tickets on other airlines.

Chaturvedi's tweet garnered support from several individuals who shared similar stories of paying inflated prices for domestic flights. For instance, one person mentioned paying Rs 43,000 for a Chennai-Bangalore flight. Various airlines, including Air India, Vistara, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet, offer direct non-stop flights between Delhi and Ahmedabad, aside from IndiGo.

A corner of weeks back, Chennai Bangalore was 43k one way

— Vaitheeswaran K (@vaitheek) May 30, 2023

Another blamed Go First cancellations for the high price.

In April was getting ticket at ₹2300

( Delhi - Ahmedabad )

And now suddenly after go first cancels all scheduled flights. Other airlines increased fares.

— Dilip Rangwani (@ItsRDil) May 31, 2023

Some even pointed out how international flights are available for less than what Chaturvedi paid to travel from Delhi to Ahmedabad.

Behn , itna toh Sharjah to Goa one way bhi nahi hai jitna ki Ahmedabad to delhi hai

And wasn’t Indigo supposed to be a “budget” airline ?? pic.twitter.com/FYRaGnFLjo

— Raphael Brito (@GoanBoy001) May 30, 2023

However, a quick search reveals that tickets for the Delhi-Ahmedabad route can be as low as Rs 2,500 if booked in advance. It is important to note that prices may vary depending on factors such as demand, availability, and booking time.

Earlier, IndiGo, India's largest airline, introduced a special sale on domestic flights. The offer allowed travelers to secure tickets for domestic destinations across India for as low as Rs 2,093, subject to availability. The sale was open until February 25, 2023, with travel dates between March 13, 2023, and October 13, 2023. IndiGo operates a fleet of over 300 aircraft, serving approximately 1800 daily flights and connecting 78 domestic and 26 international destinations.

According to IndiGo, the discounted fares were subject to limited inventory availability, and the discounts did not apply to airport charges and government taxes. The offer was only applicable to non-stop flights within IndiGo's domestic network and could not be combined with other promotions, schemes, or offers.

The airline emphasized that the offer was non-transferable, non-exchangeable, and non-refundable. However, passengers could make changes to their itinerary by paying the required change fee and fare difference.

Recently, IndiGo also announced new flights between Mumbai-Silchar and Delhi-Itanagar, with a stopover in Kolkata. The introduction of the Mumbai-Silchar connection aimed to reduce travel time significantly. Additionally, IndiGo expanded its network by adding Dharamshala as its 78th domestic destination, with operations between Delhi and Dharamshala scheduled to commence on March 26, 2023.